Viewers Pass On Jacko's Home Movies

The bubble has burst on Michael Jackson's status as a TV ratings sensation. Either that, or people don't want to watch his home movies any more than they do anyone else's.

"Michael Jackson's Home Videos," a Fox special that opened the latest sweeps period last Thursday, was seen by only 7.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

It made February seem a distant memory. That's when 27.1 million people watched Jackson's interview on ABC with British journalist Martin Bashir. The documentary caused a stir when Jackson told Bashir that he slept in the same room, and sometimes the same bed, as young boys.

The documentary's high ratings set off a rush of Jackson-related programming. A Fox special in response to Bashir's interview and a "Dateline NBC" about Jackson also did very well.

In recent months, Jackson has been dogged by controversy: First, over his odd appearance in a California courtroom in November, then later that same month over his bizarre behavior in Berlin where he stunned fans by briefly dangling his young son from a hotel balcony.

In March, a scathing article in Vanity Fair reported Jackson wanted Steven Spielberg and David Geffen dead — and said he got a witch doctor to put a curse on them.

The magazine said Jackson paid $150,000 to an African voodoo chief named Baba who chanted "David Geffen be gone! Steven Spielberg be gone!" Jackson reportedly spent another "six figures" to be bathed in sheep's blood because that was supposed to make the curse stronger. It didn't work, obviously. Spielberg and Geffen are still alive.