re: The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story series long thread

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It would be like if Wayne Brady was on trial for killing an attractive, blonde haired, white woman right after the Ferguson riots.

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That's a piss poor comparison. Try if Peyton murdered his black ex-wife and then went on an incredibly slow speed chase with white people lining the interstate in support.

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Would one of you older folk mind comparing what it was like if it were modern day.

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It's sort of hard to give a direct parallel - OJ wasn't just a famous ex-football player. He was a heisman trophy winner, 2,000 yard rusher, NFL HOFer, a MNF host, and then one of the most trusted and famous commercial stars and a fairly big time movie star.

I truly can't think of a current retired athlete who was that decorated on the field and now has a robust entertainment career. Probably the closest is Dwayne "The Rock Johnson".

So imagine the Ferguson riots happening in whatever city Johnson currently lives in and what kind of effect that would have on the climate of race relations and police perception in that town. Johnson's ex-wife is brutally murdered and a good bit of evidence points in his direction. Police issue an arrest warrant and he agrees to turn himself in but instead, he runs.

What follows is a slow speed car chase covered by every available camera - from handhelds, to broadcast trucks, to news helicopters - and every single channel interrupts their live broadcast - including and NBA finals game and a world cup match on American soil - to cover it live. For hours.

The trial last a year and is broadcast 8-5 live on all news channels. Spawns Court TV. Makes a bunch of lawyers famous for their commentary (Greta Van Sustern for one). Before and after the daily proceedings, all news shows are devoted to whatever the storyline of the day is from the trial. "Larry King Live", "Inside Edition", "Hard Copy" and all shows like it are 100% about the trial. All the gossip magazines are all about the trial.

When the verdict comes down the country literally stopped what they were doing in the middle of a work day to watch the jury's decision. (I was 3 weeks away from my wedding day and was at our reception venue to approve the final menu and we paused our meeting to go into the pro shop bar to watch).

I won't belabor this any longer with how the country reacted to the verdict but it literally consumed every media outlet for 18 months.

The murders were June 12/13 (around midnight) 1994.

OJ was arrested June 17, 1994.

Jury selection begins November 3, 1994 - it takes till December 8, 1994 to select all the jurors.

Jurors are sequestered January 11, 1995.

Opening statements January 23, 1995.

First witness called January 31, 1995.

Closing arguments begin September 26, 1995.

Jury begins deliberations October 2, 1995 and tell the judge they have a verdict that same day.

Verdict announced October 3, 1995.

To put it in a personal perspective, I graduated undergrad in May 1994. I was starting grad school in August on 1994 so I was working part time in Tuscaloosa and taking it easy for the summer before grad school started. I was glued to the TV all summer when the murders and arrest and pretrial stuff went down. The trial went on my entire time in grad school - I finished my master's degree in August of 1995 and then moved home for two months to finish my final wedding plans for October of 1995. When I remember grad school - especially because I was in communications/PR - the OJ Trial is the backdrop for a lot of my memories of that year.

TLDR - it was a big fricking deal

I was 9 or 10 yrs old and remember the White Bronco Chase like it was a week ago. That chase and subsequent trial essentially invented modern opinion/tabloid/24 hr/sensationalist news media. That case and the Monica Lewinsky stuff were the biggest 2 stories of the decade. Especially the OJ trial though. It was just too juicy of a story. Everything in entertainment revolved around that story for a year+.

What I remember the most media wise was SNL in it's heyday and Norm Macdonald absolutely demolishing OJ and the coverage. It is still the best era of Weekend Update and there's not a close second. The combination of Norm and the characters in that trial were just too perfect. It will never be topped.

My older brother was at a golf club bar/restaurant with his friend during the chase and all the old timers told them

"boys remember what you're watching, this will be one of the biggest stories of all time."

...little did they know just HOW big it would get.

I just don't know if someone can grasp just how all consuming this story was unless you lived it. It's like what you read about with the Lindbergh case in the 30's, except there was only radio and newspapers.

Ha, the rolling out the tv thing in class is exactly what we did too. Every teacher on the hallway of the elementary school had it on because our school had basic cable. I just remember his reaction. He fist pumped,....he didn't cry, he didn't exhale... He fist pumped like he just won a game, it was incrediblly telling. I can still hear the female voice saying

"We the jury find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson....not guilty."

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Would one of you older folk mind comparing what it was like if it were modern day.

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Keep in mind this was before reality tv. The trial was on network tv every day. It was a reality show before reality shows existed. It was a real life soap opera. Everyone was invested in it, everyone had an opinion and everyone took a side.

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Watching it now, it's off to a good start but frick I hate Sarah Paulson and her ugly face

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I second that... Cannot stand Paulson. fricking terrible.

Show is good thus far. I wish they would have gone with no names instead of Gooding, Schwimmer, and Travolta as key people.

Did any of the crime photos get leaked out to the press or general public? Apparently Nicole's head was just barely attached to her neck. Sickening.

And right off the bat, I figured the cops jumping the fence like they did, without a warrant or anything was the first big no-no.

And apparently the first police interview was a complete sham. Wouldn't those police be trained to get a confession out of people, WTF?

Watched episode one last night. I think it's going to be a great series and hope they do more stories.

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Perhaps one of the seasons could be about the West Memphis 3

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There's already a lot that's been made about it. Maybe the story from Serial season one depending how things play out with that right now.

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And apparently the first police interview was a complete sham. Wouldn't those police be trained to get a confession out of people, WTF?

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You have to remember that OJ was on friendly terms with a lot of the LAPD officers. Yes they treated him with kid gloves in that interview.

Found this interview with Clark about some of the things the first episode didn't depict accurately. I have actually never heard this piece before.

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But then they blew one of the greatest lines in the show. Detective Ron Phillips, wonderful guy, he was the one who called to notify Simpson in Chicago. What he actually told Simpson was, “Your wife is dead.” And Simpson's response was, “Who killed her?” Wait a minute, how about a car accident? How about an overdose?

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