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How O.J. Simpson, a Busted Pilot and His Huge Network Supporter Loomed Over NBC Just as It Found ‘Must-See TV’ Success

What happened to OJ Simpson's 'Frogmen' pilot and did the NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer demote "Saturday Night Live's" Norm Macdonald for his OJ jokes?

As then-Variety TV critic Brian Lowry — who once screened the pilot, in secret — wrote in 2014, “Simpson played the leader of a crack team of ex-Navy SEALs. The group worked out of a surf shop in Malibu, and the tone seemed designed to tap into a vibe similar to ‘The A-Team.’ In a moment that fleetingly drew attention during the trial because of its parallels to the murders, there was one sequence in which Simpson’s character, John “Bullfrog” Burke, surprises an intruder and holds a knife to her throat. As soon as Simpson was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Goldman, Beckman went through the NBC offices and collected everyone’s copy of “Frogmen.” If the pilot were to end up leaking to the press, he didn’t want it to come from anyone inside the network — which would have caused a meltdown from Ohlmeyer.

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