his courtroom series to highlight his troubled-youth-turned-success story as a way of motivating and inspiring his audience (especially the youth audience) that there's no adversity that they can't pick themselves up from. It is from his background that Mathis derives much of his arbitration formula and television show theme. For example, the court show's title sequence music video throughout the early seasons of the program consisted of a brief dedication to Mathis's life story, Mathis narrating with the lines: "I was raised in the streets, arrested several times as a kid. But I didn't give up. I went from jail to judge in 15 years. And that's when I began to make a difference giving back through public service. I believed in myself and I believe in every single person that comes into this courtroom. I know people can change, obstacles can be overcome, and great success can be achieved. Because in my courtroom it happens every day". Mathis later shared that he took the job as television arbitrator on the condition that his life story was shared as part of the opening for each episode. In the same likeness of his experience, Mathis takes a distinct admiration for litigants who have seen the error of their troubled ways and have made efforts to improve and better their lives. Mathis also makes efforts to promote treatment and programs for individuals struggling with drug and alcohol addictions. Veteran court show status and honors Outlasting other court shows and TV judges By the 2014–15 television season, Judge Mathis made it to its 16th season, making Mathis the longest-serving African American and Black court show arbitrator, surpassing Joe Brown (Judge Joe Brown), whose program lasted 15 seasons. Moreover, Mathis holds the record for second-longest serving court show arbitrator ever, just behind Judge Judy Sheindlin, the presiding judge of the court show Judge Judy and its spin-off series Judy Justice. Judge Mathis entered its milestone 20th season on Monday, September 3, 2018, and currently is presiding in his 24th season of the program (2022–23). The success of Judge Mathis is particularly noteworthy in that, generally speaking, court show programming has a very limited shelf life. The programs in this genre are lucky to make it past a few seasons. Judge Mathis is the fourth longest-running courtroom series behind Judge Judy, The People's Court (2nd longest running), and Divorce Court (longest running). Though both Divorce