Superior Court (TV series)
Superior Court is a dramatized court show that aired in syndication from 1986 to 1989, and featuring fictionalized re-enactments of actual court cases. William D. Burns, Jr., a former municipal court commissioner for the city of Beverly Hills, presided for the first season. He was replaced for the second season by Jill Jakes, a former judge of that court, and Louis M. Welsh, a retired San Diego Superior Court judge. In the final season, actor Raymond St. Jacques portrayed Judge Clayton C. Thomas. Reruns were later aired on the USA Network during the early 1990s . Format. Superior Court was one of a series of dramatized court shows that were created in the mid- to late-1980s, on the heels of two successful programs in the genre: "Divorce Court" and "The People's Court" (which was its sister show, being produced by the same studio and production company). Of the two, "Superior Court" was more like "Divorce Court", which involved recreations of actual proceedings. On "Superior Court", actors portrayed the attorneys, the plaintiff(s) (in civil proceedings where compensation was demanded), the defendant(s) (in both civil and criminal stories) and key witnesses. As the stories were set in  a single urban area (the city was called Madison Heights), often attorneys, law enforcement officials and others became semi-regulars on the show. Each episode followed a basic formula, as follows: Both criminal and civil proceedings were presented. Like "Divorce Court", the writers of "Superior Court" tended to focus on "shock value" rather than routine cases (to maintain viewer interest). Some examples: Some episodes had one case, which lasted the entire show, while others had two. While most of the cases were serious, there was the occasional case—unusual or quirky by its circumstances, but could happen—that was played  more for comedic value.