Potato judge

The Potato Judge is the subject of a brief but memorable Conan O'Brien sketch that aired in the late 1990s. He was the subject of a running joke in which Conan pretends to have access to thousands of absurdly obscure television channels due to his location at the Rockefeller Center skyscraper, and surfs them with his audience.

The Potato Judge resembles a demented Muppet, a puppet potato with googly eyes who presides over a real criminal court. He is known for his draconian approach to justice, and his ruthless, impassive tone in announcing his damning verdicts. He sentenced a young boy to life at hard labor for reporting a stolen bicycle, and another man to death for the murder of Dallas' J.R. Ewing, a fictional character.

Because of his memorable persona and striking cruelty, the Potato Judge remains widely cited on the web as a metaphor for a ruthless, arbitrary, unjust, or draconian judiciary process.