Fri
Sep 8 2006
06:02 am
BREAKING NEWS: Sci-FI Channel to run 9/11 docudrama opposite ABC special
By: R. Neal

Sci-Fi Channel VP of Programming Eugene Weems announced late yesterday that the cable network would run their own documentary dramatizing events surrounding 9/11. The docudrama, "Dimension 9/11", will air during the same time slot as ABC's controversial "Path to 9/11" docudrama.

Weems admits that some elements of the program will be unusual and controversial, but says that "Sci-Fi Channel viewers are sophisticated and enjoy our style of 'far-out' programming that challenges the imagination. We felt that our viewers would appreciate a sci-fi/fantasy themed alternative to yet another rehashing of the facts."

Critics, analysts, and White House officials who have seen "Dimension 9/11" are especially concerned about several scenes that some are calling "fabricated" by "disturbed individuals", including:

  • A scene in which a Phoenix FBI agent files an official report months before the attacks stating that Osama bin Laden operatives were being trained at U.S. flight schools in preparation for future "terror activity against civil aviation targets," suggesting that these "individuals of investigative interest" be checked out and that FBI agents in other U.S. cities should investigate whether similar activities were underway in their jurisdictions.
  • A scene in which President Bush, while on vacation a month before the attacks, is given an intelligence briefing entitled "bin Laden Determined to Strike In U.S." stating that FBI information "indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York."
  • A scene in which President Bush, reading with children in a Florida classroom, is told by his Chief of Staff that "America is under attack," after which the President sat quietly for several minutes as children read to him from a book about a pet goat.

    Upon viewing "Dimension 9/11", White House Press Secretary Tony Snow remarked that "this sort of deceptive filmmaking is shocking in its mendacity and has no place in American culture. The producers clearly have an agenda they are trying to advance using fabrications, falsehoods, misrepresentations, and flat out lies. We are disappointed in the Sci-FI Channel's decision to air such programming, and the President has directed the FCC to conduct a full investigation under authority of the Patriot Act."

    Sci-Fi Channel executives defended their decision to broadcast "Dimension 9/11", but warned that "due to the surreal and troubling nature of some of the scenes, parents are cautioned that the program is for mature audiences and may not be suitable for children."

    Developing...

    • Topics:
    BlueNeck1's picture

    Laugh, Cry or Edit

    Submitted by BlueNeck1 on Fri, 2006/09/08 - 7:50am.

    Thanks. We need more SciFi. We could use more respect for plain old Sci too.

    According to the NYT website ABC is editing out some of the more inflammatory, inaccurate parts of the "docudrama". I am sure they are leaving in plenty of crap to assure the piece tells the GOP version of 9/11 and make sure the public and our children have the "correct" version of what happened burned in their memories.

    WhitesCreek's picture

    Well done, Sir! Too

    Submitted by WhitesCreek on Fri, 2006/09/08 - 7:56am.

    Well done, Sir! Too funny.

    Steve

    WhitesCreek's picture

    Instaputz has the tip: More

    Submitted by WhitesCreek on Fri, 2006/09/08 - 9:33am.

    Instaputz has the tip:

     More brilliance:

    Poorman has the review.

    And hilarious to boot!

    Steve

    Brian A.'s picture

    Unreal

    Submitted by Brian A. on Fri, 2006/09/08 - 10:03am.

    No one could imagine something like that taking place.  Good subject matter for Sci-Fi.

    Brian A.
    I'd rather be cycling.

    SemiPundit's picture

    Other filmmaking opportunities

    Submitted by SemiPundit (not verified) on Fri, 2006/09/08 - 1:44pm.

    The Limbaugh crowd has its collective shorts in a wad over this issue which they characterize as free speech. As I write this, one of his callers is urging all of the networks to pull together, shoulder-to-shoulder, and resist this effort to squelch their version of the story.

    They would no doubt find little fault, I assume, with the production of similar docu-dramas situated in the current president's days as a member of the Texas Air Guard. Or a passionate drama about his drinking days and his subsequent redemption.

    So many possibilities.

    JaHu's picture

    Here's a new conspiracy

    Submitted by JaHu on Sun, 2006/09/10 - 10:17am.

    Here's a new twist, why did the republicans spend so much time and money on an investigation to destroy Clinton's presidency? Maybe, he was closing in on Ben Laden and the republicans were trying to protect Osama for some unknown reason. Was it that 911 had been planned for a long time? If ABC is so keen on shifting the blame to Clinton, maybe they were involved in it too! Is the whole DC group of republicans guilty of treason? hmmm...
    Al Gore Weighs In: ABC's 9/11 Concoction "Fundamentally Irresponsible,"

    Factchecker's picture

    Wow, I like that twist,

    Submitted by Factchecker on Sun, 2006/09/10 - 12:03pm.

    Wow, I like that twist, JaHu.  It's every bit as reasonable as anything else the Republican party and their various cabals have been doing and alleging of their "enemies" (they mean us) for many years now.  Hannity? Coulter? Those involved in  Plamegate?  Why might they not be just the tip of the iceberg?

    SemiPundit's picture

    Further

    Submitted by SemiPundit (not verified) on Mon, 2006/09/11 - 2:36pm.

    And those who rigged the WTC column-cutters were dispersed among the passengers on the ill-fated planes...

    It still fascinates me how one tower was hit perpendicularly and the other through a corner, yet they both fell almost identically, cleanly into their footprints. Maybe they can clear that up in next year's ABC movie installment.

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