THIS IS A.C. ... YOU KNOW WHO I AM: I cannot say enough things about how great ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary was in depicting the craziness of June 17, 1994 -- the low-speed white Bronco chase-slash-suicide watch, the NBA Finals, the World Cup opening in Chicago, Arnold Palmer's final US Open round and the New York Rangers victory parade -- yes, all in one day. Watch it, folks, and especially for the behind the scenes footage of folks like Bob Costas and Chris Berman trying to make sense of how to cover all of this at once. (Plus, you get to see a mustachioed Keith Olbermann and an employed Craig Kilborn.)
Here's a question which you can answer whether or not you've seen the documentary yet: suppose O.J. Simpson did kill himself along or at the end of the drive as his Robert Kardashian-read letter and conversation with police during their pursuit strongly suggested he would. Tell us how today's world is different. Do we ever learn who Greta van Susteren or Jeffrey Toobin are? Does it change media coverage of car chases going forward? Does Leno still beat Letterman in the ratings? Do Kardashian's daughters still end up having a thing for star athletes? What replaces the Chewbacca Defense and Jackie Chiles? Your wild speculations are welcome.
Good as I've heard this one is, it is caught in my vow to not watch any Kardashian-related programming other than "The Soup."
ReplyDeleteYou see him reading snippets of the note, that's it. No talking heads at all.
ReplyDeletethis doesn't happen: Joe McGinness, disgusted by the trial, returns his book advance and takes off for hicksville, Italy to write the entertaining, and massively weird, The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro.
ReplyDeleteNo "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit!" That's been the source of SO many jokes for my friends and me.
ReplyDeleteI assume Bochco never does MURDER ONE without Simpson coming first.
ReplyDeleteJust sharing a "funny" story - a friend of mine took a nap after work that day and woke up late in a panic and raced to the bar where he was meeting people to watch the game. The bar was fairly quiet, with everyone watching police following a white Bronco through traffic. He asked some girl what was going on and she said, "Magic Johnson's gone crazy!"
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, my first reaction is then Dominick Dunne doesn't get to cover the trial and then write his wonderful novel about it, "Another City Not My Own." (Which manages to also bring in Andrew Cunanan in some creepy ways.)
ReplyDeleteImpacts on DNA evidence: does CBS air the CSI shows? Does Barry Scheck's Innocence Project get off the ground (or have the impact it has)?
ReplyDeleteI was a camp counselor outside of Dayton, Washington, and we didn't get back until a few days after this. The murder, the bronco chase, everything happened while we were at camp for 5-6 days. It led to me feeling bizarrely disconnected from the whole affair as I witnessed so little of it as it happened.
ReplyDeleteBenner FTW.
ReplyDeleteNorm MacDonald just completed his 16th seasons hosting Weekend Update. Colin Quinn is not known for anything other than Remote Control (a change?). Tina Fey is just another anonymous writer on SNL (though thanks to her, MacGruber only sort of sucked). Alec Baldwin is in his 5th stint in rehab since his marriage fell apart and his career stalled out.
ReplyDeleteMacDonald lasts longer on SNL but not forever -- if Dennis Miller couldn't stay forever in that chair and even Darrell Hammond had to leave eventually, MacDonald if he lasts as long as Miller makes it to 2000 ... which is when Fey/Fallon took over anyway.
ReplyDeleteI was maybe the only person who thought that 30 for 30 was disappointing -- the OJ stuff was interesting, especially footage we never saw or forgot about. But the doc was ostensibly about all the other sports events happening that day (including a ticker-tape parade that had to have occurred in the morning). No connection was ever reasonably drawn among the other events. A better piece would have been merely about the chase, and how broadcasters/sports fans responded to it.
ReplyDeleteI was working at the time for a large news organization, and although my shift was over, I stayed to watch the Knicks-Rockets game because I didn't think I had enough time to get home to catch the end. So there I was when the OJ story broke, and the next day my managing editor wrote a nice note thanking me for staying late to help out, and I didn't have the heart to tell him that the real reason I stayed late.
ReplyDeleteI also remember Bob Costas coming on with some self-righteous drivel about how this makes us realize how unimportant sports are, and thinking: He's wrong. I cared a lot more about the Knicks game than the OJ story.
And I know one way the future would have been different: I would still be working for that news organization. One of the reasons I quit was that I got tired of editing OJ stories every day while the trial dragged on.
That's true, though the idea of Norm MacDonald becoming a venerated comedic institution appealed to me too much to listen to reason.
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