‘Judge Joe Brown’ Canceled: Last Case To Be Heard In September; Why?

"Judge Joe Brown" has been canceled by CBS Television Distribution. The 15-year-old courtroom program, the second-highest-rated behind "Judge Judy," will see its last litigants in September 2013.

Judge Joe Brown himself allegedly could not strike a salary deal with CBS last month and therefore the company decided to part ways with Brown. TV Guide reports the profits from "Judge Joe Brown" were being divided evenly between CBS and the judge. At the time of the "Judge Joe Brown" cancellation, Brown was reportedly making $20 million per year.

Brown said that in recent days, his relationship with his program's distributor was already waning: "[They] applied zero public relations and zero advertisement to the show," he said, comparing the negotiations to "pull[ing] teeth with no novocaine."

A native of Washington, D.C., Judge Joe Brown grew up in Los Angeles and after earning his Juris Doctor from UCLA, he eventually became the first black prosecutor in Memphis, Tenn. Judge Joe Brown gained notoriety after presiding over the final appeal of James Earl Ray's sentence for assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., alleging that Ray's rifle was indeed not King's murder weapon. Brown was later removed from the proceedings after charges of bias arose. It was around that time that Judge Joe Brown caught the attention of the producers of "Judge Judy," and the rest is history.

While Judge Joe Brown is reportedly shopping his program to other television distributors, reports say CBS Television Distribution is eyeing a number of replacements. One such adjudicator, Judge Geoffrey Gaither of Indiana, is said to be a top contender. Although FOX, a major syndicator of "Judge Joe Brown" is not supportive of Gaither's candidacy.