THE BUZZ : SIMPSON VEHEMENT IN HOME VIDEO.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

O.J. Simpson flares up in a never-before-aired home video shot at his Brentwood home following his acquittal for murder on Oct. 3, 1995.

In the video, airing on tonight's ``American Journal,'' Simpson voices his disapproval of the TV coverage of his trial and asserts that he was wrongly accused.

``This prosecution let the killer get away,'' Simpson says, looking at the television, adding, ``You've got the wrong guy, like all those other cases, you let who did it get away.''

The video shows Simpson enjoying his court triumph with friend A.C. Cowlings, lawyers Robert Shapiro and F. Lee Bailey, son Jason, mother Arnelle and daughter Eunice Simpson.

Two-for-one swap: The Fox network will temporarily shelve its longtime nighttime soap opera ``Melrose Place'' in April to make room for two new comedy series, the network has announced.

``Melrose Place'' will finish the season with a two-hour cliffhanger on March 30, then go on hiatus. It will start up again with new episodes in the summer, playing a central role in an overall Fox plan to add more new programming to the usually repeat-filled summer months.

The comedies are ``Damon,'' which stars Damon Wayans as an undercover policeman, and ``The Way We Work,'' which stars Viveca Fox as an office executive entangled in personal relationships with her co-workers.

The comedies will play at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on Mondays, beginning April 6, though ``Damon'' will first get a three-week run in a much more heavily viewed Fox time slot: 8:30 p.m. Sundays.

Peter Roth, the president of Fox Entertainment, emphasized that ``Melrose Place,'' after signing its star, Heather Locklear, to a new contract, had been renewed for another full season and would return to a regular spot on the Fox schedule after its summer run.

Sluggish starts: A nine-day streak of snow and fog delays has helped push CBS well behind the average ratings it pulled for the '92 and '94 Winter Olympic Games.

``There hasn't been one day yet - I'm knocking on wood here - where the alpine events haven't had at least one delay,'' CBS Sports spokesman Dana McClintock said Sunday from Japan.

On Thursday, the Nagano Games drew a 19.5 rating (percentage of the 98 million U.S. TV homes) and a 30 share (percentage of sets in use that tuned in), or about 63 million viewers.

That was the good news. On Friday, CBS averaged a 14.7 rating/26 share, or about 53 million viewers, and on Saturday a 16.7/30, or 59 million viewers.

CBS ratings through Saturday are running 12 percent behind the 1992 Games at Albertville, France, and 35 percent behind the '94 Games at Lillehammer, Norway.

``We are also about four days ahead of Albertville in weather delays,'' McClintock said.

Remains of the year: Anthony Hopkins, an Oscar nominee for his role as John Quincy Adams in ``Amistad,'' has been selected to receive Actor of the Year honors at ShoWest, the annual conference of motion picture exhibitors. Hopkins will collect his award March 12 at the ShoWest Awards in Las Vegas. Hopkins, who also recently starred in action-thriller ``The Edge,'' will appear next in ``The Mask of Zorro.''

Upcoming movies this year include ``Ismael'' and ``Meet Joe Black.''

Hopkins won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the diabolical Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the Best Picture-winning ``The Silence of the Lambs.''

Since then, he has earned two more Best Actor nominations, for his work in ``The Remains of the Day'' and ``Nixon.''

Triple header: TNT has signed Burt Reynolds to star as the same character in a series of three movies. The Oscar nominee for ``Boogie Nights'' will direct at least the first of the thriller trilogy. The films, based on a script about an ex-cop trying to vindicate himself, are expected to be shot back-to-back beginning in May.