![<em>Variety</em> Thinks 'No One Takes [Its] Reviews Seriously,' Which Is Probably Why It Fired Its Critics](http://cache-04.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/7/2010/03/126x100_iron_cross_03.jpg "<em>Variety</em> Thinks 'No One Takes [Its] Reviews Seriously,' Which Is Probably Why It Fired Its Critics")
Nov 15, 2006 05:23 PM
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Hollywood, 8:44 AM
Fri Mar 12
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While the headlines to this story blare O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened publisher Judith Regan's declaration that she considers the hypothetical double-murder how-to manual that Fox is gleefully adapting into two hours of stab-happy, civilization-eroding TV programming to be "his confession," we're more interested in the anecdote about the network that turned down a chance to air the special:
At least one other network, NBC, said it had been approached to air the special but declined the offer."This is not a project appropriate for our network," said Rebecca Marks, a spokeswoman for the entertainment division of NBC, a network that once employed Simpson as a football analyst.
Before you congratulate the network on their brave and principled refusal to attempt to rescue themselves from their Nielsen doldrums by making a serious play for the Simpson special, remember that the cost-slashing, layoff-happy NBC 2.0 probably hasn't had a chance to fire enough employees to afford such a high-profile project. Had NBC known that such an opportunity would be available to them, maybe they would've saved the cash they just dedicated to helping Aaron Sorkin chase after some more scarce, high-end viewers and instead channeled it into pandering to the ones who'd be more interested in watching OJ pantomime theoretical death-strokes than serious-minded dramas about the difficulties of staging sketch comedy shows.
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