
Many popular court shows are on TV. How can the genre improve? How about using a three-judge panel? That's the concept of "Hot Bench," created by Judge Judy Sheindlin. After hearing each case, the judges discuss it among themselves before rendering a verdict. The show's title comes from a term describing a court action in which a judge frequently interrupts lawyers with questions.

A woman says she was helping a family in crisis, while another says her house and family suffered because of it.

An elderly man accuses a woman, who ran pharmacy errands for him, of pocketing some of his pain pills; she says he whacked her car with his cane as she tried to leave, and she wants him to pay for the dents.

After a man dies in a crash, his mother says her former friend still owed him for a job he did; the defendant says there was no contract and that she already paid what was fair.

A hairstylist says her client refused to pay after demanding unrealistic results and resisting professional advice; the client says she only wanted twists but was pressured into damaging treatments by a stylist who kept calling for help.