HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (CAP) - One is a seasoned newsman, a veteran of numerous political campaigns, brought down by the very industry he covered for 40 years. The other is an ex-football player, struggling, searching to find the murderer of his beloved ex-wife, a murder for which he was wrongly accused. Together, they're hooking up to create the most successful crime-fighting team since Starsky & Hutch.
Well, that's what Bravo is hoping, anyway. Provider of such ground-breaking reality programming as "Make Grandma A Ho" and "Dominatrix Dad", Bravo has signed Dan Rather and O.J. "Juice-E" Simpson to star in a new reality-based show this fall tentatively titled, "The Rather Juice-E Detective Agency".
"I'm as excited as a mudpuppy at a mayfly convention," Dan Rather recently told CAP News Entertainment Reporter Elisia Gibbons at a sit-down to promote the show. Rather's t-shirt, "The Frequency is 'CBS Sucks'," lends credibility to the rumors that his parting with his former network was something less than amicable.
"I'm with Dan," said O.J., himself clad in a "NWA" wife-beater. "This is a great opportunity, and it's just nice to be working agai - BITCH, WHERE BE MY COFFEE?! Sorry Elisia, I'm breaking in a new assistant. ACCENT ON BREAKING!"
Executive Producer David Kelly sees great potential in the pairing.
"On the one hand, you have a damaged, meek white guy. On the other, a damaged, raging Negro. What's not to love?" asked Kelly. "The dynamic of Rather's keen, investigative intellect and Simpson's ability to just fly off the handle and fuck someone up will have audiences desperate to tune in."
Bravo is counting on it, shelving a special "Kathy Griffin: D-List A-Hole" series to make way for "The Rather Juice-E Detective Agency." It will air Tuesdays at 9pm starting September 12.
- Rich Gray
Contributing Writer