Towleroad Guide to the Tube #320

BEAUTIFUL WORDS: New McCain ad attacks Obama's oratorical skills.

ENERGY: New Obama ad showcases McCain-Bush embrace.

JUDGE DAVID YOUNG: The gay judge makes his acting debut on The Young and the Restless this Friday, July 11th. Flashback: Towleroad interview.

CHARLIE CRIST: Chris Matthews loves the Florida governor but he doesn't love him.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

Daytime's New Decider: An Interview with Gay Judge David Young

In mid-August I posted a clip of Judge David Young, whose new daytime court show premieres next week, on Monday, September 10. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Judge Young, about being out on the bench and his new show.

Young was born and raised in Miami (and lives there currently with his partner), served as assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County under Janet Reno, and was re-elected twice as a Circuit Court judge there before leaving to hit the national airwaves. Among his more well-known cases is one in which he sent two America West pilots to jail in 2005 for attempting to operate a commercial airliner while intoxicated. He is also known for a quirky collection of items he keeps in his home (get your mind out of the gutter).

I'll touch on that later in this interview. One additional note. For those of you in New York, Young will be appearing this Monday, September 10 at a free event at The Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender Community Center at 208 W. 13th street at 7 pm with a reception at 6 pm.

I've watched judge shows in the past, but you're definitely something different.

That's what my mother says.

What made you decide that you wanted to leave the conventional courtroom and become a TV judge?

It happened out of the blue. I got an email from Sony Entertainment asking me if I'd be interested. And I've got to admit that every time I would see these judge shows, I would think to myself, "God, I'm better than this one," or "I'm better than that one," or "God, was there an opportunity that was missed." And this gave me an opportunity to blend two of my passions, entertainment and law.

Had you done entertainment or performed before?

Oh, no. I wish. Every time I would see a Broadway show, I'd think, "God, I'd love to be up there entertaining." Or at concerts..."God, I'd love that to be me."

So, had you sort of had it in the back of your head that maybe someday this was something that you wanted to do, or did it just come along and you took it?

I had it in the back of my mind as something I've always wanted to do but never knew how to go about doing it. And I also had in the back of my mind that I want to be a coach of the Miami Dolphin football team, but that'll never happen.

What possessed you to become a judge in the first place?

Interesting. I always thought of myself as having a career in politics, because I love politics. And I ran for the state senate in Florida, in Miami, back in 1988, and was defeated by the incumbent in a very interesting race. And it was 1990 when there was a really big scandal here in Miami called Operation Courtroom, where judges were getting money to fix cases and given money to leak the names of confidential informants, which was basically a death sentence to those confidential informants. And there was a whole lot of arrests. And I was walking around in a funk, thinking, "What can I do?" I needed to do something.

Oh, a little background. Dad was the first Jewish president of the Florida Bar, and he's a very accomplished lawyer nationally. And I've always been brought up on the law and to love and respect the law, so that's really been a passion since growing up as a child. My dad has a record that I did on his little Dictaphone, when I was three sitting on his lap, that "I want to be a lawyer like my daddy." So when I saw these people who were friends of mine, who I knew for years, selling out their judicial offices for lucres, I said to myself, "No, this is not right," and I needed to do something. And that's when I decided to run for judge.

And you've been a judge for how long?

14 and a half years.

Exclusive: Gay Judge David Young Takes the Bench Next Month

Here comes the gay judge. Judge David Young will be hosting a new daily half-hour series beginning on September 10th, doling out sentences with the assistance of his sidekick, Bailiff Tawya Young.

Young was born and raised in Miami (and lives there currently with his partner of 12 years), served as assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County under Janet Reno, and was re-elected twice as a Circuit Court judge there before leaving to hit the national airwaves. Among his more well-known cases is one in which he sent two America West pilots to jail in 2005 for attempting to operate a commercial airliner while intoxicated.

Tawya Young, his bailiff, served as a lieutenant in Brooklyn Civil-Small Claims Court.

Find out more about the show at its official website. We'll be talking to Judge Young in the weeks to come.

Here's an exclusive clip on the upcoming show.