Free Republic

A new television mini-series on the Kennedys masterminded by the rightwing creator of '24' has outraged American liberals and historians who have branded it a "political character assassination" concentrating on sex and scandal.

LOS ANGELES -- "24" co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow is leaving the Emmy-winning drama. Surnow's departure is effective immediately. He served as an executive producer on the first eight episodes of Fox's real-time thriller's seventh season that were produced before and into the strike but will not be creatively involved in the remaining 16 episodes, slated to begin filming shortly. Surnow's overall deal with "24" producer 20th Century Fox TV was up April 30. This week, the writer-producer asked the studio to release him early, to which they agreed. Instead of signing a show deal to continue providing services on "24,"...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Hollywood producer Joel Surnow dismissed as "nuts" the notion that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton can be elected president and said he and other conservatives in the entertainment industry are leaning toward supporting Republican Rudolph W. Giuliani's presidential campaign. The executive producer of Fox's Emmy-winning counterterrorism thriller "24," interviewed after a Saturday speech to a conservative student group, also predicted that the current screenwriters' strike would be "hugely long" and settled to the disadvantage of the writers union. "I'm not even sure that Hillary is a fait accompli [to win the Democratic Party nomination] as this point,"...

"24" is just a TV show. But in her Los Angeles Times column of today, America Tortures (yawn), Rosa Brooks cites the actions of the show's characters -- and the American public's reaction to them -- as evidence of the way in which we have become inured to U.S. government-sponsored torture. In doing so, Brooks unwittingly raises another, more interesting issue. Writes Brooks: "If you need any more evidence that the American public has gotten blasé about torture, consider the hit Fox action drama '24.' The show featured 67 torture scenes during its first five seasons, and most of...

Satire scores for Fox News net 'News Hour' pilot bows with 1.5 mil viewers It got mixed reviews, but Fox News Channel's take on news satire scored with the only voters that matter. Heavily promoted on FNC and on conservative talkradio, the first pilot episode of "The ½ Hour News Hour" premiered with nearly 1.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's a big number for an unknown show in a Sunday timeslot. First episode opened with some conservative star power, with Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter hamming it up as fictional -- or perhaps fantasy -- president and...

The ratings are in for The 1/2 Hour News Hour on FNC. The heavily-promoted premiere delivered 499,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo and 1,478,000 total viewers. The show gained about 170,000 demo and around 300,000 total viewers from its lead-in. Half the viewers immediately tuned out, giving The Line Up just 231,000 demo and 787,000 viewers at 10:30pm. > SF Chronicle, Feb. 16: "If 1.5 million viewers watched -- slightly less than Stewart's nightly 1.6 million audience and more than Colbert's 1.2 million -- Surnow said, 'it would be a huge number.'

I've checked and seen nothing posted about the premier pilot of the 1/2 Hour News Hour on this forum.I want more of this show. I laughed throughout. The satire was crisp, delivery was very good.The best thing about parodies and satires which grab at one's funny bone is that they are true and factual. The jabs delivered last night were true and factual. And Real.I and my family enjoyed the 1/2 Hour News very much, and wish it were more than 1/2 hour long -- and covering the range of "news du jour".How about you?

Fox News Channel is airing two pilots of Joel Surnow's "The ½ Hour News Hour" to test the market for a right-leaning satire show. FNC is testing the concept on Sunday nights. The first episode will air at 10 p.m. Sunday and repeat the following Sunday. The second episode will air at the same time March 4. The show, which stars comedians Kurt Long and Jenn Robertson, owes quite a bit to "Saturday Night Live" segment "Weekend Update" in both format and spirit. The "newscasters" will take a story of the day and then spin it to a comedic extreme....