A&E Television Networks has cancelled the airing of the mini-series The Kennedys on its History Channel Network that was set to air in the spring. The show has been completed and was all ready to go, but the History Channel claims that “this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand”. (the full article from THR can be read here.)
This show is reportedly the most expensive program ever to be produced by A&E Networks and has been in the works sense 2009. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the project, however, the writers claimed to have backed up their dramatic interpretation of the Kennedys with a historical fact checker.
I think this is really fishy, and if the series is as good and well acted as people say it is, the History Channel could be losing out on a highly rated and award winning show. The History Channel’s “standards” are not exactly where they say they are though, as a regular watcher of the channel, I’ve seen programs on it that don’t exactly fit in with a History brand with high “standards”.
There is obviously a motivation behind cancelling this show that A&E Networks isn’t publishing.
If this is an honest portrait of the Kennedy’s, maybe the History Channel doesn’t want to rock the boat or cause any stirs. If that is the case, they need to stop being such cowards.
I’m pretty sure that a cable network like HBO or Showtime will pick this series up (I think they’re already in talks with Showtime) and since this show got booted off the History Channel, people will be interested and they will see it on a pay-cable channel.
I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this mini-series and I’ll definitely let everyone know where they can watch it.
Extremely Behind the Camera 