The USA network has become known for the quality of its made-for-cable movies.
And that quality is exploitative garbage.But USA has outdone itself with the remarkably trashy, sleazy and utterly unredeemable "Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair" (7 p.m., USA).
USA calls it a "fictionalized account" of an "alleged romance."
What it is is reprehensible.
Despite the rumors - effectively refuted in a new book by Donald Spoto - there is no proof that RFK and Monroe ever had an affair. Not that that worries the people who put this dreadful TV flick together.
"The film is done as entertainment," said Weitz, executive producer of the movie. "We never, ever went out to do a documentary. This film is not a documentary."
Not that anyone will mistake it for one. But, at the same time, Weitz is oblivious to the fact that he has assaulted the characters of real, albeit dead, people for his own purposes.
"Marilyn & Bobby" doesn't stop at portraying an unproven affair between two people who are no longer here to defend themselves. No, we also get to see J. Edgar Hoover in bed with his male lover. And see Jimmy Hoffa order a hit on Bobby Kennedy. And see Hoffa overruled by mobster Sam Giancana because he's working with the White House.
More unsubstantiated pseudo-history given immediate weight - despite any disclaimers - because it's portrayed on TV.
"We are only presenting them as possibilities," Weitz said. "Do we know that Jimmy Hoffa had a hit out on Bobby Kennedy? Absolutely not."
And the producer came up with that weakest of possible defenses: "Well, you don't know that it doesn't exist," he said.
It gets worse. Weitz admitted he just doesn't care about Kennedy's survivors.
"I don't think I have a responsibility to Bobby Kennedy's children, no," Weitz said.
Mind you, this entire movie is based on, in Weitz's own words, "evidence that the two people knew each other, that they spent time with one another, and that Bobby helped Marilyn through some very bad times."
And, unbelievably enough, actress Melody Anderson, who portrays Monroe, even tries to defend this fictional plot. She and co-star James Kelly (RFK) "read an awful lot of books. We saw an awful lot of documentaries," Anderson said. ". . . There is a lot of smoke. Is there fire there? I don't know."
Oh, so let's make TV movies about every bit of scurrilous gossip out there.
As for Kelly, he drew laughter from a room full of TV critics when he compared "Marilyn & Bobby" to Shakespeare.
"I see this film very much in the tradition of Shakespearean drama," Kelly said with a straight face. "I don't want to compare it to Shakespeare, but history has been the fodder for playwrights for many years."
Oh, Shakespeare would have been proud of the film's conclusion, an amazing bit of near comedy indicating that Bobby allowed her to die, Marilyn's body being shuffled about a la "Weekend at Bernie's," and FBI agents and mob assassins nearly bumping into each other outside the house.
Anderson said, "I'm very proud of doing this film because I think we have some wonderful performances."
Well, at least they didn't burst out laughing spouting ludicrous dialogue and staging sleazy sex scenes.
The most surprising bit of honesty came from Weitz, when he was asked why he didn't fictionalize the names as well as the story.
"I don't know that we would have served the master of television, as we know it," Weitz said. "USA, as the networks and the other cable companies, are in the ratings business. And I think part of what we try to achieve is to do something that the audiences will come see by using the names."
In other words, we're exploiting these people to make a buck.
The most hilarious comment also came from Weitz, who actually said, "I think we tried to go the high road here," causing the assembled critics to burst into laughter.
It's frightening to imagine how "Marilyn & Bobby" would have turned out if he'd taken the low road.