Judge Judy is pushing for hundreds of millions for her show re-runs

Judge Judy. Photo / Supplied

Whether it's stupid people being screamed at or a 74-year-old woman shutting down even the smartest of arguments, Judge Judy has been a fan favourite for years.

Now in its 21st season, the reality show which sees opposing parties argue against each other in court is still a ratings juggernaut for Judy Sheindlin and now the judge is trying to cash in on that.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sheindlin is currently trying to sell her re-runs in a deal that could make her a few hundred million dollars richer.

The publication is reporting the no-nonsense judge is in the middle of pitching her re-runs to numerous TV outlets for as much as $260 million US ($360,860,575.40 NZ)

Her most recent contract negotiation scored the world-famous judge a cool $61 million US ($84,651,694 NZ) a year but the negotiation also gave her the rights to the library of her show which equates to thousands of episodes and hopefully plenty of interested networks.

While many shows lose their intrigue after more than 20 years on the air, Judge Judy has stayed incredibly popular and still averages more than 10 million viewers an episode.

The only court show that has come anywhere near it is Hot Bench, which ironically, was also created by Sheindlin.

It also only scores around three million viewers an episode, seven million less than Judge Judy.

The publication also reports on the rarity of on-air personalities owning the rights to their library.

Oprah Winfrey managed to keep hold of her catalogue through OWN and Johnny Carson also held the rights to his Tonight Show library. Sheindlin only nabbed the rights to her library a few years ago.

Judge Judy will air its last and 24th season in 2020.