 |
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- A U.S. cable broadcaster plans to offer viewers daily courtroom re-enactments of the Michael Jackson trial.
The programming bomb was dropped late yesterday by E! Entertainment Television president and CEO Ted Harbert at the annual network press tour.
Harbert, a former ABC executive who worked with Jackson in the '80s, told critics that care would be taken to transcribe testimony verbatim and to show no bias in the re-enactments. The trial is scheduled to begin in less than a month.
The announcement was greeted with gasps and some laughter. Casting any actor as Jackson is an instant sight gag, one critic suggested. A child abuse trial is hardly fodder for the red carpet network, said another.
E!, which is teaming with British Sky Broadcasting on the venture, plans to hire actors, overnight transcripts and edit them into half-hour shows.
"We've agreed not to be overly sensational," said Harbert to titters from critics.
"I understand why you are laughing," he said, "but putting on television shows that people want to watch is part of our mandate." He added that any thought of goofing on Jackson would be rejected out of hand. "This is a person I knew (who has reached) an absurd level of celebrity."
Unlike the O.J. Simpson trial, a judge has ruled that there will be no television cameras allowed inside the courtroom during this highly anticipated trial. Harbert's scheme seems to fly in the face of the judge's decision to keep the trial from turning into a media circus.
"I'd be very surprised if the jury were going to rely on this broadcast," said Harbert. Every entertainment show, from Entertainment Tonight to Celebrity Justice to Extra, will be filing daily updates on the trial. E!'s re-enactments would be a day later for viewers who just can't get enough of the story, he said.
In addition to the re-enactments, panelists, described as "legal experts," would also weigh in. The actor E! has in mind to play Jackson bears "a very close resemblance," said Harbert, who plans to have observers in the courtroom taking notes on inflection, manner and tone. "We'll find out how he's wardrobed (each day) and mimic it."
The Michael Jackson trial is set to air twice daily in prime time Monday to Friday on E!. No word yet whether a Canadian broadcaster would be picking it up.