Showtime, 2 Others Pass On The Kennedys

When A&E decided to pull the plug on its controversial Kennedy’s miniseries almost a week ago, the whole thing was seen as a pretty big setback for those involved but not a disaster. It would still air as planned in foreign countries and History okayed the producers to openly sell the special to another channel. Most assumed Showtime would swoop it up in an instant, seeing as how they did much the same when CBS cast off The Reagans five or six years ago, but the premium cable network has reportedly passed, leaving The Kennedys without a Camelot.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Starz and FX have also said thanks but no thanks, leading at least this author to wonder whether it’s actually an issue of quality or the surviving Kennedy’s just have more sway with television networks than anyone’s giving them credit for. Today, Showtime released a statement clarifying their decision, saying “Although The Kennedys is well-produced, well-acted and a quality piece of work, it doesn’t fit the Showtime programming brand.”

It’s looking more and more like American viewers are going to have to wait for a future DVD release to see why The Kennedys caused a fit issue for so many networks.

Normally, controversy leads to public interest which leads to ratings, but seeing as how I haven’t heard anyone outside the media discussing the miniseries, it’s unlikely viewers will flock to this if another channel ever rolls the dice with it.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.