posted on January 6, 2006 07:10:03 AM new"The Book of Daniel," -- Television show
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (Jan. 5) - Two NBC affiliates in Arkansas and Indiana are turning the page on upcoming series "The Book of Daniel," which has been drawing criticism for its portrayal of Christianity.
The series depicts an Episcopalian minister, played by Aidan Quinn, struggling with an addiction to Vicodin, among other problems in his diocese. Jesus is actually a character on the series, depicted in imagined conversations with the minister.
Last month, the conservative American Family Assn. began calling on affiliates and advertisers to bail out of "Daniel." Many stations have been flooded with e-mails and calls from viewers objecting to the series.
KARK-TV in Little Rock, Ark., and WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, Ind., announced Wednesday they would pre-empt "Daniel," when it premieres Friday at 9 p.m. Both are owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group,
KARK-TV declined to air "Daniel" citing "careful consideration" of viewer feedback. Little Rock's WB affiliate, KWBF-TV, will air "Daniel" instead.
However, WTWO general manager Duane Lammers said he is not pre-empting "Daniel" due to its content but rather to protest what he views as the networks' strong-arm approach to affiliates, as well inconsistent federal oversight of indecent content.
"This has nothing to do with the program and has nothing to do with the AFA," Lammers said. "I think the system is screwed up. I think the network thinks we are going to do whatever they tell us to do. I think the regulatory environment is flawed."
The network stands by the series, according to Vivi Zigler, executive vp current programming at NBC Entertainment, who cautioned not to judge the series on the basis of promotions for the show.
"People are reacting based on not having seen it," she said. "They're seeing the advertising, not seeing what the core of the show is."
Jack Kenny, executive producer of "Daniel," dismissed claims that the series is anti-Christian. "We are not in any way satirizing Christianity or Jesus," he said. "It's done with love, honoring those things."
But Lammers isn't taking exception with "Daniel." Rather, he is using the pre-emption to air multiple grievances with industry practice -- especially network-affiliate relations.
"We are not in any way satirizing Christianity or Jesus. It's done with love, honoring those things."
-Jack Kenny, Executive Producer of 'The Book of Daniel'
"In the last few years, the networks have responded in a unilateral manner in their treatment of affiliates, whether it's about compensation, exclusivity or other issues," he said. "I am now reaffirming my right to treat them unilaterally."
Lammers also decried what he sees as a double standard in the lack of content regulation regarding cable. "I'm saying the regulatory atmosphere is unfair," he said. "If this gives me a chance to talk about it, that's fair."
WTWO is alone so far in its pre-emption of "Daniel," but other affiliates wrestled with the decision.
"There's been an enormous amount of discussion about the show," said Steve Poulsen, vp marketing at KSL-TV, NBC's affiliate in Salt Lake City. "This one happens to have religious overtones to it and is causing a little stir. We determined on this one to let the viewers determine the success or failure of this show."
KSL, which caters to a heavily Mormon viewership, has not been shy about joining the small group of stations that have pre-empted NBC programming in the recent past. Among the NBC series that have been yanked in recent years, include "Coupling," "God, the Devil and Bob," and "Stressed Eric."
Lammers, who also serves as executive vp and chief operating officer of WTWO parent company Nexstar Broadcasting Group, is known for taking aggressive stands on behalf of his company. He pulled multiple Nexstar-owned stations off Cox Communications and Cable One cable systems for most of 2005 in order to negotiate cash for carriage -- an unprecedented arrangement. Both operators settled with Nexstar late last year.
WTVO, which is the 150th-largest television market in the U.S., will air theatrical "Simon Birch" instead of back-to-back episodes of "Daniel."
01/05/06 00:45 EST
***edit to add: I always liked Aidan Quinn... I will watch it (if I remember to find it on.)
posted on January 6, 2006 09:36:21 AM new
I've read some reader reviews from CNS.com and many there think this show DOES poke fun at Christians and their lifestyle choices.
One comment even said....wonder how well this show would go over if it were poking fun at Muslims and their lives.
I personal know that CAIR would be throwing sh** fits if it were presented in this same manner.
But hey....it's popular now to attack anything related to Christianity.
posted on January 6, 2006 09:39:28 AM new
Also just to comment on the articles mention of Little Rock, AR.
That's pretty much right in the middle of our state. I'm in the most northern part, have satelite and this program is aired here. Since you've mentioned it, I'll take a look at it myself.
posted on January 6, 2006 10:38:27 AM new
Linda, I will like to see it, to see whats its about. They say its not derogatory???
A priest on vicodin...lol...i dont know...im sure it happens occassionaly. It might be interesting to see if they show -like- these things as demons inside his head and how Jesus speaks to him about it?
posted on January 6, 2006 10:49:43 AM new
NearTheSea - I love that show, but his 'popping' pills was one of the first things I noticed when I watched the first couple of shows.
To me, personally, it's just like smoking on TV shows used to be....a subtle message gets passed along about what's socially acceptable and what's not. Now it's vicodin.
posted on January 6, 2006 10:59:16 AM new
You think theres a subtle message there Linda?
If anything to me, the message is what a loser the guy is in the emotional dept and what the addiction does to his personality. But maybe youre right...maybe the implication is you can be that way, and still be a successful professional.
posted on January 6, 2006 11:11:31 AM new
I dont know, Linda, but the allure for women is they want to fix them, nuture them...(or they like the abuse or the challenge)... What I've seen from this show is that he knows he's screwed up, but its not much importance to him.
posted on January 6, 2006 11:24:20 AM new
Agreed. Kind of like the character 'Reamond' on Everybody Loves Reamond'. He's totally emotionally detached too. Makes me wonder what a women would ever see in him - and there's going to be no changing that one - he's way too far gone - almost narcissistic, imo.
posted on January 6, 2006 12:02:08 PM new
Another statement/comment from the FederalPatriot website on this show:
FAMILY AND FAITH MATTERS...
NBC is set to run its new series "The Book of Daniel," which the network claims is a serious drama about Christian life.
One need only read the initial description, however, to see that it is anything but the usual defamatory garbage that is typical of Hollywood and the networks.
Daniel Webster, the main character, is a drug-addicted Episcopal priest who regularly sees and talks with a rather unorthodox "Jesus" figure.
His wife is an alcoholic, his 23-year-old son is a homosexual Republican, and his drug-dealing 16-year-old daughter is, shall we say, hooking up with her adopted 16-year-old brother, while Webster's lesbian secretary is hooking up with his sister-in-law.
Network hype and the mainstream media predictably call the show "edgy," "challenging" and "courageous."
posted on January 6, 2006 12:47:51 PM new
This sounds familiar: a group of people trying to get something banned, even though they haven't seen it themselves, because of what they think it is or is about.
I deal with this sort of crap all the time--people who want books banned from the libraryor restricted simply based on what they have heard about them or been told to believe about them. Sight unseen, without ever reading the books in question themselves. And totally ignoring the fact that simply because they don't like something doesn't give them the right to dictate what other people can read.
If this new show is crap it will disappear fast enough due to low ratings. But that judgement should be left to the viewing public, not people who haven't even seen the show.
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posted on January 6, 2006 12:53:14 PM new
I haven't seen the show, but isn't it true that sometimes humourous shows have a serious message in there? Could it be a way to get people to think about the Bible and maybe humanize these characters?
I've read, in Biblical times and waaay before that, narcotics were mainstream. And I bet there were just as many gays as there are today, so why not?
posted on January 6, 2006 01:11:13 PM new
O'Reilly's going to be discussing this show tonight, for anyone interested. His program comes on at 7:00 PM Central time.
posted on January 6, 2006 01:18:11 PM new
I don't know anything other than having seen the commercials, but from the , it looks like Jesus is the guy from Six Feet Under- yes? No?
I do plan to watch it, it might be funny. But I doubt it's going to be "serious drama."
Just from the posting above, I suspect one agenda of the show will be having the Jesus character give his approval of the gay characters. Don't tell me that wouldn't be liberal propaganda.
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Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum sonatur.
posted on January 6, 2006 03:39:08 PM new
nerfball, it wasnt that it is a stretch, if could be possible - its a stretch to imagine they would be dealing with it.
I do think replay is correct tho. Trying to sanctify and homogenize homosexuality seems a theme of the show. I dont mind suspending reality a bit for any tv show, but how many gay secretaries do you ever really find in a church organization?
posted on January 6, 2006 04:22:44 PM new
I don't see a problem with the Vicodan thing. Preists are people too, and stuff like that can happen pretty easily if you don't watch out. Now if the priest starts sneaking around in back alleys and buying from crack dealers, I'll say they have gone too far.
dblfugger9:
Exactly. I don't know specific rules about the Episcopals, but a gay church secretary would be rare if not completely unheard of. A SECOND gay character, and the priest's son at that, is stretching the limits of coincidence. Having TWO gay characters just means the subject can come up twice as often.
A show like "Will & Grac"e that tries to popularize homosexuality is one thing, but to surreptitiously use Jesus to personally endorse hmosexuality is just wrong. Yes, I'm jumping the gun and pre-judging the show, but it just seems so obvious that this is the way it will happen that I can only expect the worst.
There are just so many good ways to poke fun at religion, I just hope they don't ruin the show by pushing the Hollywood agendas.
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Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum sonatur.
posted on January 6, 2006 04:25:49 PM new
From what I get from the show, it is more of a comedy. Seems to be about a guy whose life is coming down around his ears who happens to also be a minister and is turning to his faith (the Jesus charchter) to deal with the insanity. Maybe it's just me but I never thought that being a minister insured one against having crazy family members. I'm sure there are more than a few people out there with at least one problem similar to what this guy goes thru that wishes he could get a little one on one face time with a divine power. I think it has a great deal of potential to be funny without being disrespectful. I also think that it has great potential to be over analysed be those who watch with a predetermined agenda.
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Never ask what sort if computer a guy drives. If he's a Mac user, he'll tell you. If he's not, why embarrass him? - Tom Clancy
[ edited by fenix03 on Jan 6, 2006 04:27 PM ]
posted on January 6, 2006 04:30:09 PM new"...but to surreptitiously use Jesus to personally endorse hmosexuality is just wrong."
Replay, you're acting like gays and Jesus should never be mixed together. None of us know whether Jesus accepted gays or not. The passages where it's assumed gays are not acceptable might be open to interpretation, considering they were written by men, don't you think?
posted on January 6, 2006 04:47:46 PM new
Jesus never got married, if you believe the standard dogma. Very unusual for a Jewish man of his time, and virtually unheard of for a rabbi.
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posted on January 6, 2006 05:00:24 PM new
If Jesus knew ahead of time that he was going to die, he wouldn't take a wife. Staying single avoids a lot of complications if you plan to be executed as a criminal.
Jesus never says a word one way or the other about homosexuality in the Bible. HOWEVER:
A) Paul severaly condemns gays in several places. This is not ambiguously worded either.
B) The Old Testament actually calls for the fast execution of homosexuals in the Hebrew Law. And later on, Jesus DID command that his people "Follow the Law." You can only take that one way.
C) Yes, Jesus was big on forgiveness, but this is actually the part that is most vague. Should you love your neighbor and forgive their trespasses, or should you follow the Hebrew Law and kill they gays? This has been debated for centuries. The Hebrew law is quite barbaric in many ways.
Personally, I see NOTHING in the Bible to support homosexuality, and quite a lot condemning it. I would prefer to err on the side of caution.
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Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum sonatur.
posted on January 6, 2006 05:08:02 PM new
replay, do you agree with me it was condemned as a slothful behavior and thus seen as a threat to the survival of the Hebrew population?
posted on January 6, 2006 05:14:15 PM new
DBL: it's an hour long comedy-drama. Here is a write-up from NBC's website:
Emmy nominee Aidan Quinn (“An Early Frost,” “Plainsong,” “Legends of the Fall”) stars as Reverend Daniel Webster, an unconventional Episcopalian minister who not only believes in Jesus - he actually sees him and discusses life with him. Webster is challenged on many levels as he struggles to be a good husband, father and minister, while trying to control a nagging addiction to prescription painkillers, and an often rocky relationship with the church hierarchy, led by Bishop Beatrice Congreve (Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn, “Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,” “Requiem of a Dream”), Roger Paxton, a senior warden of the parish and stalwart churchgoer (Dylan Baker, “Kinsey,” “Happiness”).
The reverend also has loving, but challenging relationships with his three children: Peter (Christian Campbell, “Trick”), his 23-year-old gay son, who struggles with the loss of his twin brother; Grace (Alison Pill, “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen”), his 16-year-old daughter who doesn't try to push her father's buttons but succeeds at it nonetheless; and Adam (Ivan Shaw, “All My Children”), his 16-year-old adopted Chinese son, a handsome and cocky high school jock with a wicked sense of humor. Keeping Webster grounded is his strong and loving wife Judith (Susanna Thompson, “Now and Again”), who is fighting her own fondness for mid-day martinis, as well as Jesus (Garret Dillahunt, “Deadwood”), whose frequent chats with Daniel serve to remind him of his strengths and weaknesses.
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