The American Spectator

p> ANOTHER RIGHT-WING SETBACK br> It’s pilot time in Hollywood, as networks begin planning next season’s prime-time schedule. So what happened to the supposedly “hot” Washington, D.C.-based drama that was going to feature conservatives and Republicans in a somewhat more positive light? This time last year, word was spreading in the conservative community that ABC and parent company Disney were seeking writers for a show that would provide ideological balance to NBC’s liberal-minded “The West Wing.” The show would be set on Capitol Hill and would feature Republicans and conservatives doing the good work of the American people. /p>

“It was going to be ‘The Right Wing,’” says a young conservative writer who presented his résumé to the ABC development folks. “They were excited at the prospects of having two shows going head to head that would present two very different political perspectives in a dramatic fashion.” But that show, apparently, will never be made, even at a pilot stage, due to the glut of Washington shows already on the air or in the pipeline. NBC has “The West Wing” and CBS and ABC both have Supreme Court dramas on the air.

CBS has commited to a Washington-based show for next season that springs from the fertile mind of former Washington Post “Style” section maven Sally Quinn, a.k.a. Mrs. Ben Bradlee. ABC is developing at least one other Washington show, possibly focusing on the machinations of Capitol Hill, but not the one with so-called “conservative” spin. “It was never going to work out,” says a Los Angeles-based talent agent. “I heard they got plenty of people in Washington who wanted to write, but you couldn’t find a top flight actor in this town willing to play a conservative in a friendly light for very long.” But what about James Garner, who plays a conservative chief justice on the CBS Supreme Court drama? “He started out conservative, but they already have him voting with the court’s liberal wing four shows into the run,” says the agent. That must explain why Garner’s character got confirmed in the first place.

Others say the conservative show was doomed from the start. “The knockoffs, and this would have been a ‘West Wing’ knockoff, never work out. It’s best for everyone,” says a New York-based screenwriter. “But anyone who thought Disney would give you a ‘conservative’ show is nuts. Hell, even Fox wouldn’t give you that.”

p> SLOWING SUNUNU br> Democratic Party supporters of New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen are using the ongoing crisis in the Middle East to help fill her coffers for what is expected to be a tough Senate race against either current Sen. Bob Smith or Republican challenger Rep. John E. Sununu