Commander in Chief

ABC Keeps 'Commander in Chief' Because it Likes Woman Prez Idea
By Greg Sheffield | April 25, 2006 | 10:50 AM EDT

Reuters reports that ABC's "Commander in Chief," its presidential series featuring a woman chief executive, is on the rocks, but the network is still reluctant to pull the plug.

ABC's "Commander in Chief," starring Oscar winner Geena Davis as the first woman to occupy the Oval Office, is in danger of prime-time impeachment after failing to reverse a steady ratings slide this season.

Despite a renewed promotional push by the Walt Disney Co.-owned network, and a shift to a less competitive time slot, "Commander" has continued to lose viewers since returning this month from an 11-week winter hiatus.

People close to the series acknowledge that the chances of bringing it back for a second season are doubtful unless the program makes some headway in the Nielsens this spring.

'Commander in Chief' Comes Back with a Whimper
By Greg Sheffield | April 17, 2006 | 11:09 AM EDT
Hollywood Reporter says ABC's matriarchal presidential drama "Commander in Chief" has come back with less-than-impressive numbers.

Hillary Omen? ABC to Impeach First Female Prez
By Greg Sheffield | April 13, 2006 | 9:32 AM EDT
Matt Drudge reports that ABC will likely pull the plug on "Commander in Chief," a show already on life support. Of course, to keep things interesting, the president's husband is going to grope an intern. They figure it kept Clinton in office, so why not them?

Here We Go Again on CBS: Early Show Focuses on "Domestic Spying"
By Michael Rule | February 6, 2006 | 1:04 PM EST

<p><img hspace="0" src="media/2006-02-06-CBSESSmith.jpg" align="right" border="0" />Here CBS goes again.

ABC Impeaches 'Commander in Chief'
By Greg Sheffield | January 30, 2006 | 2:51 PM EST

<img width="200" align="right" src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20060120/i/r2063944340.jp... />

ABC Gives Conservative GOP House Speaker a History of Advocating Segregation
By Brent Baker | November 16, 2005 | 12:20 AM EST

<img vspace="0" hspace="0" border="0" align="right" src="/media/2005-11-15-ABCCICNathan.jpg" />A <a href="http://newsbusters.org/node/1535">September 28 NewsBusters posting</a> presciently forecast how “ABC's new <a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/articles/index.html"><i>Com... in Chief</i></a> drama...clearly intends to make the conservative Republican 'House Speaker <a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/cast/templeton.html">Nathan Templeton</a>,' played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000661/">Donald Sutherland</a>, the foil on the show revolving around <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000133/">Geena Davis</a> as '<a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/cast/allen.html">President Mackenzie Allen</a>.'” On Tuesday's episode, the villainous Templeton has been told that “Special Assistant to the President Vince Taylor” is HIV-positive and he plans to reveal his health situation and to out him as gay, a move that so outrages Templeton's chief aide that she alerts the White House. Friends of the parents of “<a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/cast/Ever_Carradine.html">K... Ludlow</a>,” Press Secretary to the independent President, then come to DC with a tape of a 16 millimeter film of a 1965 fund-raiser, featuring the future House Speaker, made by their father who recently died. <br /><br />On the grainy black and white videotape of a smoke-filled room, Templeton contended that “segregation is the word of God” and railed about how “if the Lord Almighty wanted colored people to mix with whites...he wouldn't have placed them on separate continents.” Referring to the Supreme Court, the early Templeton argued that “nine men in Washington can't change natural law” and, bringing up the KKK, that “black robes are worse than white robes.&quot; Templeton then laughed. President Mackenzie calls Templeton to the Oval Office where he explains: “I was a young, Southern Democrat saying whatever I had to say to get elected.&quot; Showing him the video works, though, and he backs off his nefarious scheme to out Taylor.<br /><br /><b>Video</b> of what ABC portrayed as the background of the conservative Republican politician, in <a href="/media/2005-11-15-ABCCIC.rm">Real</a> or <a href="/media/2005-11-15-ABCCIC.wmv">Windows Media</a>. (Transcript follows as well as link to actor Donald Sutherland's recent rant against President Bush and the U.S.)<br /><br />

Enough is Enough
By Edward L. Daley | October 27, 2005 | 7:37 PM EDT

I have several requirements for supporting Supreme Court nominees,
among them being that Chucky Schumer and Harry Reid must hate them.
Let's face it, if these two clowns support you, you have about as good
a chance of being a rational human being as Al Gore has of developing a
personality. With that in mind, it should not be hard to understand why
I practically jumped for joy
when I heard that Harriet Miers was withdrawing her nomination to
the high court. Even though most of my Republican friends kept telling

Sandy Berger To Be An Advisor For ABC's "Commander In Chief"?
By Dave Pierre | October 19, 2005 | 11:27 PM EDT

If we are to believe this article in today's New York Daily News (Wednesday, October 19, 2005), former Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger will be signing on to be an advisor on ABC's Tuesday night drama, Commander in Chief. The Daily News also reports that Ron Klain, a longtime aide to Al Gore, will join the show.Berger and Klain join two others with Clinton connections who currently work on the show. Capricia Marshall, a series consultant, was social secretary at the Clinton White House. Steve Cohen, a writer on the show, was once a communications aide for Hillary.I'm wondering ... How many former Bush or Reagan staffers are on the show?

Media Parasites Undermine Bush's Attempt To Rally Troops
By Edward L. Daley | October 14, 2005 | 1:20 PM EDT

The "mainstream" media today, in a stunning display of left-wing bias, engaged in a coordinated anti-war propaganda campaign designed to overshadow an attempt by President Bush on Thursday to rally America's troops. The effort was so gratuitously spiteful, partisan, and transparent that Joseph Goebbels himself would have applauded it.In a video conference yesterday to members of the Army's 42nd Infantry Division based in Tikrit, the President did his best to boost the morale of U.S.

Newsweek Shilling for Hillary and "Commander in Chief"
By Noel Sheppard | October 1, 2005 | 10:43 AM EDT

In an article entitled “The Time is Right,” Newsweek used an interview with long-time feminist activist Marie Wilson to hype a Hillary Clinton presidency as well as ABC’s new series about a female president, “Commander in Chief.” Newsweek set the piece up by referring to a possible Hillary-Condi matchup in 2008. However, Wilson is never asked what she thinks of the second female Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, which certainly would have been a natural question for a woman who is president of the White House Project, a non-profit organization designed to assist the advancement of women in the workplace and in politics. Instead, the only female politician discussed with Wilson was indeed the junior senator from New York.

As for ABC’s new series, Newsweek and Wilson made it very clear what the intention of this show is (Newsweek’s questions in bold):

Conservative House Speaker the Ogre on ABC's 'Commander in Chief' Drama
By Brent Baker | September 28, 2005 | 5:24 PM EDT

<p><img hspace="0" border="0" align="right" src="media/2005-09-27-ABCCICTempleton.jpg" />ABC's new <a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/articles/index.html"><i>Com... in Chief</i></a> drama, which debuted Tuesday night, clearly intends to make the conservative Republican “House Speaker <a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/cast/templeton.html">Nathan Templeton</a>,” played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000661/">Donald Sutherland</a>, the foil on the show revolving around <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000133/">Geena Davis</a> as “<a href="http://abc.go.com/primetime/commanderinchief/cast/allen.html">President Mackenzie Allen</a>.” On the debut, Republican “President Teddy Roosevelt Bridges” dies of an aneurysm, but before he does so he asks VP Allen, an independent with more liberal views, to resign so the Speaker can become President since he &quot;shares my vision.&quot; Allen plans to do so, enraging her chief aide who declares of Templeton: “This guy makes Genghis Khan look like Mahatma Gandhi.” And he warns that a Templeton presidency would mean “the return of book-burning, creationism in the classroom, invading every third world country.&quot;<br /><br />During a meeting with Allen, who is on a quest to save a Nigerian woman sentenced to death by stoning for having a baby outside of marriage, Templeton enrages Allen by deriding the woman as “the adulteress” and “a lady who couldn't keep her legs together.&quot; (As if that's how conservatives view the plight of women in the world.) Templeton's buffoonery prompts Allen to fold up the draft of her resignation letter -- and thus make the theme of the TV series, a woman President, occur. Sutherland is a leading character on the show and the preview of next week's episode suggests that he will “sabotage” Allen's VP pick.<br /><br />Fuller transcripts follow.