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TV PREVIEWS

Saving Britney Spears, Friday 7.30pm, Channel 4

Seven months after Britney Spears's meltdown reached boiling point, director Bruce Fletcher airs his eye-opening documentary about the people who profited most from the pop princess's woes. 

"I feel like I know Britney better than I know people I really know!" So speaks Krissi from Oklahoma, who spends her days collating every picture and press mention of Ms Spears into a blog entitled Poor Britney. Er... why? "I felt sorry for her and thought she needed a mother figure," she explains, with no hint of irony.

But Krissi isn't the most memorable character we meet in this half-hour show. That honour falls to shameless Sheeraz Hasan, the mastermind behind paparazzi agency Hollywood.TV. Positively bursting with pride, he explains how his "people" were the only ones to get video footage of Britney being carried out of her house on a stretcher in January.

And how much cash did his company make from the star's meltdown? "I don't like to comment on how much we've brought in, but it's a lot," he smirks. "You can look at the cars I drive to determine the kind of money I make." Hmmm... mind you don't crash any of them, Sheeraz!

We also meet former pimp, Bishop Don "Magic" Juan - founder of the Save Britney campaign. His tactics? He drives around Los Angeles with a loud-hailer, asking people whether they think he should save Britney. "It's like a viral prayer," he says. "I'm hoping I get a radio or TV show out of it."

Throughout all this, director Bruce does a half-hearted impression of Louis Theroux - accompanying a paparazzo on a Britney hunt and joining the bling-covered bishop on the campaign trail. But rather than condemn their motives in his commentary, he leaves us to draw our own conclusions.

Poor Britney: judging by this lot, she's the sanest person in La-La Land. 

by Jane Murphy, Friday 1 August 2008

Picture: Channel 4

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