If Fox Didn't Do It

Fox, in a rare lapse of decency and common sense, announced today that it has scrapped “If I Did It,� O.J. Simpson’s book and TV interview on how he might have gone about murdering his ex-wife Nicole and Ron Goldman - that is, if perchance he had means, motive and a violent enough temper.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," read a statement attributed to Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman, six days after News Corp. proudly announced its grand, quease-inducing coup.

All well and good - chalk up a rare if somewhat belated win for ethical behavior - but now that means that O.J. both got whatever money he did and has been spared the public humiliation: Win/win for him, it'd seem. And viewers salivating to hear all the salacious details (but, really, when you think about it, how many could there have been? Apparently the murder took up but one chapter in the book, and you'd be a fool to think that a two-hour TV interview wouldn't be stuffed with tedious padding) will have to wipe off their chins and wait until snippets get leaked to YouTube.

Oh, well, at least we still have Judith Regan's grandiosely self-serving statement - "I made the decision to publish this book, and to sit face to face with the killer, because I wanted him, and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives. Amen." - to kick around.