© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
As more Reagan supporters begin mounting
boycott efforts, CBS President Les Moonves says the network is adjusting
the script of its upcoming miniseries on the former president and his
wife to present a more balanced view.
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Les
Moonves |
In an interview with Tina Brown to be broadcast tonight on CNBC,
Moonves said criticism of a film nobody has seen is "rather odd." But in
an apparent response to growing criticism generated by publishing of
script excerpts by the DrudgeReport. and the New York
Times, he indicated changes would be made.
"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 Brown, according to the New York Post. "So there are some edits
being made trying to present a more fair picture of the Reagans."
The miniseries, set for airing Nov. 16 and 18, includes scenes
of Reagan cursing at his staff and his wife slapping her daughter,
according to the script excerpts.
Other scenes show the former president declaring he is the
anti-Christ and, in response to AIDS, stating, "They that live in
sin shall die in sin" - though there is no record of him saying such
things.
A former chief of staff to a U.S. congressman has teamed with
colleagues to set up a website
urging television viewers not to watch the
two-part series and to boycott its advertisers for 30 days during
the peak of the holiday shopping season.
Meanwhile, Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, sent a letter to
the top 100 corporate advertisers in the U.S. yesterday, urging them not
to support the production.
"The miniseries has blatantly distorted history and is nothing more
than a partisan political attack against one of America's most beloved
presidents," Bozell wrote. "New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg, one
of the few people outside of CBS who has read the script, noted that the
miniseries completely omitted the unprecedented economic expansion of
the 1980s. That glaring oversight is not nearly as unfair, however, as
the historical fictions that have been added to make the program more
dramatic."
Bozell said the picture of Reagan as a hateful religious zealot is
completely unfounded, noting biographer Lou Cannon "has flatly stated
that the depiction is unfair, telling Rutenberg in no uncertain terms
that 'Reagan is not intolerant.'"
Other protest campaigns include grass-roots efforts with online
petitions such as NoMoreCBS.com
and "Boycott of
'The Reagans,'" which had 599 signatures at press time.
According to Variety magazine, the series is a production of Hallmark Entertainment, a
subsidiary of Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark Cards Inc.
In a news release issued in August, Hallmark described the miniseries
this way:
First Family: The Reagans - From the bright lights
of tinsel town to the Oval Office and the U.S. presidency this true
story follows Ronald Reagan's (Emmy and Golden Globe winner James
Brolin) rise to notoriety, celebrity and world power. The four-hour
dramatic miniseries chronicles Reagan's years as a Hollywood movie
star, his marriage to his devoted wife Nancy (played by Emmy and
Golden Globe winner Judy Davis), his tumultuous role as a father of
two, and the political controversies that plunged him into the darkest
chapter of his presidential life.
A call by WND seeking comment from Hallmark Entertainment spokeswoman
Beth Nussbaum was not returned.
