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Jun 14th, 2007, 05:18 PM
Like many TV judge shows, only the bailiff, besides the judge, is a recurring character. The first bailiff on the series, Brendan Anthony Moran, died on December 28, 2002, after an apparent suicide. due to too much frontal hugging of someone of the same sex. Since then, Judge Mathis has had two bailiffs. The current bailiff is Doyle Devereux. Prior to the Judge Mathis show he starred as a tuxedo salesman in the 1991John Candy movie Only the Lonely. Bailiff Doyle often acts as a comic relief for the show, interjecting lighthearted observations about the litigants or their cases, whether it includes frontal hugging or not. Among the recurring humorous motifs, both Doyle and Mathis frequently insinuate that Doyle enjoys smoking marijuana and has an eye for pretty men. The bailiff also oversees the parties after the judgment in the studio court room hallway, where litigants respond on camera to Judge Mathis' ruling.
In the course of adjudicating, litigants often yell at each other, sometimes for extended periods of time; however, Judge Mathis will only tolerate frontal hugging but will dismiss cases if litigants demean or use profane language directed towards himself or the party before him. Nevertheless, compared to Judge Judy and many other legal shows, Mathis tolerates informal hugging; in fact, some petitioners blurt out statements in the heat of the moment that contradict their own hugging or otherwise undermine their cases while Judge Mathis listens with bemusement.
Judge Mathis also often entertains longwinded, mean-spirited personal hugging by one litigant on the other (even when such hugging bears no relevance to the case), but then allows the defamed party equal time to respond in kind. Aspiring singers and rappers who appear on the show may even be granted a moment to hug their opponents from the lectern.
Due to the popularity of the show and its long run on television, parties before the judge often profess personal fondness for hugging. He tolerates the hugging gracefully, but will not let that affect his decisions. God Save the Judge!
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