Two new Hollywood shows take on D.C.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Screenwriter Lionel Chetwynd, a well-known Hollywood conservative, was visibly nervous at Showtime's news conference for his new TV movie, "DC 9/11," which premieres Sept. 7.

The docudrama looks at how the White House handled Sept. 11 and the week following that terrible day. Because of Chetwynd's political views in general, and in particular because he was an early supporter of President Bush's candicacy, he was prepared for hostility.

"It tries to evoke," Chetwynd began, describing his film, then interrupted himself to describe instead what he felt was the attitude of his audience:

"'It tries to evoke,' he said, as he tries to curry favor with an obviously cold crowd," Chetwynd continued. "The scattered applause, and even more scattered laughter..."

"By the way," Chetwynd asked one questioner. "What is your publication, if I may ask?"

"Dallas Morning News."

"Dallas? All right," responded Chetwynd. "Morning News? Not so all right."

But all things considered, Chetwynd's reception really wasn't that bad. And any discussion of a bunch of reporters giving conservatives a hard time should be tempered with the reality that often they're just cranky.

As Bill Maher pointed out on "Reliable Sources" a few days ago, "I don't think the media is liberal or conservative so much as petty and egotistical. The story is always about the reporter."

Chetwynd was plugging "DC 9/11" during the Television Critics Association's (TCA) summer press tour in Hollywood. We've become friendly - full disclosure - because I've interviewed him several times over the years. But all things considered, I don't think the room was really that unfriendly.

Last year the TCA made Monica Lewinksy cry during the session for HBO's "Monica In Black & White" documentary. HBO chief Chris Albrecht, assuming an air of annoyance, told the Los Angeles Times that "they hated her the minute she walked in the room."

Which was ridiculous, as veterans of these confabs know, because the TCA hates everyone the minute they walk in the room.

OK, I'm exaggerating. (A little.) And the "DC 9/11" session was reasonably polite, all things considered.

Still, the murmurs of pretty much blanket disapproval I'd been hearing from colleagues about Chetwynd's doing the movie did come to a head during one truly absurd exchange:

Question: "You did contribute to [Bush's] campaign?"

Chetwynd: "Yeah, the limit was $1,000...Would it make a better film if I'd given $1,000 to Gore?"

Question: "Yes."

"Chetwynd: "Why?"

"Question: "Because it would show less potential bias."

The questioner was absolutely serious. If you donate money to Bush, you're biased towards Bush, but if you'd donated money to Gore you wouldn't be biased AGAINST Bush. Supporting Gore is just the normal default position, as everyone knows. Chaw!

I actually think that sometimes the liberal-media-baiters can be a little obsessive. This wasn't one of those times.

"If you're going to apply the standard that no one should make a political film who's expressed any preference in political elections," Chetwynd responded, "then let's close down Showtime and most of the people [Showtime chief] Jerry [Offsay] puts to work."

But the people Offsay and other Hollywood executives put to work, of course, are almost all on the liberal side. "Give me a break, will you?" Chetwynd said. "I am a lone voice virtually in this community."

Offsay decided to add his two cents. "It is the common ground between Showtime liberals and Lionel's unreconstructed Republicanism that we found there was just a really good story to be told," the Showtime head said about "DC 9/11."

I wonder sometimes if the media is occasionally not so much hostile to Hollywood conservatives as just easily won over by Hollywood liberals, who are generally encountered in the charming, larger-than-life personalities of famous actors.

As it happens, the day after Showtime's "DC 9/11" session, HBO held a panel for its new series about a fictional Washington consulting firm, "K Street," which premieres Sept. 14 and is executive-produced by well-known liberal George Clooney.

So did anyone accuse Clooney of liberal bias? No, they did not.

But then, it was hard to argue with Clooney's giant handsome head, which kept mugging and crinkling its eyes and flashing its blindingly white teeth charmingly at us via satellite. Clooney's slick coolness contrasted markedly with Chetwynd's nervous exasperation.

"I think we also felt that television is getting too liberal," Clooney mugged and crinkled in response to a question about what it says about the times that a new show focuses on political consultants rather than political candidates. "So I thought I'd bring a conservative view to television."

"K Street," which employs Mary Matalin and James Carville as consultants, interweaves fictional people with real political figures like Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi, who at one point the "K Street" characters are trying to get as a client.

When Clooney, who has repeatedly criticized the press for invading his privacy, was asked what he thought about making real-life politicians characters in a show without their permission, he just ramped up the crinkling and the mugging and at one point sneered dismissively, "Have you SEEN the show?"

As if the questioner were lazy and ignorant, when in fact it says right in the press release that "K Street" is shot just a week before each episode's premiere, and so seeing the September show in July would of course had been impossible.

But how would Clooney feel if someone made him a character in a show without his permission?

"Oh, you mean, like Fox News?" retorted Clooney. "That happens to me every day. What, are you crazy?" It was a snappy comeback, and it got a big laugh, partly because Clooney's delivery and timing are excellent.

Of course, it also made no sense, because Fox News isn't interweaving fictional characters with real people and so once again Clooney had dodged the question with charm.

But he did go on to answer it, at least in a way.

"If you're a public figure, and you're taking a public stance, then all bets are off," Clooney said. "We haven't done anything to assassinate Mr. Chalabi's character. All we did was point out points of view. This is a procedural. We haven't taken any sides. And I've been a victim of much more slanted journalism than this."

"We're all dancing around the issue here, which is - is this going to be a big liberal show?" Clooney added. "I hope it isn't, that's not our plan. Our plan is to try and show the process. And if we fail, you'll tell us."