TV execs admit: Hollywood pushes a liberal agenda

[Purple Glow]

This is an utterly fascinating piece on Hollywood where TV execs - in taped interviews - admit to a sweeping bias in favor of liberalism in Hollywood. For those people who think they are liberals - are you sure you are truly liberal? Or have you been programmed by Hollywood to believe in negative stereotypes about conservatives?

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/tv-executiv...l-agenda--3086

V Executives Admit in Taped Interviews That Hollywood Pushes a Liberal Agenda
By Paul Bond, The Hollywood Reporter | Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 8:57 AM

Some of TV's top executives from the past four decades may have gotten more than they bargained for when they agreed to be interviewed for a politically charged book that was released Tuesday, because video of their controversial remarks will soon be hitting the Internet.

The book makes the case that TV industry executives, writers and producers use their clout to advance a liberal political agenda. The author bases his thesis on, among other things, 39 taped interviews that he'll roll out piecemeal during the next three weeks.

The Hollywood Reporter obtained several of the not-yet-released clips. Each contains a snippet of an interview, usually some historical footage of the TV shows the interviewee was responsible for and, naturally, a plea to purchase the book, "Primetime Propaganda" by Ben Shapiro and published by Broad Side, an imprint of HarperCollins.

In one video, "Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman says that when she cast Candace Gingrich-Jones, half-sister of Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as the minister of a lesbian wedding, "There was a bit of [a middle finger] in it to the right wing."

Kauffman also acknowledges she "put together a staff of mostly liberal people," which is another major point of Shapiro's book: that conservatives aren't welcome in Hollywood.

Maybe that's because they're "idiots" and have "medieval minds." At least that's what "Soap" and "Golden Girls" creator Susan Harris thinks of TV's conservative critics.

However, the ranks of dumb right-wingers has dwindled, according to Harris, whose video has her saying: "At least, you know, we put Obama in office, and so people, I think, are getting — have gotten — a little bit smarter."

Some of the videos have executives making rather obvious revelations, like when Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds talk about pacifist messages in "M*A*S*H" or when "MacGyver" producer Vin Di Bona says anti-gun messages were a recurring theme in that show.

But an additional video has Di Bona, who also created "America's Funniest Home Videos," becoming remarkably blunt about his approval of a lack of political diversity in Hollywood. When Shapiro asks what he thinks of conservative critics who say everyone in Hollywood is liberal, Di Bona responds: "I think it's probably accurate, and I'm happy about it."

Another video has Leonard Goldberg — who executive produces "Blue Bloods" for CBS and a few decades ago exec produced such hits as "Fantasy Island," "Charlie's Angels" and "Starsky and Hutch" — saying that liberalism in the TV industry is "100 percent dominant, and anyone who denies it is kidding, or not telling the truth."

Shapiro asks if politics are a barrier to entry. "Absolutely," Goldberg says.

When Shapiro tells Fred Pierce, the president of ABC in the 1980s who was instrumental in Disney's acquisition of ESPN, that "It's very difficult for people who are politically conservative to break in" to television, he responds: "I can't argue that point." Those who don't lean left, he says, "don't promote it. It stays underground."

Another video rolling out soon has "House" creator David Shore acknowledging that "there is an assumption in this town that everybody is on the left side of the spectrum, and that the few people on the right side, I think people look at them somewhat aghast, and I'm sure it doesn't help them."

In the book, subtitled "The true Hollywood story of how the left took over your TV," Shapiro also tells anecdotes of bias against conservatives. One example is Dwight Schultz, best known for his roles as Murdock in "The A-Team" and Barclay in "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

The late Bruce Paltrow knew that Schultz was a fan of President Ronald Reagan. When Schultz showed up to audition for "St. Elsewhere," a show Paltrow produced, to read for the part of Fiscus, Paltrow told him: "There's not going to be a Reagan [expletive] on this show!" The part went to Howie Mandel.

"Most nepotism in Hollywood isn't familial, it's ideological," Shapiro writes in the book. "Friends hire friends. And those friends just happen to share their politics."

Another video Shapiro will release shortly has producer-director Nicholas Meyer being asked point-blank whether conservatives are discriminated against in Hollywood. "Well, I hope so," he answers. Meyer also admits his political agenda for "The Day After," a TV movie he directed for ABC that was seen by 100 million people when it aired in 1983.

"My private, grandiose notion was that this movie would unseat Ronald Reagan when he ran for re-election," Meyer says.

Even seemingly harmless shows like "Happy Days" and "Sesame Street" have been used to advance a progressive agenda, according to Shapiro.

For example, William Bickley, a writer on "The Partridge Family" and a producer on "Happy Days," says he infused Vietnam War protest messages into the latter. "I was into all that," he says in a soon-to-be-released video.

"Television has been perhaps the most impressive weapon in the left's political arsenal," Shapiro argues in the book.

Other upcoming videos include: "Family Ties" creator Gary David Goldberg explaining how he tried to make Republican character Alex Keaton the bad guy but that actor Michael J. Fox was too darn lovable; and president of MTV Networks Entertainment Group Doug Herzog talking about his network having "superpowers" when it comes to its influence over young people.

The advancement of a gay and lesbian political agenda is mentioned by multiple executives, including Marcy Carsey, a producer of "Soap" and "Roseanne," and "Desperate Housewives" producer Marc Cherry, who is a rarity in Hollywood: a gay Republican.

In her video, Carsey also says she insisted on portraying characters smoking marijuana in "That '70s Show." "If this is a problem for you, we certainly understand, and we just won't do the show," she told executives at Fox.

Shapiro released two videos Tuesday, one featuring "COPS" creator John Langley saying he's partial to segments where white people are the criminals, and the other has Fred Silverman, the former head of ABC and later NBC, saying "there's only one perspective, and it's a very progressive perspective" in TV comedy today.

Shapiro said the executives felt comfortable talking about politics with him because they assumed, incorrectly, that he is on the left.

"Most of them didn't Google me. If they had, they would have realized where I am politically," he said. "I played on their stereotypes. When I showed up for the interviews, I wore my Harvard Law baseball cap — my name is Ben Shapiro and I attended Harvard, so there's a 98.7 percent chance I'm a liberal. Except I happen not to be."

Shapiro said he'll time the debut of certain videos for maximum effect. One that slams Sean Hannity, for example, is reserved for his scheduled appearance on Hannity's show on the Fox News Channel.

And conservative pundit Ann Coulter has a new book out June 7. "I have two people ripping her by name, so I'll release those the day Ann's book is released," Shapiro said.

One of those slamming Coulter is George Schlatter, who directed and produced "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" in the 1970s, using the show to knock Republicans and the Vietnam War. "The fact we [ticked] the Pentagon off, that pleased me enormously," he says before calling Coulter a vulgar word.
In his video, Schlatter also goes off on right-wing radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham.

Shapiro says he didn't disclose that he'd be releasing the tapes, but that his subjects have no reason to complain.

"I asked them for permission to tape, and there's no reasonable expectation of privacy when you're being interviewed for a book," he said.

"If they're going to be shocked at something, it should be themselves, not me," Shapiro said. "They should be shocked that opinion is so one-sided in Hollywood that it's OK to say, 'I'm fine with discrimination.'"

"My whole book is a plea for openness in the industry," he added. "Hire people from the other side of the aisle once in a while, or at least stop mocking them."

[Davisdoesdallas]

I'll reply to your question at the beginning since everything else seems to just be filler.

Yes I am liberal. I would actually be considered a communist or an anarchist.

I believe our system (The United States) is broken beyond control however since I know that full on street protests and a sabataoge against the establisment will not work at this point in time I support the Democrats and liberals.

My reasoning behind this is because while our system is broken if you choose to do NOTHING like the Republicans and conservatives have done for years you end up in a worse place. The Free Market does NOT fix itself. It does NOT regulate itself. The near meltdown of the entire world economy is a brilliant example of this.

Over the last fifty years CEOs of major corporations made 15 times more than their average worker. Today the average CEO makes 50 times the average works pay. This hoarding of money can only be considered an oligarchy.

Since the republicans/conservatives want less goverment 'interferance' they are only supporting this class warfare.

The key word of that is interferance. You can listen to leaders like Michelle Bachman and Newt Gingrich talk about how the goverment has overstepped it's bounds and are interfering in peoples lives. However these same leaders of the conservative movement voted in FAVOR of the Patriot Act being extended only last week.

So explain to me how just because Hollywood has a 'liberal' bias it nullifies the fact that we have been lied and cheated by the people we 'elected'?

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

This is an utterly fascinating piece on Hollywood where TV execs - in taped interviews - admit to a sweeping bias in favor of liberalism in Hollywood. For those people who think they are liberals - are you sure you are truly liberal? Or have you been programmed by Hollywood to believe in negative stereotypes about conservatives?

This makes me laugh. People aren't liberal or conservative because they're born that way, they are liberal or conservative because of their experiences. The fact that people may be "programmed" by a biased form of media isn't going to make them more or less liberal or conservative. They will still be what they are. Finding out about the bias may change them, and it may not.

[ptwonline]

I consider myself liberal but I also hold some conservative views (mostly fiscal). I do not dislike conservatives because of their views. I dislike them because of the tactics they use and how extreme their politics have become over the past 30 years, and getting more extreme with each passing year.

I can respect people who I disagree with if they are honest with their views. It's all the dishonest tactics and outright lies being used that turns me off. Sure, liberals are guilty of the same kind of behavior, but their bad behavior is a candle next to the raging bonfire of lies and disinformation conservatives use as their standard operating procedure now. It's ridiculous and almost incomprehensible with what they can get away with.

As for Hollywood...media can certainly influence how people perceive other groups of people. Especially the less they know in the first place about that group of people. I don;t watch many movies anymore nor many TV shows so I don't think i'm getting much of the influence, but I think some shows have helped ease some of the fears of certain groups of people. In particular, I think blacks and gays have benefitted from Hollywood portraying them as not as scary as people have been raised to believe, and from black and gay celebrities who turn out to be pretty nice and normal after all.

[yahtzo]

No...really? In other news the sky is blue.

In all seriousness I don't know why anyone would be surprised by this news.

[Sunseeker]

Yes I'm totally and completely a slave to the liberal agenda.

That's why I support the death penalty.

If conservatives could actually come up with an argument of why people should support them other than "The other guys are doody-heads!" they might not be the running joke they've become.

[Gaspode]

Conservative/Liberal is 2 sides of the same filthy coin.They're all scum.

I'm getting to the point where I think the only good politician is a dead politician, preferably in a gruesomely inventive manner.

[Catta]

silly broken name-callingly American political system

[Badpaladin]

I think it's a little insulting that conservatives don't believe liberals have the moral or intellectual integrity to think on their own. Furthermore, I think that line of thought only serves to further ostracize people in this country. Pointing fingers has never accomplished anything.

[Imadraenei]

What? A liberal agenda? SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Who didn't already know this? I still watch TV, and I still have a non-liberal mindset. Whoopty-doo, all this is going to do is start a D-vs-R argument that neither side can win because they both suck.

[Bluesman]

The trouble with this country is...The Liberals

[sultree]

Wow, really? The media is biased? I am just SO shocked by this.

[Tigercat]

And in weather news today:

Cold, possibly hot. Chances of showers or not.




No shit, sherlock. While a few more chunks of definitive proof are nice, they're quite far from being needed for one to know of hollywood's political slant.

[Thatguywiththehat]

This is an utterly fascinating piece on Hollywood where TV execs - in taped interviews - admit to a sweeping bias in favor of liberalism in Hollywood. For those people who think they are liberals - are you sure you are truly liberal? Or have you been programmed by Hollywood to believe in negative stereotypes about conservatives?

Wait a minute, did you just imply that being liberal is brought about by social indoctrniation while being conservative is the defult state?

[Remilia]

Don't want to be an ass or anything but, through what you see on the 'silver-screen' its already been kinda obvious.

To the question. No, I don't care about movies enough to have it influence me.

Edit: Also, like others have stated, you don't born liberal or conservative.

[Tigercat]

Wait a minute, did you just imply that being liberal is brought about by social indoctrniation while being conservative is the defult state?

Not an arguement worth getting into. It'll just make the thread turn into a flamefest even quicker.

[Job for a Cowboy]

Is anyone surprised? This has been obvious for years. Everyone is so politically correct now.

[Kalyyn]

While this is a case of "science proves the obvious", it is nice to, just once, hear somebody in the media admit that they have a severe liberal bias.

[Sidonis]

Hollywood's been fighting the right since the creation of the FCC, why is this news?

[Joyride]

What are the specific liberal agendas being pushed?

If so, so what?

Look at the last 100 years or so and see what has been the liberal agenda.

Women's right to vote.
Civil Right's.
Women's right to earn equal pay.
Gay Right's.

Let's see, the liberal agenda is to end discrimination. How evil.

Look at the last 100 years or so and see what has been the conservative agenda.

Women shouldn't be allowed to vote.
Black's shouldn't be allowed to vote.
Blacks' shouldn't be allowed into public schools.
Businesses should be able to discriminate against blacks, both in service and employment.
Interracial Marriage should be against the law.
Public Schools should just teach the Bible instead of science.
Gay's should be allowed to be discriminated against, imprisoned and harassed.