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Clintons
in negotiations for reality TV series contract 'This one's going to make "The Osbournes" look like "Leave it to Beaver"' By Carnie Vallact |
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 NEW
YORK, NY (TDT) They've been out of the spotlight for a little less
than two years, but get ready to get re-acquainted with the Clintons.
Sources inside CBS's programming department report that although previous
rumors had former
President Bill Clinton discussing a talk show with the network, plans
are in fact underway to give the former Chief Executive his own celebrity-reality
TV show. Television observers suggest the show could be closely modeled on The Osbournes, the runaway success at CBS's fellow Viacom-owned sister network, MTV. "All the ingredients are there," said Los Angeles Times television critic Robert Hilburn. "You have the lavish new money lifestyle, the domestic squabbles, the goofy, slightly befuddled dad, the careerist wife pulling everything together, and the grown daughter embarassed by her parents." An excited CBS president Les Moonves agreed that familial conflict could well drive the series' viewrship, promising, "this one's going to make The Osbournes look like Leave it to Beaver. But it will also have all the weight and substance the audience has come to expect from the Tiffany Network. If there's one thing CBS knows, it's quality drama. We are, after all, the network that brought you Big Brother, Touched by an Angel and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." Reactions in political circles were mixed at best. House Republican Whip Tom DeLay blasted the move. "This is little more than an extended campaign for Hillary's Presidential run in 2008, one that will register not a dime against her campaign finance limits. Just another pathetic example of the media's overwhelming liberal bias," DeLay said, between guest appearances on "The O'Reilly Report," "Hardball," and Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Commentator George Will called the show "another sad milestone in this man's continuing degradation of the office of the Presidency." Democrats, for their part, were cautiously optimistic that the show would not be a complete failure. Network crews filmed some "preliminary dailies" during the Senate's month-long August recess, in hopes of capturing on film some of the "vivid family dynamics" for which the Clintons are known, to sell the series to potential sponsors. While the team was unable to film the entire family together, due to "scheduling conflicts," they were able to log what was described as "extensive" footage of the former President golfing, petting his dog Seamus, and "thinking deeply" about his memoirs, although sources say the latter will probably need to be pared down, since test audiences were unable to differentiate it from "napping." One scene that did excite the network came when Hillary Clinton returned to the family home in Chappaqua, New York, from her Washington residence. She had left a blue dress laying on a bed, upon which Seamus, forgetting his house training, had deposited a liquid reminder of his presence. Seeing the stain, Mrs. Clinton reportedly "tore through the house, screaming a string of things that made our censors blush," said a camera operator. "The guy who works the bleep button on this show will have his work cut out for him." |
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