Medium Crosses The Line: WTC Segment Canned

John Edward, the medium who hosts the chat-with-the-dead show "Crossing Over," has taped segments in which he purports to contact victims of the World Trade Center attacks.

But America may never get to hear what they have to say because yesterday afternoon production house Studios USA axed the whole idea after reporters and station execs -- the two least queasy segments of society -- actually cringed.

Studios USA Domestic Television President Steve Rosenberg says they scrapped the idea after getting a whiff of the negative reaction.

"This is too good a show to do what might offend the audience," he told The TV Column. "If in any way it gave offense to the audience, it's just a mistake."

Yesterday morning, however, a publicist representing the program confirmed that Edward had taped segments featuring family members of WTC attack victims as Edward contacted their slain loved ones. The segments were for possible use during the November sweeps ratings derby, which starts next week.

The rep told The TV Column that the "readings," as Edward calls them, would definitely appear on the syndicated version of the series and might also run on the cable version on the Sci-Fi channel. (In the Washington area, the show is seen in syndication on WDCA, Channel 20.)

"We don't have a date yet, but we're moving forward with the shows," she said, adding that officials hoped to get them out "as soon as we can." According to the spokeswoman, New York-based Edward has been swamped with requests for readings from victims' families.

"At first we thought, we don't want to get into this; John started seeing people privately," the show rep said.

When some family members actually pressed to have their contacts with the departed televised, the mother of all November sweeps stunts was born.

Great story.

But then things started happening.

Trade weekly Broadcasting & Cable slapped a story, " 'Psychic' plans WTC victims show," on the daily fax that it fired off to various news media and to station execs. The story included an interview with Rosenberg in which he promised that the segments "will be done tastefully . . . and won't be exploitative." He also noted that after Edward was contacted by so many family members, "it seemed wrong not to do it."

By midday the story had hit Drudgereport.com, which put a big picture of Barry Diller at the top of its home page, over the headline: "BARRY DILLER NETWORK TO AIR SEANCE FOR VICTIMS OF SEPT. 11." (Diller controls 74 percent of the voting power of Studios USA parent USA Networks.)

By then, Studios USA publicists were being swamped with calls from reporters. And, according to one source, the company also started hearing from some station execs that carry the show ("What the [expletive] are you thinking of?!" is how one station suit said he planned to put it).

Not long after, a spokeswoman for "Crossing Over" called The TV Column to say Rosenberg "is now saying the show isn't put together" and he's "not sure when" the segments will air; it may be "later this year or next year."

A few hours later, the whole thing was scrubbed.

But if Edward has indeed contacted deceased victims of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, how can the producers withhold from the American public the information they've obtained?

Rosenberg replied, "Our position now . . . is that these readings will probably continue to be done privately with John, and that these readings . . . will not air as part of 'Crossing Over.'

Will there be a time when it makes sense to revisit this over the course of events? Time will tell."

And another show you won't see during the November sweeps -- NBC's "Emeril."

The network has jettisoned the struggling sitcom for the ratings race. "Three Sisters" will baby-sit the "Emeril" time slot on the first Tuesday of the derby; a "Frasier" rerun takes over after that; and a J. Lo special plugs the hole seven days later.

ABC News has suspended on-air talent Carole Simpson for two weeks -- with pay -- because of what she told an audience last week about the network division's recent anthrax scares.

Speaking to the International Women's Media Foundation in New York on Oct. 16, Simpson confirmed that the child of one of her producers had become sick with anthrax, USA Today reports.

Simpson, who works out of ABC's Washington bureau, also told the crowd that Cokie Roberts had received a suspicious-looking letter postmarked Trenton, N.J. -- the same postmark that was on letters containing anthrax spores that had been sent to NBC News's Tom Brokaw and to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

Well, that was like throwing raw meat to piranhas, since ABC News reps had been denying that report, saying that the D.C. bureau had simply received several "suspicious" packages, none directed to Roberts, and that authorities had been called to dispose of the unopened mail.

Presto -- Simpson was suspended as of the middle of last week.

ABC News was not commenting on the Simpson incident yesterday but released a statement that it said was from Simpson, in which she says she got it wrong about the postmark:

"My goal as a journalist is to always try to get it right. When any of us in this profession makes a mistake, it's important to say so. . . . I shared some information with the audience that I believed to be accurate about a suspicious letter that had been received at our Washington bureau. It turned out that the information about the postmark of that letter was incorrect and I regret the mistake."

Simpson was replaced on last Sunday's "World News" by Chris Bury. She will also be off the show this coming weekend but will return Nov. 4.

Staff writer John Maynard contributed to this report.