It stars Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, and Tom Wilkinson among others, and is directed by Jon Cassar.

The Kennedys was the subject of negative responses from historians based on early scripts, including charges of historical inaccuracy and presenting an unflattering depiction of the titular family.

[4][5] On February 24, 2010, Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times reported that historian David Talbot, whose recent book had been used as source material for the miniseries, had joined those preemptively criticizing The Kennedys.

[6] Ted Sorensen (1928–2010), former presidential aide and speech writer for 35th President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963, served 1961–1963), described the script as a "character assassination".

"[9] However, as the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph put it: "With Greg Kinnear as Mr. Kennedy, Katie Holmes as his First Lady and a budget of $30 million dollars, expectations had been high.

[11] The miniseries was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between June and September 2010, and was produced by Canadian independent studio Muse Entertainment Enterprises and Joel Surnow's production company.

[2] On February 1, 2011, Shaw Media announced its revised schedule for the miniseries, which was to be shown on History Television in four two-hour segments beginning on April 10, 2011.

"[19] Director Jon Cassar said at the January 2011 Television Critics Association gathering in Los Angeles that he believed the reason the miniseries would not be shown by History and other US broadcasters was because powerful people within the United States connected to the Kennedy family took exception to it and used their political and other influence to prevent the showing.

[20] Joel Surnow, the series' executive producer, attributed the cancellation to pressure exerted by the Kennedys on the board of History's owners, A&E Television Networks and The Walt Disney Company.

Bringing to life the story of America's most iconic family, the drama is a bold and epic account of the Kennedy dynasty and we are delighted that viewers in the UK will get to see it on History first.

"The series (made in Canada with Muse Entertainment as the production company) looks cheap and sticks to the TV dramatics level of an afternoon soap opera."

Stanley found the miniseries to be well made though at times cheesy, but that its strongest point is Tom Wilkinson as Joseph Kennedy, whom she describes, in tandem with Rodrigo Borgia, as "A ruthless, tyrannical striver (who) grasps for power, promoting his sons to establish his rule and cement his legacy".

[34] Hank Stuever of The Washington Post found the miniseries "all ends up being as harmless as a game of Kennedy paper dolls" and the assassinations to be portrayed quite gently considering how violent Joel Surnow's show 24 is.

Stuever describes the screenplay as clumsy and find the miniseries "sketches its characters with the precision of a fat Sharpie marker" and cautions those who recall the time that they may be troubled watching the story "through Surnow and company's mean-spirited gaze".

In moving on to review Camelot, which premiered three days before The Kennedys, Stuever wrote, "If you check your calendar, we're nearing the 50th anniversary of JFK's death, which makes him, his family and Cabinet members as fair game as King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin and the gang, who've had their stories updated, revised and pillaged for centuries now.