[inquiry]

Fox network has cancelled the oj special on how he would have murdered his wife and her friend if he had done it. They never should have agreed to show it, and its about time they agreed to drop it. Seems like 13 network affiliates had already said they would not carry it.

[pclayton]

I saw the interview on Larry King with Goldman's Dad and his sister, and the were both P.O.'d at Fox.

I think its ludicrous that OJ would try to profit off this, but I'm glad Fox is doing the right thing by not airing it.

[mike777]

Sanity prevails...

[barmar]

The special has already been taped. Anyone want to start a pool on when it will be leaked to the Internet? Or how about excerpts from the book?

[Rain]

OJ @#$@#@#@@$Q#$ @#$@$ @#@ OJ @#$@$!@W FOX @#$@$@!

[Winstonm]

Fox is desparate - the only reason they pulled it is no sponsorship - if they could have shown a profit, no doubt the broadcast would have been full steam ahead.

[pclayton]

Winstonm, on Nov 22 2006, 04:03 PM, said:

Fox is desparate - the only reason they pulled it is no sponsorship - if they could have shown a profit, no doubt the broadcast would have been full steam ahead.

I don't think so Winston. I'm sure there are plenty of sponsors who would step up.

I can imagine what you think about Fox News, but I'm pretty galled you try to turn a positive into a negative with this comment.

[Winstonm]

pclayton, on Nov 22 2006, 08:53 PM, said:

Winstonm, on Nov 22 2006, 04:03 PM, said:

Fox is desparate - the only reason they pulled it is no sponsorship - if they could have shown a profit, no doubt the broadcast would have been full steam ahead.

I don't think so Winston. I'm sure there are plenty of sponsors who would step up.

I can imagine what you think about Fox News, but I'm pretty galled you try to turn a positive into a negative with this comment.

This is not an attack on Fox - Fox isn't exactly tearing it up with their ratings right now, but they are not the only network that has temporarily lost its mind when ratings drop - they just happen to be the ones this time.


And it is money, not morality, that rules T.V. If Fox, or any other network for that matter, thought this a profitable venture it would be aired.

Quote

NEW YORK (AP) -- After a firestorm of criticism, News. Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."

A dozen Fox affiliates had already said they would not air the two-part sweeps month special, planned for next week

Sponsors don't like it when local affiliates don't carry the spots for which they have paid millions. If anyone believes this to be something other that a financial decision, I would believe them somewhat naive.

[helene_t]

Maybe a stupid question, but honestly: what would be wrong with airing that show?

[hrothgar]

helene_t, on Nov 23 2006, 10:26 AM, said:

Maybe a stupid question, but honestly: what would be wrong with airing that show?

Depends on what you mean by "wrong".

I'm assuming that Fox's management made a business decision that the advertising revenue from the OJ Simpson trial was insufficient to compensate for the hassle associated with pissing off the viewing public. Fox's management often gets accused of severe hypocracy because their News division is strongly biased towards the Conservations - family values and all that - while their entertainment group airs some real crap. Don't get me wrong. I love crap. Hell, I considered "Married with Children" one of the greatest TV shows ever. It lowered the bar for everything that came after... Still, some folks get upset about these sorts of things.

If we move over to the highly subjective realms of morality, some folks believe that

1. OJ Simpson was guilty
2. Its wrong to help a murderer profit from his crimes
3. If Simpson were to publish his book / air his special it would be extremely popular and generate lots of income for Simpson

Personally, I think that the whole thing is much ado about nothing...

If the American public is willing to spend money on this kind of crap, someone is going to publish it. Maybe not Fox or its publishing wing, but someone will. Ultimately, the only thing that will put and end to deals like this is if the books and TV shows don't generate any revenue.

Essentially, the American people are saying that they don't trust themselves not to watch, and this disturbs them.

[helene_t]

hrothgar, on Nov 23 2006, 02:56 PM, said:

Essentially, the American people are saying that they don't trust themselves not to watch, and this disturbs them.

Thanks for explaining. But I would rather say that Americans don't trust each other not to watch. That's not so strange. Such a show would probably be popular everywhere, not only in the U.S.

What I don't understand is why anybody would care if OJ is guilty or not and/or if he gets rich from that show.

[Al_U_Card]

OJ was found NOT GUILTY of murder by a jury of his peers. OJ was found guilty of wrongful death by a judge and fined. As fascinated by the spectacle as the public were, his acquital disturbed most people's sense of fairplay and of the eventual soundness of the American judicial system. Even this many years later, the bad taste that this left in the collective mouths of americans lingers. Even the purveyors of the mind-numbing, spin-spewing invective and innuendo that passes for news these days (on Fox especially) could not get support for such a questionable and ridiculous offering. Thank God for common sense.

[pigpenz]

pclayton, on Nov 22 2006, 08:53 PM, said:

Winstonm, on Nov 22 2006, 04:03 PM, said:

Fox is desparate - the only reason they pulled it is no sponsorship - if they could have shown a profit, no doubt the broadcast would have been full steam ahead.

I don't think so Winston. I'm sure there are plenty of sponsors who would step up.

I can imagine what you think about Fox News, but I'm pretty galled you try to turn a positive into a negative with this comment.

actuallly what some of the other networks were saying is exactly that, there were no sponsors lining up for the show.

[barmar]

OK, the "no sponsors" explanation is plausible for the TV show. But how do you then explain them also pulling the book from publication? No sponsors are required for that.

I saw on the news that leaked copies of the book are showing up on eBay, and getting bids of up to $1 million. eBay is pulling the auctions.