(CNSNews.com) - A petition drive has been launched to stop the airing of a CBS television miniseries that portrays, in the view of some critics, former President Ronald Reagan as foul mouthed, a homophobe and a political buffoon who was already in the early stages of Alzheimer''s disease while serving as president.

The "Defend Reagan Committee", angry about what it claims is a "hatchet job," is urging viewers to boycott all CBS programming in order to get the network to scrap the miniseries or get advertisers to distance themselves from The Reagans, which is set to air on Nov. 16 and 18.

The program has actor James Brolin, the husband of entertainer/liberal political activist Barbra Streisand, portraying the nation''s 40th president. Brolin also previously portrayed an inarticulate and ill-prepared Republican presidential candidate who was routed in a debate with the fictional Democratic president, Jed Bartlet on the NBC series, The West Wing. Streisand reportedly accompanied Brolin on the set of The Reagans.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan is also cast in a negative light, according to critics of the program, specifically as an individual who took too many pills, was a control freak and an abusive mother. Actress Judy Davis, another self-described liberal, plays the role of Nancy Reagan.

Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, who produced the miniseries, maintain their liberal views and stances do not show up in the movie. The two producers, who are homosexual activists, told the New York Times that: "This is not a vendetta. This is not revenge. It is about telling a good story in our honest sort of way. We all believe it's a story that should be told."

At least one powerful television executive is defending the real-life Reagans. Former game show host and long-time television producer Merv Griffin criticized the CBS miniseries in an interview on MSNBC''s Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

"Here is a man who is on his deathbed. He''s in the last stages of Alzheimer''s, and a woman who has been sitting by the bedside there holding his hand for nine years. They can''t fight back," Griffin said. "From what I''ve read -- I have not seen the film, I have not read the script - but I have certainly seen enough excerpts from it in the promos. I mean it''s, I think it''s cowardly. I think it''s the most cowardly thing I''ve ever heard ... How can it be so cruel? That''s not, from what I''ve read in the scenes, that''s not Nancy and the president at all."

CBS Chairman Les Moonves, considered by many to be an ally of the political left, responded to the criticism in an interview with the New York Post.

"Well, number one - nobody's seen the film. So any criticism...or a film that isn't finished, is rather odd we think," Moonves told the Post. "We've looked at the rough cut, there are things we like...there are things we don't like...there are things we think go too far. So there are some edits being made trying to present a more fair picture of the Reagans."

The Media Research Center (MRC) is among the other organizations issuing statements in defense of the real-life Reagans and criticizing the miniseries. L. Brent Bozell, president of the MRC, the parent organization of CNSNews.com, has sent potential advertisers of the miniseries a letter, asking them to view the movie before making a decision on whether to advertise.

Repeated calls to both CBS and the Defend Reagan Committee for comment on this story were not returned.

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