Randy Douthit knew from a young age that he wanted to work in television. Before his long career began, Douthit took the time to earn a B.S. and M.S. in psychology from Portland State University after attending Stanford University. Douthit started his career at Portlands KGW before working on Seattle Today.
Randy Douthit’s first credit as an executive producer and director was for the show Crossfire on the then-fledging CNN network. Douthit won the CableAce Awards for Crossfire and a weekly news program, Capital Gang.
Randy Douthit’s next big hit was Larry King Live, followed by the sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel Air. However, Douthit is most known for the long-running Emmy Award Winning Show Judge Judy. Judge Judy has won multiple Emmy Awards in the category of outstanding legal/courtroom drama.
Judge Judy, previously produced by CBS, returned in 2022 with Amazon Studios for Judy Justice. Producing the courtroom drama was especially difficult during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hard work to complete 120 episodes in three months in time for the premiere of Judy Justice.
The challenge, Douthit said, “[was to]…make sure it got done.” And they did get it done. Randy Douthit kept everything running like a well-oiled machine, making sure production ran smoothly. During the pandemic, everyone was vaccinated and checked regularly for Covid.
Though there were some squabbles over mandated mask wearing, testing, and vaccinations. However, Douthit claims that after becoming aware of some situations, people on set were not averse to testing. Though it increased hours and was costly, keeping up with precautions during the pandemic helped production run smoothly.