Showtime's 'The Reagans' a Ratings Dud

NewsMax.com | 12/3/03 | staff

[thesummerwind]

Despite the media uproar of "The Reagans," its premiere on Showtime didn't exactly set the cable world ablaze, according to Zap2it.com.

According to news reports, a little over 1 million viewers watched the three-hour movie, which did bring a larger-than-average audience to the pay-cable network Sunday, but not one big enough to rank in the Top 40 cable programs for last week.

Eschewing the Showtime offering, about 3.5 million people watched the season finale of HBO's "Carnivale" Sunday.

However, HBO is available in about three times as many homes as Showtime, which reaches between 12 million and 13 million subscribers.

Showtime has claimed that "The Reagans" was its highest-rated original movie in two years. Ironically, its ratings were close to that of another film about the Reagan White House, 2001's "The Day Reagan Was Shot."

"The Reagans" will repeat on Showtime twice in the next week and likely air in the future on the network's "multiplex" channels.

Showtime ended up with "The Reagans" after its Viacom sibling CBS opted not to air the movie for what CBS CEO Les Moonves termed "moral" reasons, saying the film didn't present a balanced view of former President Ronald Reagan.

CBS was also facing intense pressure from conservative groups to alter or scrap the film, however Moonves contends that wasn't a factor in his decision.

[thesummerwind]

I feel their pain. Put some ice on it.

[thesummerwind]

but not one big enough to rank in the Top 40 cable programs for last week.

Ha, seems like nobody with a brain in their head bothered to watch.

Tom Dash-hole. I am so concerned, Tim.

[concerned about politics]

A few checked it out, but I guess it was a total flop. My sister tried to watch to see what the hub-bub was about, but turned it off soon after it started. She said it was pretty stupid.

[Arpege92]

It was stupid....what little I saw of it.

[Swordmaker]

Let's see. that's 40,000 die hard Reagan haters (most likely off the arbitron scale in Hollywood) and the rest of the 960,000 being conservatives tuning in to see how really viscious it was.

[Nateman]

If they made a movie about the Clinton regime, called it "Citizen Stain" and honestly portrayed the criminal nature of everyone in that White House, now THAT would be worth watching.

[thoughtomator]

Most of the audience was probably seething conservatives who wanted to know exactly how mad to be about it

[gipper81]

where the hell is the list of boycottablesponsors????

[DoughtyOne]

I wish there were more choices in cable service. It would be refreshing to have a conservative cable service that provided decent programming without trying engineer society into a perferted socialist worker's paradise.

[Bonaparte]

"Citizen Stain"

That settles it. You're a genius.

[Mr. Mojo]

Showtime has claimed that "The Reagans" was its highest-rated original movie in two years.

Perhaps it was their only original movie in 2 years.

[Jim Robinson]

Well, I know one guy who watched this lame parody just to see how bad it was. I wonder if all 1 million of us watched it for the same reason? Can't wait for the Clinton/Lewinski movie to come out.

[Jim Robinson]

Extending and revising my remarks:

Don't know who would play Clinton, but I think Barbara Streisand would be a natural for Monica Lewinsky.

[thesummerwind]

Yeh, too bad no one saw it! Ha!

I saw a movie named "Celebrity" (1998) by Woody Allen. Judy Davis was great in it. Hate to see such a great actress waste her time playing down Nancy. But, I hear she was a perfectly nasty character, and that's what the liberals wanted.

I heard that Babs' gay son has aids, and that that fact may play into Babs' blistering, blind hatred for all things conservative, and Reagan and Bush in particular. Makes sense!

BTW, Judy Davis was great playing Judy Garland in the two-part movie. She shouldn't have taken part in this dispicable Reagan fiasco, though.

[thesummerwind]

LOL! I don't get SHOWTIME, but to tell you the truth, I would have watched it to see how bizarre it was. If it weren't so disgustingly cruel and distorted, it would be outrightly hilarious. And I like Judy Davis (as an actress). She plays zaney and whacky quite well.

[thesummerwind]

Let's see. Let's see about casting. Who could play Janet Reno, George Stephanopoulos, Susan McDougald, Webster Hubbell, John Huang, Fayme Malek, James Carville, etc., etc., etc.?

[thesummerwind]

It would be refreshing to have a conservative cable service

I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the works!

[RatSlayer]

Janet Reno - Will Ferrel
George Stephanopoulos - Haley Joe Osment
Susan McDougal - Jeneane Garafalo
James Carville - CGI actor based on gollum

[thesummerwind]

"Citizen Stain"

'Scamalot', or 'Nightmare on Pennsylvania Ave', courtesy of two other freepers.

[thesummerwind]

How about dear Rosie O'Donnell?