It is in such circumstances that the OJ. trial is the only show in town. It began as the legal equivalent of an opening night on Broadway. After months of backstage manoeuvring and dress rehearsals the lead players could strut their stuff. If this was not such an obscene marathon, a daily Technicolour eyeful of the best but mostly worst of the American justice system, you might have found some joy by the look on the faces of 47-year-old Simpson's defence team when it appeared Judge Lance Ito would not allow their 'act' to be televised. They could not disguise their despair and then the anger. It appeared they would have been less upset if their client had been found guilty of knifing to death his former wife Nicole,35, and her friend, restaurant waiter Ronald Goldman,25, on June 12 last year. The bodies were found outside Mrs Simpson's home on the west side of Los Angeles . It was high drama. But that was swiftly surpassed by the strange, leisurely car chase in which the California Highway Patrol -- and a fleet of media cars beneath a sky clouded by TV news helicopters -- pursued Simpson and his white Ford Bronco along the Los Angeles freeways. It was a bizarre event watched by 93 million television viewers in America alone.That was enough for two television films and 16 TV movie proposals. And that was just the first act. The Big Carnival -- the media Ace in the Hole -- began. Nicole's parents were interviewed on prime time TV. Then's it was the turn of Ronald Goldman's family. Then Simpson's children from his first marriage went 'live'. His mother Eunice and sister Shirley make their TV appearances. Paula Barbieri, who was Simpson's girlfriend before the double-murders, appeared in 'Playboy' magazine. Last October Simpson's fitness-for-men video was released, Nicole's apartment was put on the market for nearly one million dollars. Judge Ito began a six-part interview with KCBS-TV in Los Angeles . Nicole's family accepted a $50,000 dollars from 'No Excuses' jeans -- they are to set up a foundation in her name. Simpson supporters set-up a 1-900-RESPECT telephone line so that fans of the fallen idol can leave a message -- at $1.95 a minute. By the time the trial proper got going last month (JANUARY) Simpson's book 'I Want To Tell You' which was dictated from prison had been published. Everyone associated with this case -- not since the Lindbergh kidnapping has a crime so captivated the American imagination -- is getting or will receive their 15 minutes of fame. And it will be a lucrative quarter of an hour. The first star off the block was Robert Shapiro who heads the Simpson defence team. His reward in legal fee terms will be in the millions of dollars whether his client walks free from the ninth floor courtroom of Los Angeles Superior Court or not. Not only has he hired his 'dream team' of lawyers to defend Simpson he has also employed the services of Ed Hookstratten who is one of this town's most respected agent-lawyers. Hookstratten's task is to deal with Shapiro's book offers and and discuss possibilities about Shapiro becoming a television talk show host. Such is the interest in the trial that Shapiro has become as well if not a better known face than President Clinton.
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