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Planned Mini Series from Co-Creator of ’24’ About JFK Draws Fire

Feb 17, 2010  •  Post A Comment

JFK loyalists who have read scripts of an upcoming History Channel miniseries about President John F. Kennedy are trying to shut the production down even before filming begins,  The New York Times reports.

The mini is a project of Joel Surnow, a political conservative who is one of the creators of Fox’s “24.”

Former Kennedy adviser Theodore Sorensen says the scripts he’s seen contain errors of both “fact and emphasis,” the Times says. Liberal filmmaker Robert Greenwald is fighting the proposed film with an Internet video of his own featuring scholars who criticize the upcoming Surnow project.

According to the Times’ report, Greenwald says that  “Anyone has a right to do whatever they want. I would never suggest that History channel doesn’t have a right. What I’d suggest is something called the History channel should not be doing political propaganda.”

The screenwriter for the mini-series, Stephen Kronish, told the Times "that he was ‘not out to destroy the sacred cow’ of the Kennedy presidency, but that in being faithful to history, the mini-series would necessarily contain elements that might upset Kennedy adherents."

–Elizabeth Jensen and Chuck Ross

4 Comments

  1. I have no idea what this mini series may contain, but it is worth noting that this is not the first time the history Channel has courted controversy in regards to JFK. Roughly a decade ago they aired a documentary that implied that LBJ was involved in the assassination. Untimately they had to apologize for airing that program and hosted a panel explaining how dishonest it was.
    It appears that History may be repeating itself literally.

  2. Point well made. I remember that disgraceful History Channel incident, the network released a full retraction in 2004, aired a corrected panel discussion, and apologized to then 90-year-old Lady Bird Johnson and her family. It would be better for History Channel to abandon true history and focus on its pawn shop owners, etc, than to air fabrications.

  3. Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.

  4. This is one of the best posts that I’ve ever seen; you may include some more ideas in the same theme. I’m still waiting for some interesting thoughts from your side in your next post.

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