Showtime To Air Reagan Documentary Without Controversial Line About AIDS

The cable network Showtime on Monday announced that on Nov. 30 it will air the miniseries "The Reagans," which was originally slated to air on CBS, without a line of dialogue about AIDS, Reuters reports (Gorman, Reuters, 11/17). After "intense pressure" from Republicans and conservative groups, CBS decided not to air the miniseries, the Boston Globe reports (Ryan, Boston Globe, 11/18). In a scene that drew particular criticism, Nancy Reagan, played by Judy Davis, asks President Ronald Reagan, played by James Brolin, to do more to help AIDS patients; he responds, "They that live in sin shall die in sin." Although the line of dialogue was fictional, supporters of the movie say that Reagan's authorized biography "Dutch" quotes him saying of AIDS, "Maybe the Lord has brought down this plague" because "illicit sex is against the Ten Commandments." Showtime executives and the show's director and producers decided to cut the line from the final version, a Showtime spokesperson said. Both Showtime and CBS are owned by Viacom (Reuters, 11/17).