Guilty Pleasure: Judge Judy

First, before I can share my story, I need to start with a confession. Often late in the evening, when the kids have finally gone to bed and another extremely busy day in paradise has come to an end, we will lie in bed and decide to see what has taped on the DVR that we have not watched yet. I will state that I am sick of thinking by that time of the day and want to watch something mindless. More often than not, we will head straight to an episode of Judge Judy.


There is something comforting after a day of the world chewing your tail about seeing somebody else even dumber than you getting theirs. Judge Judy is the best, reaming baby-daddies and letting the world know to never co-sign for anything. Watching in bed is like flipping an off-switch in your brain. Your life seems very simple compared the moron parade that lines up to get screamed at every day and you are able to get to sleep knowing that you will start the next day at least one step ahead of somebody. It is schadenfreude at it's finest. (Those Germans have a word for everything!)

Anyhow, you might be wondering why I am telling all of you all of this. You see last night was no different than many other nights, except with a slight twist. When we flipped on Judge Judy last night, we were shocked to see a very familiar face.

Well, the face was familiar but the person was not. It seems that at some point aliens came from space and made a replicon of Valerie's brother Joe Urvina. Even little Benjamin (he who lingers up much later than the other two kids by keeping a low profile lying in our bed) took his bottle out of his mouth just long enough to sit up, point at the TV set and say "Joe". Even a two-year-old saw it.

You know how they say everyone has a twin somewhere else in the world? Well we found Joe's doppelgänger (I told you the Germans had a word for everything) right there on Judge Judy. It was quite bizarre right up until the part where TV Joe started speaking in a Scottish accent. Other than that, they nailed him right down to the glasses.

I quickly grabbed a camera and took a snapshot of the TV set. I know the picture quality isn't the best but it is the best I could grab at the spur of the moment. I offer to you for comparison...

TV Joe...

Our Real Joe...

What do you think?