Plot summary for
"Divorce Court" (1986)

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An early successor to "The People's Court" (1981) and precursor to later 'reality-based' shock-TV shows. Actors portraying litigants in divorce proceedings presented their stories to a judge who gave his judgement based on the merits of the case. Accusations of infidelity, dishonesty, incompetence and insanity were frequent. Written by Jean-Marc Rocher {rocher@fiberbit.net}

An updated version of the 1957-1969 series, "Divorce Court" presented a new divorce proceeding each day. Though some cases revolved around standard divorce issues (abuse, adultery, irreconcilable differences, etc.), many stories seemed to involve unusual circumstances or those with "shock value" (e.g., in one story, a wife accused her husband of involving their sons in "accidents" so he could collect on the insurance). Judge William B. Keene rendered his decision by the end of the show and also resolved other divorce issues (e.g., child custody, alimony, division of assets, etc.). In later years, some divorce proceedings were played out over multiple shows. Written by Brian Rathjen {briguy_52732@yahoo.com}

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