Eye for an Eye (TV series)

Eye For an Eye was "presided" over by zany, outlandish, and harshly teasing Judge Extreme Akim. Judge Extreme Akim's was notorious for his draconian punishments. He literally attempted to make "paybacks" fit the crime. As his paybacks were exceedingly harsh and out of the ordinary, however, they often went beyond fitting the crime.

As examples of the unusual rulings issued by Judge Akim, a man who impregnated a girl was ordered to wear a fatsuit for a month; a landlord whose apartments were not suitable for living was ordered to write a new policy while sitting in a truck filled with cow manure; etc. At the end of each hearing, Extreme Akim says "Now THAT'S justice."

Akim "The Strongarm" Anastopoulo was, at the time of the series debut, a personal injury lawyer who had been practicing law in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina since 1986.

The program was unusual among courtroom shows for its crudeness and lack of courtroom decorum: When Big Sugar Ray Phillips instructed the audience to rise for Judge Akim's entrance, the audience rose all awhile cheering and chanting "Extreme Akim" repeatedly. They were frequently heard in a state of frenzy throughout the course of the hearings, blurting out remarks in unison.

Not one to restore order in his courtroom, Extreme Akim's hearings were tumultuous, chaotic, and uncontrolled with the litigants, the audience, as well as the judge himself all hooting and hollering at the same time, giving the show an environment similar to early tabloid talk shows such as Hot Seat with Wally George or The Richard Bey Show. While Extreme Akim tended to allow courtroom misconduct, interruptions, and disrespect from seemingly everyone before him, he did occasionally attempt to bring the parties to order, especially if they were the party he perceived as guilty. This was usually done in an albeit only teasing, still harsh manner. Plaintiffs and defendants presented their testimonies in ring-shaped "cages" that had microphones attached inside. Witnesses were instructed to enter the cages if they wished to speak. In lieu of the traditional judge's gavel, Extreme Akim wielded a baseball bat embossed with the word "justice."

The end of each hearing featured the payback segment, the show following its litigants as they served their sentence. As result, the courtroom was not the only setting of the program. According to the show, the reason for the extreme nature of the sentencing was because the America's justice system was hopeless and unfair. For this reason, the series followed the "eye for an eye" system. For cases with simple cash judgments, an ATM was located in the courtroom, allowing for judgments to be paid out immediately and on-camera.

Despite the program's name though, the disputes were limited to the general civil property and tenant disputes of the genre with the litigants giving up their rights to the show using the binding arbitration format, and the show did not take cases where physical violence took place between the litigants, nor were verdicts involving physical violence against a subject rendered.

• Eye for an Eye on IMDb