Big Ticket Television, Inc. (also known as Big Ticket Entertainment and Big Ticket Pictures) is an American production company. Big Ticket is a subsidiary of CBS Studios (formerly CBS Paramount Television and CBS Television Studios), a division of

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

. It is best known for producing the syndicated mainstay '' Judge Judy'' from 1996 to 2021.

History

The company was launched on October 21, 1994, under the Spelling Entertainment Group, who named former Warner Bros. Television and Spelling Television executive Larry Lyttle to run the division. Lyttle wanted to name the company Blockbuster Television, after its parent company Blockbuster, Inc., but Viacom opposed the idea due to the chain's fate being unclear.Paige Albiniak and John Eggerton 6/29/200
Paramount Grabs Its Big Ticket
broadcastingcable.com, Retrieved on September 9, 2013 Viacom by that time owned Blockbuster Inc. and its 67% stake in Spelling Entertainment Group. Lyttle chose the name "Big Ticket" by driving by a Blockbuster store and noting Blockbuster's "big ticket" logo. Big Ticket was created primarily as an outlet for non-

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

TV series from Spelling, which was largely known for hit dramas at that time. All of its programming was distributed by Spelling's syndication arm, Worldvision Enterprises, until Worldvision was folded into Paramount Domestic Television, later CBS Television Distribution, and now

CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Paramount Domestic Television and CBS Television Distribution) is the television broadcast syndication arm of CBS Studios, a division of the CBS Entertainment Group, in turn a division of Paramount Global, ...

. In 1999, Spelling Entertainment was bought out by Viacom Productions, resulting in Paramount Domestic Television (which Viacom had owned since its 1994 acquisition of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

) becoming Big Ticket's distributor in June 1999. On June 29, 2003,

Paramount Television The first incarnation of Paramount Television was operated as the television production division of the American film studio Paramount Pictures, until it changed its name to CBS Paramount Television on January 17, 2006. History Desilu Pro ...

combined Big Ticket Television's production operations with its network and syndication outputs after Lyttle left the employ of Viacom.Michael Schneider "Variety
Par to close Big Ticket
variety.com, Retrieved on September 9, 2013 In 2006, PDT became CBS Paramount Domestic Television and later

(formerly CBS Television Distribution) in 2007.

Productions

Big Ticket's most widely viewed productions are the courtroom series '' Judge Judy'' (ended in 2021) and '' Judge Joe Brown'' (ended in 2013), with the former debuting in 1996 and the latter in 1998. This left ''Judge Judy'' as the company's only program in the 2013-14 television season, although most of the production is done by CBS as the company has been largely a figurehead organization since the CBS takeover of Viacom's television unit. In Fall 2014, Big Ticket also began to produce the three-judge court show '' Hot Bench'', which is created and executive-produced by Judge Judy Sheindlin through her own production company, Queen Bee Productions. Big Ticket also produced the sitcom ''

Moesha ''Moesha'' (, ) is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars Contemporary R&B, R&B singer Brandy Norwood, Brandy as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with ...

'', its spin-off '' The Parkers'' and the stop-motion animated comedy '' Gary & Mike'' for UPN, the dramas '' Hack'' created by David Koepp & starring David Morse and '' Wolf Lake'' created by John Leekly & starring Lou Diamond Phillips for CBS (only five episodes of the latter aired on CBS before cancellation, but all nine were shown on UPN), and the talk show parody '' Night Stand with Dick Dietrick'' for syndication. For the second (and final) season of the court series '' Swift Justice'', Big Ticket became the production company after the series moved from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and shared a studio with ''Judge Judy'' and ''Judge Joe Brown''. The company's most recent program is '' The Drew Barrymore Show'', which launched on September 14, 2020. As of the 2022–23 television season, ''Hot Bench'' and ''The Drew Barrymore Show'' are the only programs under Big Ticket management remaining in production.

References

{{Authority control CBS Studios Television production companies of the United States Paramount Global subsidiaries American companies established in 1994 Mass media companies established in 1994