O.J. is on ABC, CBS, NBC, and all the cable news channels

[DemocratSinceBirth]

We are a celebrity culture.

[Foamfollower]

1. All reality TV started with O.J. Simpson and his friends, the Kardashians.

[BannonsLiver]

14. The Real World predates OJ by a couple of years

Some point to that as the beginning of modern reality TV. PBS also had a quasi reality TV show back in the 70's called An American Family. I think what OJ did more than anything was usher in an era of infotainment in the news media.

[Skraxx]

23. Howard Stern Created "Reality Entertainment", I Would Argue

TV followed radio.

[BannonsLiver]

25. Yeah, except for the fact that Howard was still in college when American Family aired on PBS.

Not to take anything away from him of course. I'm a fan. But I don't really see a direct connect between what he does and Reality TV. Different formats. Apples to oranges.

[Skraxx]

43. Disagree completely, no one has ever heard of that show, I doubt the significance of it

Howard's impact is not debatable.

[flamingdem]

52. Everyone watched that show

at least those of that generation, it was the thing.

[Skraxx]

58. No they didn't, I didn't and I've never heard of it, and it was my generation

Whatever impact it had, IMO is limited. Reality entertainment was in large part driven by Stern, IMO.

[Foamfollower]

49. Yes, but the OJ spectacle demonstrated how to do it, add big names, and have little to no production

costs.

He hid out in Kim and Kloe Kardashian's shared bedroom! HE came close to offing himself there!

And now Kardashians have been foisted on us through "reality TV" for years!

[moose65]

33. Kinda sorta, I guess

I think the OJ case was the start of "news-as-entertainment." IMO, it was a huge mistake to allow the trial to be televised. That changed it from a trial to a media spectacle, and people acted like they were watching a night time soap or something.

Game shows were really the first "reality" TV, and then came "An American Family" and "The Real World," but the genre shot into the stratosphere with Survivor and all its clones, and American Idol and all of its clones.

Does anyone remember the show "Real People" from the late 70s/early 80s?

[nkpolitics1212]

44. The father of the Kardashian family was OJ Simpson's friend and lawyer.

Robert Kardashian was Simpsons lawyer before Shapiro and Cochran were hired. Kardashian was a legal assistant in the Dream Team. Simpson could guest star in Keeping with the Kardashians.

[Foamfollower]

48. Yeah, when OJ hid out from the cops do you know where he hid and nearly killed himself?

Yeah, in Kim ad Kloe's Kardashian's shared childhood bedroom.

Other things came first, there is no doubt, but the OJ show proved how "reality TV" could captivate audiences with little to no production cost compnred to standard television fare.

[rufus dog]

50. I believe Kardashian recommended Shapiro and then became part of the team - You know why?

Attorney client privilege. He took a duffle bag out of the house the day OJ returned, right in front of the two Sr. Detectives, walks it to his car, puts it in the trunk.

[Blue_true]

45. Did't you hear?

OJ has a reality tv show lined up. It will be called "Out of Pinstripes".

[NightWatcher]

2. Is Cowling waiting outside in a white Bronco?

[Tanuki]

3. Does anyone care about O.J. anymore?

[WoonTars]

13. Apparently all the major news networks do..

...

[Tanuki]

21. They no doubt hope to whip up ratings, as they did when this decades-old story

was a national obsession. I just hope that the crucial issues facing us at the moment (treason, healthcare, global warming, etc.) don't get shoved aside to focus on this irrelevant sideshow.

[WoonTars]

22. Too late...we have become a fame-obsessed, soundbite population

....just as planned.

[Leith]

4. I Was Wondering If I Was the Only One

Did Tommy Lee and Robert Downey Jr. get that kind of attention on the news when they got out of jail? They were famous at the time. How about Lauryn Hill? James Brown?

Martha Stewart got some attention, but not like this.

I'm so sick of OJ.

[BeyondGeography]

5. We are cultural pinheads

[cwydro]

6. Not near a tv.

Keep me posted lol.

[Eugene]

7. Even BBC.

[benld74]

8. NO tv in my home has this on. This is going back in time

[riversedge]

9. Glad my tv of OFF.

[OnDoutside]

10. Brings me back to my hotel room in Ijselin, on June 17 1994....watching that Ford Bronco on the

Freeway.

[MuseRider]

29. LOL I watched it as I packed

for a nice long diving trip in Honduras. Funny how we remember things based on what we were doing at the time. I could not have told you what year that was but I could always tell you it was the year of OJ and A. and the white bronco.

[OnDoutside]

34. It made such an impression because a group of 40 of us had just flown into Washington

from Ireland (on an Aeroflot flight of all things !) for 1994 Soccer World Cup in the US. The following day we went to see Ireland beat Italy in Giants Stadium.

[MuseRider]

36. Sounds like a memorable day all on it's own!

Good memory of the game and your Aeroflot flight! I would say that is a pretty good reason to remember the flight of the Bronco.


My only other memory of the OJ stuff, because I was not going to waste my time watching that crap on TV, was that I was learning how to ride cutting horses at that time. My neighbor and I would go out and bring in 100 head of cattle from the hills and we would take lessons. He had 2 bulls there who kept escaping and he named them OJ and Al. Our job when they got out was to go find them, fix the fences if we could and bring them back. Neither of us knew what we were doing or even whose pastures we were in but we would find them and bring them back. We knew nothing about doing this but we figured it out (it is easier to bring in 100 head than 2). Eventually I found out that he had to slaughter both bulls because they were recalcitrant and mean. Still, it was my friend and I out searching for OJ and Al for several months before their demise.

EDITS because I cannot spell today

[OnDoutside]

38. Your memory beats mine ! Great story.

[MuseRider]

39. Not at all!

The very fact that you are in Ireland beats everything in my life! I want so much to visit there. My Great Grandmother was a Clancy, close relation to the Clancy Brothers. I thought she was a sister but everyone is dead now and there is nobody to ask. Still, love your beautiful country. Love my friends from there and their incredible language and their accent when speaking mine. I have a set of smallpipes sitting in my office I need to fix up so I can teach myself to play them. I know they are English or Scottish but pipes be pipes by some measure. Uilleann pipes were too big for me but oh how I would love a set. Nice to meet you OnDoutside.

[OnDoutside]

40. Nice to meet you too, MuseRider !

Was she born in Ireland ? A Great Grandmother is definitely possible to investigate, I'd be more than happy to help you research. I've been researching my own family history for the last 16 years or so, so I have a good bit of experience now. You're more than welcome to private message me.

I'm sure you are aware of the great Uilleann piper, Willie Clancy ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Clancy_(musician)

The foremost Uilleann piper of today is Liam O'Flynn

I'm always in awe of musicians, I don't have the patience myself, although my son has really taken to the piano.

[Catherine Vincent]

11. Yes

I am home today and switched to my antenna tv to get away from it.

Not many people care about OJS's faith.

[HipChick]

12. I expect a Dolt45 Tweetstorm...

It hates sharing the newscycle

[Oneironaut]

15. Ugh. Thanks for the warning...

I refuse to watch this irrelevant piece of trash. The media almost worships him as an anti-hero. He's a loser who had money and a good lawyer.

Further proof that our "news" here isn't real news. It's dumbed down entertainment made to attract attention like a screaming carnival barker.

[tenderfoot]

16. This coverage is further proof the media is anything but liberal.

It's also one of the reasons for mass ignorance across the land.

[a kennedy]

17. Holy crap OJ's parole hearing is on ESPN & ESPN2 too. eom

[Bradical79]

35. Only place it makes sense

Most of their programming is filler, esp. at this time of year, and Simpson was a football great.

[ProfessorGAC]

56. But On Two Channels?

I get what you're saying, but one of their channels wasn't enough
On SportsNation Beadle was making fun of her own network
This isn't sports and hasn't played football in 45 years
A big "who cares?"!!!

[lindysalsagal]

18. I'm watching dvr of last night's rachel.

Not interested in a murderer.

[jehop61]

19. Golf Channel

has the British Open. Bet OJ's game has gone to pot

[Awsi Dooger]

30. His golf game wasn't much to begin with

O.J. played the same course I did -- Calusa Country Club -- in the early 2000s when he lived in Miami. I saw him there all the time and it was incredibly awkward. He had the same group of guys he played with and then his blonde girlfriend Kristi followed in a separate cart.

O.J. had a short choppy swing but a good short game. Obviously I never played with him but lots of holes on that course ran toward each other so I saw him hit plenty of shots.

We always left the course restaurant when O.J. was there. His voice boomed and he never shut up.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

20. Our country is in the toilet and this is proof positive that our inept M$M helped put us there.

Playing to the lowest common denominator.

[Towlie]

24. I switched to SyFy to watch a really bad zombie movie instead.

[Zoonart]

28. Me too...

when can we start ignoring him again? I vote for right now.

[question everything]

26. As if we did not have enough back in 1994 (nt)

[Renew Deal]

27. How's the show?

[BigDemVoter]

31. Are they going to follow his car home from a helicopter? I seriously would NOT

be surprised.

[LeftInTX]

46. They did that when Casey Anthony was released from jail

They followed the car she was in, but somehow the helicopter somehow lost her. She ended up switching cars and was whisked off into a private jet.

[cilla4progress]

32. good day

to be off the boob tube!

[spanone]

37. hence the 'president'

[JCanete]

42. the News is not there to inform us, but that pretense is still incredibly important for them to

maintain.

[LeftInTX]

47. Is he going to run for president?

OJ versus Trump!!

He slogan could be Juice! Juice! Juice!

[Warpy]

51. Broadcast news is celebrity obsessed

It's utter twaddle. Turn it off to get informed.

[Hieronymus]

53. OJ should be ignored .. he'd hate that.

[MFM008]

54. It's so 90s

.......

[AgadorSparticus]

55. Who watches that crap anymore? They have lost journalistic excellence long ago

They are like the MySpace of social media.

[Hieronymus]

57. OJ said he'd led a conflict free life.

The man is a sociopath or psychopath for sure.