A judge turned writer/ creator of an ALLBLK series is dishing on the dramatic show loosely based on her life.
Judge Lynn Toler recently chatted with BOSSIP about Judge Me Not a new show detailing the story of Zelma Jay Johnson (Chyna Lane), an exceptionally bright, young Black woman who struggles with mental health issues, a ludicrous family, and volatile love life.
Judge Zelma’s life mirrors the world of Toler herself and we join her in court where she meets outrageous characters both in front of and behind the bench. As her passionate relationship with her live-in lover takes them both on a ride, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a psychological thriller that “puts her life at risk.”
Judge Toler recently told BOSSIP that Judge Me Not came to fruition after she casually wrote the script “for fun” and was pushed to pursue it.
“I got enough positive feedback that I said, ‘oh maybe I need to pursue this thing,’” Toler told BOSSIP’s Managing Editor Dani Canada before noting that there’s a learning curve between unscripted and scripted television. “I put together a pitch deck and, boom!”
She also gushed about Chyna Lane portraying the lead character who could be “claimed as her daughter” because of their resemblance…
“She is a very thoughtful talented person who was able to not only speak the words and do the actions but portray the distress and trauma in my head so people can see it without being clownish or corny,” said Toler. “And that’s not easy to do.”
and dished on her decision to have Judge Zelma’s mental health be discussed openly on the series.
“I’ve always been an advocate of; all of America needs to go to therapy,” said Toler to BOSSIP. “We went through COVID and lost our minds, I just want everybody to look at it [mental health issues], as just like going to get glasses. Maybe your vision is a little blurry, if we can do a little adjusting here and do a little adjusting there, we can see better and there’s no shame in it.
“And mentally ill people can be very effective and that’s what I was trying to sell,” she added.
Ultimately the Judge told BOSSIP that viewers are in for a wild ride.
“It’s gonna twist, it’s gonna turn, it’s gonna flip over and come back one mo’ time!” said Toler.
Check out our exclusive with Judge Lynn Toler below.
A new episode of Judge Me Not is streaming NOW on ALLBLK.
A Swirl Films production with Eric Tomosunas and Judge Lynn Toler serving as Executive Producers; Abbey MacDonald serves as Co-Executive Producer, and Gieava Stinchcomb and James Seppelfrick serve as producers. General Manager, Brett Dismuke, and SVP of Development & Production, Nikki Love serving as executive producers for ALLBLK.
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