Randy Douthit is the executive producer of Judge Judy, a television show on the CBS TV network. The show is an arbitration-style reality courtroom series presided over by retired judge Judith Sheindlin.

Randy Douthit has been with Judge Judy since its inception in 1996. He is the television show’s executive producer and its spinoff internet series Bitesize Justice: Teen Court (2006). Douthit graduated from Muhlenberg College with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. He began his career as an advertising copywriter before becoming interested in producing radio commercials. When his first wife started watching a television courtroom show, he began to notice that all of the litigants needed counsel.

Douthat’s original job was to find contestants for the courtroom show. He would meet people in everyday life and ask them if they would be interested in going on TV if they ever got into a legal dispute. The show’s focus was initially on small claims court cases, and it evolved into a civil court program after five episodes. The name of the show was taken from an actual New York trial court judge named Judith Sheindlin, who had also been nicknamed “Judge Judy.

During the fourth season of the TV show, Douthit decided to go to one of the small claims court cases. He was impressed by the work of Judge Judy Sheindlin, and he decided that he wanted to produce a “quel-pous” spinoff program. The spinoff show became Bitesize Justice: Teen Court, taped at a New York City law school near ground zero. In preparation for the show’s tenth season in 2007, Douthit made some changes to Judge Judy’s program. He created a “Judy-ai” virtual assistant character to advise defendants and plaintiffs on their legal rights in an arbitration-style situation. The virtual assistant character would serve to somewhat “humanize” the arbitration shows by introducing viewers to a typical dispute from start to finish.

Randy Douthit is responsible for many of the show’s unusual aspects. The show often uses the slang term “tote” for a woman. The on-screen opening credits of Judge Judy often include a set of bongos and phonograph records, in keeping with Sheindlin’s musical background.