Reagan Miniseries to Air on Showtime (AP)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64451-2003Nov4.html

<snip>
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said CBS' decision "smells of intimidation to me."
NEW YORK - Capping an extraordinary conservative furor over a movie virtually no one has seen, CBS scrapped plans Tuesday to televise "The Reagans" and decided to shunt it off to the Showtime cable network instead.



Based on snippets of the script that had leaked out in recent weeks, conservatives, including the son of the former president, accused CBS of distorting the legacy of Ronald Reagan.

While CBS said it was not bowing to political pressure, critics said that was exactly the case, and worried about the effects of such pre-emptive strikes on future work.

CBS believed it had ordered a love story about Ronald and Nancy Reagan with politics as a backdrop, but instead got a film that crossed the line into advocacy, said a network executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The film had been scheduled to air Nov. 16 and 18, in the heart of the November ratings sweeps. CBS attempted to edit the film to remove offending passages, but gave up.

"We believe it does not present a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS and its audience," the network said in a statement Tuesday.

Neal Gabler, author of "Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality," said CBS' decision was unhealthy for democracy.

more...

[bluestateguy]

1. And if we don't have Showtime?

What are we supposed to do?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. sent a cuss letter to cbs

[TedsGarage]

7. It was probably a ratings decision

Democrats aren't going to watch any movie about Reagan, and Republicans aren't going to watch a movie that portrays Reagan as less than a living god, so who was left in the audience?

[ldf]

11. nah.

with all the publicity, it probably would have been a ratings winner. americans are like that. if there is a hint of scandal, we are all over it, like flies on shit.

[DeathvadeR]

21. true dat n/t

[Say_What]

15. Reruns of Saturday Night Live with Dana Carvey impersonating RayGun

they were funny as hell. :evilgrin:

[CO Liberal]

3. I Hope Showtime Shows It On Their Next Free Weekend

I'm sure they'd get a LOT of people to tun in........

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. We are getting ever so closer to Soviet Style

Media that is is not even funny

[tridim]

5. Wait just a gawd durned minute..

So it's okay with the GOP if it's aired where nobody will see it, but if it's on network television it's a no-go? Or are they going to censor it on Showtime too?

BTW, CBS is lying it's ass off that they didn't "bow to political pressure". There was nothing BUT political pressure for weeks.

I hope the producers sue Viacom and the RNC. This case is wholly WITH merit. It's politically motivated censorship.

[villager]

6. CBS: Certainly Been Spineless

Didn't they backpedal on the Hitler miniseries, too?

As for Showtime, they actually have a history of rescuing "controversial" projects -- like "Tales of the City," which started on PBS, then PBS quaked in its boots when the rightwingers in Congress started denouncing the show's "homosexual agenda," or whatever supressed rohrshach thing the GOP was afraid of...

[TedsGarage]

8. Isn't It Creepy...

That Ron Jr. refers to his father as "Dad" and his mother as "Nancy"? The Fords, the Carters and the Trumans are the only First Families that didn't strike me as really twisted.

[Poiuyt]

19. Big Tobacco on 60 Minutes

Remember a few years ago when 60 Minutes dropped the piece exposing Big Tobacco because of pressure from their sponsers? They received so much critisism that they had to show it.

[paradisiac]

20. Craven Broadcasting System

from Salon,
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2003/11/05/reagan/index_np.html

[dbt]

9. Interesting doublespeak from the CBS statement:

"Although the mini-series 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. Subsequent edits that we considered did not address those concerns." (Emphasis added)

So it's verified, but it's not balanced. In other words,

"It's the truth but it's ugly."

Craven
Broadcasting
Syndrome

:argh:
dbt

[bluedog]

10. Yea..Showtime!!

I'm glad its on Showtime..no damn ads...and it can be watched over and over and also taped to give to friends that don't have Showtime....if one misses a statement it can be reversed and played again..Cbs wasn't all that stupid on this....they knew poeple would bi*** and this way it will be shown the way it way written!

[ldf]

12. censored?

i thought showtime was going to show the "edited" version????

[DeathvadeR]

22. probably right.

That fuqin bullshit 9-11 timeline movie was a crock, what makes you think it gonna portray Raygun badly,.

[jbm]

13. does anyone remember the Smothers Brothers thing?

If I'm remembering correctly it came out years later that the true reason CBS had agreed to cancel the Smothers Brothers was because Nixon had relayed to them that if they didn't cancel they(CBS) would lose their licensing. I'm not sure if I'm accurate with the details,but there was some major behind the scenes stuff going on.

[young_at_heart]

14. Is it true........Republicans just can't handle the truth?

They don't want Ronnie (that's what Nancy calls him) portrayed as anything less than perfect. I read Kitty Kelly's book...he was NOT perfect!

[tom_paine]

16. Same as Nazis, Commies, other Totalitarians

These Busheviks are still "kinder and gentler" than Granpda Prescott's business partners...for the moment.

But I'm glad I won't be around in the Amerikan Empire in 2050.

[wabeewoman]

17. CBS news actually reported about it

Thought they did a pretty good job. Showed some clips, said the show portrayed Nancy as controling and Ronnie as forgetful (well, I can remember and that is the truth), then they said the repugs didn't object to the show about Bush which was also had text inserted (or whatever it was they objected to about this) and then showed Daschle saying it was political. They also had a piece about the war which was fairly tough. It was pretty bold for CBS...

[LibDemAlways]

18. Look for a repuke-sanctioned

"sanitized for your protection" version of the Reagan story in which
Ronnie and Nancy are born-again Christians and doting parents of squeaky-clean
children. The Reagan years will be portrayed in the best Leave it to Beaver
tradition as a time when the average American family was affluent and, of
course, white, and the biggest decision facing most people was where to
buy a vacation home with all of those tax cut dollars.

No wonder repuke books don't spend much time on the Non-fiction best seller
lists. Fiction is obviously their genre of choice.