Should WDAM pull "Book of Daniel"

[wilebill]

Should WDAM pull "Book of Daniel"? Let's hear what MH members think of the TV show, especially if you've formed your opinion based on what you've seen.

[wilebill]

However, if Jim is right about boycotting and channel switching, I have to wonder how WDAM still exists?
:confused:

Good one. Hey, let me give you some reps for that!

[wusmmik]

As your TV/Movie watching friend, I have to intercede into this discussion.

NBC's "The Book of Daniel" is the closest that the Peacock major network (or any network) has come to an HBO-caliber show. What I saw on Friday night was a very promising show, great characters and story all evolved out of something that everyone finds real, religion. However, religion is merely the backdrop for the program-not the focus.

CRITICISM OF EPISODES 1 & 2

Aidan Quinn plays a beleaguered Episcopal priest with a family and life that is out of control. The first episode got off to a shaky start, but again like the first episode of an HBO series, seeks to first establish characters and setting.
The moment for me that Episode 1 really got interesting was the family's dinner, the children taking control of the conversation and the parents letting this discussion get more and more unbridled was a real turning point for a program that could easily become a retread of "Six Feet Under."

Daniel's family is well outlined, his controlling but loving wife silently glaring (the underrated Susanna Thompson-excellent on "Once and Again"), his adopted son playing the Eddie Haskell card, his quiet oldest gay son and the young daughter who has been arrested for selling marijuana-to fund the Anime comics that she loves to draw. That central unit conflict's alone would be enough to carry the show to appeal to post-Camden family viewers with minor infractions. But a gay son and a daughter dealing drugs-that's troubled territory.

Now, I'm sure some of you are already simmering a little about this, ready to send me down in flames in a few keystrokes. But, hold on, think about getting to know the main character on any program at their most vulnerable in the beginning..wait, it just doesn't happen. That usually follows a very well-promoted (and telegraphed) "special" episode with serious voiceover.
What you're seeing here is the ebb and flow of Daniel's life.

What Daniel does from here is highly questionable, but we learn that he has been muting the pain with painkillers and being visited by Jesus. The Jesus visits, like the religion and the painkillers-are just a small part of this program.

Here's where the show really catches momentum as we discover his brother (a priest-his father is also head of the Diocese) has left with 3 million dollars from the church's building fund. Ah, conflict. Daniel now has to not only subdue the church's request to call the police-but also his grieving sister-in-law who is crying like Lady MacBeth in their kitchen.

The show is a mystery, Daniel has to find his brother and more importantly find the money that the church is now holding him responsible for. Ah, now we have some first class conflict. So, many flawed but human major characters plus different story threads involving him as a priest, a father, a brother, and a husband and his family dealing with their own problems...and
the occasional visit from Jesus.

By Episode 2, the cast has expanded to take in his father and mother who suffers from Alzheimer's, the brassy female Archbishop (played expertly by Ellen Burstyn-who seeing Daniel taking pills, takes a few herself) and a mystery woman in his sister-in-law's kitchen. And Jesus leads Daniel to try to understand his daughter's Anime dreams.

While, as usual, I don't want to give too much away (but I've given away far more than usual). I think "The Book of Daniel" is again a very promising program, well-written with drama and dark humour, well photographed and directed and even has cool gimmicky chapter endings.

NOW..THE CRITICISM OF THE CONTROVERSY

First, this program airs at 9PM on a Friday night-well out of the family viewing time zone. The very same hour that on other weeknights procedural crime shows show grisly crimes and detail violent behaviour to millions more.

Second, it's even rated TV-14 so that parents who don't want their children to watch it can have their wish. Not to mention, 9PM on Friday night is generally once of the least viewed hours of the week by those under 18.

Third, like so many other things in this day and age, a few details that are not central to the program are in my opinion being blown out of proportion. This is not a program that is portraying religion as evil or sinister, it just happens to be the backdrop for a family story. The fact that the family is involved in the church, makes it more interesting and (from a writer's standpoint) different from the millions of other distressed family programs.

Fourth, it's NBC trying something different and being hung to dry. They could have easily unleashed some CSI clone to find more viewers or put on something far more offensive (to me..) like "Fear Factor" (which by the way plays in the family hour to no protest).

Having made that final point as a example. I dislike "Fear Factor", you may like it. That doesn't mean that I'm going to write to NBC to demand that they take it off, it just means that I choose not to watch it. I watched a few episodes when it first appeared on TV, I didn't like it-so I quit watching it.

At least watch "The Book of Daniel", then judge for yourself. If you like it, keep watching it-if you don't, well you know.

In closing, I'm sorry that this program has offended anyone-I really don't think it means to, I honestly don't even think it's out to shock viewers into watching. But, I understand that people would be offended by the concept of a pill-popping priest talking to Jesus. Still, like I said-it's honestly not about that..

Thank you for reading this, and I look forward to hearing from all of you.

[don't hold it against me]

[jmb]

I do not think WDAM should pull it. Let the viewers decide. I wasn't able to watch it because my NBC station is out of Terre Haute and is one of the few that chose to not air it. What's so bad about the show? The only difference in this and others on tv is that the father happens to be a minister. We see gays, prescription-drug-addicted people, drug dealers all the time, so that's nothing new. If Daniel were a plumber, would there be any controversy over the show?

[XC9]

I have not watched this show but I would appreciate having the choice to do so. I am quite capable of making a decision as far as what to watch on television. I can also understand that television is entertainment and fable-not real life! Maybe if wdam pulls this show they can put on a show like Hattiesburg COPS-Live! Now wouldn't we all find that interesting.lol

[RevranAL]

Dear Endurin WDAM view'n Citizens,

While RevranAL believes in Furst Ammendment Rights, the show is sumwhats progressive fo many viewa's, and borders on bein' a tad blasphemus....
But I don't believes it should be left up to ol Jim Cameron to pull anythings...

Glory Be! Glory Be!
RevranAL

[2002usmgrad]

I'm going to give by two cents on this show. I caught the last part of the first showing, I guess was the first and second show, from what I saw I could not see what the big deal is. I've heard people complaining, but nothing that has any solid backing. From watching the show I saw a man who is a priest, has a wife that drinks, a son that's gay, another son that has a girlfriend (how astonishing), and a daughter who has a very expensive secret hobby that she didn't know how to pay for. What I also saw was a family that is going through the same stuff all of us are at one time or another in our lives. Did you notice that the priest never banned all of these peoples (including his in-laws, and we all know that's hard to do) from his life, but accepted them and helped them with their problems. Are the critics upset that they are not portrayed as a perfect family? I dare ask what family is perfect. It's my feeling that the true test of this show will be how the family deals with all of these so called problems. Before we all get our panties in a wad let's wait and see if any good comes out of this show.
Remember guys, Jesus spent a lot of time with those who weren't "perfect".

[wilebill]

I watched it last night just to see what all the fuss was about, and like 2002usmgrad didn't see any big deal. I guess what everyone's upset about is that Jesus visits the priest from time to time. Like it's okay for Pat Robertson (that's another topic by itself) and other people to say they talk to Jesus regularly, but it's not okay for this TV character to have a conversation with him.

Something else interesting about the show: in today's HA Jim Cameron basically said his desire to pull the show was vetoed by Raycom.

[happydamyankee]

Well in my opinion I don't want Jim Cameron or anyone else making choices for me. I haven't watched the show don't really care to just because I don't really watch tv pretty much all thats ever on my tv is nick and cartoon network for the kids. I think that Cameron banning a program just because he doesn't like it is the same as book burning and shouldn't be allowed. Didn't he try that a few years ago with some cartoon show something about god vs the devil or good vs evil (don't remember the name)? I remember all the editorials in the newpaper about it people were really mad that they tried to controll their viewing practices. Didn't they learn anything from that? Theres a lot of garbage on television these days especially with cable and satellite television it's the people watching that need to decide what they want to turn off or on not Jim Cameron. When I need a moral advisor I'll go to my church not Mr Cameron.

[talkizcheap]

Something else interesting about the show: in today's HA Jim Cameron basically said his desire to pull the show was vetoed by Raycom.

Yeah, WB, don't you wonder what Raycom officials have to say about Jim's comments? I think Raycom would consider his comments to the paper a bit out of line on his part. But then again I often wonder if they care at all what really goes on -- especially in relation to Jim and his shenanagins.

[wilebill]

Of course, this poll is not scientific, but I am a little surprised at the results, I thought it'd be a little closer than it now is. The nos pulled out to an early initial lead, but the yesses made a serious comeback late at night on the first day of the poll to draw almost even. Since then it's pretty much been nos all the way.

[wusmmik]

The show in question earlier was an animated comedy called "God, The Devil and Bob." The premise was that God made a bet with the Devil. If one human of the Devil's choosing can't prove that humanity is decent that God will scrap all of creation and start over. The Devil chooses Detroit car assembly line worker Bob. Now Bob has to live a decent life with no hints from God and constant temptation from the Devil.

WDAM and many other stations objected to its content and it ran to lower and lower ratings in 2000. You can find it on DVD at Blockbuster I believe.

The best example of a station's refusal to air a network program was WLOX's
boycott of "NYPD Blue" which they didn't run after the show's obscene language (because they are cops) and the exposure of Dennis Franz's gluteus maximus. Fox 25 picked up the show and ran it for its duration, now you can see it on TNT.

Outside of this community, many others are being pressured to pull "The Book of Daniel" including the major market of Nashville where the station manager asked NBC if the station could run it in "overnight" hours because of its content during "family viewing hours." I believe that brings the total to 9 stations that aren't airing it now.

This has been a fascinating discussion and I hope it continues. In the end, I cobbled together some of the quotes that religious leaders said about the program before its airing. I put them here not to gloat or mock, but for everyone to read and understand.

[source:Fox News]

"If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission," Duane Lammers, General Manager of WTWO in Terre Haute, IN-the first station not to air the program.

"We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family...some of the best shows on TV start with the perception of controversy, which is usually not an issue if it's backed by quality."-
NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly

"anti-Christian bigotry."-American Family Association statement

"the work of an embittered ex-Catholic homosexual."-Bill Donahue, president of The Catholic League.

...said he drew on the emotionally guarded family of his male partner for the series. He said his goal was to depict how "humor and grace" help a flawed man struggle with his faith and family. He said the writers never meant to mock religion or Jesus.-Jack Kenny, creator and writer (paraphrased within text)

...the show portrayed Christ as a "namby-pamby frat boy who basically winks at every sin and perversity under the sun."-Bob Waliszekski, Focus on the Family, director of teen ministries. (again paraphrased within text)

...has read scripts for eight episodes and acknowledged that viewers could take away a troubling message about people of faith, instead of a positive one about overcoming temptation. Still, he said it was "a tremendous opportunity for evangelism for Episcopalians." The Washington Diocese has started a blog to comment on the show and invite discussion.-James Naughton, Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC.

[reality]

American Family Association
Contact: Kathryn Hooks ~ 662-844-5036

For Immediate Release: 1/24/2006

NBC Cancels “Book of Daniel”


(Tupelo, MS) - The American Family Association (AFA) says that NBC’s decision to pull “The Book of Daniel” shows the power of the pocketbook.

“NBC didn’t want to eat their economic losses,” said AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon. “Had NBC not had to eat millions of dollars each time it aired, NBC would have kept ‘Daniel’ alive. But when the sponsors dropped the program, NBC decided it didn’t want to continue the fight.”

According to WorldNetDaily (http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48476), “effective immediately,” the show has been cancelled.

“We want to thank the 678,394 individuals who sent emails to NBC and the thousands who called and emailed their local affiliates,” Wildmon said.

NBC touted the show as a serious drama about Christian people and the Christian faith. It featured Daniel Webster as a drug-addicted Episcopal priest, his alcoholic wife, a very unconventional white-robed, bearded Jesus, a 23-year-old homosexual Republican son, a 16-year-old drug dealing daughter and a 16-year-old adopted son who is having sex with the bishop’s daughter. In the premier episode, Daniel's brother-in-law Charlie ran off with Jesse, his secretary. Later viewers found out that Jesse was also having a lesbian affair with Charlie's wife.

According to media reports, the show was written by Jack Kenny, a practicing homosexual, who described himself as being “in Catholic recovery,” interested in Buddhist teachings about reincarnation, and not sure exactly how he defined God and/or Jesus. “I don't necessarily know that all the myth surrounding him (Jesus) is true,” he said.


American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over two million online supporters.



American Family Association
P.O. Box 2440
Tupelo, MS. 38803

[Conveyor Belt]

Was the last Heavenly show to be successful "Highway to Heaven"?

I tried to watch "Book of Daniel", but found it to be a bit boring. I couldn't get past the first 5 minutes. Wonder when the DVD set comes out?

[wusmmik]

No "Touched By An Angel" was a consistent ratings winner on Sunday nights for CBS during the 90's and "7th Heaven" has been on the WB for 10 seasons and will likely continue in reruns on ABC Family for another 10.

[lamarrebel]

Was the last Heavenly show to be successful "Highway to Heaven"?

I tried to watch "Book of Daniel", but found it to be a bit boring. I couldn't get past the first 5 minutes. Wonder when the DVD set comes out?

I remember Highway to Heaven fairly well. When Victor French, the actor playing "angel" Jonathan's (Michael Landon) buddy died, the show was cancelled. Michael Landon, himself, died of cancer about a year later as I recall. I always remember that you never saw French on that show without his Oakland A's cap on.