Controversial miniseries ‘The Kennedys’ scores 10 Emmy nominations

After being dropped by the History Channel and avoided like the plague by other networks until finding a home on the tiny ReelzChannel, the controversial miniseries “The Kennedys” got some vindication Thursday in the form of 10 Emmy nominations.

“I was surprised,” said Joel Surnow, the executive producer of the eight-hour program. “I frankly didn’t think we’d be recognized for lots of reasons, none of them having to do with the quality of the show.”

Besides getting a nomination for outstanding miniseries or movie, the project also earned nods for Greg Kinnear and Barry Pepper, who portrayed brothers John and Robert Kennedy, respectively, and for Tom Wilkinson in his role as family patriarch Joe Kennedy.

Reelz, which premiered “The Kennedys” in April, said it would rerun the miniseries in November.

A big-budget extravaganza tracing the rise of one of America’s most powerful families, “The Kennedys” was met with heavy resistance before it had even started shooting. Early scripts were criticized by former colleagues of President John F. Kennedy as well as self-appointed guardians of his legacy, and stories citing concerns over the program started to appear on a regular basis.

In January, as pressure grew on the History Channel from allies of the Kennedys over whether the miniseries would be historically accurate and fair, the network jumped ship, saying, “This dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand.”

Surnow, a creator of the Fox hit “24,” was particularly singled out as being unfit to produce “The Kennedys” because he is politically conservative.

“It doesn’t feel good to hire a group of people and put them through the enormous effort of production and go through all we had to go through and have to tell people that, because I’m friends with Roger Ailes and Rush Limbaugh, all their work is not going to be seen,” Surnow said.

After being dropped by History, the producers had to scramble and initially could find no takers. The pay-TV channel Showtime, which several years earlier bought a movie about Ronald and Nancy Reagan that CBS had dropped after backlash from their supporters, took a pass as did several other networks. Ultimately, ReelzChannel, a cable network that primarily carries movies, struck a deal to acquire the rights to the $30-million project.

“None of the big networks that should have had ‘The Kennedys’ would go near it. Being an independent network gave us the freedom to do it,” Reelz Chief Executive Stan E. Hubbard said Thursday.

The fears about being associated with “The Kennedys” didn’t end when it finally ran (to mixed reviews). Hubbard said Reelz had to promote the miniseries to Emmy voters itself after being unable to land a big Hollywood public relations firm to coordinate the campaign.

“They wouldn’t touch this thing,” Hubbard said.

joe.flint@latimes.com