'The Powers That Be' made its TV debut in March 1992. Norman Lear made known, "I am nuts about this show at this time in our culture...We're caricaturing elements of dysfunctional families. This is a culture in serious difficulty, and it's being led by people who are not as connected as we would all wish." In all 21 episodes were made. John Forsythe played Senator William Powers, "He's been in the Senate for 25 years and hasn't made a splash."
Norman believed, "In a way, the '90s are like the '70s in the sense that there's a world of stuff that's not being discussed." John revealed he had been approached to run for office when he starred on 'Dynasty', "I guess we were in the full flush of the Reagan era, and they thought any actor who could read a speech and answer a few questions extemporaneously might have a chance. They said they thought I might make a good candidate for Governor or Senator."
Jack Valenti remarked, "Politicians and movie stars spring from the same DNA. Both hope for applause, read from a script and hope to persuade audiences." Steven Ford made the observation, "Politics is a lot like acting. You have to be on all the time. I campaigned for 5 months and made the same speech, did the same spiel. It takes a good actor to sound excited every time. I relate campaigning to being an actor in a show that's had a long run."
John confessed, "I'm a friend of the Reagans. I played the White House many times and I help with Nancy's 'Just Say No' tennis tournament every year, but I was never a Reagan political supporter. I kmow (Clint) Eastwood, too, a little bit. I like his work and he's a nice guy. I've learned through the years that you don’t pick your friends in this town because of their politics. A lot of very nice people don't vote the same way I do."
John recounted, "(Arnold) Schwarzenegger said, 'You know, we are a divided household. I am a Republican and (Maria Shriver) is a Democrat'. I said, 'We're divided, too. I'm a Democrat and my wife is a monarchist. She liked it if we had a King – and we almost did when Reagan was President."
'The Powers That Be' opened with a song, "The roof is caving in, the money’s running out, the little fish are dying in the sea. But everything 's okay, that's what they tell me, and I have faith in the powers that be."
