Brown out at TV courtroom

TATTLE CAN'T SAY that TV is going to suffer if it loses another courtroom show, but "Judge Joe Brown" is leaving the bench after 15 years.

The show is popular enough that Brown is No. 2 behind "Judge Judy," but it's seen a dip in ratings, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and talks broke down over the judge's salary, reportedly in the very posh neighborhood of $20 million a year - even more than the judges pulled down in Philadelphia Traffic Court.

Given the slump, CBS Television Distribution thought that a pay cut may be in order and offered less than Brown was willing to take.

Let's face it, when you're making $20 million a year you can take some me-time.

TV Week says that Brown hopes to keep his show alive because you never run out of landlords who don't finish promised repairs.

"Girls" rule the world, indeed.

Lena Dunham's global domination continued Wednesday, when her HBO show was announced as a winner of a Peabody Award.

Thirty-nine recipients of the 72nd annual Peabody Awards were announced by the University of Georgia's journalism school.

Winners for journalistic works included WVIT-TV's coverage of the Connecticut school massacre and ABC News for its coverage of Superstorm Sandy.

"Game Change," an HBO film about Sarah Palin's rise to the national political spotlight, also won a Peabody. Other entertainment winners included the FX series "Louie;" TNT's "Southland" police drama; and the ABC Family drama "Switched at Birth."

Some of this year's winners highlighted relatively new forms of electronic storytelling, such as the New York Times' multimedia production "Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek." The online site chronicles what happened to skiers and snowboarders who were caught in an avalanche.

Don "The Dragon" Wilson is roaring back in 2013.

Considered by many to be the greatest kickboxer ever, Wilson is coming out of retirement to battle an as-yet-unnamed opponent in Turkey in September 2013, when he will be 59.

Take that, Bernard Hopkins.

Wilson announced the fight at a press conference in Istanbul last week and thanked his supporters via Facebook.

Wilson also has been tapped to be part of a TV series called "Liberator," a superhero ensemble piece to also star Lou Ferrigno ("The Incredible Hulk"), Peta Wilson ("La Femme Nikita"), Michael Dorn ("Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Ed Asner ("Lou Grant").

Hmmm . . . which of those stars is not like the others?

"It tells the story of a group of superheroes who retired 20 years ago - and now something brings them back," Wilson told Tattle comics/sci-fi/martial-arts correspondent Jerome Maida. "With the success of 'Iron Man' and 'The Avengers' and 'Spider-Man,' superheroes are not just for children anymore. Look at Batman - that's dark."

Wilson says that he fits right in with the star-studded cast.

"The ironic thing is, I am probably the least well-known of all of us in America," he said. "But overseas, I am by far the best known."

* According to deadline.com, Robert Redford is in talks to appear in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."

Redford, who has more recently been working as a director, looks as if he will be taking a job at S.H.I.E.L.D. to help out Cap.

The role is currently unconfirmed, but Comics Guy thinks that he'll be playing someone high up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership. Nick Fury's superior? S.H.I.E.L.D. director Col. Rick Stoner?

Other recent surprising Marvel casting choices include Irish funnyman Chris O'Dowd landing a small role in "Thor: The Dark World" and current UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre, joining Chris Evans and Redford as Cap villain Batroc the Leaper.

Michael Bane, who produces four films in Colorado for the Outdoor Channel, will no longer shoot there. He's joining a handful of angry hunters who are boycotting the state because of recent legislation meant to curtail gun violence.

Colorado wildlife, inadvertent beneficiaries of the legislation, cheered the move.

In response to mass killings at a suburban Denver movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school, Colorado's governor signed bills this month that ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds (although legal possession of high-capacity magazines is grandfathered in), and require background checks for private and online gun sales.

"There's a united front of sportsmen that are tired of having their freedoms and liberties and fundamental rights taken away from them," said northwest Colorado hunting guide Chris Jurney, vice president of the Colorado Outfitters Association.

Except that no real freedoms, liberties or fundamental rights are being taken away.

In order to get a hunting license in Colorado, you have to provide ID, so why shouldn't you need ID to buy a hunting rifle? And seriously, a 15-round magazine isn't enough to hunt animals? What are these hunters trying to bring down, Optimus Prime?

* Rapper Gucci Mane was being held in jail on an assault charge after a fan told police that the artist smashed a champagne bottle on his head in a downtown Atlanta nightclub.

To the best of Tattle's knowledge, Buzz Bissinger has made no attempt to buy this Gucci.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

On Twitter: @DNTattle