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BERLIN -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has canceled a television interview with commercial broadcaster RTL after learning of the web's plans to produce a satirical comedy series based on his public and private life.

In a letter to Schroeder, RTL managing director Gerhard Zeiler and editor-in-chief Hans Mahr asked Schroeder to reconsider his decision, saying the acceptance of satire and cabaret as a form of artistic freedom is a democratic tradition.

They added in the letter that they did not believe the chancellor's view of politics and artistic freedom is such that he would "cancel a political interview because of a satirical program whose content is not even known."

The six-part comedy series about the German leader, titled "Wie war ich, Doris?" (How Was I, Doris), is set to premiere in the fall and will lampoon Schroeder, his wife, Doris, and other prominent government officials in Berlin.