Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

Good for NBC (and by extension MSNBC).
They will not be pimping for a murderer.

Rebecca Marks, a spokeswoman for NBC Universal Television, said the network passed because “from an advertising point of view, from a public relations point of view, everything, it was impossible.” O. J. Simpson Writes a Book He’ll Discuss on Fox TV

The same cannot be said for Fox. They've hit a new low even for them, beyond
the memo that
Huffington Post reported on yesterday. As for Judith Regan, the publisher
of O.J.'s hopes to make more money, she's nothing but a pimp. However, there
is something frighteningly fitting about Fox
whoring for O.J.

TV industry executives yesterday expressed shock and awe, and the certainty that everyone in this country would be outraged that O.J. will make big bucks off his ex-wife's murder and Fox will run a promo for the book as a sweeps stunt. Except for their Hollywood colleagues. “No, not in Hollywood at all, because we're all whores, but in the rest of the country where they have morals — sure,” guessed one such exec, who conceded that the moral, non-Hollywood segment of the country probably would nonetheless tune in by the millions. “They've really kept this way under wraps,” he continued. “Holy [expletive], is that a coup!” Which pretty much summed up everyone's reaction in TV Land. “Everybody here in town believes he did it, period, but to have framed the discussion the way Judith has is pretty unique,” said the exec, who wants to be anonymous because O.J. is a free man. And not one of the TV execs was worried Fox might have trouble selling the show to advertisers. “This is not about advertising — it's a news coup,” one exec said. “It's also great scheduling. Fox is hurting big-time” in the ratings, “getting killed with all their new shows. They're sitting around ready to commit suicide until 'Idol' comes back.” By the way, in case you're not familiar with Regan, in 1978, she landed a job as a reporter for the National Enquirer. You may remember Regan from her affair with married New York police chief Bernard Kerik, which came to light around the time of his failed nomination to become the head of the Department of Homeland Security in December 2004. Regan also published his bio, “The Lost Son.” Look her up on Wikipedia and you'll see the U.K. Telegraph has called her the “angriest woman in the media” and “the enfant terrible of American publishing.” Vanity Fair magazine called her a “foul-mouthed tyrant.” One of the people we spoke to yesterday called her “a sick genius,” adding, “And how did she convince him to do a book with that title?” A Fox Shocker: In Depth With O.J. Simpson for A Ratings Boost

Right now, “If I Did It,” by O.J. Simpson is 54 on Amazon, and 159,967
on Barnes and Noble, with boycotts
already being organized. However, that really isn't the point. How low will
networks go in the sweepstakes for viewers eyes and dollars? For Fox, they are
the lowest
of the low.

Two people were brutally murdered by O.J. Simpson. I lived through this trial
in Los Angeles. We all went through the Bronco chase, the bloody glove, Mark
I'm now a Fox analyst Furman's racist comments, as well as the bungling incompetence
of the L.A. D.A.'s office, which was so infuriating it made you scream. Having
O.J. put on the glove? I don't mean Christopher Darden ill, but what a fool
he made of himself; Marsha Clark, too, every day another hairdo and wardrobe
change. It was pathetic.

I also remember seeing Nicole Brown Simpson at one of my favorite eateries
in Brentwood. One day she came in and I noticed her, but this time, when she
took off her dark shades her face had black and blue marks around her eyes and side of her face.
She quickly got her takeout order and left.

“If I did it” would be more aptly titled if it blared Look at me I got away with it. O.J. now lives in Florida where he can keep his football pension and torture the rest of us through his latest assault on our sensibilities, compliments of Fox. Hey, anything for a buck, right?

Buying the book is one thing, but who will resist watching O.J. “confess”? Fox is betting nobody can and they just may be correct. However, that doesn't make airing it right.