Hollywood Bails Out on a GOP Pilot

American Prowler ^ | 4/3/02 12:05:00 AM | The Prowler

[Jean S]

ANOTHER RIGHT-WING SETBACK
It's pilot time in Hollywood, as networks begin planning next season's prime-time schedule. So what happened to the supposedly "hot" Washington, D.C.-based drama that was going to feature conservatives and Republicans in a somewhat more positive light? This time last year, word was spreading in the conservative community that ABC and parent company Disney were seeking writers for a show that would provide ideological balance to NBC's liberal-minded "West Wing." The show would be set on Capitol Hill and would feature Republicans and conservatives doing the good work of the American people.

"It was going to be the 'Right Wing,'" says a young conservative writer who presented his résumé to the ABC development folks. "They were excited at the prospects of having two shows going head to head that would present two very different political perspectives in a dramatic fashion." But that show, apparently, will never be made, even at a pilot stage, due to the glut of Washington shows already on the air or in the pipeline. NBC has "West Wing" and CBS and ABC both have Supreme Court dramas on the air.

CBS has commited to a Washington-based show for next season that springs from the fertile mind of former Washington Post "Style" section maven Sally Quinn, a.k.a. Mrs. Ben Bradlee. ABC is developing at least one other Washington show, possibly focusing on the machinations of Capitol Hill, but not the one with so-called "conservative" spin. "It was never going to work out," says a Los Angeles-based talent agent. "I heard they got plenty of people in Washington who wanted to write, but you couldn't find a top flight actor in this town willing to play a conservative in a friendly light for very long." But what about James Garner, who plays a conservative chief justice on the CBS Supreme Court drama? "He started out conservative, but they already have him voting with the court's liberal wing four shows into the run," says the agent. That must explain why Garner's character got confirmed in the first place.

Others say the conservative show was doomed from the start. "The knockoffs, and this would have been a 'West Wing' knockoff, never work out. It's best for everyone," says a New York-based screenwriter. "But anyone who thought Disney would give you a 'conservative' show is nuts. Hell, even Fox wouldn't give you that."

[Wild Irish Rogue]

The DNC should be made to list any showing of the West Wing and all it's advertising revenue, as a political contribution.

[LarryLied]

Disney make a conservative show? What did they do? Take Walt from the cryofreezer and thaw him out?