Joel Surnow, co-creator of 24, is shopping around a miniseries about the Kennedys. Surnow hasn’t been shy about his conservative politics, but producers for the proposed 10-episode series say it’s "neither a hatchet job nor a valentine." Alas, I was hoping for one or the other. According to the press release about the series, "It also tells the historical stories that are associated with the Kennedy era — the Bay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis, the civil rights struggle, the mob connection — each one told in the context of personal, Kennedy-family dramas."
While Surnow isn’t necessarily who I expected to be behind a Kennedy project, it’s not entirely surprising to see something linked to the famous clan emerge from the pop morass. After all, it hits a very on-trend trifecta:
President Obama Perhaps you’ve heard references to the "new Camelot"? Or people highlighting sartorial similarities between Michelle and Jackie O? Oh, you’ve heard it a lot? Me, too.
Politics in general Government, history, politics — it’s all very hot hot hot right now. And what screams "American political drama" louder than "Kennedy"? Milk and Frost/Nixon, while not big box-office draws (The Love Guru out-grossed them both), were definitely prestige-generating projects, and that’s what a cable miniseries is about: Recall John Adams, which won 13 Emmys last year. Plus, there are no fewer than seven politically-themed shows currently in development for the 2009-10 TV season.
Mad Men The Emmy-winning period drama may be in a class all its own in terms of writing and complexity. But anything can be set in the ’60s, and Mad Men‘s vibrant retro style — plus its insistence that the American Dream is also part nightmare — has been spreading since the show’s debut.
So what do you think, PopWatchers? Will you be voting for a Kennedy miniseries?
This is the most famous politican family and everyone kwons a story about them. So the miniserie have to bring something new, to be sucessful. A secret or something else…
Thank you Margaret Lyons. I thought I was the only one who was wondering the same thing.
What took so long? Do you live under a rock? The Kennedys have been the subject of numerous mini-series and movies in the 40 years. Why do we need another one, especially that will be obviously biased from a man who finds joy in biased lies. Leave these people alone.
I’m pretty sure there already *has* been a mini-series about the Kennedys. I think it was aired in 1983 (to co-incide with the 20th anniversary of the shooting) and starred Martin Sheen as JFK.
I’m not a big fan of the Kennedy dynasty, but I do like Surnow and would probably watch. (At least the first night.)
Hopefully this will be on HBO, don’t want some sanitized network bull.
Hopefully this won’t be the usual Kennedy cover up and butt kissing. A dose of reality might be good.