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Keller @ Large: Kennedys' Plan Backfires

BOSTON (CBS) - Remember a while back when we heard that members of the Kennedy family had pressured the History Channel to ditch the $25 million miniseries they had inexplicably produced about the Kennedys?

Well, they succeeded, and by doing so, they failed, miserably.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

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The miniseries was indeed dropped by the History Channel, but subsequently picked up by something called the Reelz channel, and it airs next week after more free publicity than it ever would have generated if the Kennedys had done what they should have done, hold their noses and ignore it.

Judging from the trailer online and the reviews from critics who've seen it, the miniseries is a complete waste of time covering no new ground, a dull re-enactment of famous moments in family history, warts and all, with B-list actors like Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes doing what B-list actors always do when they portray the Kennedys, butchering the Boston accent.

Given the obscurity of the carrier and the redundancy of the subject matter, the thing would have vanished without a trace if family members hadn't made a big deal over it, and that's not the first time the Kennedys have made that mistake.

Those open-sewer FBI reports claiming Ted Kennedy rented out an entire brothel on a trip to South America fifty years ago would have gotten much less play if the family hadn't tried to suppress them.

And some scholars are furious with the family for denying access to official government documents in the Robert Kennedy archives at the Kennedy library.

I don't blame the Kennedys for wanting to protect their family legacy from critical scrutiny or smears.

But they seem to be living in a long-lost fantasy world where they could micromanage their image and a compliant media would play along.

News flash, we already know all the dirt anyway. And I wish the family would give us credit for knowing enough to put it in perspective when someone tries to dig it up again.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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