Pssst…. religious conservatives… here’s some red meat

CBS chairman Leslie Moonves has revamped his Friday lineup. According to this MSN Entertainment story, both his decision and his explanation is likely to rile up religious conservatives: CBS canceled “Judging Amy,” “Joan of Arcadia” and the Wednesday spinoff of “60 Minutes” while adding Jennifer Love Hewitt to its prime-time lineup ? all in search ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

CBS chairman Leslie Moonves has revamped his Friday lineup. According to this MSN Entertainment story, both his decision and his explanation is likely to rile up religious conservatives:

CBS chairman Leslie Moonves has revamped his Friday lineup. According to this MSN Entertainment story, both his decision and his explanation is likely to rile up religious conservatives:

CBS canceled “Judging Amy,” “Joan of Arcadia” and the Wednesday spinoff of “60 Minutes” while adding Jennifer Love Hewitt to its prime-time lineup ? all in search of a more youthful appeal…. CBS is convinced it can draw more younger viewers on Friday, where “Joan of Arcadia” had a puzzling decline in its sophomore season and “JAG” finished its last year. It will try two new supernatural stories: “Threshold” features a team of experts called in when the Navy discovers aliens have landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Hewitt’s “Ghost Whisperer” finds her talking to dead people. “I think talking to ghosts may skew younger than talking to God,” Moonves said. (emphasis added)

The Reuters account makes it clear that Moonves said this in jest, but religious conservatives might not get the joke… plus, they’ll be too angry about the cancellation of “Joan” to make way for a Jennifer Love Hewitt vehicle…. particularly if Hewitt’s wardrobe conforms to her stereotype. UPDATE: Yep — Drudge has the story. Again, it’s worth stressing the Reuters account (“‘I think talking to ghosts may skew younger than talking to God,’ Moonves joked at a news conference before the upfront presentation). I suspect this is a case where reading the quote in cold print strikes a dramatically different chord than the effect of hearing Moonves say it.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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