SECRET IS OUT 'CIA' TV SERIES PROPOSED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140092-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 92
• Publication Date: July 30, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/08: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140092-4
LOS_~NGELES TIS
PAGE &-y-
30 Jux
y 1980
4. ?' ice. O~~t?'?.:, -.+.-.r-~_r.
HO SWARD ROSE V BERG - v
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`! 33.. .a'_s+~T:,~. i3-r .?~- .t~ \L: ~::1~~+'~?~..~....` _ f, '4'?,1a_i]?.:~Yi$1'
sTV ready for the CIA' "`~'Not?only-that, 'The;,CIA''-would
-?,.:manyand,accused of helping.:'-terpretive assistance ',of'the:A
ciatiorr of Fa nierrIntelli ence Offi- will recognise the stones; ' he
fell foreign governments"like oak :~,' g
trees and meddling in. the affairs of ? cers_(AFIO), whose 2,800 members It would be revolutionary, indeed;,
v?_
such=nations-as-Chile-and,Iran is'- inc ude=some-1;100 ex CIA person- ;for: a- government-regulated. TV'
: the4ubjecL of a proposed pilot, for a :network to deal in. a weekly series,
'fictionalized'. dramatic series,. on Co-executive Tpreducer., harry _ .if at.all, with the CIA's alleged roles i
Cam,-'^-'- 'Thompson insists he's not on some:. _ in the, overthrow of the. Allende
~- crusadeto.cleansetheCIA. f;government: in?Chile andi early
The ? operative ; word for: = The ;
CIA is'"proposed:' The- - script:--,,! Our intent, "said4Thompsor'i backing of. the: Shah :of Iran.
hasn't everrbeen written ' . . not -tomwhitewash 'anything We However Thompson.-.won't'-talk
' want to. educate the American eal Pea-
ts- a= script development d about specifics.
- _- ? .~~.
ple tohat the CIA does then-let-- CIA
di
rectorI William
said Scott- M.`-Siegler, CBS .vice : ~ktl ormer
z 'president. dramatic program devel them makeup their own minds." Colby ` once, told Thompson
,~:'opment"That means .. its- one of a te. However Siegler ; seemed -less _ , ..that "the problem with -the
;
that'
- number of scripts being Considered , positive about the proposed show's , CIA was that it is so secretive
fora pilot and a decision-is probably ~y politics ;Whitewash? We haven't. the. public didn't know what it did,
w^A;1nine months away:~AYiMa ->;A.even.projected it. that far.: Siegler andwhen they did get information
- '"
said the 'time is right for a series rtwas in a vacuum
_? However.Siegler.added.,'On pa
per; at least, it's stronger,than most, I~ke';The CIA.' Would The CIA 'show the un-
and it could be a breakthrough. America's moving to- the :right- glamorous, unheroic seamier side of
become. more anti- t spying that hasn't been seen weeklyi
.- &Twentieth=Century-Fox .TV and...: America will
,.Thompson,;. Penny, Wagner, Pro,-, oreign; :more tolerant of. the U.S on fV since CBS carried the'British
ductians-which was formed for protecting. its interests abroad, no series "I Spy some 15 years ago' -
the occasion-are: collaborating on-, smatter who is president,' ? he said. "There are good guys in the CIA
"The:CIA.'The script;will be writ ' , ,' The AFIG would have no creative and there are bad guys; said
ten.byxformer.OSS officer-Edward, controbut_would-critique-for-Thompson 'They may get io al
',Anhalt' who won Academy-Awards?- a: authenticity'. and ;suggest themes point where they; have to make a
'-foe `t isywntin9 ? of "Becket;'.. and' rr-;for-stones from timetotime, should decision, about what-justifies_the
Panic in the Streets.' CIA" be picked up for a series, means .-Some mistakes will be made
14 ;r;Sp far, so good %itanyonefami said=AFIO-president Jaek-Blake by and.we will show. the. missions. that
. liar ?witn hovii "The FBI!"glorified. ._~phone forMcLean,r.Va:' He expects aren't successful: But each week , it
r the bureau for ightseasonson ABC' e CIA". t u: showy, the--agencys 'you like the characters,. you'll uri-
`can'tle ezciised for?5nickeringabout__-warts,_'butthis is . not?to'say you're ce;stand they :are American citizens
something called "The CIA. ~, . I `going to have, anything like : (the 1
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/08: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100140092-4