TVSquad

Back in January I mentioned a little animated short that meshed the Simpsons together with O.J. Simpson to create, naturally, The O.J. Simpsons. It's cute, though not especially hilarious.

Well, now FOX lawyers are asking Broadcaster.com, the video site that hosts the clips, to have the clips removed.

But check this out: if you watch the YouTube clip, the music is lifted directly from The Simpsons, but if you watch it on Broadcaster, the music is not from The Simpsons.

FOX wanted the clips removed due to to "copyright infringement," so I assume the music was changed for that reason. Without the music, I would say the clips fall under the category of "parody," which I think makes them legitimate. This is based on my delusion that I actually know anything about copyright law.

[via Digg]

As much as some of us would like to rise above the media saturation that inevitably follows certain events (the recent death of Anna Nicole Smith being one example), it's not always an easy thing to do. Unfortunately, by the time the media coverage has receded and we can begin looking at the situation with better clarity, the focus has already shifted to the next Big Story.

The other night I was visited by God. At least, I think it was God. It might have been someone just dressed as God. When I asked him to prove he was God, he just said, "dude, look how I'm dressed." I had to take his word for it because I don't know what God looks like. Apparently he favors earmuffs and no pants.

Anyway, God told me to stop posting stories about OJ Simpson, but since I'm feeling defiant I'm going to direct you to an animated short that mixes OJ with The Simpsons. It's just okay, nothing great, but some of you might get a kick out of it. The only part I really didn't like was the end, which wasn't very funny. Plus, there's the "To Be Continued" at the end, which didn't excite me too much because I think this idea really only works as a one-shot cartoon. At any rate, you can check it out by clicking here.

[via TV Filter]

Citing sources close to OJ Simpson, Time is reporting that certain publication rights from his book, If I Did It, Here's How it Happened, could revert back to him before next Christmas. That means the book may still see the light of day, somewhere. Several European publishers have expressed an interest in the book, a "fictional" account of how Simpson would have committed the murders he was accused of had he actually done it. If the book ever gets published, here or abroad, Simpson is welcome to use this hypothetical blurb, written in the spirit of the book, based on what I would have said had I actually read it:

Yay! My first rhyming headline! Allow me to skip around clapping my hands like a little girl while twirling a parasol behind my back. Actually, that would be impossible, I'd need like four hands to accomplish that.

Come to think of it, maybe that's the key component of OJ's upcoming book, If I Did It, Here's How It Happened: that he could only have committed the murders if he had four arms. Not that anyone who watches the nine FOX affiliates run by Lin Broadcasting and Pappas Broadcasting will ever know, because they've decided not to run the two-part interview scheduled for November 27 and 29.

Here you go, a bit of humor for your Saturday, or whatever day you happen to be reading this. The comedic minds over at Cracked have come up with some titles for books OJ Simpson might want to write as a follow up to his "hypothetical" book If I Did It, his account of how he would have committed the murders, had he actually done it. My favorite title: 'I Wish I Could Go Back In Time And Not Commit Murder.' That's What I'd Be Saying If I Did It.

There's never any event so tragic that someone, somewhere won't find humor in it, but I always find it interesting how some events seem to require more passing of time before people joke about them, while others are made the subject of humor right away. South Park touched on this with the "Jared has Aides" episode, announcing it was now okay to make fun of AIDS because it had been around for over twenty years. How long until jokes about 9/11 become the norm? It seems weird to think about, but tragedies like the Titanic and the Hindenburg have become punchlines in the modern age, so it seems naive to believe that future generations won't do the same with events from our era.

I think it would do our collective conscience good not to try and figure out why it is OJ Simpson felt it was wise to write a book titled If I Did It, Here's How It Happened. That's like trying to wrap your mind around what happened before the Big Bang: before you know it you've gazed so deeply into your navel that the universe begins to fold in on itself and suddenly you're in limbo chatting with versions of yourself from various parts of time and space. If you want to dive into that particular rabbit hole, go right ahead, but I need to preserve my mind for better things.