‘The Kennedys’ Might Be Shown In Syndication, Or This Might End Up Not Happening Either

Joseph Gibson — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:59:51 +0000

24‘ creator Joel Surnow‘s truthbomb “The Kennedys” has been having a hard time finding an audience. The History Channel refuses to show it, as have DirecTV and Showtime. Now it looks like one more party is stepping up to the plate before deciding that it’s probably not a good idea – Tribune Broadcasting, which owns several TV stations, including the national superstation WGN, is the latest party to stand up to the forces of censorship. Unless, you know, they don’t.

Anyway, even if Tribune wants to take the plunge, they might not get to. Apparently The History Channel has the right to veto any potential buyer of the property as part of their agreement with the producers of the miniseries. But more likely is this condition would give Tribune an advantage, since there are also some other cable networks (and History Channel competitors) in the running, and The History Channel would be less keen to give this property to a competitor.

Whenever we do get to see this, it probably won’t be clear why the hell this was so controversial to begin with. Deadline quotes people who’ve seen it as saying:

“President John F. Kennedy is portrayed in a favorable light as a decisive leader during the Cuban missile crisis, proponent of racial equality and an all-around likable guy, with very little-to-no attention paid to his rumored sexual indiscretions.”

Aw man, now I don’t really want to see it.

http://www.screenjunkies.com/movies/movie-news/directv-latest-co-conspirator-keeping-you-from-seeing-the-kennedys/

DirecTV Latest Co-Conspirator Keeping You From Seeing ‘The Kennedys’

Joseph Gibson — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:07:37 +0000

The day that it was announced that the brain behind”24” Joel Surnow’s ripped-from-four-decade-old-headlines TV-biopic The Kennedys (starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes as JFK and Jackie) would not be seen on its intended home The History Channel was in many ways the day America lost its innocence. But there was some hope that America would be able to reflower itself when it was revealed that Surnow and co. were looking for other buyers so that their movie would be seen on another network — one dedicated to truth and facts instead of cover-ups and coup de tats. But FX, Showtime, Starz, and now DirecTV have all joined the ranks of those who have faltered due to intimidation and other brutal tactics imposed upon us by The Powers That Be.

Anyway, they say they’re looking for other networks that might be interested, but it seems a little more likely we’ll just have to wait for DVD instead. Don’t forget your dying king, etc. (via The Hollywood Reporter)

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‘The Kennedys’ Might Be Shown In Syndication, Or This Might End Up Not Happening Either

DirecTV Latest Co-Conspirator Keeping You From Seeing ‘The Kennedys’