Why not ban the O.J. special?
I think the general managers of the Fox affiliates that say they won't show when it airs next week are going to be sorry.
After careful consideration regarding the nature of the show, as well as the feedback we received from the viewers of northeast Wisconsin, we interest, wrote Jay Zollar, general manager of WLUK-TV, a Lin station in Green Bay, Wis.
Thanks, Jay.
We'll be checking your logs to see if you aired Caught on the Job, Married in America and World's Wildest Police Videos too. (And the list )
But seriously. The trials of O.
J. Simpson comprised one of the most intensely watched dramas of the past 30 years. The outcome of the criminal trial spawned an enormous debate over race, class and privilege that continues to this day.
(It clearly influenced a CSI multi-episode storyline this season in which one of the CSIs is sued for damages after being acquitted of manslaughter in the killing of a black man.) How can you say, with a straight face, that it isn't in the public interest to have this lightning rod figure grapple with his own guilt and innocence?
Would these Fox stations turn down a Pete Rose special called, If I Did Bet on the Reds, Here's Why ?
Look, I doubt anyone in America seriously thinks O.J. didn't do it, even those who cheered when he was acquitted.
But Nielsens don't lie -- there was huge interest in this case, and there's no reason to believe Fox doesn't have sweeps-month gold here. I hate defining the public interest to include the O.J.
case as much as you do. But you have to, because THE PUBLIC'S FRIGGIN INTERESTED, and you don't need to be a Fox TV executive to know that.
| The news is just trickling out -- though I notice -- that Ed Bradley, the longtime correspondent for 60 Minutes,
I'll remember him for the earring.
The Emmett Till story. The McVeigh interview. Kathleen Willey.
And, most recently, the Duke lacrosse story.
We all understand that behind each 60 correspondent is an army of veteran researchers, producers and script writers. Still, if the stories don't get told effectively and the interviews aren't dramatic, it isn't 60.
In that respect, Bradley was as 60 as it got. He will be missed.
| With the killing off of the latest leggy ADA in the season finale, that means there will be two holes to fill in the show's cast.
Besides, of course, the permanent hole they'll never be able to fill.
UPDAte, courtesy Hollywood Reporter: Milena Govich, who co-starred in Conviction, Dick Wolf's midseason drama for NBC, has come on board Wolf's flagship L O series.
| Here's all you really need to know about the formation of the new CW network.
In a nutshell, it will have Top Model, Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. And, possibly,
Beyond that, the 8-ball says try again later. But I did gather some local views and a few extra details I didn't see in wire reports:
So what's going to happen to all those orphan stations left without a network?
Wouldn't this be a prime opportunity for another media giant with a large library of syndicated (and, uh, syndicated-able) programs to jump in and start a new seventh network? (I'm counting Univision now, because Nielsen is.)
You know, like, Fox?
| ABC is at TCA today. On Friday about 75 critics visited the set of the ABC show Commander in Chief. Had a press conference with the cast and producer Steven Bochco.
I forgot to ask about this letter I received Jan. 10 from reader Jeff Trout:
When a U.S.submarine on a covert mission off the coast of North Korea runs into trouble, Mac must find a way to diffuse the international Meanwhile, back on 11/14/2001 NBC aired the following episode of The West Wing : A U.S. submarine has gone quiet off North Korea, putting the President into crisis mode.
And he's not pleased to have to deal with CBS Corp. split from Viacom on Jan. 1.
On Jan. 20, it announced it's kicking Viacom's Nick Jr. shows off CBS stations:
That's just the beginning.that CBS is going to start demanding cash payments from cable companies in exchange for carrying its affiliates. Until now, CBS stations had been used as leverage to increase the number of homes that carry Viacom's cable networks ..
. say, Nicktoons. Which means that the recent scenario of Echostar dumping Lifetime could be repeated again with certain Viacom channels.
And Viacom has a lot more of those than Lifetime does.
The other night at the CBS Stars Party, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves graciously declared that he and Viacom are very different businesses ... people compare BET to UPN but they're very different. There's nothing that they've got that I want .
.. May everybody live happily ever after and I have a lot of stock and I'm rooting for them.
I really am. I really am.
He forgot to add: And I wish them luck with their high-profit-margin cable channels.I've done my last favor for them.
| Funniest story of the day, thanks to our friends at MediaPost: A new study found that NBC's The Contender led all series last year in terms of product placement. Probably no surprise, given producer Mark Burnett's fondness for selling the background space for his shows.
But here's the punchline: According to Nielsen Media Research, The Contender averaged ...FIVE HUNDRED AND ONE PRODUCT PLACEMENTS PER HOUR.
And as Jack Paar used to say about Steve Allen's song oeuvre, Name two.
There will only be one product placement in this post: with high-definition recording, a front-panel display (finally), and more.
|It was only a matter of time.
As seen on tonight's Veronica Mars, which like UPN, CBS, and for all I know, half of Mrs. Leslie Moonves's wardrobe is the property of Viacom.
|And for the big finish, Les Moonves sings "My Way"
This CBS press release announces a new twist to the 57th Emmy Awards, airing Sept. 18:the show, in an American Idol -esque contest entitled Emmy Idol, today's top television and music personalities will trigger fans' memories of some of their favorite television theme songs. Kristen Bell will perform the theme song from Fame.You know, it's so dumb it just might work ...CSI's Gary Dourdan and Macy Gray will join forces to perform Movin' On Up from The Jeffersons. Megan Mullally and Donald Trump will together perform the theme song from Green Acres. William Shatner and Frederica von Stade will team up to perform the theme to Star Trek.
During the live broadcast, viewers can log onto to vote for their favorite of the theme songs performed during Emmy Idol. They will also be able to vote via text message. The winner will be announced toward the end of the broadcast.
if Fremantle doesn't successfully sue to block the concept first.
Update: Expect a Bob Denver tribute as well. CBS Radio News just informed me of his passing.
| The University of Nebraska Football was not the only school pitched Tommy Lee Goes to College. It was just the only school dumb enough to take it on. Here's an email I received from a public relations official at another major state school, this one located in the Southeast:I just read on Tommy Lee Goes to College.| In today's TV Barn Radio segment of my KMOX show, Aaron Barnhart talks investigators, plus new shows for this week -- Tommy Lee Goes To College, the series finale of Six Feet Under, and Inside 9/11, which debuts Sunday night on the National Geographic channel. (Link: )Before the producers of this program approached Nebraska, they pitched it to several other colleges and universities, including my employer ...
As soon as I received the pitch for Tommy Lee, I turned it down. This program would do nothing to enhance the academic mission of (our school) and at best, would prove disruptive to students, faculty and staff during the production. It isn't as though (we turn down) all entertainment programming .
.. (but) Tommy Lee Goes to College, portrays academia as a side show, with no consideration for the rigor real students face to obtain their degrees.
I do not wish to disparage my colleagues at Nebraska ...I simply want to share with you my disbelief that any reputable institution of higher education would have ever given this proposal a second thought.
And regarding Tommy Lee ... if this show had been shot on a set at NBC in Burbank and the Nebraskans flown in, it could not be more artificial.
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