CBS' new drama,
Cane, just debuted Tuesday night to less than stellar numbers, but before the series even took off, there was already much controversy surrounding its storyline and premise. The feathers of an influential Cuban-American family were ruffled when CBS announced in May that
Cane would be part of their fall TV lineup.
The prominent Fanjul clan from Palm Beach was displeased with the show's imminent airing, claiming
Cane's central characters were loosely based on them. Although show creator, Cynthia Cidre, doesn't know why there was even an uproar, CBS has since agreed to change the series setting from Palm Beach to the fictional Florida town of Playa Azul.
"We want to make sure it is absolutely clear it has nothing to do with the Fanjuls or their companies," Joseph Klock Jr., a Miami-based attorney for the Fanjul enterprise, told
The Palm Beach Post last June.
For her part, the Cuban Cidre confessed that she had never even heard of the Fanjul name until they raised their concerns about
Cane hitting too close to them. Then again, it's quite possible she is unfamiliar with them because she moved from Miami nearly three decades ago.
"I have never even heard of these people until the trouble started,” Cidre insisted. "I haven't lived in Florida for 29 years."
Cane revolves around a powerful Cuban family, headed by
Jimmy Smits as Alex Vega, that operates a vast rum empire in South Florida. In Palm Beach, the Fanjuls are a Cuban clan engaged in the sugar business and owner of the $2.5 billion Flo-Sun Inc. franchise.
Despite the slight controversy, Cidre remains focused on steering
Cane to its own, distinct identity and niche, as well as towards eventual success.
"We have a very tall order because half the people want us to be
Dallas, and the other half wants us to be
The Sopranos and we're neither," she said. "We have to find a place that's neither
Dallas, nor
The Sopranos, but as popular and as critically acclaimed as both."
If Tuesday night's ratings are any indication, Cidre and the rest of the
Cane crew may have some tweaking to do for the upstart series to completely take off. According to early Nielsen results, Cane drew in a modest 11.1 million viewers, one million shy of the ninth season premiere of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which led the 10pm time slot.
-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Palm Beach Post, New York Post, New York Times
(Image Courtesy of New York Post)