Opening The Book of Daniel

The Morning Paper | 01/07/06 | vanity

[genefromjersey]

Opening the Book of Daniel

I watched the opening episodes of NBC’s new sitcom (I think that’s what it was) “The Book of Daniel”.

I was aware some critics had panned the show ,and that a few NBC affiliates opted not to carry it. Having watched the first two hours, I was happy to note there were frequent commercial breaks ;which helped break up the monotony of the archly written and played scenario.

While I watched, I had a nagging sense of déjà vu-but it wasn’t until this morning that I figured out what that was all about.

The Book of Daniel looks like a clone of “Mash” , with the character of “Hawkeye Pierce” – now in clerical robes – being played by Aidan Quinn , instead of Alan Alda.

Like the original, it has some touching moments : a deathbed scene, a retired bishop’s wife who suffers convincingly from Alzheimer’s; but its main premises are dysfunction and a profoundly anti-establishment point of view.

Our Hero is an Episcopal priest who is addicted to pain killers;whose wife is an alcoholic; whose daughter sells marijuana ;whose natural son is gay ;whose adopted son is aggressively and successfully heterosexual;whose mother has Alzheimer’s ; whose father-a retired bishop-is having an adulterous affair with his son’s woman bishop;whose sister-in-law is having a lesbian affair; and whose (late) brother-in-law stole 3.5 million from the building fund.

Fear not ! Our Hero, who chit chats with Jesus at odd intervals, manages to recruit a Roman Catholic priest,with connections to the Mafia,who helps locate the missing money – and who brokers a Mob construction deal.

(Be sure to tune in next week, when our Hero makes a deal with the Devil….)

If ,for some odd reason, this show is not to your liking, I’m sure you can find re-runs of the original “Mash” somewhere in the program guide.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Yawn.

[BallyBill]

I gave the show a shot. I won't give it another. It just got more absurd every minute.

[mtbopfuyn]

I watched it last night - off and on. And as I suspected, it was nothing to get all hyped up about. It won't last, not because of the controversy surrounding it, but because of the writing. The characters are beyond annoying, especially the sister-in-law who's constant whining was enough to drive anyone to drink. And then there was the only slightly less annoying out of sinc sound which was like trying to watch an old Japanese monster movie (was that just my channel or was it a majorly bad editing job?).

[goldstategop]

If the characters weren't so politically correct stock cliches, it might be a more interesting show. Hollywood's idea of religion is the Church Of PC Inclusivity. God is optional. Now you get the premise behind The Book Of Daniel.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[MizSterious]

I'm guessing that they got pretty good ratings last night because of the notoriety. By next week, it should be in the ratings dumpster, and soon it will be gone altogether--except for reruns on Bravo or Lifetime.

[Robe]

Didn't waste electricity on it, nor did I want to give 'em a opening nite ratings bump

[MizSterious]

I'm older than dirt, and recall the early I Love Lucy days--and I will certainly agree that they recycle plots even more often than they recycle movies. There's scarcely an original thought in all of Hollywood.

[Popman]

Post Christian culture is a blast!!!!

Total and profound disrespect for traditional institutions that made western civilizations what is is today.

I can't wait for the next sitcom about Inman Abdullah and his crazy clan at the Mosque getting advice from Allah about:

His terrorist brother who really is gay.
Burka wearing sister in law who secretly is a hooker on the side.
The strife between his three wives.
The son who refuses to wipe his ass with his left hand causing the family to have to consider having to cut it off.
Of course, the weekly discussion on who will have to do the honor killing of their sister who secretly is dating the local star infidel high school football player

Like I said I'm just waiting for NBC to run that new show

[desertlily]

Hollywood is deader than dead. Someone needs to start a whole new film industry. In another State, perhaps?

[Racehorse]

I'm guessing that they got pretty good ratings last night because of the notoriety.

I'm guessing the same thing.

A KCBD, Lubbock, focus group was evenly split.  Half said they'd watch it again.  Half said they wouldn't.

Wonder how closely reactions across the country match these:

"It may not portray the Christian tenants that I hold to, but people might pick something out of it and it might inspire someone," said Glenna Beyer, who is the wife of a Lubbock Lutheran pastor, during the show.

"I guess if you're going to be offended by the fact that there are a lot of crazy people in the church, then you'd be offended," said Episcopal Priest David Veal before the show. "I like the fact that they portray that notion of walking constantly day by day in the presence of Jesus," Veal said after.

"The more I know about it, I think that you support it by watching and disagree with it by not watching it, and I would rather not watch it," Dave Smith said before the show, and felt the same way afterward - "I've seen no value of anything. No interest. I have no reason I would ever want to watch this program again."

"Even if you feel it's blasphemous - or what have you - you know the best thing to do is turn it off because when the ratings come out if the numbers aren't there then the networks will replace it," Ron Grant said after the show.

[jdm]

Although I was very concerned that "The Book of Daniel" would be quite offensive, in order to make an informed, objective opinion, I made sure to watch both episodes Fri. night, with as much of an open mind as possible. And I've definitely come up with an opinion - what a load of tripe! This show seemed to go out of its way to be offensive.

Let's see - where to start? Let's start with the best part of the show (and that's not saying much). The Jesus character was pretty much portrayed as I thought he would be - Not really blasphemous or unlikable, but rather wishy-washy. Even though there were all sorts of immoral behavior going on around him, Jesus never condemned sin or spoke about the error of those people's ways. It seems his favorite line was "He's really a good boy," despite incredibly immoral behavior of the character in question. Jesus was certainly not presented as Savior in any way, shape, or form. I don't think I'd be standing too close to head writer Jack Kenny any time soon.

And how about the main character, the Episcopal priest Daniel Webster? He spouted such non-Biblical nonsense as when speaking about sinning, "Maybe we should not ask for forgiveness from the church or God or Jesus Christ unless we first forgive ourselves." Where's that found in the Bible? Or how about, "Don't beat yourself up for giving in to temptation." Yeah, after all, we wouldn't dare want people to feel bad about sinning! Plus, he asks a couple in pre-marital counseling about their sex life, makes a joke of their "living together in sin", offers only a "moment of silence" at a graveside funeral rather than a prayer, and never once condemns any of the multitude of sinful behaviors going on around him. Not to mention the fact that he's addicted to drugs (Vicodin pain pills), has no control whatsoever over his family run amok, and curses often, even taking God's name in vain! (Shame on NBC for airing "Goddam")

The other characters were no better. Webster's wife is reliant on her afternoon martini and has no more of a clue on how to deal with their kids than her husband. The 23-year old son is gay. The adopted high school son (who looks old enough to be a college graduate) is a horn-dog who'll jump anything in a skirt. The 16-year old daughter is selling drugs to raise money to support her efforts to become an anime artist. To help those efforts, she gets someone to help her steal software off the Internet in exchange for drugs. The housekeeper smokes pot. Webster's brother-in-law just embezzled over $3 million from the church and was killed by the mob. His widow is having a lesbian affair with a woman apparently involved in the embezzlement. And Webster's father, who is a bishop, appears to be having an affair with the female bishop who presides over his son's parish. Whew!

With all this going on in just 2 hours, it's obvious that this show seems to be going out of its way to offend! Other than the Jesus character, who was not really overtly offensive, I could not find one sympathetic, likable character in this entire show. For the creator of this show to say that this is "a loving Christian family" is preposterous! While Christians certainly make mistakes and fall to sin often, rarely have they devolved and stooped to the cesspool level these characters are at. If the show is supposed to be about redemption and family love, I certainly didn't see any of that in these episodes. As a Christian, I am sick and tired of seeing Christians on TV portrayed as either wackos, pedophiles, or hypocrites! And this show doesn't help by portraying this highly dysfunctional minister's family as one with no one even attempting to steer them in the proper direction.

I had determined that I was going to watch this show so that I could make an informed decision about the content. But as the night went on, I grew more and more uncomfortable because of the level of immorality (almost debauchery) portrayed in this supposedly "Christian" family. At the end of the night, I must say that this was one of the most offensive shows I've ever seen. I certainly won't watch it again, and I certainly hope that NBC is bombarded with requests to remove it from the airwaves!

A sidenote: As less than 33% of their ad time was sold, it's obvious that NBC is having trouble finding sponsors for this program. Good! Respectable companies are leery of the backlash they could and probably will receive by sponsoring this kind of garbage!

[Puppage]

I gave the show a shot. I won't give it another. It just got more absurd every minute

As did I. My thought was that if I were going to trash it, I had better see it first.It tried to be a Six Feet Under/Desparate Housewives.

I hated the "dumbing down" it resorted to...ie, flash backs from scenes that were shown 10 minutes previously. Like I am not going to remember the lady running & screaming through the cemetary?

Lastly, why did EVERY character have to be screwed up? 1 or 2 I can see, but all of them? It immediately became unrealistic on every level.I thought it had(very few) moments of brilliance, but it gave way to cheaps laughs that did absolutely nothing for me.

[TomGuy]

I'm older than dirt, and recall the early I Love Lucy days--and I will certainly agree that they recycle plots even more often than they recycle movies. There's scarcely an original thought in all of Hollywood.

Studies of comedy series have been made. Supposedly, there are something like 86 comedic plots. Every comedy is a variation of one of those comedic plots.

I would bet that drama has a similar finite number.

I can watch a show for the first time, and seemingly know what is coming next. Some do show a bit of creativity by altering the plotline. Some are so obvious that one can actually see Rob and Laura Petry or Perry, Della and Paul in the new players' faces.

About the most creative that script writers seem to be is when they write the twist to a movie, where the seeming good-guy turns out to be the monster. Some of those have to be stretched beyond credulity to make the good-guy the bad-guy. But hey, it's TV.

[Puppage]

The son who refuses to wipe his ass with his left hand causing the family to have to consider having to cut it off

Priceless! Absolutely priceless. Thanks for the laugh, Pops.

[genefromjersey]

I hope you're not holding your breath !

Why.....that would be (Sob !) Mean-spirited and divisive !

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Thanks for the detailed summary. I didn't want to pronounce judgment on the show without having watched it myself, but frankly, I had no desire to watch it, so you saved me the trouble. You also confirmed my suspicions that "Daniel" was a piece of crap, and I think it will probably fall on its own merits, or lack thereof.

[AnAmericanMother]

Hollywood's idea of religion is the Church Of PC Inclusivity.