Washington: Behind Closed Doors
Washington: Behind Closed Doors is a 1977 American television miniseries produced by Paramount Television, that was broadcast in six parts, airing across six consecutive nights on ABC, from September 6 to September 11, 1977.
The fictional story is loosely based on John Ehrlichman's 1976 book The Company, a novel inspired by the author's tenure as a top aide in the Nixon administration.
Plot
The film is a lavish fictionalized re-telling of the Watergate story mixing political intrigue and personal drama and centering on the rise of a power-hungry American president and the men with whom he surrounds himself in order to keep his grip on his office. The story builds from a soap-opera start into a trenchant study of power that corrupts.Primary cast
- Cliff Robertson as William Martin
- Jason Robards as President Richard Monckton
- Stefanie Powers as Sally Whalen
- Robert Vaughn as Frank Flaherty
- Lois Nettleton as Linda Martin
- Barry Nelson as Bob Bailey
- Harold Gould as Carl Tessler
- Tony Bill as Adam Gardiner
- Andy Griffith as President Esker Scott Anderson
- John Houseman as Myron Dunn
- David Selby as Roger Castle
- Meg Foster as Jenny Jamison
- Peter Coffield as Eli McGinn
- Frances Lee McCain as Paula Stoner Gardiner
- Barry Primus as Joe Wisnovsky
- Diana Ewing as Kathy Ferris
- Lara Parker as Wanda Elliott
- John Lehne as Tucker Tallford
- Alan Oppenheimer as Simon Cappell
- Nicholas Pryor as Hank Ferris
- Frank Marth as Lawrence Allison
- Thayer David as Elmer Morse
- George Gaynes as Brewster Perry
- Linden Chiles as Jack Atherton
- Skip Homeier as Lars Haglund
- John Randolph as Bennett Lowman
- Bonnie Bartlett as Joan Bailey
Release
The 12 ½‐hour television miniseries was broadcast in 6 parts, airing across six consecutive nights on ABC from September 6 to September 11, 1977. The DVD was released on June 5, 2012.The show did well in the Nielsen ratings. The last segment was the third-highest rated prime time program of the week ; the Thursday episode was fourth ; and the debut Tuesday episode ranked eighth. Other parts finished 16th, 17th, and 25th for the same week.