1980s: Judges Played Judges, Actors Played Judges

This is the 14th in a series of “55-Plus” columns on courtroom reality shows. To read the previous column on the subject, click here.

“The People’s Court” was the ratings-grabbing, premier courtroom simulation show of the 1980s. Then, there were the others.

“‘Superior Court’ kind of was there with the others,” its executive producer, Stu Billett, said.

Billett was also executive producer of “The People’s Court” which began in 1981.

In light of the success of that series, starring retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Wapner, “Divorce Court,” a long-running show which began in the black-and-white era, was brought back in 1984. Another retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge, William Keene, presided over it. Billett called that show “a joke, almost.”

Plots were often hokey, and centered on sex.

“Superior Court” went on the air in the fall of 1986, as did “The Judge,” a show taped not in Hollywood but, of all places, in Columbus, Ohio. “Judge Robert Franklin” was a mellow, avuncular and white-haired gent who was shown at the opening of each show bidding his wife and kids goodbye on their doorstep, then waving to them as he drove off to the courthouse to do justice. He was played by an actor, Bob Shield.

In Billett’s view, “‘The Judge’ was done pretty well.”

The shows spotlighted in this series of columns are those that simulated court proceedings. There was the other kind of court show — the drama, with plot, and scenes shot other than on sets with make-believe courtrooms. You know, like “Perry Mason.” That 1957-66 show starred Raymond Burr — who in 1987 again appeared in a courtroom series, “Trial by Jury,” this one being of the simulated-proceedings variety. Produced by Dick Clark, “Trial by Jury” featured reenactments of old cases.

In 1988, “On Trial” went on the air. The title was the same as that of a 1956-57 courtroom anthology series, with episodes introduced by Joseph Cotton, and also was the title of a 1948-52 program featuring debates on public issues. The new series, unrelated to the earlier ones, was hosted by Nick Clooney, recently host on the American Movie Classics cable network. Scenes were shown of actual trials, now that cameras were allowed in courtrooms in most states.

As for “Superior Court,” its star, former Beverly Hills Municipal Court Commissioner William D. Burns Jr., was dumped after the first season. He was replaced by a former judge of that court, Jill Jakes — who was defeated at the polls in 1982 by Charles G. Rubin — and retired San Diego Superior Court Judge Louis M. Welsh.

In the next and final season, 1988-89, an actor, Raymond St. Jacques, was cast as the judge. Billett said he was a “menacing-looking black guy.”

It wasn’t generally known, Billett said, that St. Jacques was gay. Then one day, he recalled, the show’s publicist telephoned him, panicked. He advised Billett to turn on Channel 4 (in Los Angeles). There was the series’ star, on the “Today” show, with fellow TV judges Shield and Keene. He was clad in a yellow silk suit and an orange shirt.

“He was flaming,” Billett remarked, and was now out of the closet.

St. Jacques portrayed Judge Clayton C. Thomas. At the start of each episode, the announcer intoned:

“In this courtoom, it is brother against brother, husband against wife, cop against criminal. One man stands between them. One man stands for justice. Judge Clayton C. Thomas. Superior Court.”

St. Jacques died in 1990, Burr in 1993, and Welsh and Shield in 1996.

Jakes has resigned from the State Bar and Burns is on inactive status.

Clooney, brother of singer Rosemary Clooney, is a columnist for the Cincinnati Post.

Keene, 78, is associated with an alternative dispute resolution service.

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Next week: a look at a figure on courtroom TV shows in five decades, bailiff “Rusty” Burrell.

The "55-Plus" column is written especially for those over the age of 55, by a veteran California journalist who is himself eligible for the club. Roger M. Grace has written and edited newspapers for more than four decades, and has been a lawyer for more than three.