The “sick” factor is a ratings guarantee, but still, this is just a shocking new low for Fox, for publishing and for, well, civilization in general.
[http://www.variety.com/article/VR111…g…4&cs=1](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117953915.html?categoryid=14&cs=1)
Fox sets O.J. sweeps spec
Net plans 2-night sweeps event
By JOSEF ADALIAN, JOSEF ADALIAN
Simpson
Regan
Fox is planning a two-night sweeps event whose title says it all: “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened.”
Publisher Judith Regan has taped a wide-ranging interview with Simpson that will serve as the basis for the broadcast, set to air in two hourlong segs Nov. 27 and 29. In the interview, Fox said Simpson “describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.”
Simpson was acquitted of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, but found liable for both murders in a later civil suit.
Regan is publishing the Simpson-penned “If I Did It,” which goes on sale Nov. 30 – the day after the special’s conclusion airs.
ReganBooks is based at Harper Collins, which is owned by Fox parent News Corp.
Fox’s O.J. special is being produced under the auspices of alternative topper Mike Darnell’s department.
“This is an interview that no one thought would ever happen,” Darnell said. "It’s the definitive last chapter in the ‘Trial of the Century.’ "
It also marks the return of Darnell, Fox’s own bad boy of entertainment. He has focused on more feel-good fare in recent years, from “Nanny 911” and “Celebrity Duets” to, of course, “American Idol.”
The O.J. special comes as Fox is struggling through another tough fall quarter, with virtually all its new skeins either dead or barely clinging to life. It’s also one of the few true sweeps “events” this November. Nets have largely abandoned movies and specials in favor of series programming this sweeps.