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10/22: Update on Judge Glenda Hatchett, Bill O’Reilly gets an extension
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta native Judge Glenda Hatchett stopped taping her successful show last year after eight years. But the syndicator is giving the show a bit more life by running “best of” episodes this season despite the fact there are 12 other judge shows on the air, including fellow Atlantan Judge Penny Reynolds Brown.
The “Best of Judge Hatchett” now airs on CW69 at 2 and 2:30 p.m. It’s broken down into 52 unique theme weeks, such as “Celebrity Interventions,” “Out-of-control Youth,” “Family Feuds,” “DNA Dramas,” and “Sue Thy Neighbor.”
Ratingswise, the show was never at the top (where Judge Judy resides) but never near the bottom either. She taped a whopping 1,130 episodes.
“It has been the most amazing journey for me these past eight years,” Hatchett said. She said she wanted to work more in production behind the scenes creating her own shows. Her company name: Great Day Productions. “People ask me, ‘How could you walk away?’ I see it as evolving to the next stage.”
She’s proud of how she has helped many individuals turn their lives around. She took a promiscuous young girl to a rural village in South Africa to live with orphans. She took a chronic runaway to Louisiana to work on a Habitat for Humanity house. She took an alcoholic with a DUI record to spend time with mothers whose kids were killed in DUIs. She said not everybody comes clean but she felt she has made a difference in many cases.
She split time between New York and Atlanta for eight years. Hatchett said when she shot the show for Sony, she’d live in New York during the week for the show, coming back to Atlanta by Friday. Her mom would watch the kids while she was up north. “It was a challenge,” she said, “but I loved it. It’s like anything else. When it’s important to you, you make the logistics work. I never missed a varsity football game or track meet.” Occasionally, if she had to shoot in NY on weekends, she’d bring her kids up and bring them on set.
Amusingly, she said most people, even close friends, call her “Judge.” “It’s hysterical,” Hatchett said. “My sister in law calls me ‘Sister Judge.’ It’s like I don’t have a first name!”
Hatchett is staying busy, not only with TV production and books but a series of parenting conferences.
Tonight she’s hosting a free parenting skills workshop at the Georgia International Convention Center from 6 to 8 p.m.. The address is 2000 Convention Center Concourse, College Park.
“It’s very practical,” she said, revolving around the three C’s: commitment, consistency and cheering. “It’s to empower them. I want to inspire them to think about ways to be a better parent.”
-Bill O’Reilly gets another four years at Fox News. Hollywood Reporter says he is making about $10 million a year..
“Bill O’Reilly is the most prominent and influential name in all of cable news, and his contribution to the network’s success cannot be overstated,” FNC chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said. “After 12 years, ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ maintains remarkable and consistent viewership growth, and his firmly established itself as the top destination for newsmakers to reach a wide, diverse audience.”
The former ABC correspondent has found unprecedented success at Fox, where he joined in 1996. It has been the top-rated cable news program for 94 months, with an average viewership of 4 million a night. He outdraws his competitors at CNN and MSNBC combined.
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