{"id":203,"date":"2026-06-21T17:35:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T17:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/?page_id=203"},"modified":"2026-06-21T17:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T17:35:33","slug":"if-fox-had-aired-it-heres-how-it-happened","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/if-fox-had-aired-it-heres-how-it-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"If Fox Had Aired it, Here\u2019s How it Happened"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Indianapolis Star 11\/20\/06<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though OJ Simpson failed to live up to Fox\u2019s stringent standards this holiday season, we should all be thankful for the Juice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve years ago, AC Cowlings steered the white Bronco through the streets of LA like a sixteen year old auditioning for a learner\u2019s permit. Who could\u2019ve thought that his funeral procession-pace car antic would be a turning point in American television history?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here we are a decade later and look at what that joyless ride has spawned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With OJ in tow, the lazy white Bronco stopped national TV broadcasts. News choppers  hovered, then became fashionable. They popped up in skies all across America. Big towns, small towns. Seems every town now has the irreplaceable, irreverent news chopper.  Stirring up winds, and stirring the pot. Tirelessly searching for breaking news a few hundred feet below\u2026or at least a local high school football game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you OJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for launching the TV careers of Greta Van Susteren and Roger Cossack.  The Donny and Marie lawyers-on-the-spot during the trial of the century. He\u2019s a little bit prosecutor, she\u2019s a little bit defense attorney. The Greta and Roger show spawned the legal talk bonanza we know and adore today. From John Gibson to Nancy Grace, every serial killer gets the best trial analysis these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we follow these psychopaths before OJ? We didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But thanks to OJ, America learned daily about crime scene investigations in microscopic detail. Blood swatches, DNA analysis, bloody footprints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine today\u2019s television world without The Trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re still reaping the benefits of those months of wall-to-wall law and murder\u2026 with wall-to-wall Law and Order. Sexy victims, savvy investigators, CSI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cold Case. Without a Trace. Thank you OJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a decade. Can\u2019t think of a better time to re-visit OJ with a two-part Fox TV interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it seemed like a good idea. Disco made a comeback. Why can\u2019t the Juice? It\u2019s time a new generation is introduced to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey Tyler, you might not remember this, but when you were two years old, there was this football star who ran from the police, and it was on TV, and\u2026.well, let\u2019s kickoff the holidays by watching this  \u201cIf I Did It, Here\u2019s How It Happened\u201d Judith Regan interview together as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OJ\u2019s a despicable human being, so why shouldn\u2019t he be back on television? And why shouldn\u2019t he be on Fox?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, their leader, the irrepressible Rupert Murdoch stands tall on Mt. Blushmore along with PT Barnum and Hugh Hefner, as the trio of American icons (Murdoch\u2019s not even American) who made their careers and their riches out of exploitation behind the veil of journalism. Murdoch\u2019s omnipresent media have trampled journalistic integrity for years. So why not take advantage of OJ\u2019s made-for-Fox tome with some televised Orenthal fiction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,\u201d said Murdoch Monday after the project was pulled from the public faster than E.coli-laced spinach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ill-considered meaning \u201cWell, we tried. But it\u2019s not worth the hassle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a stab at the transcript (oops, sorry), if Fox would have aired it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judith: \u201cTell me OJ, if you approached Nicole\u2019s Brentwood condo that fateful night, how would you have done it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OJ: \u201c I certainly wouldn\u2019t have been able to kill both Nicole and Ron by myself. I needed\u2026I mean I WOULD HAVE needed help. So I brought\u2026.WOULD HAVE brought\u2026duh, there I go again. I would have brought an accomplice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freeze Frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep, sinister voiceover accompanied by deep sinister music.  \u201cWho did (smoker\u2019s cough) Who WOULD the Juice bring with him to the crime scene? 1) Kato Kaelin  2) AC Cowlings  3) Professor Plum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vote now. 1-800-OJ-IDOL-1, 2, or 3, or text message on your Verizon Wireless phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the second night of OJ interrogation, we find out that America believes OJ and Professor Plum committed the crime with a candlestick in the bedroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then a promo for the new Fox \u201cIf I Did It\u201d series. Pete Rose, Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton. Next Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cicada-like re-emergence of OJ might make some long for the day when TV journalism had more soul than opinion. But the rest of America couldn\u2019t care less.  It\u2019s the normal ten-year cycle of popular culture coming full circle for a new audience that thinks Beyonce writes her own songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for an old audience still staring at the tabloids in the checkout lane\u2026who now have to scratch \u201cIf I Did it\u201d off their Christmas lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ted Mandell teaches in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame.<\/em>

Copyright 2006 Ted Mandell<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indianapolis Star 11\/20\/06 Even though OJ Simpson failed to live up to Fox\u2019s stringent standards this holiday season, we should all be thankful for the Juice. Twelve years ago, AC Cowlings steered the white Bronco through the streets of LA like a sixteen year old auditioning for a learner\u2019s permit. Who could\u2019ve thought that his … Continue reading If Fox Had Aired it, Here\u2019s How it Happened<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4375,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-203","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/203\/revisions\/204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ted-mandell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}