THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504050072
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
HOW CAN YOU TELL if you've been watching too much Court TV lately?
David Letterman has a test.
Do all your erotic fantasies include bailiffs? When your kid breaks a neighbor's window playing ball, do you yell ``Get in the Bronco and drive''?
If so, you've been watching way too much O.J. trial coverage.
It's time to withdraw, say the folks at Comedy Central.
They've inaugurated a ``Just Say No J.'' campaign to wean viewers off Court TV and other channels covering the proceedings in downtown Los Angeles. The trial may drag on for months.
After the vice president of Comedy Central's creative affairs had a nightmare about the cast of characters in Judge Lance Ito's courtroom, she decided it was time to say no to O.J.
The woman wants to save your sanity.
America is hanging on the every word of an empty-headed surfer dude name Kato Kaelin. What does that tell you about us as a people?
``Our brains have been fried,'' said Gloria Banta of Comedy Central. ``Turn off the trial for your own good.''
To that, the readers of this column say amen.
Using Infoline (640-5555, Category 3333), I polled readers about the TV coverage of the Simpson trial.
Is it too much, I asked?
Is it overkill to have three cable networks beaming us live coverage every day? Is there so much interest in the testimony in Los Angeles that the producers of ``Nightline,'' ``A Current Affair,'' ``American Journal,'' ``Hard Copy'' and ``Extra'' dare not go a day without saying something about the trial?
Even ESPN, the home of jocks and socks, covers the trial daily.
Two out of every three readers who participated in my little Infoline poll say they are weary of the Simpson trial. They wholeheartedly support Comedy Central's ``Just Say No J.'' campaign.
``The coverage plods along with a capital P,'' said Cathy Ecobichon in Virginia Beach. ``I am sick of seeing the trial on television. It gets too much air time. Just show me the final verdict.''
Lamar Wilkie, also in Virginia Beach, has a terrific idea. It's the 24-hours-a-day O.J. Simpson Channel.
That will free up Court TV, CNN and E! Entertainment Television to do other things. He has overdosed on O.J. like the rest us.
His motto, in fractured Latin, is ``Finito Ito.''
Stephanie Kuhlmeyer in Chesapeake says she is ``sick to death'' of seeing the Simpson trial on TV. You can't escape it, even on trips to the mall, she said.
``It's in all the stores. Everywhere you look.''
Comedy Central kicked off its ``Just Say No J.'' campaign with 30-second spots that show how preoccupied we've become with O.J., Marcia, Kato and the others in that courtroom. In one spot, a woman in for an eye test screams when she realizes the letters on the chart before her spell R-O-B-E-R-T S-H-A-P-I-R-O.
Eeeeek!
And there's the spot in which a dog, weary of the whole O.J. business, picks up the remote in his teeth and zaps the trial. While that's going on, Pop is making a model Ford Bronco, Mom is baking from ``Marcia Clark's Righteous Recipes,'' and young Billy is working with his junior DNA test kit.
You can also hear the spots on the radio - on John Trout's show between 6 and 10 a.m. on WNVZ-FM (Z-104).
How can you tell when you've overdosed on O.J.? Look to Letterman. He'll tell you it's time to swear off Court TV when you have recurring nightmares about being trapped in Ito's beard.
Just say No J. by CNB