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The Bold Ones: The Senator (1970)

Holbrook, The Writing, The Camera

What show in 1971 had the dialogue of the Senator, the intricate character development, the camera panning in and out for dramatic effect and, most importantly, Hal Holbrook and Michael Tolan? Nothing, nothing close. 28 years before the "acclaimed" and artificial rapid fire banter of The West Wing, you had THIS. It is a masterpiece. He was everything you would want a man of integrity to be and, again, 28 years before Bartlett in The West Wing. I went to see Holbrook perform Mark Twain at The Kennedy Center in 1975 merely so that I could go backstage after, meet him, and ask him a simple question: "Why was The Senator cancelled?" And back then he said, "to this day, I don't know, the ratings were not bad." There were rumors back then, with Nixon being threatened, and people clamouring for Teddy Kennedy to pick up wihere RFK left off, that Hayes Stowe was "too Kennedyesque" and political pressure forced NBC to cancel. Funny enough, in an interview with Holbrook when he was close to 90, talking about The Senator, he expressed bitterness still at the NBC maneuver