Eye for an Eye

Eye for an Eye is a Trash TV court show produced by WWE known for using severe and eccentric sentences dispensed to guilty parties on the program, known as "paybacks".

'Eye for an Eye' is a syndicated show, and being that it was a pseudo-court show in an era in which most court programming used an arbitration-based reality format, Eye for an Eye was a nontraditional series within the judicial genre. This, however, was only one of many reasons as to why the highly unconventional series was considered a nontraditional court show, the program having adopted many maneuvers that were atypical to the traditional present court shows. As noted, the revived show of Eye for an Eye takes a darker tone and deals with more serious topics than the usually covered, most involving criminal justice issues of its predecessor of the same name.

Format
The program followed a half hour format and was unusual among courtroom shows for its crudeness and lack of courtroom decorum: When the chief bailiff, Big Show, instructs the audience to rise for the Judge Gordon Ramsay's entrance, the audience (all made up of college students) rose all awhile cheering and chanting repeatedly. They were frequently heard in a state of frenzy throughout the course of the hearings, blurting out remarks in unison.

Not one to restore order in his courtroom, these courtroom hearings were tumultuous, chaotic, and uncontrolled with the litigants, the audience, as well as the judge himself all hooting and hollering at the same time, giving the show an environment similar to tabloid talk shows such as The Morton Downey Jr. Show or The Steve Wilkos Show. While Ramsay tended to allow courtroom misconduct, interruptions, and/or disrespect from seemingly everyone before him, he did occasionally attempt to bring the parties to order, especially if they were the party he perceived as guilty, by yelling out, "Zip it!". Plaintiffs and defendants presented their testimonies in lecterns that had microphones attached on top on them. Witnesses were instructed to enter the cages if they wished to speak.

In addition to the courtroom's mannerism, shouting matches would occur between the judge and the litigants, as well as members of the audience. Ramsay particularly enjoys making his litigants angry with each other, which on a few occasions resulted in physical confrontations, including arguments, and then, brawls which can eventually be broken up by bailiffs. Sometimes, Ramsay would literally throw law books at the litigants when he is angry at them for excessively heinous misbehavior, such as being accused of certain crimes (especially sex offenses and spousal/child abuse).

Despite his anger against the litigants, Ramsay carefully listens to their stories, and then goes backstage to discuss his decision with the television crew while the litigants go head-to-head with members of the audience, who ask them questions relevant to their situations, although usually the questions were meant to insult a litigant of his/her act.

Ramsay returns with a verdict containing the results of a polygraph test which the litigants took earlier; he reads the verdict, saying: "This court has asked you, [name of defendant/plaintiff], if you had been [list of wrongdoings]. You answered, "Yes/No" - and the results of this polygraph test appeared on the verdict saying that was a lie/you told the truth.". After the verdict is read, the litigants react accordingly; for example, if the defendant passes the test, Ramsay will turn his anger over to the plaintiff the same way he expresses anger at those who are guilty of committing those offenses. Ramsay soon ends each case by ordering for the guilty party to "Get out of my courtroom!" before they are escorted out of the courtroom to serve his/her sentence by the bailiffs.

The end of each hearing featured the payback segment, the show following its litigants as they served their sentence. As result, the courtroom was not the only setting of the program. According to the show, the reason for the extreme nature of the sentencing was because the America's justice system was hopeless and unfair. For this reason, the series followed the "eye for an eye" system. For cases with simple cash judgments, an ATM was located in the courtroom, allowing for judgments to be paid out immediately and on-camera.

Despite the program's name though, the disputes were limited to the general civil property and tenant disputes of the genre with the litigants giving up their rights to the show using the binding arbitration format, and the show did not take cases where physical violence took place between the litigants, nor were verdicts involving physical violence against a subject rendered.

At the end of each episode, the winning party returns to the courtroom to listen to a formal lecture by John Cena, the host of Eye for an Eye, on the principles of refined values in regards to the featured litigants. Cena then ends the show with a closing trademark, "Until next time, America - this court is adjourned."

Cast
https://www.mycast.io/stories/eye-for-an-eye