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CBS Mulls Canceling Reagan Mini-Series - Report
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By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS is considering canceling or postponing its upcoming mini-series "The Reagans" under mounting Republican criticism that the production inaccurately depicts the former president and his wife, Daily Variety reported on Monday.
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Also, the director of the four-hour TV movie, Robert Allan Ackerman, has quit the production over creative differences with CBS executives who have insisted on numerous last-minute alterations to the mini-series, the Hollywood trade paper said.
Depending on the nature of the final cuts, Ackerman may ask the Directors Guild of America to remove his name from the movie in protest, Variety said.
Neither producers for the two-part film, slated to air Nov. 16 and 18, nor Ackerman's representative, could immediately be reached for comment.
A CBS executive, David Marko, director of movies and miniseries for the Viacom Inc.-owned network, declined to comment on the report.
But CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves acknowledged on CNBC last week that "there are some edits being made trying to present a more fair picture of the Reagans."
"We've looked at the rough cut. There are things we like ... there are things we don't like ... there are things we think go too far," he told the cable news channel.
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 mini-series) 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 (news - web sites).
Variety, citing unnamed sources linked to the production, said Moonves will decide in the next few days whether to pull the mini-series from the network's November schedule altogether and possibly reschedule it for a later date once he is satisfied with the final edits.
Moonves also has mulled the possibility of moving the mini-series onto sister pay-cable network Showtime, Variety said.
However, if Moonves goes ahead with plans to air "The Reagans" on Nov. 16 as planned, the final product is likely to differ substantially from the film that Reagan supporters have criticized, with many controversial scenes heavily edited or cut from the production, Variety said.
The furor over the mini-series arose after the New York Times, which obtained a copy of the script, reported last month that the film portrays the former president and his wife, Nancy Reagan, in a largely unflattering light while omitting much of what political conservatives regard as his key achievements.
In one scene, the character of Reagan says of AIDS (news - web sites) patients, "They that live in sin shall die in sin." There is no evidence that Reagan actually ever said such a thing.
Adding insult to injury, as far as Republicans are concerned, the Gipper himself is played by James Brolin, husband of Democratic activist Barbra Streisand. Nancy Reagan is portrayed by Judy Davis. Both are self-described liberals, as are the film's two executive producers, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.
On Friday, Republican National Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Ed Gillespie asked the network to allow a team of scholars to review the film in advance for historical accuracy. Otherwise, he said, CBS should inform viewers that the film is a fictional portrayal of the Reagans. |
