Joel Surnow

Media Quiet Over Cancellation of JFK Drama, Cried Censorship Over Removal of Reagan Series
By Scott Whitlock | January 12, 2011 | 4:37 PM EST

While journalists such as Brian Williams railed about "extortion" when CBS pulled a historically inaccurate 2003 miniseries about Ronald Reagan, there has been very little outcry over the news that the History Channel has withdrawn a (reportedly) hard-hitting drama about the Kennedys.

The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday explained the behind the scenes role Caroline Kennedy and Maria Shriver played in pressuring the cable network to not air the series created by Hollywood conservative Joel Surnow. According to journalist Matthew Belloni, Kennedy used her leverage regarding a book deal with Disney, the History Channel's parent company, to get the completed miniseries shelved.

The evening newscasts have ignored this development, as has ABC and CBS's morning shows. It was mentioned on Monday's Today show. 10am hour co-host Kathie Lee Gifford suggested, "And I heard there was also one of the producers of this was one of the few hardline conservatives in Hollywood. And so it was quite, it was quite negative in many ways."

Hollywood's Double Standard: 'Redacted' Praised, '24' Has to Move Left
By Ken Shepherd | February 5, 2008 | 11:16 AM EST

The writers' strike is giving conservative fans of "24" a temporary reprieve from a maddening, preachy plots planned in the new season. So argues Bryan Preston at Hot Air, noting that Hollywood praises liberal anti-military, anti-war on terror fare like "Redacted," while it can't abide a pro-American, pro-war on terror far like "24," despite the latter being vastly more successful as a commercial enterprise than the former.Preston notes that Day 7 of "24" opens by featuring lead character Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) defending his actions before a congressional committee that will doubtless rail against his methods in obtaining intelligence from terrorists. He notes this merely gives fictional liberal senators air time to echo arguments "24" fans here time and again from real life liberal politicians and the mainstream media (emphasis mine):

Janeane Garofalo Joins '24' Cast
By Pam Meister | August 21, 2007 | 1:36 PM EDT

The Hollywood Reporter has the news that actress-comedian and former Air America talk show host Janeane Garofalo will be joining the cast of Fox's "24" next season: