It’s a bit of an irony that just as NBC’s “Must-See TV” juggernaut took off in 1994, execs there found themselves right in the middle of a completely different kind of televised spectacle: The O.J. Simpson arrest, trial and eventual acquittal.
Not only was then-nbc West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer one of Simpson’s best friends, but just a month before the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman — followed by Simpson’s white Ford Bronco flight from justice and arrest — NBC had passed on a pilot starring the ex-football-star.
“It was just a strange time to be there because of Don’s loyalty to O.J.,” recalled Preston Beckman, who was NBC’s head of scheduling at the time, and one of Ohlmeyer’s and NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield’s key lieutenants. Ohlmeyer would occasionally bring up Simpson during the network’s afternoon meetings in their Burbank offices,...
Not only was then-nbc West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer one of Simpson’s best friends, but just a month before the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman — followed by Simpson’s white Ford Bronco flight from justice and arrest — NBC had passed on a pilot starring the ex-football-star.
“It was just a strange time to be there because of Don’s loyalty to O.J.,” recalled Preston Beckman, who was NBC’s head of scheduling at the time, and one of Ohlmeyer’s and NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield’s key lieutenants. Ohlmeyer would occasionally bring up Simpson during the network’s afternoon meetings in their Burbank offices,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Associated Press journalist Linda Deutsch was already a legendary court reporter when O.J. Simpson stood trial for killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. She’d covered high-profile criminal legal proceedings involving everyone from Charles Manson and Patty Hearst to Sirhan Sirhan and the “Night Stalker,” Richard Ramirez.
But Judge Lance Ito designated Deutsch the trial’s pool reporter and she soon became a familiar face to millions as a trusted TV commentator providing context for the case. Simpson himself approved of her coverage and, after he was acquitted, she became his go-to media contact for exclusive interviews in the ensuing decades.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Deutsch, who retired in 2014, after the Simpson family announced the Heisman winner turned actor and pitchman died on April 10.
You’ve said you never decided if Simpson was guilty. Was that a personal decision or a professional one?
My...
But Judge Lance Ito designated Deutsch the trial’s pool reporter and she soon became a familiar face to millions as a trusted TV commentator providing context for the case. Simpson himself approved of her coverage and, after he was acquitted, she became his go-to media contact for exclusive interviews in the ensuing decades.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Deutsch, who retired in 2014, after the Simpson family announced the Heisman winner turned actor and pitchman died on April 10.
You’ve said you never decided if Simpson was guilty. Was that a personal decision or a professional one?
My...
- 4/12/2024
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
O.J. Simpson died April 10. But the media age ushered in by his presence, his saga and his white Bronco, remains very much with us.
An all-time great NFL running back-turned-actor, Simpson was a minor celebrity and part of a circle of fame-adjacent Los Angeles hangers-on in the 1990s. The killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, on June 12, 1994, converted Simpson instantly into an object of national obsession; five days later, Simpson failed to turn himself in after the Los Angeles Police Department ordered him to surrender on charges of first-degree murder, and engaged the LAPD in a low-speed car chase.
The details of this have been chewed over, including by the recent double dose of O.J. stories — FX’s series “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and Ezra Edelman’s documentary “O.J.: Made in America,” both released in 2016 — and yet they still boggle the mind.
An all-time great NFL running back-turned-actor, Simpson was a minor celebrity and part of a circle of fame-adjacent Los Angeles hangers-on in the 1990s. The killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, on June 12, 1994, converted Simpson instantly into an object of national obsession; five days later, Simpson failed to turn himself in after the Los Angeles Police Department ordered him to surrender on charges of first-degree murder, and engaged the LAPD in a low-speed car chase.
The details of this have been chewed over, including by the recent double dose of O.J. stories — FX’s series “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and Ezra Edelman’s documentary “O.J.: Made in America,” both released in 2016 — and yet they still boggle the mind.
- 4/11/2024
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
O.J. Trial Flashback: Christopher Darden Launches Bid For L.A. Judgeship With Backing From Lance Ito
Former O.J. prosecutor Christopher Darden has received the backing of retired Judge Lance Ito in his run for a seat on the L.A. County Superior Court, Darden’s campaign announced today.
Darden and Ito are well known for their roles in the televised 1994 O.J. Simpson murder trial, but they have a longer history. Previously, Darden and Ito worked together as prosecutors in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in what was then known as the Hardcore Gang Division.
Darden, 67, has been an attorney for more than 40 years, and worked as a county prosecutor for 15 years. He is best known for serving as a lead prosecutor in the Simpson case, which was presided over by Ito.
That case was not only a mainstay of ’90s news programming, it was also fodder for a pair of award-winning 2016 screen projects: the Oscar-winning documentary O.J.: Made In America, in which Darden declined to participate,...
Darden and Ito are well known for their roles in the televised 1994 O.J. Simpson murder trial, but they have a longer history. Previously, Darden and Ito worked together as prosecutors in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in what was then known as the Hardcore Gang Division.
Darden, 67, has been an attorney for more than 40 years, and worked as a county prosecutor for 15 years. He is best known for serving as a lead prosecutor in the Simpson case, which was presided over by Ito.
That case was not only a mainstay of ’90s news programming, it was also fodder for a pair of award-winning 2016 screen projects: the Oscar-winning documentary O.J.: Made In America, in which Darden declined to participate,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The first episode of ESPN’s “Oj: Made in America,” focuses on Oj Simpson’s early years, and only hints at the tragedy to come: and the trial that involved Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, Marcia Clark, Chris Darden, F. Lee Bailey, Judge Lance Ito, Kato Kaelin, Mark Fuhrman and many more.
He Married His Best Friend’s Girlfriend
Childhood friend Joe Bell recalls how Simpson “stole his best friend’s girl” — convincing his first wife Marguerite to marry him instead of Al “AC” Cowlings.
Also Read: Oj Simpson's Robbery Sentence Too Harsh, Says Da in Murder Case
Cowlings, of course, was the endlessly supportive friend who took the wheel as Simpson fled police in the white Bronco.
“I’m Not Black. I’m Oj.”
Sociologist Harry Edwards — featured prominently in “Made in America” — tried in the late ’60s to get black athletes to take political stands.
Also Read: Here's Oj...
He Married His Best Friend’s Girlfriend
Childhood friend Joe Bell recalls how Simpson “stole his best friend’s girl” — convincing his first wife Marguerite to marry him instead of Al “AC” Cowlings.
Also Read: Oj Simpson's Robbery Sentence Too Harsh, Says Da in Murder Case
Cowlings, of course, was the endlessly supportive friend who took the wheel as Simpson fled police in the white Bronco.
“I’m Not Black. I’m Oj.”
Sociologist Harry Edwards — featured prominently in “Made in America” — tried in the late ’60s to get black athletes to take political stands.
Also Read: Here's Oj...
- 3/24/2020
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
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