New York
CBS executives this week scrapped plans to air a miniseries on Ronald and Nancy Reagan, under pressure from conservative groups. After a copy of the script leaked, Republicans said the two-part saga, The Reagans, was a smear on the former president and his wife. In one scene, Nancy Reagan urged her husband to support AIDS research, and he replied, “They that live in sin shall die in sin.” The former first lady was portrayed as a cold, manipulative social climber. Network executives tried to salvage the miniseries by editing it “with a machete,” a source told Newsweek. But the finished product was not a “balanced portrayal,” CBS said in a statement, so the network decided to license the four-hour saga to Showtime, a cable service owned by the same parent company, Viacom.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why the weather keeps getting 'stuck'In the Spotlight Record hot and dry spring caused by 'blocked' area of high pressure above the UK
-
Can Starmer sell himself as the 'tough on immigration' PM?Today's Big Question Former human rights lawyer 'now needs to own the change – not just mouth the slogans' to win over a sceptical public
-
UK-India trade deal: how the social security arrangements will workThe Explainer A National Insurance exemption in the UK-India trade deal is causing concern but should British workers worry?
