The decision to cancel the Kennedy miniseries comes as no great surprise given that there were fundamental questions about the accuracy of the portrait of the famous family.

A few years back CBS were forced to do the same thing with a Ronald Reagan series which greatly traduced his legacy too.

The reality is that you can't really do historical fiction about something that is historical fact.

You can invent a Ronald Reagan type figure or a Kennedy type family and fictionalize all you want.

But when you are talking about a real life person or family it is unfair and incorrect to project fiction into their lives.

God knows we live in an era where fact and fiction are continuously intertwined by media of all shapes.

But the Kennedy miniseries was,it seems, a particularly egregious example,of bad history.

It was interesting to read what the A and E network which owns the History Channel stated when canceling.

"Upon completion of the production of 'The Kennedys,' History has decided not to air the eight-part miniseries," the network said adding that "while the film is produced and acted with the highest quality, after viewing the final product in its totality, we have concluded this dramatic interpretation is not a fit for the History brand."
"We recognize historical fiction is an important medium for storytelling, and commend all the hard work and passion that has gone into the making of the series, but ultimately deem this as the right programming decision for our network," the company said in its statement.

There it -- is for the term 'dramatic interpretation' read 'fiction.'

The former John F. Kennedy adviser Theodore Sorenson, said the script he has seen was "vindictive" and "malicious."

This miniseries has been controversial from the get go despite an all star cast.
Greg Kinnear played President John F. Kennedy, Katie Holmes is Jackie O., Barry Pepper played RFK and Tom Wilkinson played Joe Kennedy Snr .

The project was created by "24's" creator, Joel Surnow,an arch-conservative, so that should have set the alarm bells ringing.

Eventually it did and the right decision was made.