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Author Topic:   O.J. Simpson book, TV special canceled
AcousticGod
Knowflake

Posts: 5820
From: Pleasanton, CA
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 20, 2006 05:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
6 minutes ago

After a firestorm of criticism, News. Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and TV special "If I Did It."

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

A dozen Fox affiliates had already said they would not air the two-part sweeps month special, planned for next week before the Nov. 30 publication of the book by ReganBooks. The publishing house is a HarperCollins imprint owned — like the Fox network — by News Corp.

In both the book and show, Simpson speaks in hypothetical terms about how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Goldman.

Relatives of the victims have lashed out at the now scuttled publication and broadcast plans.

"He destroyed my son and took from my family Ron's future and life. And for that I'll hate him always and find him despicable," Fred Goldman told ABC last week.

The industry trade publication Broadcasting & Cable editorialized against the show Monday, saying "Fox should cancel this evil sweeps stunt."

One of the nation's largest superstore chains, Borders Group Inc., said last week it would donate any profits on the book to charity.

Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of murder in a case that became its own TV drama. The former football star and announcer was later found liable for the deaths in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Goldman family.

Judith Regan, publisher of "If I Did It," said she considered the book to be Simpson's confession.

The television special was to air on two of the final three nights of the November sweeps, when ratings are watched closely to set local advertising rates. It has been a particularly tough fall for Fox, which has seen none of its new shows catch on and is waiting for the January bows of "American Idol" and "24."

The closest precedent for such an about-face came when CBS yanked a miniseries about Ronald Reagan from its schedule in 2003 when complaints were raised about its accuracy. The Reagan series was seen on its sister premium-cable channel, Showtime, instead.

One station manager who had said he wasn't airing the special said he was concerned that whether or not Simpson was guilty, he'd still be profiting from murders.

"I have my own moral compass and this was easy," said Bill Lamb, general manager of WDRB in Louisville.

For the publishing industry, the cancellation of "If I Did It" was an astonishing end to a story like no other. Numerous books have been withdrawn over the years because of possible plagiarism, most recently Kaavya Viswanathan's "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," but a book's removal simply for objectionable content is virtually unheard of.

Sales had been strong, but not sensational. "If I Did It" cracked the top 20 of Amazon.com last weekend, but by Monday afternoon, at the time its cancellation had been announced, the book had fallen to No. 51.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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and
Newflake

Posts: 0
From:
Registered: Apr 2011

posted November 21, 2006 05:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for and     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
wow they overcame greed....

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"WHATEVER the soul longs for, WILL be attained by the spirit"-Khalil Gibran

Love truth even if it harms you, and hate lies even if they serve you.
Believe what you see and lay aside what you hear.
-Lebanese proverbs

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 15389
From: Saturn next to Charmainec
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 29, 2011 09:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Missed this the first time.

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"The stars which shone over Babylon and the stable in Bethlehem still shine as brightly over the Empire State Building and your front yard today. They perform their cycles with the same mathematical precision, and they will continue to affect each thing on earth, including man, as long as the earth exists." Linda Goodman

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 15389
From: Saturn next to Charmainec
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 30, 2011 12:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I always thought the book was stopped in its tracks. I can't believe it made the top 20.

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 15389
From: Saturn next to Charmainec
Registered: Apr 2009

posted February 08, 2012 10:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wonder if used copies are available anywhere?

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"Never mentally imagine for another that which you would not want to experience for yourself, since the mental image you send out inevitably comes back to you." Rebecca Clark

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