The Ultimate TV Guide to this years coverage of the 50th - God help us!

[Marlene Zenker]

How TV will cover the Kennedy assassination's anniversary

Fifty years after JFK was shot, a long slate of specials will look back at Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas

Comments (15)BY DAVID HINCKLEY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013, 2:00 AM



NGC/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNELS/KEN

Working in front of a green screen, Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin film the shooting scene in the National Geographic Channel's "Killing Kennedy," a dramatization of Bill O'Reilly's book, airing on Nov. 10.



RELATED STORIES

• New book claims Fidel Castro knew about Kennedy assassination plot beforehand
  
• Lee Harvey Oswald widow convinced late husband did not kill President John F. Kennedy: report
  
• Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin up for auction for $1,000
  
• National Geographic pieces together JFK's fateful day with 'The Lost JFK Tapes'
  

THE ASSASSINATION of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, not only changed the course of America, it changed the course of television.
The flickering black-and-white glow from tens of millions of TV sets linked the country in shock, disbelief and grief.
So it's fitting that television will look back repeatedly on that terrible moment as we move into the 50th-anniversary month.
All the major networks and news channels will carry retrospectives. Here are some highlights:
Nov. 3 : "JFK: The Smoking Gun," 8 p.m., Reelz. The boldest of the bunch, with Australian investigator Colin McLaren concluding that the fatal shot was accidental friendly fire and the truth has been covered up. On Nov. 4 at 10 p.m. on Reelz, reporter Bill Kurtis questions McLaren and others about his conclusions.
Nov. 8 : "JFK: The Final Hours," 8 p.m., National Geographic. Focusing on his human side.
Nov. 9 : "50 Years of Questions: The JFK Assassination," 9 p.m., Fox News Channel. Bill Hemmer hosts.
Nov. 10 : "Killing Kennedy," 8 p.m., National Geographic. Dramatizing Bill O'Reilly's book on the assassination, with Rob Lowe as Kennedy and Ginnifer Goodwin as his wife, Jackie. O'Reilly accepts that Oswald was the killer and paints a negative picture of Kennedy's "Camelot."


Nov. 11-12 : "American Experience: JFK," 9 p.m., PBS. A typically thorough PBS documentary on Kennedy, with comments from family members and historians.
Nov. 12 : "Capturing Oswald," 10 p.m., Military Channel. An admiring look at the work of the Dallas Police Department, including an interview with Jim Leavelle, the officer who was handcuffed to Oswald when he was killed.
Nov. 13 : "Nova: Cold Case," 9 p.m., PBS. Applying modern forensics to see if there's a better answer to who did it.
CBS PHOTO ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

CBS News' Walter Cronkite, seen on a TV monitor, announces the President's death. The moment looms large in the Nov. 13 episode of PBS' "Secrets of the Dead," entitled "JFK: One P.M. Central Standard Time."


Nov. 13 : "Secrets of the Dead: JFK: One P.M. Central Standard Time," 10 p.m., PBS. A minute-by-minute account of what happened from the time shots were fired until CBS anchor Walter Cronkite announced the President was dead.
Nov. 14: "The Sixties: The Assassination of JFK," 9 p.m., CNN. Putting the assassination into the context of the times.
Nov. 16 : "As It Happened: John F. Kennedy, 50 Years," 9 p.m., CBS. Hosted by Bob Schieffer, who was in Dallas that day. On Nov. 17, Schieffer anchors "Face the Nation" from Dallas, and Charles Osgood looks at Kennedy's legacy on "Sunday Morning."
Nov. 17 : Tribute and panel discussion on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," 10 a.m., ABC.
Nov. 17 : "Kennedy's Suicide Bomber," Smithsonian, 8 p.m. An intriguing footnote about an aborted attempt to kill Kennedy before he took office.
Nov. 17 : "The Day Kennedy Died," Smithsonian, 9 p.m. Another minute-by-minute account, using rare film, photos and eyewitnesses. Kevin Spacey narrates.
Nov. 19 : "Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?" Another exploration of the man with the rifle in the book depository.
Nov. 21 : "JFK: The Lost Tapes," 7 p.m., Discovery. Police radio and other tapes recorded the day of the assassination.
Nov. 22 : "JFK: The Day That Changed America," 7 p.m. and "The Kennedy Brothers," 8 p.m., MSNBC. Both hosted by Chris Matthews. Also on MSNBC: "50 Years of Guns," 9 p.m., hosted by Al Sharpton.
Nov. 22 : "JFK Assassination: The Definitive Guide," 8 p.m., History. Overview of the killing and its ramifications.
Nov. 22 : "Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live," 10 p.m., History. A History poll found 74% of Americans think Oswald was set up as the fall guy. This two-hour special looks at his last two days.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment...z2jXoptSBO

[James Norwood]

Marlene,

Thanks so much for posting this schedule of cable programming on the occasion of the 50th anniversary.

In looking over the various shows, it is clear that the major networks are avoiding the assassination topic. The subject seems relegated to to such channels as Reelz and National Geographic. Sadly, those networks do not have a strong track record for high caliber documentary programming. The Military Channel actually does have some decent programming. But how many Americans tune in regularly to the Military Channel?

In all likelihood, the shows will not be utilizing as commentators those authors and researchers who have truly advanced our knowledge of the case in recent decades.


James

[Tracy Riddle]

I thought this was interesting:
A History poll found 74% of Americans think Oswald was set up as the fall guy.

50 years of MSM propaganda have been mostly for nothing.

[David Healy]

the template is there, utilizing what is know known, re-write the WCR, AFTER, compiling a one volume synopsis. Hand that one volume synopsis over to an Oliver Stone type, then tell him to get busy...

[James Norwood]

The premiere of the Reelz telecast of "JFK: The Smoking Gun" occurred on the evening of November 3, 2013. In so many of the poorly researched television documentaries on the JFK assassination, the title is a giveaway for shoddy scholarship and research. In the two-hour Reelz program, the "smoking gun" in the title implies that the totality of the evidence will be ignored in favor of focusing on a single, sensational topic.

[FONT=&amp] This ludicrous program recycles the thesis of Bonar Menninger in his 1992 book Mortal Error. Menninger and Australian private investigator Colin McLaren are the two principal commentators on the program. McLaren has recently published a book with the same title of the documentary. The book is available (only as a Kindle, MP3, or audio book) at amazon at this site:[/FONT][FONT=&amp]http://www.amazon.com/JFK-The-Smoking-Co...1743179537

Menninger and McLaren use the Warren Report findings as their template, then present the unverifiable thesis that was JFK was shot accidentally by the Colt AR-15 erratically wielded by SS Agent George Hickey from the follow-up car, as the agent was reacting to the gunfire in Dealey Plaza. The program argues that Oswald fired two shots, but the fatal headshot to JFK came inadvertently from Hickey as the "mortal error."

This program is painfully similar to those documentaries that rely on a computer mock up of the limousine lumbering down Elm Street. The findings of the Bethesda autopsy are taken as gospel. The authenticity of the Zapruder film is taken as gospel. Specter's single-bullet theory is taken as gospel. And, of course, it is taken as gospel that Lee Harvey Oswald is firing off shots from his Mannlicher-Carcano carbine from his sixth-floor perch. "JFK: The Smoking Gun" modifies the Warren Report, suggesting that two shots were fired by Oswald (one "nicking" JFK in the back after ricocheting off the street and the "single bullet" wounding both JFK and Connally, as formulated by Arlen Specter). The third bullet was the fatal shot fired by Hickey. Incredibly, the program never accounts for the known shot that missed the limousine occupants and wounded James Tague!

Any book, film, or documentary that does not include the findings of the ARRB, especially in the area of the medical evidence, as well as the abundant literature from serious researchers of the past decade, is doomed to failure. "JFK: The Smoking Gun" will serve only to add more confusion for viewers interested in learning the truth about the assassination of President Kennedy.


James


P.S. On the Reelz website, there is a link to vote and "share your thoughts" on the credibility of the program. As of 9:30pm on 11/3, the voting results are 72% voting "I believe" in the mortal error thesis and 27% voting "I don't believe": http://www.jfkthesmokinggun.com/[/FONT]

[Marlene Zenker]

The premiere of the Reelz telecast of "JFK: The Smoking Gun" occurred on the evening of November 3, 2013. In so many of the poorly researched television documentaries on the JFK assassination, the title is a giveaway for shoddy scholarship and research. In the two-hour Reelz program, the "smoking gun" in the title implies that the totality of the evidence will be ignored in favor of focusing on a single, sensational topic.

[FONT=&amp] This ludicrous program recycles the thesis of Bonar Menninger in his 1992 book Mortal Error. Menninger and British private investigator Colin McLaren are the two principal commentators on the program. McLaren has recently published a book with the same title of the documentary. The book is available (only as a Kindle, MP3, or audio book) at amazon at this site:[/FONT][FONT=&amp]http://www.amazon.com/JFK-The-Smoking-Co...1743179537

Menninger and McLaren use the Warren Report findings as their template, then present the unverifiable thesis was JFK was shot accidentally by the Colt AR-15 erratically wielded by SS Agent George Hickey from the follow-up car, as the agent was reacting to the gunfire in Dealey Plaza. The program argues that Oswald fired two shots, but the fatal headshot to JFK came inadvertently from Hickey as the "mortal error."

This program is painfully similar to those documentaries that rely on a computer mock up of the limousine lumbering down Elm Street. The findings of the Bethesda autopsy are taken as gospel. The authenticity of the Zapruder film is taken as gospel. Specter's single-bullet theory is taken as gospel. And, of course, it is taken as gospel that Lee Harvey Oswald is firing off shots from his Mannlicher-Carcano carbine from his sixth-floor perch. "JFK: The Smoking Gun" modifies the Warren Report, suggesting that two shots were fired by Oswald (one "nicking" JFK in the back after ricocheting off the street and the "single bullet" wounding both JFK and Connally, as formulated by Arlen Specter). The third bullet was the fatal shot fired by Hickey. Incredibly, the program never accounts for the known shot that missed the limousine occupants and wounded James Tague!

Any book, film, or documentary that does not include the findings of the ARRB, especially in the area of the medical evidence, as well as the abundant literature from serious researchers of the past decade, is doomed to failure. "JFK: The Smoking Gun" will serve only to add more confusion for viewers interested in learning the truth about the assassination of President Kennedy.


James


P.S. On the Reelz website, there is a link to vote and "share your thoughts" on the credibility of the program. As of 9:30pm on 11/3, the voting results are 72% voting "I believe" in the mortal error thesis and 27% voting "I don't believe": http://www.jfkthesmokinggun.com/[/FONT]

I looked at the poll at the bottom as well it's 73% - 26% now - so sad.

[David Healy]

The premiere of the Reelz telecast of "JFK: The Smoking Gun" occurred on the evening of November 3, 2013. In so many of the poorly researched television documentaries on the JFK assassination, the title is a giveaway for shoddy scholarship and research. In the two-hour Reelz program, the "smoking gun" in the title implies that the totality of the evidence will be ignored in favor of focusing on a single, sensational topic.

[FONT=&amp] This ludicrous program recycles the thesis of Bonar Menninger in his 1992 book Mortal Error. Menninger and British private investigator Colin McLaren are the two principal commentators on the program. McLaren has recently published a book with the same title of the documentary. The book is available (only as a Kindle, MP3, or audio book) at amazon at this site:[/FONT][FONT=&amp]http://www.amazon.com/JFK-The-Smoking-Co...1743179537

Menninger and McLaren use the Warren Report findings as their template, then present the unverifiable thesis was JFK was shot accidentally by the Colt AR-15 erratically wielded by SS Agent George Hickey from the follow-up car, as the agent was reacting to the gunfire in Dealey Plaza. The program argues that Oswald fired two shots, but the fatal headshot to JFK came inadvertently from Hickey as the "mortal error."

This program is painfully similar to those documentaries that rely on a computer mock up of the limousine lumbering down Elm Street. The findings of the Bethesda autopsy are taken as gospel. The authenticity of the Zapruder film is taken as gospel. Specter's single-bullet theory is taken as gospel. And, of course, it is taken as gospel that Lee Harvey Oswald is firing off shots from his Mannlicher-Carcano carbine from his sixth-floor perch. "JFK: The Smoking Gun" modifies the Warren Report, suggesting that two shots were fired by Oswald (one "nicking" JFK in the back after ricocheting off the street and the "single bullet" wounding both JFK and Connally, as formulated by Arlen Specter). The third bullet was the fatal shot fired by Hickey. Incredibly, the program never accounts for the known shot that missed the limousine occupants and wounded James Tague!

Any book, film, or documentary that does not include the findings of the ARRB, especially in the area of the medical evidence, as well as the abundant literature from serious researchers of the past decade, is doomed to failure. "JFK: The Smoking Gun" will serve only to add more confusion for viewers interested in learning the truth about the assassination of President Kennedy.


James


P.S. On the Reelz website, there is a link to vote and "share your thoughts" on the credibility of the program. As of 9:30pm on 11/3, the voting results are 72% voting "I believe" in the mortal error thesis and 27% voting "I don't believe": http://www.jfkthesmokinggun.com/[/FONT]

I looked at the poll at the bottom as well it's 73% - 26% now - so sad.

what is sad is this trash sits right next to REELZ Hollywood Pawn and Beverly Hill-billies, its going nowhere--their only real money making option here is selling DVD's after the fact. It will be neigh on impossible to get a ratings number for this trash. I bet the pope of Dealey Plaza is chuckling over his Lone Star beer tonight... lmfao!

[Tracy Riddle]

They also don't give a damn how Hickey's family feels to have this story put out there. Now they must know what Oswald's family feels like.

[James Norwood]

[FONT=&amp] [FONT=&amp]On November 4, 2013, the Reelz network offered a panel-of-experts-style show as a follow-up to its program "JFK: The Smoking Gun." The program featured the two principal commentators from the previous two-hour program: Bonar Menninger and Australian private investigator Colin McLaren. The host was veteran investigative reporter Bill Kurtis.

In the 1990s, Kurtis was also the host for the History Channel on the documentary series "The Men Who Killed Kennedy." Therefore, he is aware of countless witnesses who contradict the information presented in the Reelz documentary. Yet Kurtis lobs softball questions at Menninger and McLaren and mouths platitudes like "We know of course that Oswald used the Carcano."

Federal Judge John Tunheim is called the "hero" of this story. Interviewed exclusively for this program, Tunheim lends his qualified support to Menninger and McLaren by suggesting that SS Agent George Hickey was "inexperienced" and implicitly capable of firing off an errant shot into the President's head. Tunheim reiterates the points he has been making for years in his speeches before groups in Minnesota, as he proclaims that in his role as chair of the ARRB, "We approached the work with a completely open mind" and "the Warren Commission did a thorough job." Tunheim even states that the Warren Commission was composed of "a group of politically wise men."

The program also features a firearms specialist (Leonard Romero) and an MD (Juan Carillo) to discuss the findings of Menninger and McLaren. But it is clear that both of these "experts" have not studied the JFK case. No scholar who has studied the assassination, such as Dr. David Mantik or Douglas Horne, is present to challenge the conclusions of the Reelz program. At the close of the show, Bill Kurtis attempts to pay tribute to JFK by reading a portion of the speech he never delivered at the Dallas Trade Mart.

This is shameful and dishonest broadcast journalismthe exact kind that President Kennedy himself would have deplored.

[/FONT] [/FONT]

[James Norwood]

[FONT=&amp]This is the third program produced by the Reelz network on the JFK assassination. At a briskly paced sixty-minutes, the show provides short responses to fifty questions about the assassination.

While the producers retrieved good documentary footage as the backdrop for the fifty questions, the content was superficial and reflected no attempt to research the new findings in the JFK case over the past twenty years. The show could have virtually been produced in the pre-Oliver Stone, pre-ARRB era.

Another major drawback was the commentators on the program. Featured prominently once again on a television documentary about the assassination was journalist Hugh Aynesworth. During the assassination weekend, this most fortunate member of the mainstream media had the singular opportunity of being present in Dealey Plaza for the assassination, at the Texas Theater for the arrest of Oswald, and in the basement of the Dallas police headquarters for the murder of Oswald by Jack Ruby. Instead of using what he calls his "dumb luck" to try to learn the truth about these three events, Aynesworth has for five decades served as the poster boy for the Warren Commission. In this program, Aynesworth calls the Clay Shaw trial "a terrible miscarriage of justice," and he asserts that people don't accept the Warren Commission's story because "it's more fun to believe in conspiracy." Aynesworth apparently cannot see that for a half century, people have raised genuine concerns about the Warren Commission's version of the assassination.

Another commentator on the program was Ruth Paine, who is seen weeping on camera and saying, "the grief is always there." However, it is unclear what is the source of her bereavement. Is it perhaps her own complicity in the setting up of Oswald? The most interesting observation made by Ruth Paine was when she recalled speaking to Oswald in Russian when he arrived at her home in Irving on the fateful night of November 21. But she does not comment on how it would be possible for an American boy who never made it beyond his freshman year in high school to have acquired a complete mastery of the Russian language.

The best clips are those in which Jim Marrs appears to provide a dictionary definition of the word "conspiracy." He then raises this question: If Oswald was indeed the lone assassin, why has the government failed for fifty years to provide a defensible rationale for the two murders he was alleged to have committed? The program accepts on blind faith that Oswald shot Tippit. And it goes so far as to suggest that the apartment at 604 Elspeth was the site where Oswald "planned" the assassination because that was where he ordered the gun that killed Tippit. The program's researchers obviously did not study John Armstrong's findings which demolish the proposition that Oswald ever ordered the pistol just as thoroughly as the recent razing of the Elspeth apartment building.

Sadly, this slick program barely scratches the surface of so many complex topics. Without providing any background on the ballistics, the claim is made as fact that the "first shot" from the Depository Building was the so-called "magic bullet" wounding both the President and Governor Connally. Even the Warren Report was unable to draw such a precise conclusion about the sequence of the gunshots. After fifty questions and fifty insubstantial answers, the predictable conclusion of the program is "we may never know the whole truth." It is clear that the American public will indeed never learn the truth if people have to rely on shallow documentary programs like this one.[/FONT]