In an abrupt move the 8 part mini-series The Kennedys has been pulled from A&E Television Networks. Starring Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy, Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy, Barry Pepper as Robert F. Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy, the stars and producer Joel Surnow were recently told of the snap decision to cancel plans to broadcast the controversial show, which was set to air this spring on The History Channel.
A representative for the network said:
Upon completion of the production of The Kennedys, History has decided not to air the 8-part miniseries on the network. While the film is produced and acted with the highest quality, after viewing the final product in its totality, we have concluded this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand.
Developed by Joel Surnow, the co-creator of ’24’ and a vocal conservative – the show was attracting negative attention even before the actors had been cast with detractors targeting the portrayal of the Kennedy family and the order of historical events. Kennedy loyalists were critical of an earlier draft of the script, former Kennedy aide Theodore Sorensen sighted it as ‘vindictive and malicious’ in a New York Times article, which called for the script to be revised. Robert Greenwald a liberal-leaning documentarian began a campaign and launched a website stopkennedysmears.com, which collected 50,000 signatures against the production going forward.
AETN president and CEO Abbe Raven and Nancy Dubuc, championed the project which was the network’s most expensive program to date however it endured controversy since the mini-series was announced in December 2009. Filmed in Toronto, it was billed as ‘an inside look behind the secret doors of the White House,’ which also ‘unveils the secrets of the Kennedy family.’ Supporters were said to be unhappy about the allusions to Kennedy’s known philandering and painting the charismatic leader as indecisive.
With 2011 the 50th anniversary year of John F. Kennedy’s election as President, it seems that considerable influence may have been exerted to prevent the mini-series from airing at this particular juncture in time. Though the History Channel maintains reasons of historical accuracy which has caused this shift in programming.
We recognize historical fiction is an important medium for storytelling and commend all the hard work and passion that has gone into the making of the series, but ultimately deem this as the right programming decision for our network.
The producers are said to be trying to bring the miniseries to a cable network and will still be broadcast internationally.
The Kennedys is set to air in Canada on History Television on March 6th 2011.
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