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?
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?
Go to:
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/03/kennedy-miniser.html
