If It Makes No Sense, Johnnie Takes Offense
Former O.J. Simpson defense lawyers Johnnie Cochran and Barry Scheck are both headed for television jobs, but they’ve still got a pretty small opinion of the small screen.
“The Simpson case created a new industry for legal pundits,” Scheck, who’s signed on with “Dateline NBC,” tells TV Guide.
“TV wants a winner or loser every day, and there was a tendency to cover the arguments between the lawyers and with the judge, and overlook the substantive points made in court.”
Added Cochran, who will host a nightly talk show called “Cochran and Grace” on Court TV: “We lived through 15 months of being second-guessed. Many of the people who were talking on TV had no idea what they were talking about.”
Loose talk
Former “Today” show news reader Matt Lauer, who just turned 39, on his promotion to co-host (in People magazine): “A lot of other people were qualified, but I felt like possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
Look out, Matt, she’s already one-upping you
Katie Couric turns 40 today.
If it’s true, he’s actually a pretty small man
Rock saxophonist Clarence Clemons, best known as “The Big Man” in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, has been arrested on domestic battery charges from a Dec. 6 incident in the Florida Keys. His girlfriend, Sharlene Smalley, claims Clemons pushed her to the ground, slammed her into a wall, kicked her and punched her repeatedly.
That’s truly criminal, by Kennedy standards
John F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t enjoy his days as a deputy prosecutor, according to an article in the new Playboy. The magazine quotes Kennedy as telling a colleague: “I felt sorry for the defendants. Sure, they were all guilty. But they were all poor and stupid.”
Hey, Harry, watch out for that heir-pin turn!
Moving from American royalty to the British royals, Prince Charles and his 12-year-old son, Prince Harry, swapped conventional skis for the short, foot-shaped “Big Foot” version during a Swiss ski trip over the weekend. “Slow down Harry, slow down Harry,” a ski instructor called out to the boy as he sped down the slope.
Just another episode of Charles in charge
The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, reports that Chaz has designated a bedroom at his Highgrove country manor for his paramour, Camilla ParkerBowles, and ordered his staff to call her “m’lady.” Said one servant: “If that’s what the boss wants, that’s what will happen.”
Please, no more fries for me, Argentina
The Duchess of York, whose mother married an Argentinean polo player in the 1970s, is visiting the South American nation with her two daughters. The former Sarah Ferguson has said she has bad memories of Argentina as a teen-ager, when peer pressure to be thin led her to take diet drugs that caused “mental confusion” for many years.
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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Rick Bonino