The CBS television network announced on Tuesday that it is removing the Ronald Reagan miniseries from its November sweeps schedule and was still debating whether to air the show to its cable affiliate, Showtime.
Yanking the program from the CBS lineup would be a very good move, said Michael Reagan, the former president’s son.
In recent days, a number of conservatives have blasted CBS for what they consider to be an unflattering portrayal of President Reagan. The criticism was based on excerpts from the miniseries that found their way to the press.
In a statement released Tuesday, CBS said it made the decision after seeing the final cut of the show.
“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 CBS statement said.
In a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Michael Reagan said none of the CBS people involved in the production of the miniseries bothered to contact him or his siblings to hear their stories about their father or to get the facts straight.
“I’ve seen eight minutes of the broadcast myself, and I do not recognize the two people who play Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in this TV miniseries as anybody I’ve ever come in contact with,” Michael Reagan said in the Fox News interview.
Reagan added that California liberals “have always seen my father as a buffoon,” and he said their outrage only grew as Ronald Reagan became governor and later, president.
Michael Reagan said he was particularly upset about CBS putting words in his father’s mouth # including profanity # and making him look like he’s not compassionate. “That’s not the Ronald Reagan I know,” Michael Reagan said.
Michael Reagan criticized the miniseries for omitting his father’s positive accomplishments. “What’s really sad is that, in the show, it doesn’t really show what type of malaise the country was in before Ronald Reagan became president of the United States…the great things he did in this country.”
Restoring pride in the military and pressuring the Soviet leader to tear down the Berlin Wall were among his father’s greatest accomplishments, Michael Reagan added, but neither of those feats made it into the miniseries, he said. “CBS forgot about Ronald Reagan’s heart in this miniseries and that’s what upsets me the most.”
Michael Reagan said his father, afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease, now stays in bed 24 hours a day, and he said Nancy Reagan is right there by his side. He accused the liberal left is of trying to take a last shot at Ronald Reagan before he dies.
“It is just absolutely mind-numbing to us in the family that they would do such a thing at such a time,” he said.
I don’t see it as simply taking a bunch of cheap inacurate shots at President Reagan while ignoring his many accomplishments. If you will remember briefly; lately the demo talking heads have been calling President Bush “Reaganesque” (sp). It is obvious that was the calculated prelude to the screening of this piece of H-Wood crap. Today CBS replied they did not pull it because of pressure from conservative voices, it was pulled because they considered it was too biased.
And the beat goes on.