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CBS gives in to pressure, pulls
"The Reagans"
NEW YORK
(AP) -- Barraged by accusations from conservatives that it was distorting the
legacy of a president, CBS announced Tuesday it was pulling "The Reagans" miniseries off the air.
The network said it was
licensing the completed film to Showtime, a pay cable network that, like CBS,
is owned by Viacom.
CBS insisted it was not
bowing to pressure about portions of the script, but that the decision was made
after seeing the finished film.
"Although the
miniseries features impressive production values and acting performances, and
although 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," the network said in a statement.
As a broadcast network, CBS
has different standards than a pay cable network, CBS said. Supporters of the
former president, who has Alzheimer's disease, are concerned the miniseries
contained numerous inaccuracies. The conservative
The chairman of the
Republican National Committee also told CBS President Leslie Moonves that historians should review the miniseries for
historical accuracy, or that a disclaimer should be run declaring the program
fiction.
There was been a concern,
after part of the script was published in The New York Times last month, that
Reagan was portrayed as being uncaring and judgmental toward people suffering
with AIDS.
The former president's son,
Michael Reagan, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that he
wanted CBS to "show Ronald Reagan for what he is."
"What they've done is try and strip the heart of Reagan away," he said.
"The great thing about my father is his big heart."
"The Reagans" had been considered a major cog in CBS'
November sweeps programming. It had been scheduled to air on Nov. 16, a Sunday
- television's most-watched night of the week.