Remote patrol weekend

The CBS miniseries "An American Tragedy" is supposed to tell us the gripping behind-the-scenes exploits of the legal "dream team" that got O.J. Simpson sprung from murder charges in 1995. But there's not much to grip onto in Part 1, which airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 5. For its first two hours, this is a docudrama without the drama. The dominant image from Part 1 is a lot of familiar-looking actors assembled around a big round mahogany table, talking to an O.J. impersonator on the speakerphone. As Bismarck once said of democracy, justice - or injustice, depending on your point of view - is a lot like sausage. You don't really want to watch it being made. So instead, you start to notice the little things. Like the fact that throughout "American Tragedy," Simpson is either seen or heard, but rarely both at the same time. That's no accident: They've cast one actor as Simpson's voice (all those speakerphone calls) and another actor who sort of looks like Simpson whenever they need the defendant in the room for a scene. Viewers may also note the ridiculous casting of Bruno Kirby as DNA expert Barry Scheck and the slightly less absurd decision to stuff Ving Rhames into a suit and call him Johnnie Cochran. Ron Silver, who plays lead defender Robert Shapiro, looks like he stole his eyebrows from Sid Caesar. Things will no doubt pick up on Wednesday with Part 2, which is made up mainly of the murder trial. @ART CAPTION:Rhames @ART:Photo >>>