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The History Channel's "The Bible" miniseries once again maintained steady ratings this past Sunday night as it featured its third episode, delving into the Bible's New Testament and introducing Jesus, played by actor Diogo Morgado. The 10-part miniseries' third episode managed to rake in 10.9 million viewers, and score a 2.8 Nielsen rating among adults ages 18 to 49, according to Entertainment Weekly. The success of the most recent episode of "The Bible" makes the miniseries the number one show in all of television for the third consecutive week. These most recent ratings stack up nicely to the series' previous...

From The Bible: Satan… or Obama… Like, whichever. Daniel Wattenberg, the arts and features editor of the conservative Washington Times, wrote a piece last week chiding Hollywood for being confounded by the ratings success of the History channel’s mini-series The Bible. ”Blockbuster ratings for a compilation of bible stories from a reality TV producer taking his first crack at drama? Can’t be,” Wattenberg writes in the persona of a studio exec. “If there was a market for biblical epics, then Hollywood wouldn’t have long ago abandoned the genre. … Makes no sense.” No one can blame Wattenberg for taking...

The History Channel is refuting accusations that the character portraying Satan in their hit miniseries “The Bible” bears a striking resemblance to President Obama. Television viewers took to Twitter and Facebook Sunday night to point out the similarities between Moroccan actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni and the Commander-in-Chief. “That resemblance is uncanny,” wrote one viewer on my Facebook page. “It looks like President Obama 20 years from now.” The cable network released a statement to Huffington Post refuting the comparisons and noted that Ouazanni has been portraying satanic characters long before President Obama was elected. “History Channel has the highest respect...

With Ninja angels in ancient Sodom, the highly publicized TV miniseries "The Bible," which made its national debut Sunday night on the History Channel, does not always stick to Scripture, despite being produced by two famous Christians and having numerous biblical experts as well as Texas megapastor Joel Osteen advising on the project.

The History Channel miniseries "The Bible" has been a hit in the ratings, but it's also grabbing attention because of the actor playing Satan -- and the public figure some viewers think he resembles. After actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni's first appearance as Satan in "The Bible" aired on Sunday, a number of viewers took to Twitter to say that he bears a resemblance to President Barack Obama. One person who took notice was conservative commentator Glenn Beck, who tweeted on Thursday, "The bible on the history channel Sunday. Best episode yet. Don't miss it. Does satan look EXACTLY like Obama?...

It's the David and Goliath of television: an obscure religious miniseries has beaten television's former top show in the ratings.The premier of the History Channel's The Bible attracted 13.1 million viewers, topping American Idol's 12.8 million viewers on Wednesday of the same week. The ratings have confounded Hollywood's biggest decision-makers. Overt religious programming can be a notorious tough sell to the public, while American Idol has dominated television for the past eight seasons.Scroll down for video Tastes are changing? History Channel's The Bible beat American Idol in the ratings last week, drawing in 13.1 million viewers The about-turn is evidence...

History and The Bible executive producers, husband and wife Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, just addressed the Obama-Satan controversy. “History channel has the highest respect for President Obama,” the network said in a statement. “The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It’s unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. History’s The Bible is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history.”

There's a swirl that the devil character in "The Bible" TV show is a thinly veiled President Obama ... and Mark Burnett tells TMZ, it's all the devil's doing ...THE REAL DEVIL. Burnett -- a deeply religious man -- tells TMZ ... he believes there is a devil on earth. Burnett says the devil has stirred the pot and created a false likeness between Obama and the TV devil. Why, you ask, would the real devil care about a TV show? Fact is ... the show is HUGELY popular and is having a big impact on viewers. Burnett notes the...

Episode 3 is expected to see a ratings bump with the first appearance of Jesus, played by the Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado. Though Morgado does not look like a Middle Eastern Semite, the producers have the age right. Morgado is 33, the age of Jesus at his death. The History Channel's third episode of the Bible takes huge leaps through history. It moves from the Babylonian captivity to the baptism of Jesus. It is dramatic and entertaining, but as with episodes 1 and 2, it lacks historical grounding and fails to present the cultural complexities of Abraham's Horite descendants, especially...

Was it me, or did the the devil, portrayed tempting Christ in the wilderness, bear a strong resemblance to one Hussein 0bama?

The character is part of The Bible a ten-hour television series airing on the History Channel.

Last Sunday, the first installment of History’s five-part miniseries The Bible beat everything on television with a massive 13.1 million viewers, making it cable’s most-watched entertainment telecast this year. For producer Mark Burnett, who worked on the ten-hour special with wife Roma Downey, the success of The Bible isn’t all that surprising. “It will be, over the next 40 or 50 years, the most watched thing that Roma and I have ever made,” he told EW, quite confidently, back in January. At the time, Burnett gushed about shooting the series. “I really believe what I’m going to tell you right...

Nationally known TV preacher and evangelist Joel Osteen is slated to join Mark Burnett, the producer of the popular ‘Survivor’ show, to create new primetime network TV show together. Burnett and wife Roma Downey are good friends of Osteen and wife Victoria. Their show would feature people who join Osteen to “start fixing things” throughout the United States. Osteen is viewed by more than 10 million people each week. He broadcasts from his Lakewood Church in Houston TX and could probably reach an even wider audience with the new venture. "We don't just want to do a reality show. We...

Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, who is writing an upcoming book titled “Killing Jesus,” proclaimed on his program Wednesday night that “a lot of the Bible is allegorical,” and the New Testament Gospels contradict themselves. O’Reilly made the remarks during an interview with “Touched by an Angel” star Roma Downey and her husband Mark Burnett, executive producers of “The Bible” TV miniseries which begins this Sunday night on the History Channel.

Dramatic and conventional in its portrayal... that's how I characterize the History Channel's presentation of Genesis and Exodus. Did it present Abraham's Horite people faithfully? Not at all. This was a rehash of old interpretations that fail to tell the whole story. In other words, a missed opportunity. The program clearly stirred interest because after it aired this blog had over 300 reads in less than 30 minutes. The higher traffic continued the following day. People arrived from different search engines with questions like "Who was Abraham's firstborn son?" and "What color was Abraham?" If you watched the program, try...

Sure, it’s easy to criticize Hollywood, but try to remember that the entertainment industry today is an intellectually demanding environment, fraught with cognitively challenging, even intractable, questions, like, to take one recent example: How can the cable mini-series “The Bible” be such a ratings hit when there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming? According to the latest Nielsens, released Tuesday, Sunday night’s telecast of “The Bible,” produced by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey for basic cable’s History channel, managed to attract more viewers than anything on broadcast network NBC … during the entire week ...

The History Channel's "The Bible" miniseries once again raked in the ratings this past weekend, drawing in 10.8 million total viewers for its second episode, thus making it the most popular program in all of television on Sunday night. Although the historical miniseries was down 18 percent in total viewership from its premiere on March 3, it still managed to attract 3.2 million adults, ages 18-49, and 3.8 million adults, ages 25-54, according to Deadline. These high numbers made the new miniseries the most watched television program on Sunday from 8 p.m.-10 p.m. According to Channel Guide Magazine, over 50...

I am undecided about it.

Sure, it’s easy to criticize Hollywood, but try to remember that the entertainment industry today is an intellectually demanding environment, fraught with cognitively challenging, even intractable, questions, like, to take one recent example: How can the cable mini-series “The Bible” be such a ratings hit when there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming? According to the latest Nielsens, released Tuesday, Sunday night’s telecast of “The Bible,” produced by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey for basic cable’s History channel, managed to attract more viewers than anything on broadcast network NBC … during the entire week. The second...

'The Bible' miniseries produced by the History Channel is a disappointment for any family hoping for a new way to share the Bible's stories with their children. 'The Bible' miniseries, not altogether surprising given the History Channel's relentless ratings focus, sensationalizes the Bible's stories. Angel ninjas? Really? The Bible, in addition to being the basis for various religious beliefs, is a fascinating historical conglomeration of stories that can teach us about the customs, times, travails, and conditions of the ancient Middle East that create a social context for modern day news, like the plague of locusts currently hitting Egypt. However...