TV Talk: Judge Judy returns; ‘Dead and Buried Treasures’ gives a ‘Chiller Theatre’ vibe

Two premieres in the week ahead deliver public access TV looks, but only one is an actual public access TV show.

‘Judy Justice’

With the “Judge Judy” show over (reruns still air on WPXI-TV at 3 and 3:30 p.m. weekdays), retired Manhattan Family Court Judge Judy Sheindlin has a new series, “Judy Justice,” on ad-supported free streaming service IMDb TV with a new episode debuting each weekday beginning Monday.

It’s essentially the same type of courtroom show, albeit with more episodes focused on a single case than the two cases per episode as was traditional on “Judge Judy.”

“Judy Justice” also features new bailiff Kevin Rasco, court stenographer Whitney Kumar and law clerk Sarah Rose, who is Sheindlin’s granddaughter. They’re almost literally window dressing, rarely speaking except an end-of-episode, “in chambers” sit-down between Rose and Sheindlin where Judy is defanged and smiley as she goes over the moral of the story from that day’s case with her granddaughter, filmed with public access-grade bad lighting.

Otherwise, “Judy Justice” has all the hallmarks of “Judge Judy,” most notably Sheindlin’s cranky, take-no-guff style: “Maybe you can gather I’m not loving either of you,” she tells a plaintiff and defendant in an early episode.

‘Dead and Buried Treasures’

There’s more entertainment – and at times, better production values – to be found in “Dead and Buried Treasures,” a modern take on the old “Chiller Theatre” format, that streams online (on YouTube; on Facebook, Roku and The Vortexx) and is available on cable public access channels locally (usually at 11 p.m., midnight or 1 a.m. Friday and/or Saturday on Comcast Channel 7 or Verizon Channel 32 in Bethel Park on BPTV; Comcast Channel 21 in Pittsburgh on PCTV; Comcast’s Channel 14 in Moon on MCATV; Armstrong Channel 62 in Washington County and Atlantic Broadband Channel 17 in Fayette County n CUTV).

Created in 2019 by Washington County’s Erik Sprowls, who is also the show’s writer/director/producer/star/publicist, “Dead and Buried Treasures” delivers original content that wraps around an old movie that’s in the public domain with Sprowls as horror host Captain Calico Drake, who introduces the film and pops up at several points during the movie.

Sprowls, who has taught college-level TV production courses, previously co-created a similar show, “Fright Night Friday,” on California University of Pennsylvania’s student-run TV station while teaching there 25 years ago. His former students have gone on to become news anchors and performers.

“My niece said to me one day, ‘Don’t you ever get tired of making other people famous?’” Sprowls recalled. That led him to create “Dead and Buried Treasures,” which produces about one new episode each month.

When covid-19 hit, Sprowls kept making new episodes, which are shot in front of a green screen in his home (other performers shoot their scenes in their homes).

In addition to online streaming and airing on local cable systems, the show, which won a 2020 Greater Pittsburgh Community Media Award, is carried by low-power Buffalo TV station WBXZ-TV, and Sprowls hopes to gain over-the-air carriage in Pittsburgh in 2022.

This week’s Halloween episode wraps around the original 1968 “Night of the Living Dead,” but the series usually sticks with family-friendly horror films.

“I grew up on ‘Chiller Theatre,’” Sprowls said. “[Host] Bill Cardille always wanted to make sure his shows were family-oriented because you get more viewers that way and I agree. So we try to make it more fun and more interactive.”

‘Star Trek: Prodigy’

While watching the one-hour premiere of the animated “Star Trek: Prodigy,” now streaming on Paramount +, my 11-year-old son remarked, “I like this. It’s like ‘Star Wars.’”

That may be a soul-crushing response to the ears of “Star Trek” fans but it’s also accurate, at least as “Prodigy” begins. (To be clear, my kids have seen episodes of the original “Trek,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”)

The first “Star Trek” property aimed at kids since the 1970s animated version of the original series, “Prodigy” begins on a prison planet where purple alien Dal (Brett Gray) works under the thumb of some nasty characters until he finds a Starfleet ship, the U.S.S. Protostar, gathers some buddies to help pilot it and inadvertently kidnaps the villain’s daughter, Gwyn (Ella Purnell).

The alien species designs look a lot like the style of aliens in the animated “Star Wars” shows and the initial focus on Dal does have more of a “Star Wars” flavor.

“Prodigy” grows “Trek”-ier in episode two once the teens steal the Protostar and get to know their hologram adviser, Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew, voicing the character she created on “Star Trek: Voyager”). Janeway means nothing to this show’s target audience but her presence might make some parents smile.

“Prodigy” features a hopeful, winning theme song by composer Michael Giacchino, who’s previously scored some of the J.J. Abrams-produced “Trek” movies. And like all the recent live-action “Trek” shows, “Prodigy” is heavily-serialized but not nearly as dark as “Star Trek: Discovery,” which, alas, is not a family-friendly series. My 7-year-old son has already asked to re-watch the second episode of “Prodigy” so this latest “Trek” is certainly well-calibrated to capture the interest of its target audience.

Renewed

CBS renewed freshman comedy “Ghosts” for an additional five episodes, bringing its first-season episode count to 18. ABC ordered a “back nine” of “The Wonder Years” and “Home Economics,” bringing their 2021-22 TV season totals to 22 episodes each.

HBO renewed “Succession’ for a fourth season.

Apple TV+ renewed comedy “Mythic Quest” for seasons three and four.

Channel surfing

Family-friendly BYUtv, available on some cable systems (check with your cable/satellite company for availability and channel number) and also available at BYUtv.org and via streaming on the BYUtv app, debuts a four-part adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost” (9 p.m. Sunday) starring Anthony Head (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Ted Lasso”). … WQED-TV’s “Filmmakers Corner” begins its 13th season (10 p.m. Saturday) with an interview with producer/director Tony Buba and includes a selection of his short films about the people and stories of the Mon Valley. … McCandless native Greg Nicotero is the special guest on Shudder’s “The Last Drive-In: The Walking Dead,” featuring Nicotero and host Joe Bob Briggs discussing the first two episodes of the AMC zombie thriller, streaming Friday. … Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions secured a $2.7 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help fund production, promotion and educational engagement for its new animated series “Alma’s Way.” … Pittsburgh native Billy Porter will direct and play a theater director in HBO Max’s “Camp,” a movie about a camp for queer teens based on the 2020 L.C. Rosen YA novel of the same name.