the family court's Manhattan division. She earned a reputation as a tough judge (although she has disagreed with the labels "tough" and "harsh"). Entertainment career In February 1993, Sheindlin's reputation made her the subject of a Los Angeles Times article written by Josh Getlin (inspired by his wife Heidi, both of whom Sheindlin credits with her rise to fame) that profiled her as a woman determined to make the court system work for the common good. She was then featured in a segment on CBS's 60 Minutes that brought her national recognition. This led to her first book, Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining, published in 1996. She retired as a family-court judge that same year after having heard more than 20,000 cases. Judge Judy A little over a year after the 60 Minutes special, Sheindlin accepted an offer in 1995 to preside in a new reality courtroom series, featuring "real cases with real rulings." Her syndicated court show Judge Judy debuted on September 16, 1996 and ran for 25 seasons until July 23, 2021. She was accompanied by her bailiff Bailiff Byrd, simply called "Byrd" or "Officer Byrd", who became the longest-serving bailiff in courtroom programming history. Their work relationship predated the program, as Byrd had served as Sheindlin's bailiff in the Manhattan family-court system. Through its 25-season run, Judge Judy remained the top Nielsen-rated court show and regularly drew nine to ten million viewers daily, occasionally besting the ratings of The Oprah Winfrey Show. From 2009 to its series finale in 2021, Judge Judy was the highest-rated show in all of daytime television programming and first-run syndication. During the show's active run, author Brendan I. Koerner commented on its popularity: Court-show viewers don't seem to want moral conundrums or technical wrinkles. They love Sheindlin's show because she offers them a fantasy of how they'd like the justice system to operate—swiftly, and without procedural mishaps or uppity lawyers. They get to see wrongdoers publicly humiliated by a strong authority figure. There is no uncertainty after Sheindlin renders her verdict and bounds off the bench, and there certainly are no lengthy appeals. A 2013 Reader's Digest poll revealed that Americans trusted Judge Judy more than they did all nine justices of the United States Supreme Court. In 2003, VH1 named Sheindlin in its 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons list. References to Sheindlin have appeared in many