Free Speech Impediment

Free Speech Impediment

By Rory O'Connor, AlterNet. Posted March 10, 2005.

This Sunday's episode of ABC's Boston Legal focusing on censorship was itself censored, purged of all references to Fox and Bill O'Reilly. And nobody's talking.

David E. Kelley – the Emmy Award-winning creator of such memorable series' as Picket Fences, Doogie Howser M.D., Ally McBeal, Boston Public, The Practice, and its current spin-off, Boston Legal – is probably the most prolific and successful writer/producer now working in television. Coupled with the fact that he is married to film star Michelle Pfeiffer, Kelley’s talent makes him one of the most influential people in the entertainment world. But apparently even Kelley’s power pales before the might of Disney and the MausHaus.

Case in point: the next episode of Boston Legal, to be broadcast Sunday March 13 on the Disney-owned ABC network. AlterNet has acquired both the original and the revised script for this episode from a source who prefers to remain anonymous. The original penned by Kelley focused in large measure on Fox News and its loofah-loving star Bill O'Reilly. The script also featured substantial excerpts from the independent film Outfoxed, which documents how the allegedly 'fair and balanced' cable channel acts as a propaganda arm for the Republican Party and other conservative interest groups."

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