CBS PULLS "THE REAGANS"!!!
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 3:16 pm
THE NETWORK SAID it was licensing the completed film to Showtime, a pay cable network that, like CBS, is owned by Viacom.
CBS insisted it was not bowing to pressure about portions of the script, but that the decision was made after seeing the finished film.
“Although the miniseries features impressive production values and acting performances, and although the producers have sources to verify each scene in the script, we believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience,” the network said in a statement.
As a broadcast network, CBS has different standards than a pay cable network, CBS said.
“The Reagans” was considered a major cog in CBS’ November sweeps programming, television’s most-watched night of the week.
The network came under heavy criticism from political conservatives that the two-part series unfairly depicts Reagan and his wife, Nancy.
On Monday, Variety reported that director Robert Allan Ackerman has quit the production over creative differences with CBS executives who insisted on numerous last-minute alterations.
Neither producers for the four-hour film nor Ackerman could immediately be reached for comment.
But sources familiar with the production said that CBS demanded last-minute changes that angered Ackerman.
The manager for actor James Brolin, who stars as Reagan in the film, said his client was refraining from taking part in promoting the miniseries at this point.
“We don’t know what movie they’re putting out there or when or what they’re doing with it,” Jeff Wald told Reuters, adding that Ackerman was not participating in editing the final cut.
Wald described executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, whose credits include the hit film musical “Chicago,” as “absolutely dismayed” by the sight-unseen backlash.
He dismissed criticism from some that the miniseries is a “hatchet job” and denied that the filmmakers had any agenda in portraying Reagan other than to make a “fair and balanced movie about who he was, positive and negative.”
Moonves told CNBC last week that “there are some edits being made trying to present a more fair picture of the Reagans.”
The only comment from the Reagans themselves has come from former first lady Nancy Reagan, who in a brief statement issued last week to the Fox News Channel said, “The timing of (the miniseries) is absolutely staggering to me. Obviously, it’s very hurtful.” She apparently was referring to the fact that the 92-year-old former president is severely ill with Alzheimer’s disease.
The furor over the miniseries arose after the New York Times reported last month that the film portrays the Reagans in a largely unflattering light. In one scene, Reagan says of AIDS patients, “They that live in sin shall die in sin.” But there is no evidence he ever expressed those views.
Some Republicans also were incensed that Reagan is played by Brolin, who is married to Democratic activist Barbra Streisand. Nancy Reagan is portrayed by Judy Davis. Both are self-described liberals, as are Zadan and Meron.
On Friday, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie asked CBS to allow a team of scholars to review the film in advance for historical accuracy.
Some Reagan supporters had urged boycotts of CBS by viewers and advertisers.
On her Web site last week, Streisand said criticism of the film was typical of “what the right wing does when they are faced with a truth that is not 100 percent positive for their side — they ... scream and yell until they get their way. Instead of boycotting and trying to have the movie changed, why don’t they all just wait to see the film when it airs like the rest of us.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
CBS insisted it was not bowing to pressure about portions of the script, but that the decision was made after seeing the finished film.
“Although the miniseries features impressive production values and acting performances, and although the producers have sources to verify each scene in the script, we believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience,” the network said in a statement.
As a broadcast network, CBS has different standards than a pay cable network, CBS said.
“The Reagans” was considered a major cog in CBS’ November sweeps programming, television’s most-watched night of the week.
The network came under heavy criticism from political conservatives that the two-part series unfairly depicts Reagan and his wife, Nancy.
On Monday, Variety reported that director Robert Allan Ackerman has quit the production over creative differences with CBS executives who insisted on numerous last-minute alterations.
Neither producers for the four-hour film nor Ackerman could immediately be reached for comment.
But sources familiar with the production said that CBS demanded last-minute changes that angered Ackerman.
The manager for actor James Brolin, who stars as Reagan in the film, said his client was refraining from taking part in promoting the miniseries at this point.
“We don’t know what movie they’re putting out there or when or what they’re doing with it,” Jeff Wald told Reuters, adding that Ackerman was not participating in editing the final cut.
Wald described executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, whose credits include the hit film musical “Chicago,” as “absolutely dismayed” by the sight-unseen backlash.
He dismissed criticism from some that the miniseries is a “hatchet job” and denied that the filmmakers had any agenda in portraying Reagan other than to make a “fair and balanced movie about who he was, positive and negative.”
Moonves told CNBC last week that “there are some edits being made trying to present a more fair picture of the Reagans.”
The only comment from the Reagans themselves has come from former first lady Nancy Reagan, who in a brief statement issued last week to the Fox News Channel said, “The timing of (the miniseries) is absolutely staggering to me. Obviously, it’s very hurtful.” She apparently was referring to the fact that the 92-year-old former president is severely ill with Alzheimer’s disease.
The furor over the miniseries arose after the New York Times reported last month that the film portrays the Reagans in a largely unflattering light. In one scene, Reagan says of AIDS patients, “They that live in sin shall die in sin.” But there is no evidence he ever expressed those views.
Some Republicans also were incensed that Reagan is played by Brolin, who is married to Democratic activist Barbra Streisand. Nancy Reagan is portrayed by Judy Davis. Both are self-described liberals, as are Zadan and Meron.
On Friday, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie asked CBS to allow a team of scholars to review the film in advance for historical accuracy.
Some Reagan supporters had urged boycotts of CBS by viewers and advertisers.
On her Web site last week, Streisand said criticism of the film was typical of “what the right wing does when they are faced with a truth that is not 100 percent positive for their side — they ... scream and yell until they get their way. Instead of boycotting and trying to have the movie changed, why don’t they all just wait to see the film when it airs like the rest of us.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
...so the people who watch Showtime have a lesser moral backbone and will be less offended by this piece of trash.
