CBS to bring "Jesus" mini-series back

reuters ^ | Mar 10, 04 | reuters

[churchillbuff]

10 Mar 2004 21:30

CBS to bring "Jesus" mini-series back LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Inspired by the runaway success of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," the CBS television network said on Wednesday it will bring its 2000 hit miniseries "Jesus" back to life later this month.

But rather than replay the entire four-hour production over two nights, as originally broadcast, the network will cut right to the chase by airing only Part Two as a stand-alone TV movie on Sunday, March 28, tracing the public life of Jesus from his Sermon on the Mount to his crucifixion.

Part One, which covered Christ's early life and ministry, including his temptation by Satan in the desert, will not be shown.

The film, first aired in May of 2000, stars Jeremy Sisto in the title role, with Jacqueline Bisset as Mary, Gary Oldman as the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and Debra Messing of "Will & Grace" as follower Mary Magdalene.

The original four-hour program averaged more than 21 million viewers to rank as that season's highest-rated, most watched miniseries.

The announcement by CBS comes as "Passion" has turned into a box-office phenomenon, smashing past $200 million in North American ticket sales after just two weeks to land in the same blockbuster league as Oscar-winner "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

Buoyed by a heavy Christian turnout at the movies, "The Passion" has grossed more than $212 million through Monday. Some box office analysts say the graphic film about the last 12 hours of Jesus is on track to generate domestic receipts of $300 million to $400 million, and perhaps more than $1 billion worldwide once it is released in other countries.

But as testament to the fickle tastes of television audiences, ABC's lackluster premiere of its TV movie "Judas" on Monday proved that Bible stories do not necessarily win ratings.

"Judas," starring Johnathon Schaech as the disciple who betrays Christ, drew just 9.1 million viewers overall, ranking No. 2 for its time slot behind CBS repeats of comedies "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Two and a Half Men" and crime drama "CSI: Miami." It finished third in ratings for the key viewer demographic of adults aged 18 to 49.

[churchillbuff]

lackluster premiere of its TV movie "Judas"

Did anybody watch this show?

[jwalburg]

Jesus, Judas, all the same to the media

[lilylangtree]

I didn't watch "Judas" because I don't like CBS.

[Abigail Adams]

We started to watch the Judas movie, but when Jesus said that he had simply lost his temper when he overturned the tables at the Temple, we could tell this movie wasn't going to follow the biblical account very accurately.

[Objective Reality]

Did anybody watch this show?

I did. EWWWWW, it was terrible. It was essentially the same story as "The Judas Project," easily the worst motion picture of all time. "Manos: The Hands of Fate" looks tolerable next to it.

Anyway, it was just plain bad. There's an interesting movie to be made about the tragedy of Judas. Unfortunately, that movie was already made, and it was called "The Last Temptation of Christ."

If you haven't seen TLTOC: The premise of that film was that Judas was in fact Jesus's first "disciple," having joined up with him at first just to see if he could be used to undermine Roman rule. Over time, he figured out who Jesus was, and due to his own cynicism, ultimately became the only member of the 12 with whom Jesus could fully confide. He was the first disciple to learn, and the only one to understand why, Jesus had to be crucified. The betrayal was only an act of "betrayal" in the eyes of the other disciples: In reality, Judas was the only disciple whom Jesus could entrust with the responsibility of getting him crucified.

It's not Biblical or even theological, but it was the only credible justification of Judas's actions I've ever seen.

All that aside, "Judas," the ABC TV movie, was godawful. It was basically the anti-Passion.

[Old Professer]

Yeah, but you gotta admit, that was one heck of an anger-management class he went through before it was all over.

[BerniesFriend]

My wife and I started to watch "Judas" on abc..but we turned it off quickly..the actor playing Jesus played him like a used car salesman..very arrogant..with a wicked smile..no humanity that Jesus would have had..in our humble opinion..by the way.."Judas" was made two years ago and never shown by abc..only now has abc shown it..wonder why???

[hellinahandcart]

Did anybody watch this show?

I saw most of it. The only reason it SUCKED OUT LOUD was because the script was just awful, it would have rated a "not bad" from me otherwise.

[3catsanadog]

Here it goes.

Everybody's going to see The Passion, so now the networks are screeching "We like Jesus toooooo, see, we have him on TV a whole bunch."

[Paul Atreides]

Correction: They like Je$u$.

[Objective Reality]

It did have ONE good sequence. It recounted the story of the Roman who came and asked Jesus to heal his son, and said that he understood all he had to do was give the word - he didn't have to set foot near his unworthy house.

[hellinahandcart]

I thought there were good parts. It's just hard to get around really bad dialogue, though.

[Hunble]

What is CBS?

Was that some TV network?

[FlyVet]

I haven't watched it yet, but have it recorded. Not in any hurry. First impression is, that it was made by non-believers to cash in on the Passion rush. A non-believer IMO will never be able to capture such a thing. Why? You tell me. How come there is no uproar over "Judas"? How come there is so much hatred for The Passion of Christ? And so much interest? Why? I've seen Gibson in the interviews. He's either a really good fake, or he's on fire. I think he's on fire, or there wouldn't be any of this rage or controversy. Haven't heard any such rage or controversy about the usual "Jesus" movies. Why not?

[philetus]

No. I won't watch CBS Jesus either.

[PattonReincarnated]

>> I didn't watch "Judas" because I don't like CBS.

Good for you. CBS is banned in my household. CBS will have to be bought out by another company and have their entire news team fired before it airs in my household again.

[ambrose]

You didn't watch "Judas"? Here's what you missed...

here's some sample dialogue:

Roman Centurion: "They say he (Jesus) can resurrect the dead!"

Pontius Pilate: "That's all I need, a bunch of dead Jews running around!"


You also missed the lovely scene where Caiphus extols the virtues of "traditional values" (the movie basically made Caiphus out to be some kind of Jerry Fawell type guy)...


Oh.... another scene you'll be sure to love is where the scene starts with Jesus and Mary Magdaline alone in a room, and the other disciples walk in. Judas looks a bit embarrassed and says "Oh... are we interrupting you?"

[GretchenEE]

Judas was the only disciple whom Jesus could entrust with the responsibility of getting him crucified.

You got more guts than Flash Gordon, watching that movie to the end.

And now for the Scriptural reason why the above premise is hogwash:

John 2:24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1996.

[GretchenEE]

But as testament to the fickle tastes of television audiences, ABC's lackluster premiere of its TV movie "Judas" on Monday proved that Bible stories do not necessarily win ratings.

CORRECTION: This gives testament to the viewers' ability to discriminate between value and trash on the subject.