His tenure on the program made him the first jurist of arbitration-based reality court shows, which evolved into the most popular trend in the judicial genre and continues to be to the present.

[3][2] Wapner was a graduate of the University of Southern California (1941) and the USC Law School (1948),[1] serving in World War II in between.

[4] Wapner was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star while serving in the South Pacific in Cebu.

[1][6] On the series, he conducted a binding arbitration that was set up to resemble a small claims court by pitting parties, without lawyers, against each other.

After 12 seasons on The People's Court, Wapner was not invited back to the series in 1993, when the ratings had dropped to an all-time low.

Wapner stated that he was told years later that the producers did not want to hurt his feelings; however, he noted that this is precisely what the show did.

He declined to offer opinions on the People's Court judges who succeeded him, as he never watched the revamped program.

However, by completion of the court show's 2012–2013 season, Milian captured this title from him and became the longest-reigning judge in the series.

On the back cover, Alice Cooper's 1983 album "DaDa" has "Special Thanks to Judge Joseph A. Wapner".

[11] In 1995 he appeared as an alternate-universe version of himself as Commissar of a "People's Court" in a Soviet-controlled California in an early episode of Sliders.