‘Judge Judy’ ruling daytime TV

“Judge Judy” averaged 10.1 million viewers each day during the third week of January, a typical week, more than the next three courtroom shows combined, the Nielsen company said.

Without her black robe with the white lace, Sheindlin can walk down a Manhattan street undisturbed. Just try that with Dr. Phil, Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Oz or Katie Couric. Each have daytime shows with an audience less than half of what “Judge Judy” draws each day.

The people who choose to have their disputes settled on camera by Sheindlin know to expect a sharp tongue and sharp judgments.

“They want to do the right thing, most people,” she said. “For that little core that doesn’t want to do the right thing and gets away with it routinely, most people want to see them get a good whupping. And I am your girl.”

Some of her cases have changed over the years, but Judge Judy doesn’t. It’s instructive to watch Morley Safer’s 1993 feature on “60 Minutes” about Judge Sheindlin of Manhattan’s Family Court to see how similar it is to the “Judge Judy” courtroom today. Same Brooklyn attitude and impatience.

That report caught the attention of Hollywood syndicators, who turned Sheindlin from a Tylenol-popping public servant to a celebrity earning a reported $45 million a year.

“I don’t mind getting my hands dirty, and I don’t mind getting to the truth of a situation and saying, ‘You’re right, you’re wrong, next case,’ ” she said. “If I wasn’t right most of the time, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.”

Sheindlin doesn’t want to be briefed by producers about cases before going on the air, preferring to look over their legal arguments and question them herself. Anything else feels uncomfortably like acting to her.

She’s signed to continue “Judge Judy” into 2015, but that’s not a deadline.

“I’m not tired,” she said. “I’m still young — 70 is the new 50. I hope I’ll know when to say goodbye. Right now, I’m not there yet.”