In a move that generated immediate political controversy, CBS today dropped plans to air its mini-series The Reagansafter coming under fire from Republicans who condemned the film as biased and unfair.
The network, which earlier this year sparked an uproar for broadcasting a docudrama on Adolf Hitler, denied that it was bowing to pressure, but rebuked the producers of the Ronald Reagan biography for not producing a balanced portrayal of the 40th president.
Rather than broadcast the four-hour mini-series as originally planned on November 16th and 18th, the height of ratings "sweeps," CBS said it had sold the show to its sister pay-cable TV network, Showtime.
The CBS decision drew an immediate denunciation in Washington from Senate Democratic leader Mr Tom Daschle, who said, "It smells of intimidation."
"Any time occasions arise when the essence of the judgment made by television producers is influenced by outside forces, we have to call into question whether that level of intimidation is appropriate," Mr Daschle told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Political conservatives, reacting to snippets of the TV movie that have circulated in the media in recent weeks, have branded the dramatized biography of Mr Reagan and his wife, Nancy, as part of a campaign by liberal Hollywood to smear his legacy. Some Reagan supporters had urged a boycott of CBS by viewers and advertisers.
Those close to the production, however, have defended the film as fair, balanced and well-documented, saying it showed both Reagan's foibles and his strengths.
CBS, which is owned by Viacom, said its 11th-hour decision to cancel the mini-series was "based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script." The furore arose after the New York Timesreported last month that the film portrays the Reagans in an unflattering light while omitting much of what Republicans and other supporters of the former president regard as his key achievements.
In one scene from the film's final script, Mr Reagan says of AIDS patients, "They that live in sin shall die in sin." But there is no evidence he ever expressed those views. Some Republicans also were incensed that Reagan, now 92 and severely ill with Alzheimer's disease, is played by actor James Brolin, who is married to singer Barbra Streisand, a leading Democratic activist in Hollywood.
Nancy Reagan is portrayed by Judy Davis. Both she and Brolin are self-described liberals, as are the two executive producers of the film, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, whose credits also include the hit film musical Chicago.
On Friday, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie asked CBS to allow a team of scholars to review the film in advance for historical accuracy. Otherwise, he said, CBS should run a disclaimer informing viewers that the film is a fictional portrayal of the Reagans.