Reports Say CBS Dumping 'Reagan' Special; Will Air on Affiliated Cable Network

by Fred Jackson, Jody Brown, and Chad Groening
November 4, 2003

(AgapePress) - The pressure on CBS appears to have worked. Reports today indicate the network has decided to move its mini-series The Reagans to Showtime, a pay-cable network owned by CBS parent Viacom. That decision comes in the wake of heavy criticism over the program's false portrayal of the former First Family.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, the network says that despite what it calls "impressive production values and acting performances" and the fact that "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."

That decision, the network says, came after viewing the completed film -- not in response to pressure about portions of the script. The special had been scheduled to air on CBS on November 16 and 18.

Among the information leaked to the media about the so-called "biography" of the 40th president of the United States were the following excerpts: Reagan cursing at his staff; Nancy Reagan slapping her daughter; Reagan declaring he is the Anti-Christ; and the president's supposed response to the AIDS crisis: "They that live in sin shall die in sin." Reagan backers contend those depictions are inaccurate and mean-spirited, considering the former president -- now 92 years old -- is suffering from the advanced stages of Alzheimer's and is unable to defend himself.

In a statement to Fox News last week, Nancy Reagan said the timing of the mini-series "is absolutely staggering to me. Obviously, it's very hurtful."

Several conservative groups have targeted CBS and its corporate heads with e-mail campaigns and petitions urging the network to reconsider the program's content and to make historical accuracy a priority over entertainment value. Even the Republican National Committee has gotten into the act.

On Friday, RNC chairman Ed Gillespie sent a letter to Leslie Moonves, president of CBS Television. Gillespie "respectfully" requested the network do one of two things: either allow a team of historians to review the film for historical accuracy, or inform viewers "via a crawl every ten minutes that the program is a fictional portrayal of the Reagans and the Reagan Presidency, and they should not consider it to be historically accurate."

So What Did You Expect?
Conservatives have been incensed with reports about the mini-series, which they say contains outright lies about Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The critics say in reality, they are not surprised about the content, given who is behind the project and the actors involved.

As an example, they point to the fact that Reagan's character is played by James Brolin, who just happens to be the husband of left-wing political activist Barbra Streisand. And as Reuters News points out, the role of Nancy Reagan is played by Judy Davis -- a self-described liberal. In addition, the executive producers -- Craig Zadan and Neil Meron -- are homosexual activists and Democratic financial supporters.

Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer, a former domestic policy advisor in the Reagan White House, is among those who have been critical of the planned mini-series. He says the president depicted in the CBS program is not the president he remembers.

Bauer describes the mini-series as "clearly a hatchet job." "[It is] an attempt to picture former President Reagan as having Alzheimer's for many, many years, of being a man who routinely peppered his conversation with curse words, [and] somebody who slapped his children around," he says. "The picture they described is nothing like the man that I saw every day for the eight years that I worked for him at the Department of Education."

The former presidential candidate is concerned that the controversy might actually draw more viewers to the program, but hopeful the series will be a ratings failure for CBS. "It is a sad day when a major U.S. TV network will attack a great president who is no longer able to defend himself," Bauer says. "[T]his is a work of fiction -- and it royally deserves to fail in the ratings."