‘America’s Court’ readies its caseload for a seventh season

In six seasons of small-claims-court cases on daytime TV, Kevin Ross of America’s Court With Judge Ross has pretty much seen and heard it all.

Another dispute over an unpaid debt. Another “who’s to blame?” fender bender. Another broken engagement that results in bickering over who gets to keep the ring.

Been there, done all of that.

Yet Ross, who was in Fort Worth last week, says these cases never get boring.

“On paper, these kinds of cases are pretty cut and dried,” he says. “But if you look at the stories underneath, if you get to know the people involved, there’s almost always something interesting, and surprising, going on.”

That’s why America’s Court, which airs at 9 a.m. weekdays on KTXA/Channel 21, has proved to be popular with viewers.

The show premiered in September 2010 and will begin its seventh season in the fall.

Ross offers an example of one crazy dispute that is seared into his memory.

“We had a woman whose fiancé had spent time in jail and, when he got out, she wanted a grand wedding,” Ross remembers. “That grand wedding included making her child part of the ceremony.

“So she decided to sew a compartment into the back of her wedding gown that would allow the child to be dragged along on the train. She had this vision. She was so confident: ‘This is going to be great.’

“But then people on social media were like, ‘Jesus, take the wheel here! What kind of idiot would drag her baby behind her on the train?’ ”

Let’s just say the get-up was a total “train” wreck.

The boutique dress designer, who was hoping for positive comments and an influx of customers, insisted she had no idea the bride would do this to the gown. The designer sued for the damage to her reputation and the loss of business — and they wound up in America’s Court.

“You can’t make that stuff up,” Ross says. “The personalities make this show what it is.”

Ross is a former California prosecutor and criminal court judge, although his career on the bench didn’t end well. He was removed from office as a Superior Court judge in 2005 after California’s Commission on Judicial Performance ruled he had committed several ethical breaches.

They included serving as a private arbiter in the pilot episode for a never-aired TV show (sitting judges aren’t allowed to arbitrate disputes outside the public court system) and making improper comments to the media as a legal expert about a pending case.

But he bounced back as a “daytime courtroom judge personality” and has proved to be quite successful at it.

“Daytime television is really difficult,” Ross says. “We have seen many amazingly talented people — Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Nate Berkus, Anderson Cooper, Jeff Probst — go to the daytime space to try to have a show. After one or two years, they’re gone.

“Evidently people like what we’re doing and appreciate the work we put into it. I enjoy it, it’s a great fit for my skill set and the audience seems to be responding.”

Ross, who was in North Texas filming some promo segments at the CBS 11/Channel 21 studio in Fort Worth, is quick to acknowledge that there’s a large element of showbiz in America’s Court.

He also points out that, “Anything you watch on television is showbiz. On television, people want all those courtroom trappings. They want to see the flags, they want to see the robe, they want to see the bench, they want to see the bailiff. If they don’t see those things, then it doesn’t feel real to them.”

But Ross adds that the show is about more than just delivering a half hour of entertainment.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 3:24 PM with the headline "‘America’s Court’ readies its caseload for a seventh season."