Few Surprises in ESPN Simpson Documentary

I’m more interested in watching the ESPN-produced documentary, “O.J.: Made in America”, which debuted last night, than I was the FX melodrama series aired earlier this year, primarily because it is a documentary.

Granted, documentaries can be skewed to favor a point of view or even “prove” something that isn’t, but at least documentaries are composed of actual footage and interviews with real people.

While the first part, carried on ABC last night, contained few surprises for me, I was surprised at what Dave Nemetz, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, in “‘O.J.: Made in America’: 8 Things We Learned From Part 1“, said he learned that he didn’t know.

The one thing I didn’t know about was Simpson’s father’s sexual orientation. In fact, I don’t ever recall any mention of his father.

But the rest? That Simpson was a living legend in L.A., that he didn’t want to get political and could talk himself out of trouble, was almost a bust in the NFL, his breakthrough role in TV ads, his mediocre acting ability–at least, in his roles as an actor–and his early encounters Nicole Brown was pretty much common knowledge to those who (1) are old enough to remember, (2) lived in L.A. and (3) paid attention to sports. Maybe Nemetz benefited from none of that.

One thing I did learn that Nemitz didn’t mention was how far back former LAPD officer Ron Shipp and Simpson’s relationship goes. Back to Shipp’s school years. I had thought it was much more recent–dating from when Simpson lived in his house in Brentwood.

While my knowledge of last night’s Part I was based on being old enough and exposed to sports enough and living in L.A., it will be interesting to see what I learn from Part II, which airs Tuesday night, as it focuses on my direct, first-hand knowledge of Simpson’s 1994-95 murder trial and many of the issues that swirled around that.

Stay tuned.

 

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/oj-made-america-part-1-901650

‘Documentary Promoted With Fantasy

If  the upcoming ESPN-produced miniseries “OJ: Made in America” isn’t any more accurate than a promo piece posted on the website Hollywood Outbreak then categorizing it as a documentary is a misrepresentation.

The promo includes the assertion that “While (former Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Marcia) Clark has been involved with the media since the trial concluded in 1995, she has never really spoken about the trial and her feelings on the case until now.”

Surely, this is a jest. A mere 20 months after Clark’s prosecution of Simpson for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and Brown’s acquaintence Ronold Goldman went down in flames with Simpson’s acquittal, Clark’s book co-produced with Teresa Carpenter in which she went into detail about her take on that trial.

She’s also done numerous print and broadcast/cable interviews and is represented as a public speaker by Hachette Speakers Bureau.

 

Kato the ‘House Guest’ Not the Dog

A D.A. witness

Talks a lot, but says nothing.

What does Kato know?

3/21/95

And who among those who followed the Simpson murder trial, could forget Simpson (loosely labeled) house guest, Kato Kaelin? Or figure out what he was all about? Or get over the unbelievable coincidence that Kato was also the name of Simpson’s murdered ex-wife, Nicole Brown’s, dog? Or was that a coincidence?

Although Kaelin’s fame, such as it was, persists, the one mention in Anatomy had to do with cameras in the courtroom.

“Whether cameras substantially affect trial participants’ behavior remains open to debate. … at least one witness, Kato Kaelin, appeared to treat his turn on the witness stand like an audition,” I wrote.