After seeing a seven-minute preview reel of the James Brolin-Judy Davis miniseries “The Reagans,” Bill O’Reilly spent about half his program last night blasting it. None of the conservative critics condemning the CBS program had actually seen it, of course. But now, after some days spent scrambling in the editing room trying to satisfy right-wingers, CBS has decided to pull the show entirely – although it may still air on Showtime.
Two things I’m sure of:
1. A big reason O’Reilly was so ticked off was that Reagan was played by married-to-consummate-evil-Barbra-Streisand James Brolin, and not Brolin’s performance.
2. If CBS was planning a hatchet job (and by this I’m not saying “The Reagans” is one) on Bill and Hillary, O’Reilly would be taping promos for it. Civility my ass.
Although it’s disappointing (but not surprising) to see CBS cave in to right-wingers, I actually couldn’t care less about this miniseries. Whether or not it is well done, I can’t stomach watching actors portray Ronnie and Nancy. Living through the Reagan era was bad enough…I don’t want to relive it in my spare time through fictionalized TV programs. I agree with you, Adam, that much of conservatives’ objection comes from having Streisand’s husband play Reagan. They seem to consider her the devil incarnate.
I actually was looking forward to it a little, if only for the camp/pop culture value. Judy Davis is very cool, and I think seeing her play Nancy would be a hoot.
Can you say, “Censorship?” I knew you could.
Actually, I don’t consider this censorship. Censorship is taking pages out of the 9/11 report that concern Saudi Arabia. Censorship is not allowing photos of dead soldiers’ homecomings from Iraq. In short, censorship is done by the government.
Right-wing groups have every right to put pressure on networks and anyone else they don’t agree with. It’s the hypocrisy of defending Reagan and Bush while savaging the Clintons that I abhor.