Posted on 01/13/2006 9:38:18 AM PST by devane617
It's no secret NBC has become a laughing stock of the airwaves, and "The Book of Daniel" is just one more reason to shamelessly snicker.
The one-hour Friday night show, which airs at 10 p.m., is the floundering network's attempt to compete with "Desperate Housewives" and other deviously clever dramas that have surfaced over the last couple of seasons.
However, "Daniel" is one book that needs to be shredded after watching last Friday's two-hour premiere. (The show debuted poorly, attracting 9 million viewers, to finish third in its network slot, according to Nielsen Media Research.)
It's sad, really, that creator Jack Kenny, who was behind forgettables such as "Caroline in the City" and "Maggie," can't get with the program but insists on staying in the game. While the majority of today's dramas offer characters and plots that salute the viewer's intelligence while adding a dose of social statement and a dash of whimsy, "Daniel" overdoses on social taboos with characters who offer no warmth and only alienate the audience.
The show centers around the Websters, a one-dimensional family with more problems than Freud would know what to do with. The father, Daniel, played by Aidan Quinn, is an Episcopalian priest whose sermons are intended to justify his sailor's vocabulary, poor parenting skills and addiction to prescription medication. Since he's supposed to anchor the show, a Jesus character often talks to him.
But even that doesn't redeem this televised disaster.
Daniel is married to Judith, played by Susanna Thompson, a woman who seems to have a drink surgically attached to her hand. Whenever an issue arises in the family, she heads for the bottle. Nice throwback to the 1960s, don't you think?
The Websters have three kids. Peter, played by Christian Campbell, is a 23-year-old gay son who is hovering over the threshold of the closet.
Adam, played by Ivan Shaw, is the couple's oversexed 16-year-old adopted Chinese son. He's supposed to be the show's poster boy for racism as the parents of his girlfriend, played by Leven Rambin, are against the match because of their prejudices, not because they have a problem with their teenage daughter's promiscuity.
This story line is especially disappointing because Rambin's exemplary portrayal of autistic teen Lily Montgomery on "All My Children" has earned her an Emmy pre-nomination. But on "Daniel" she's just relegated to the back seat of a car.
Allison Pill plays the angst-riddled 16-year-old daughter Grace who dabbles in drug dealing to support her Japanese animation hobby. Can this be real?
Additional subplots, such as involving the Mafia to find stolen church funds and church bishops having an affair, make this show comparable to "The Colbys" of the 1980s. Not only because the show fails to catch up with the 21st century, but you'd only watch to see how bad it can get.
"The Book of Daniel" is one more example of the NBC peacock's wilting plume, because Must See TV, it ain't.
My favorite escapism returns on Sunday night.
Other than "24", the only thing I watch on the tube is Football, Baseball, History/Discovery/Nat. Geographic/Learning Channel and the occaisional movie.
"24" I consider to be a vice. And I've given up enough of those in the last 20 years to last me a couple of lifetimes. I forgot to mention the SciFi channel's version of Battlestar Galactica -- That too, is a vice.
"Pill plays the angst-riddled 16-year-old daughter Grace who dabbles in drug dealing to support her Japanese animation hobby. Can this be real?"
Nah. You'd need a lot more money than you could get with drug dealing to support an anime addiciton. Maybe if she were selling Yu-Gi-Oh cards instead...
Neither did most of the religous fanatics who tried to get it banned.
I have not watched either one of those. On your reccomend, I will give em a whirl. :-)
HAHAHAHAHAAHA!
Hollywood just refuses to get it, the guy behind this train wreck was behind a brief sitcom called TITUS, which was actually very funny... offensive to be sure, but funny.
This was a bomb before it even aired, just seeing the preview ads for it you could tell it was a stinker... I'm amazed NBC signed up for it.. but I'm even more amazed that after they had the product in their hands, they actually aired it.
Look Hollywood, wake up. Many of you guys may not want to believe in God and feel that the rest (about 80%+ or more last I saw) of America does about religion. That's fine. However don't think you can insult your audience and think people are going to sit and watch.
This thing was so over the top in trying to portray the folks in the world who are religious as hypocritical bores... just like the immorral world of beverly hills and LA that you guys tend to live in.. to make yourselves feel superior because "at least you aren't being hypocritical" is an insult to everyone.
I think you found a way to make Cop Rock look like a good idea NBC.. keep it up.
My brother in law watched and he said they went after just about everyone. Sort of like South Park.
Do yourself a favor and rent the "Pilot Episode" (a movie really) of Battlestar -- If you like it, get caught up on the first season and then jump in. It has a disturbing characteristic with a soap opera -- you cannot just jump in without being lost. Still, I find it enjoyable.
The new season of 24 starts Sunday night and it is flat out FUN! Escapism to be sure, but fun. The shows Sunday and Monday night should give a good starting point for judging if you like it or not.
"You're going to tell me what I want to know, its just a question of how much you want it to hurt."
We're pretty smart, we fanatics! Now where's my gun? I wanta go out and kill me some liberal idiots.
Remember "Get a Life"?? Now that was comedy!!
I saw "Earl" for the first time last night.
I laughed out loud.
It was the first time since the Raymond PMS episode that I've laughed at a sitcom.
And yes, when Earl looked up at heaven saying that maybe he was doing the work of "karma", I decided that it was also a clever show.
I will have to watch it again.
Earl is truly a great show... A commedy, but generally not insulting of the intelligence of its audience. Not mearly sexual innuendos and slapstick trying to be passed of as a sitcom. For a pretty simple redneck, Earl does take on some very interesting issues.. but does well and in the context of a comedy... It never overplays itself. (at least in the episodes I have seen)
The characters are believable, their actions are generally believable as well.. the old style make people act like normal people would never act just to set up a joke is definately not the way this one plays.
NBC does have 2 great comedies right now, 1 is "My Name is Earl" and the other is "SCRUBS"... now why they decided not to use scrubs as a part of their fall line up and use it instead as a "mid season replacement" is beyond me.. that's almost as stupid a decision as airing Daniel.
NBC has 1/2 of the line up it needs to put up a solid "MUST SEE TV" thursday night. (or whatever night)... but trying to push that stinker "THE OFFICE" on folks.. well that thing just needs killed.
If I were an exec, I'd do the following:
Whatever Night, maybe thursday:
8-8:30? I don't know.. Everybody Loves Chris is a very strong comedy, so I would put something new or something with potential here.
8:30 - 9pm - My Name is Earl
9:00 - 9:30 Pick up "Arrested Development" this was a show with potential that just didn't find its audience on FOX.
9:30 - 10 Scrubs (or vice versa EARL and SCRUBS)...
Now that would be a strong night of comedy.
Somebody needs to bring Titus back to the small screen.
PLEASE DON'T WATCH IT!!!!!! It's my favorite show and I'd hate to see it go. STICK WITH THE TIVO... HELL, I'LL BUY YOU THE DVDs WHEN THEY COME OUT... JUST DON'T WATCH! Ha ha!
Fox tends to not know what to do with Good shows....
It killed Family Guy first time on, because it kept bumping its time slot and moving it around so even folks who wanted to watch couldn't find it.
It Killed Married with children by moving it out of Sunday night, for no real reason (other than to kill it off best I can tell).
It hasn't been able to make Arrested Development work which is truly a good quirky funny comedy.
Fox has a tendency not to recognize when it has something, or not knowing how to utilize it properly when it does.
The original English version of The Office was excellent but it didn't really transfer well when they Americanised it.
I agree, never really followed why it got off the air, but it was definately a sit com that should have kept going.
I thought the concept behind "The office" had some potential... that movie "Office Space" played well off the Cubicle life, so the topic definately can be done... So I checked out the premier...
Needless to say I went somewhere else after 5-10 minutes.. it was bad, I mean train wreck bad. I tried it again a few weeks later with the same outcome... I was beyond shocked that NBC picked it up for another go round.
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