|
 History Channel said on Wednesday it had decided not to move
forward with a six-episode scripted drama series that it
announced last September.
"The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton," was billed
as "an intimate, riveting depiction of how one of the nation's
biggest political scandals unfolded."
"A decision was made a few months ago not to move forward on the
series for creative reasons. Production had not commenced,"
History Channel said in a statement. The network did not give
details.
In a separate development, producer Ryan Murphy told The
Hollywood Reporter that he was no longer developing the
best-selling book "A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Sex Scandal that
Nearly Brought Down a President" for FX television as planned.
Murphy, producer of the "American Crime" FX series that recently
dramatized the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial, and the murder
of fashion designer Gianni Versace, had optioned the 2000 book
more than a year ago.
He told the magazine in an interview for its April 4 edition
that he had second thoughts about doing the series, and had
informed Lewinsky.
"I told her, 'Nobody should tell your story but you, and it's
kind of gross if they do,'" Murphy was quoted as saying. "'If
you want to produce it with me, I would love that; but you
should be the producer and you should make all the goddamn
money.'"
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Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction during
his second term as president but was acquitted by the Senate.
Lewinsky, whose affair with Clinton occurred while she was an intern
at the White House, has been the subject of numerous books and has
recently campaigned against bullying.
Clinton, however, remains a hot property for television. Cable
channel Showtime has said it will adapt his debut novel for a
series.
Co-authored with thriller writer James Paterson, "The President is
Missing" is due to be published in June and will tell of the sudden
disappearance of a sitting U.S. president.
Showtime has not said when the series will air, or given details of
casting.
History Channel is a joint venture between Hearst Communications and
Walt Disney Co <DIS.N>. FX is a unit of 21st Century Fox <FOXA.O>,
while Showtime is a unit of CBS Corp <CBS.N>.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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