Posted on 03/27/2006 6:44:05 PM PST by paltz
--When Medved asked Joel if his political conservatism had any effect on his relationship to others in the business, Joel gave what he referred to as a "classic (but extreme) example" of such a situation. While at England's Shepperton Studios in 1992, Joel ran into a fellow friend and writer whom he had worked with on a project a number of years prior. This was during the run-up to the 1992 US election, and Joel casually mentioned that he was voting for George Bush, not Bill Clinton. His friend laughed, thinking Joel was making a joke, but when he realized that Joel was serious, there was an awkward 30-second silence, then an uncomfortable tension for the rest of their lunch together. Joel never heard from his friend ever again.
--Joel likened his growing up years to the film The Slums of Beverly Hills, in that he grew up in a blue-collar household south of the Olympic Blvd. dividing line, "where all the apartments start." Most of his schoolmates and friends growing up came from very wealthy families in Beverly Hills, and Joel was dismayed by the fact that many of them were drawn to communist and socialist ideals.
--Joel's journey toward political conservatism began with Ronald Reagan, whom Joel described as a man who was "tough" and "made sense." The rise of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative voices in the culture helped buttress his political evolution.
--Joel admits that 24 is politically incorrect compared to other series on the air, but he emphasizes that he has no political agenda in his writing. (As someone who didn't know for sure that Joel was politically conservative until after working on La Femme Nikita, I can concur that this is true.) However, he pointed out that because so much TV comes from a liberal perspective, the pro-military, "terrorism is evil" aspect of 24 makes the series seem almost radical by comparison. When Medved played a sound bite from 24 and Joel couldn't hear it clearly, he joked that "well, if it features someone getting tortured, then you know it's our show." I coudn't help but smile and think of Madeline.
--Medved asked Joel if 24 ever got him in hot water with Muslim advocacy groups, and Joel mentioned that he in fact sat down with representatives of CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) who had concerns about the way that Islamic terrorists might be portrayed on the series. He said that after talking with them at length about the show, and screening a number of upcoming episodes from that season, they "backed off." However, Keifer Sutherland recorded a public service announcement emphasizing that even though the series features Islamic terrorists, not all Muslims should be judged by the actions of a few. While the creation and airing of that PSA was the decision of News Corp. (the parent company of Fox), they never asked the 24 writing staff to change anything on the series. (This was also true on La Femme Nikita--USA Network never made any request to change the ethnicity of terrorists, either.)
--Given the fact that Sen. John McCain recently mentioned Jack Bauer in the discussion surrounding Sen. McCain's anti-torture legislation, Joel was asked if 24 would be willing to feature Sen. McCain in a cameo, since he did one for the movie Wedding Crashers. Joel wouldn't answer one way or the other, but teasingly said to "look closely" at the fifth episode of this season.
--Joel said that the US military are big fans of the series and pointed out that they didn't charge the series anything to film F-18 jets flying over L.A., which was featured last season.
--Joel has an upcoming film project in development with none other that conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter, designed to be the anti-Good Night, and Good Luck.
--Joel was very grateful for all the enthusiastic reviews that the upcoming premiere episodes have received, and he sounded very excited about the twists and turns planned for this season.
--When a caller teased Joel that the lowest point of the entire series was the storyline featuring Kim vs. the cougar, Joel laughed, admitting as much.
--Joel revealed that even Barbra Streisand and Sen. Dianne Feinstein are rabid fans of 24. He says that he appreciates the fact that anyone, regardless of political leanings, can sit down and be entertained by 24.
Great article!
BUMP to Chrome Dome
BTTT
VERY COOL
bttt
It would be great if Fox could do a sort of news/comedy show with a host (Dennis Miller, P.J. O'Rourke, etc) depicting liberals as they actually are. It would sort of be a Daily Show or SNL for conservatives as SNL regularly has skits skewering conservatives and Republicans. It could also simply review the daily and weekly antics of libs with commentary provided by the conservative host. I think it would be a big hit, and I'm more than ready to help give ideas.
Keep in mind that most Americans have NEVER watched the daily show, or anything on comedy central. Of course Stewart has a demographic of loyal followers, including the left wing media...but I doubt they would ever tune into a conservtive version. Generally, I dislike copying format to swing it over to the right wing view...come up with something original, and it will succeed based on it's originality. Perhaps the South park boys would do a puppet take on working for a network news show? Team America Broadcast news.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.