The BEST Episodes of Judging Amy
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: Mar 22, 2021
Network: CBS
A family drama focused on three generations of women living together in Hartford, Connecticut. Amy Brenneman plays Amy Gray, who left New York City behind and now works as a family court judge. Karle Warren plays Lauren, Amy's daughter; Tyne Daly is Maxine, Amy's tough, opinionated mother.
#1 - My Name is Amy Gray...
Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired May 3, 2005
Amy says her final goodbyes to Graciela. Maxine realizes that she made a mistake in pushing Ignacio away and tries to reach out to him but Ignacio rebuffs her because he doesn't want to be her yo-yo, jerked around on Maxine's whims. Bruce is still absent on Amy's last day in the courtroom. Holbrook tries to raise awareness about the bill before Congress that will effectively kill the juvenille justice system. Donna is amazed that Amy refuses to support the cause and brings several of the kids whose lives Amy has changed during her time on the bench in an effort to change her mind. Amy, frustrated by her limitations as a judge, runs into Marty Levine, who again tries to convince her to give the speech in Washington and run for Senate. Amy runs the idea by Lauren who at first refuses to give a straight answer but later supports her mom when Maxine attacks the decision. That same night, Maxine must rush to save a young girl from being pimped out by her prostitute mother. Amy receive
8.50 #2 - Come Back Soon
Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired May 21, 2002
Although Amy tries to make the best of it, she and Lauren are still miserable in their small apartment; unable to avoid running into Jared and his date at the diner while looking and feeling her worst, Maxine gives him the cold shoulder, but Jared remains undeterred in his affection for her and finally gets her to accept an engagement ring; Michael sues for full legal custody of Lauren; just as Amy is prepared to ask her mother if she can move back in, she discovers that Maxine has puts her house up for sale; Bruce pleads no contest on his assault charge and receives a suspended sentence; Amy hears a case of a woman who locked her children in the trunk of her car because she had no one to care for them while she was at work; Maxine ends her medical leave after her dentist asks her to investigate the possible abuse of a teenaged patient; Bruce is fired and the dreaded Ian Jankowski is promoted to C.S.O. and assigned to Amy's courtroom.
8.44 #3 - The Extinction of the Dinosaurs
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired Jan 22, 2002
Barry invites Amy to a business dinner, where her outspokenness almost gets the better of her and the budding relationship with Barry; with Kyle's help, Maxine searches the streets for a runaway gay teen, and she later agrees to let him stay at her house until she finds him another foster home placement; Amy must decide if a teenager who wrote a play about killing bullies, joked about school shootings, and considers the Holocaust a warning to the ruling classes, presents a threat to society; Maxine's already strained patience with the way Brian is running Teen Harbor snaps when she witnesses a drug deal there, and she orders it closed, incurring Kyle's wrath; as Bruce prepares a recommendation for Amy on whether a woman whose alcoholism caused her to lose custody of her children should be reunited with them, he isn't entirely convinced that she has stopped drinking and decides to do a little surveillance, bringing along Andrea to keep him company.
8.43 #4 - Lost and Found
Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired Dec 17, 2002
Maxine incurs the wrath of the mothers in Lauren's carpool; Amy fears her parenting skills will be called into question when a family-relations officer visits her home as part of Michael's custody suit; Kyle and Lily try to locate a man Lily misdiagnosed and prematurely released from the hospital; Maxine feels Sean's new relationship with a new foster mother is inappropriate; substituting in probate court, Amy rules on whether a mother can have her son declared legally dead despite the father's hope that the boy, who disappeared four years earlier, is still alive.
8.33 #5 - Crowded House
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired Nov 30, 1999
Amy hears the case of an extremely abused, mentally ill teenager who has stabbed a teacher; Vincent's agent finds him a publisher who will sign him only if he completes another short story in the next four days; Maxine tries to help an overstressed young mother who is afraid that she will hurt her baby; Lauren strains Amy's patience as she waxes enthusiastically over Michael's girlfriend; Maxine faces a house full of her children for a week as Vincent moves back home to devote all his energies to writing, and Gillian takes a much-needed break from the strain that infertility has placed on her marriage; Vincent's short story inspires Gillian to return home to Peter and reconsider adoption.
8.31 #6 - Requiem
Season 4 - Episode 20 - Aired Apr 15, 2003
Stu convinces a reluctant Amy to go on an overnight camping trip which ends up bringing them closer together; after planning to wed Jared secretly on the weekend, Maxine is devastated when he has a sudden, fatal heart attack in China and lashes out in her grief to everyone around her, including a rebellious teenaged client; tensions run high in the Gray household when Maxine refuses to allow anyone to comfort her, and Peter and Charles bicker over the funeral arrangements as a way of handling their sorrow; Maxine gathers family and friends at the diner for a moving memorial service.
8.25 
#7 - Lullaby
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired Oct 12, 2004
Vincent's struggles with his latest novel leads him into blowing off his agent, who responds by dropping Vincent and demanding the return of the advance that Vincent's already spent; Maxine receives another award, and uses her acceptance speech to talk about the young boy lost in the system that she and Sean can't seem to locate; Amy's dealings with two troubled teenage girls and their mothers in Accountability court inspires her to change her focus when she returns to Juvenile Court; Maxine tries to avoid removing the children of a overburdened single mother working to overcome anger and abuse issues; David finally feels that he's put his wife's death behind him and can now pursue a relationship with Amy; Ignacio lets Maxine know that he's ready to do whatever it takes to have a future with her; Amy fires Donna to propel her into practicing law; Kyle decides to accompany Heather to Minnesota and take care of their son while she's in rehab.
8.25 #8 - Sex, Lies and Expedia.com
Season 5 - Episode 23 - Aired May 18, 2004
Unwilling to let a poor client go to extremes to get prompt medical attention for her daughter, Maxine finds a way to get D.C.F. to cover the surgery the girl needs; David declares his love for Amy; Maxine gets shocking news about Ignacio and breaks off their relationship; Amy tragically miscalculates a teenager's propensity for violence; increasingly jealous over Peter's involvement with Shelby, Gillian confronts him about the future of their marriage, and doesn't like the response she gets; with the help of Buck and a little gunfire, Kyle finally finds a career path he can get excited about; the Grays receive a very unexpected, and very welcome, visitor.
8.22 #9 - The Paper War
Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired Mar 15, 2005
While attending a bench and bar dinner, Amy gets into a heated argument with the State Attorney and accuses his office of being politically motivated in regard to the juvenile justice system.
8.20 #10 - Silent Era
Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired Jan 11, 2005
High-school student Graciela Reyes is brought to Amy's courtroom for violating her parole, but it is soon uncovered that the reason for this is that her mother has moved to Gautamala along with her two brothers, leaving Graciela behind; Meanwhile, the Gray family rallies around Maxine after she is forced to have open-heart surgery after she suffers a second heart attack during a visit to the cardiologist; Sean locates Anthony Bird, who is living with a family who had recently adopted him.
8.17 #11 - Disposable
Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired Mar 16, 2004
Tensions run high as the family prepares for Ned's birthday party; a shoplifting trial in Amy's court exposes a prostitution ring in a group home for teenage girls; Maxine enlists the assistance of a former client to help a dedicated foster mother as she struggles with illness; Bruce gets testy when Amy's unsolicited advice about his conflicts with Mia over their living arrangements hits too close to home; Gillian resists Matthew's temptations; compelling new evidence and a new witness force Amy to grant Danny Hawkins a new trial and cope with David's resistance to handing the case over to another prosecutor.
8.14 #12 - Men Aren't Monsters
Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired Apr 2, 2002
The Gray house is completely ransacked by vandals who appear to have targeted the house after receiving an adverse judgment in Amy's courtroom, and it takes all of Amy's persuasiveness to convince herself and her daughter that they are safe; after Joe McKenzie takes over at Teen Harbor, Kyle disagrees with his strict approach but they settle their differences after Joe sees how Kyle uses his training to treat an epileptic teenager; Maxine enlists Sean's help in her own investigation into Pamela Taylor's death at Buckley Hills; Amy hears the case of parents accused of abuse for transferring their son to a new school every year to get him more easily noticed by the scouts who can recommend him for a college basketball scholarship; Maxine finally finds the perfect foster father for Eric right under her very nose, although it takes a little convincing for both the adult and the teenager to see the wisdom of her choice; against his better judgment, Bruce spends the night at Andrea's house,
8.13 #13 - The Bottle Show
Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired Apr 9, 2002
Maxine is saddened when Jared fails to call her upon his return from China, so Sean arranges a casino night fund raiser to cheer her up; a born-again teenager charges her mother with parental neglect for working as a stripper, and Amy must decide whether to place the girl in foster care; Donna confronts Kyle after she finds a syringe and morphine in his room drawers and is relieved to hear that he keeps it as a reminder that he is capable of making the choice to stay clean every day; after his daughter tells him about her ill-timed encounter with Bruce, David Solomon files a complaint against Andrea, who immediately ends her relationship with Bruce for fear of losing custody; responding to a message from Bruce attempting to explain the situation, Solomon shows up at the courthouse and threatens, taunts and insults Bruce, who is arrested and jailed after he knocks Solomon to the ground with a punch.
8.13 #14 - Getting Out
Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired Apr 26, 2005
Amy dreams that Bruce makes breakfast for her and Maxine and then dances with her in the kitchen. Amy finds out about some new information that may get Graciella a new trial. Unfortunately, Graciella is murdered in prison before this happens. Sean and Maxine got to exreme measures to help a foster family that may lose their home because they can't make their mortgage payments. One of Vincent's students tries to stab him with a pencil. Amy hears the case of a 10 year old boy with an extensive history of violence. The boy accuses Bruce of challenging him to a fight. Amy tells Bruce twice to stop looking at the boy. They call a recess and Amy and Bruce have a big argument in chambers. Bruce then announces that he is quitting his job. At the end of the episode, Amy announces she is quitting hers also.
8.13 #15 - Victim Soul
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Oct 5, 1999
Amy must determine if a comatose boy who is believed to have healing powers is being abused by his grandmother; Maxine clashes with her supervisor over taking an underfed little girl away from her anorexic mother; Vincent begins a relationship with an older woman.
8.11 #16 - The Out-of-Towners
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired Apr 18, 2000
Heeding the request of counsel to deliver one of her ""rants"" at a sentencing hearing, Amy lectures a young drug dealer whose mother has made tremendous sacrifices to provide him with a better life; much to Peter's dismay, Maxine accepts a date from an attractive man she meets at the diner; Amy gets ""backwater detail"" subbing for another judge, and travels with Bruce to a small town to hear a case centered on the misdiagnosis and overmedication of its teenage boys; as her abductor's case comes to trial, Lisa and Vincent argue when her fears for the possibility of acquittal, and thus her safety, increase; pending the outcome of an investigation, Susie is back at work after a one week paid suspension and, over Maxine's objections, sets in motion a chain of events which eventually leads to the death of a young mother; Amy and Bruce have divergent reactions when confronted with intolerance during their trip; Maxine unsuccessfully tries to resign, and ends up being blackmailed into acceptin
8.11 #17 - Happy Borthday
Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired Feb 22, 2005
Amy finds it rather difficult to follow her mom's advice and embrace her 40th birthday as a milestone. Donna is in Amy's court representing a 13-year-old girl who accidentally kills her friend while they are out on a joyride but shows no remorse for her death. Maxine tries to determine whether two brothers are better off without the presence of their father, an ex-con, in their lives. Amy miscarries on her 40th birthday. Amy drowns her sorrows at a bar located on the beach, where she meets a stranger who gives her the perspective she needs during her difficult time.
8.11 #18 - Trial By Jury
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired Sep 28, 1999
Sitting in for a friend who's undergoing chemotherapy, Amy presides over her first jury trial and clashes with a former law school classmate who represents the parents of a murdered girl who are suing the parents of her teenaged killer; Maxine shops for a new car for the first time in her life; Vincent feels that Maxine doesn't take his writing seriously after she interrupts his work to ask him to babysit the six rambunctious first graders attending Lauren's sleepover party.
8.10 #19 - Short Calendar
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired Sep 21, 1999
Short calendar day drops 54 cases on Amy's docket, and the long day stretches into night when she's forced to make a life and death decision about the fate of an abused child; Maxine decides to return to work; Amy's confrontation with Lauren's obnoxious new teacher leaves her with yet another responsibility in an already jam-packed calendar.
8.03 #20 - The Persistence of Tectonics
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired Nov 23, 1999
Amy juggles preparing Thanksgiving dinner, being on call, and coping with a surprise announcement from Michael; Gillian asks Maxine for help in financing another in-vitro procedure; Amy presides over an adoption in which the biological father shows up at the last minute to claim his child; Hillary tries to settle the score with Vincent during a Thanksgiving party at Alan's; Amy sentences two boys convicted of animal cruelty.
8.00 #21 - The Wee Hours
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired Feb 22, 2000
Amy gears up for the custody battle over Lauren; Vincent takes a job at the local newspaper to help him overcome a severe case of writer's block; Amy suffers from a bad bout of insomnia that's coupled with some interesting dreams in the few hours that she's able to sleep; Maxine investigates why a boy from a loving family persists in sleepwalking far from home; Amy decides the fate of a teenaged athlete when her parents disagree on how her gymnastics training is affecting her life; Lauren and Amy have an ongoing battle over bedtime; Amy must decide if she'll allow the children of combative parents to be represented by their own attorney.
8.00 #22 - Drawing the Line
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired Feb 29, 2000
Amy must decide if a brain-injured woman is fit to be a mother; Maxine discovers that a teenaged client is being abused by his therapist; Leisha meets Amy, and faces her ire for piercing Lauren's ears without permission; Vincent and Maxine clash over his journalism career; Amy faces a class of insufferable law students when she's asked to teach a seminar at Yale; Donna takes modeling herself after Amy a bit too far when she begins to show up for work dressed and coiffed exactly like her mentor; it's all bark and no bite when Amy decides to dismiss the case of a drug dealer sniffed out by a four-legged member of the neighborhood watch.
8.00 #23 - Gray vs. Gray
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired May 9, 2000
Maxine gets a new supervisor at D.C.F.; Donna becomes stressed when Oscar's attorneys petition to have his conviction reversed; Amy and Maxine are at odds over having Maxine's terminally ill client testify in a case that Amy is hearing; Vincent counsels Donna against telling Oscar about her attraction to other men, and reassures her that her feelings are normal.
8.00 #24 - The Unbearable Lightness of Being Family
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired Oct 30, 2001
Amy must decide whether to modify a custody agreement and allow a woman to take her daughter to Paris for two years against the wishes of the girl's father; back to work at the DCF, Maxine takes on the case of ""Bubble Man"", a homeless man who is about to be arrested for blowing bubbles in the park without a permit, and shows Robert some tricks of the trade to save an abused boy; Bruce works with a mother who is about to lose custody of her son for not meeting the conditions of his probation because she is in denial about the emotional toll her son's disability has taken on her; Maxine brokers a peace settlement and gets Amy and Vincent speaking again by suggesting that Amy review Vincent's contract with the studio that has optioned his novel; Carole's condition worsens unexpectedly, and Vincent leaves hurriedly, amid many tears and in possession of the family's good luck totem, the ""surfing monkey"".
8.00 #25 - Not Stumbling, But Dancing
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired Mar 5, 2002
Amy's suspicion that a little ""pretty girl voodoo"" is behind the case of a teenager who beat up the abusive ex-boyfriend of a girl on whom he had a crush is confirmed when prosecutor Jonathan Ashworth does a little digging and helps Amy serve up justice to all parties; when a confused and frightened teenager barricades himself with his siblings in their house and begins shooting at the police, Maxine risks her life to persuade him to put down his rifle and come with her to visit his hospitalized mother; a pregnant woman flees the jurisdiction to avoid losing custody of her baby to D.C.F. after Amy determines that she has done nothing to change the conditions under which she lost custody of her son two years earlier; Lauren's assignment for her life skills class, to prepare dinner for the family by herself, results in a creative dish inspired by a well-known trio not usually associated with the culinary arts.
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