The People’s Court aka The Big One

If you were around in the 1980s, you know The People’s Court: the first of the courtroom shows with real-life participants. Early reality TV, I guess (thanks a lot).

Its impact crested in 1988 as a memorable plot point in Rain Man:

The urgent, pulsating crime-and-punishment theme music was actually a 1975 cue called “The Big One” by Alan Tew, for the British television series The Hanged Man. Whether it was composed expressly for that show, or as a library cue—I don’t know.

Either way, I always dug it!

Now, my kudos to Quinn Dymalski and his student jazz band for this live performance:

Check out some rap songs for which the track has been sampled. Here’s one:

Thank you for following me into today’s obscure corner of our dumb culture.