‘Reagans’ gets gratifying votes

CBS figured it had done everything possible last year to distance itself from a politicized TV historical drama about Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Its chairman, Leslie Moonves, condemned the bias and timing of the project and sent it off to its pay-cable sibling network, Showtime.

But on Thursday, “The Reagans,” far from being forgotten, raked in seven Emmy nominations -- for Showtime.

Michael Paranzino -- a key opponent of the film who launched a website (www.boycottcbs.com) in protest said he was not surprised at the nominations. “It was expected just like Michael Moore being feted at Cannes was expected,” he said. “It just reinforces the differences in Hollywood values versus mainstream American values.”

That’s not quite how executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron saw it.

“We’ve never been involved with a project that became embroiled in this firestorm of controversy, and we were so afraid that the good work of everyone who worked on it would be obliterated,” Meron said. “For it to be recognized by the industry is gratifying beyond words.”

“The Reagans” is competing in the outstanding made-for-television movie category against A&E;’s “Ike: Countdown to D-day,” Showtime’s “The Lion in Winter” and HBO’s “Something the Lord Made” and “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.”

James Brolin and Judy Davis, who portrayed the former first couple, were nominated in lead acting categories; the movie also is up for honors in writing, casting, makeup and hairstyling. The project, developed as a miniseries, was edited into a three-hour movie and premiered Nov. 30 on Showtime, two weeks after it was yanked by Moonves.

Before its scheduled CBS broadcast, opponents, concerned that the movie would be an unflattering and poorly timed portrayal given the former president’s then-faltering health, mobilized against it on cable TV, radio talk shows and the Internet. “We got attacked 24 hours a day before anyone had seen the movie,” said Meron. “We thought, ‘How could they dislike this movie when we’re trying to humanize the Reagans?’ But they wanted them deified. We’re so glad that Showtime rescued the movie.”

Robert Greenblatt, Showtime’s president of entertainment, who made the decision to take “The Reagans” from CBS, added, “While you might argue with the politics, you just can’t deny the power of those two performances or deny that it was an extremely well-made movie.”

In a statement, CBS said: “We have no regrets about our decision, but we congratulate our corporate cousins at Showtime.”

Brolin said the film has been perceived as this “nasty, dirty bad boy.” “But when people actually saw it, they discovered that it wasn’t that bad.”

Extensive coverage following Ronald Reagan’s death on June 5 may have helped “The Reagans” receive more attention from voters, Zadan said.