Its impact on the country, the legal system and the races was debatable, but the O.J. Simpson case’s effect on television was undeniable. It elevated careers, altered viewing patterns and hooked millions.
“I think people are in deeper than they might know,” CNN anchor Jim Moret said before the verdict. “I question what people will do after this trial. I don’t think people want to let go.”
With Tuesday’s verdict, that’s what they must do. But television will try to keep them hooked with new shows, such as ABC’s Murder One, and with new assignments for on-air favorites, such as CNN analyst Greta Van Susteren and E! anchor Kathleen Sullivan, who distinguished themselves during Simpson coverage. Viewers sickened by TV’s excesses or the Simpson verdict itself may not be interested in watching, but TV’s new regard for the law will be hard to miss.
What to consider for your TV docket?
The most ballyhooed program to grow out of the Simpson coverage is CNN’s Burden of Proof, a legal show pairing once-omnipresent analysts Van Susteren and Roger Cossack. In its premiere last Friday, the program interviewed Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran and this week focused on the Simpson case in its regular time slot, 12:30-1 p.m. weekdays.
“A lot of people have complained about the judicial system after watching the Simpson trial,” Van Susteren said. “I regret it. This is the only case some people have seen. I want the American people to see more and understand the system isn’t perfect, but it works reasonably well.”
With Burden of Proof, she said she hopes to show how justice works in other parts of the world and to explain the American system, from small claims court to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The law is fascinating,” Van Susteren said. “The law is there to serve, not to scare us. I hope people get a greater appreciation of why we have law and how it can be made better. With knowledge, people could feel empowered.”
For a full menu of law, cable’s Court TV is the place to turn – although it’s available on few cable systems in Central Florida. This week, Court TV presents the trial of a Georgia man charged with killing his parents and sister. Next week, the network offers a New York trial about a 14-year-old boy who received a tainted blood transfusion and later died of AIDS.
Next month, Court TV will present 15 hours on the Nuremberg war crimes trial from 1945 and 1946. The coverage, starting during the week of Nov. 13, will mix archival footage, still photos and new commentary by Court TV experts.
That history lesson will lead into the next big Court TV case: the first war crimes tribunal since Nuremberg. Dusan Tadic, a Bosnian Serb, has been charged with crimes against humanity. The trial, scheduled for the week of Nov. 20, will be argued in The Hague.
Will Simpson fans watch in droves? Will this world event draw as many headlines as the sensational L.A. case? Of course not, but Court TV deserves kudos for recognizing priorities. Court TV founder Steven Brill has said the Serbian/Nuremberg coverage is the cable network’s “most significant project.”
Cable viewers who cannot receive Court TV – I share your pain – can turn to the syndicated series Court TV: Inside America’s Courts. It airs at 12:30 p.m. weekdays on WRBW-Channel 65. Presiding over the show are Gregg Jarrett and Kristin Jeannette-Meyers, two faces who became familiar during the Simpson case.
Geraldo Rivera was perhaps too familiar before the Simpson case for the wrong reasons, notably his sometimes tasteless talk show. But with his CNBC show Rivera Live and its first-rate Simpson coverage, he gained new respect. He doesn’t plan to lose it. Several months ago, he started a section of the show called “Page 2” in which he looks at other big trials.
“After the Simpson trial, we’ll continue to cover the most high-profile trials, from Oklahoma City to The Hague war crimes trial,” said CNBC executive producer Andy Friendly. “Geraldo is trained as a lawyer. This is an area where he’s developed a great following. We think our audience will stay with us.”
The Simpson coverage made stars and reactivated other careers. John Gibson, who reported on the Simpson case for Rivera Live and the NBC News Channel, was appointed this week the co-anchor of A-T In Depth on the America’s Talking cable channel (seen on a few systems in Central Florida). The news analysis program, from 6 to 8 p.m. weekdays, goes over the day’s events and allows viewers to call in and sound off.
NBC appointed Jack Ford, its fine chief legal correspondent, to anchor weekend editions of Today. At CNN, Van Susteren and Cossack earned their own show. Moret’s future is uncertain, though his long hours as CNN’s unflappable anchor might have been the most outstanding achievement of all the coverage. “I’m talking to the people at CNN about doing more,” he said. “I’d like to do more.”
E! Entertainment Television wants to hold on to Kathleen Sullivan, who anchored its hours of Simpson coverage. “We’ve been talking about ways we can continue to work together,” said John Rieber, an E! vice president. “We want to keep Kathleen in the family, absolutely.”
Through viewer calls and faxes about the Simpson case, E! learned the importance of interacting with the audience. The cable network will try to exploit that capability through a new series in development, Rieber said.
Network TV revealed its interest in the law this fall through new dramas (Courthouse, The Client) and new sitcoms (The Home Court, The Pursuit of Happiness). The series with the most parallels to the Simpson case is ABC’s Murder One, the acclaimed drama that follows one murder case for an entire season.
In a surreal touch Tuesday night, Murder One aired before an ABC News special on the Simpson verdict. Viewers watched fictional attorney Theodore Hoffman (Daniel Benzali) help client Neil Avedon (Jason Gedrick), then saw Barbara Walters’ exclusive interview with Simpson defense attorney Robert Shapiro.
Executive producer Steven Bochco has said the idea for Murder One predated the Simpson case. “We had begun to think of doing something like this years ago on L.A. Law,” he told critics. “Because of the way L.A. Law was set up, it really wasn’t a practical thing to do at the time.”
The Simpson and Menendez brothers cases “have certainly educated audiences to the real complexity of a trial,” Bochco added. A “more sophisticated” audience “makes doing a show like this a lot more interesting.”
The great thing about Murder One is it offers guilt-free pleasure, something the real and painful Simpson case could never do. The main test is whether this well-produced drama can keep its audience the way the real case did. Next week it moves to 10 p.m. Thursdays, where it competes with NBC’s blockbuster ER.
As good as Murder One is in telling the main story, it stumbles a bit with its secondary plot each week (this week, an investment consultant squandered his clients’ money). But the performances – especially those of Benazali, Barbara Bosson as a prosecutor and Dylan Baker as a detective – command attention.
“People want a long, drawn-out whodunit,” CNN’s Moret said of Murder One.
He should know.
