'Kennedys' exec blames Democrats for axe

Producer Joel Surnow has claimed that a Democratic bias led the History Channel to axe controversial miniseries The Kennedys.

Multiple outlets turned down the opportunity to air the eight-part drama, which was eventually picked up by the ReelzChannel.

"I truly believe that this project would have seen the light of day on History Channel if the exact same film had been produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg," Surnow told the Los Angeles Times. "It always felt from the very, very beginning of the project that at one point my known politics as a conservative might be a problem."

He added: "I'd always assumed the Kennedy family might have an objection to their family story being told by somebody that they perceive to be not friendly to them."

Surnow went on to say that many of the same forces that had put pressure on ABC over its controversial 2006 miniseries The Path to 9/11 had been responsible for the Kennedys axe, including former president Bill Clinton.

"Some of those same people who were involved in that were involved with this," he suggested.

The former 24 showrunner insisted that he "never had any political agenda" and referred to John F. Kennedy, played in the miniseries by Greg Kinnear, as "a good president".

"The show is not historically inaccurate," he claimed. "The premise of the Kennedys miniseries was to take the iconic figures and turn them into flesh and blood people."

The Kennedys will premiere on The ReelzChannel on April 3.