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Los Angeles - Judge Judy is keeping her hand firmly on the gavel until 2015.
Judy Sheindlin signed a new multi-year deal to stay with the long-running syndicated programme that last season ranked number 1 in daytime, CBS Television Distribution said on Monday.
"I am thrilled with the opportunity to continue this exciting second career," Sheindlin, 68, said in a statement.
A former judge in New York, the tart-tongued Sheindlin presides over small-claims cases on her programme that's in its 15th season.
Oprah out, Judy in
Judge Judy had been renewed until 2013 before the new agreement was reached. The deal comes as Oprah Winfrey prepares to wrap up her talk show after 25 years, leaving Sheindlin and other daytime stars to jockey for position. Winfrey's cable channel, OWN, launched in January.
Sheindlin had publicly toyed with the idea of ending her show in 2013, but Judge Judy remains a strong draw. In the 2009-10 season, it ranked number 1 among daytime series and became the first programme in a decade to outdraw The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Sheindlin is "at the top of her game," said John Nogawski, president of CBS Television Distribution, the show's syndicator. She's been the most-watched TV judge since her show's 1996 debut.
She was hospitalised overnight in Los Angeles in late March for undisclosed reasons but said "all is well" after she was released.
In a 2006 interview, Sheindlin said: "The truth is, you're really supposed to know when to say goodbye in any job you're in. I hope that I'll know."
