Fan-Favorite Host Announces New TV Series Days After Warner Bros. Cancelation
Judge Greg Mathis is already headed back to television, just days after his long-running titular series was cancelled by Warner Bros. Discovery. On Tuesday, the Allen Media Group announced that Mathis will be starring in a new hour-long series this fall, titled Mathis Court with Judge Mathis. The series, which is being pitched to various networks and platforms, will arrive in the fall of 2023. This comes after Warner Bros. Discovery had cancelled Judge Mathis after 24 seasons in syndication.
"Judge Greg Mathis is an outstanding, charismatic, and iconic television host, and we are extremely confident that our eighth and newest court series with Judge Mathis will be very successful for years to come as he joins our outstanding roster of talent, including Judge Kevin Ross, Judge Mablean Ephriam, Judge Christina Perez, Judge Karen Mills-Francis, Judge Glenda Hatchett, Judge Lauren Lake, and Judge Eboni K. Williams," Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, said in a statement.
Why is Warner Bros. Discovery cancelling so many shows and movies?
These patterns began with the cancellation of Batgirl and Scoob!: Holiday Haunt back in August, both of which were already completed and were set to debut on HBO Max. In the months since, Warner Bros. Discovery removed a number of HBO Max-exclusive movies from their streaming platform, a number of fan-favorite animated series. , and even existing HBO originals like Westworld and The Nevers. Anonymous sources alleged in August of last year that no existing show is safe from potentially being cancelled or written off, with Warner Bros. Discovery now making decisions on a case-by-case basis.
"Honestly, I wouldn't categorize it really as for tax reasons," Kathleen Finch, Chairman and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Discovery's U.S. Networks Group, said during a keynote address earlier this year. "The challenges when you bring two companies together, you assess what you have. Then you see if what you have fits with your ongoing strategy. So that had a lot to do with what we had to do. They were painful decisions. I know what it what it must feel like to be a content creator, and then have your work [pulled]. None of this was taken lightly at all. These were really, really painful decisions and whenever possible, we're working really closely with the creators to finding homes for a lot of the content."
"I've had some long heart to hearts with people, explaining what happened, why it happened, all the decisions that went into it," Finch added. "I totally get why people would be nervous. I hope they won't be because that that was a moment in time, that had nothing to do with how we intend to run this company. It's happening in the industry in other places. It's not how we do business, it's not a strategy. I'm happy to talk personally with anybody who wants to have a conversation about it, because it was really painful and not the way that we tend to move forward."
What do you think of Mathis finding a new show after Warner Bros.' cancellation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
