REVERSE ANGLE

Gary Ross says the idea for “Pleasantville” came to him “the day after Newt Gingrich was swept into power” in 1994 (“Showing His True Colors,” by Amy Wallace, Sept. 20).

Let’s see, that would be three years after ABC’s short-lived “Hi Honey, I’m Home,” about a ‘50s sitcom family (in black-and-white) relocated to ‘90s New Jersey (in color), right next door to a single mom who has a teenage son who’s a big fan of the show and madly in love with the sitcom teenage daughter who. . . .

MICHAEL SCHLESINGER

Sherman Oaks