Book of Daniel, 1/13

[Skammer]

I was underwhelmed by Daniel last week, but I had planned to give it another chance. Besides, as an Episcopalian I sort of got a kick out of how the church is portrayed.

However, it doesn't look like I'll have the opportunity: Channel 4 (Nashville) pulls 'Book of Daniel' (http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/ENTERTAINMENT12/601130404) Apparently they got so many complaints last week their voice mailbox was overloaded and shut down.

I symapthize with the folks who found the pilot offensive - I can see their point - but I'd rather confront the show than have it pulled. Unless another station in our market picks it up, I'll just have to rely on TWOP recaps -- and the Dope! So let me know what you think about tonight's show.

[Max Carnage]

I was underwhelmed by Daniel last week, but I had planned to give it another chance. Besides, as an Episcopalian I sort of got a kick out of how the church is portrayed.

However, it doesn't look like I'll have the opportunity: Channel 4 (Nashville) pulls 'Book of Daniel' (http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/ENTERTAINMENT12/601130404) Apparently they got so many complaints last week their voice mailbox was overloaded and shut down.

I symapthize with the folks who found the pilot offensive - I can see their point - but I'd rather confront the show than have it pulled. Unless another station in our market picks it up, I'll just have to rely on TWOP recaps -- and the Dope! So let me know what you think about tonight's show.

Say what? Well crap, I just saw it on my digital cable guide last night, and I had it set to record. Why do Nashvillians hate Jesus?

[Poonther]

Wow I'm very surprised that a market as large as Nashvile would ban this show. It is the 30th largest TV market in the country. I thought that Nashville was a little more progressive than this, after all your metro area is over 1 million people.

[FriarTed]

I hate stations doing that in response to calls/letters, especially from those who haven't seen the show but are on some pressure-group bandwagon. However,
if these were actual offended viewers, and if sponsor-pullouts actually cost them money, then I can't blame them.

[Rushgeekgirl]

Just watched tonight's episode and I enjoyed it more than last week.
It's just a cute show; not offensive at all to my Christiany-goodness

[AuntiePam]

I liked it too. Funny how Daniel's sermon could be applied to all the story lines. Even Grace and Yoda, with just a teensy stretch.

I'm terrible with names. Who played the guy who married his son's ex-wife?

[Otto]

Did anything actually happen that we didn't already know about last week?

[Hippy Hollow]

Ugh. Last week was pretty cool but the characters are so one-dimensional. Look! The daughter's a rebel! The son's a closet case to his grandpa! The mom's a society scion who is thwarted by her evil mom! The mom's sister is an insecure lesbian! The adopted son's girlfriend's family are racists! The Black maid is the voice of morality and reason (when she's not smoking the daughter's weed)!

They're going to have to add some depth to these folks to keep me watching.

[fiddlesticks]

I'm terrible with names. Who played the guy who married his son's ex-wife?

Just spent about fifteen minutes trying to figure that out myself...that was David "Sledge Hammer!" Rasche. My first guess was Matt "Max Headroom" Frewer, but my second guess was right. IMDB doesn't have a very accurate guest star listing for Book of Daniel, but he was in the guest star credits at the beginning.

[t-bonham@scc.net]

Apparently they got so many complaints last week their voice mailbox was overloaded and shut down. Didn't shut down; it just filled up.

With 137 complaints. Seems like an awfully small voicemail for a TV station in a metro area of that size. Maybe they'd just prefer not to have to deal with customer complaints.

Given that it was the number-1 rated show in Nashville for that time slot, I hope NBC offers it to the other stations in the city. Probably one of them would be glad to pick it up.

[AuntiePam]

Just spent about fifteen minutes trying to figure that out myself...that was David "Sledge Hammer!" Rasche.

Thank you!

A friend who lives near Houston says her station didn't show the second episode. She asked if what was on the show that was so insulting to Christians, and I was sorry to tell her "Nothing". Looks like her station caved to pressure too.

I agree with Hippy Hollow that the characters don't have much depth. I'm okay with that, for this show. It's a nice comedy (or dramedy) that doesn't insult with overly precocious kids, stupid parents, and double entendres that I'd be embarrassed to explain to my grandkids. It's also okay that I've seen these characters before.

It's a relaxing hour of TV, with good acting and some funny bits, and family interaction that won't require counseling for the kids later on.

[foolsguinea]

I was going to be away from home last friday night, & had to choose whether to tape Daniel or inJustice. I chose inJustice on the belief that Daniel would be rerun on Saturday night, which of course it wasn't. So this was my introduction to the show.

The goomba bro's were cute, as was Yoda. In general, I appreciate the attempt to portray a minister whose family isn't perfect.

And my opinion of religious leaders who object to any portrayal of religion in pop culture not personally vetted by them is very very low.

Ah, I remember the brouhaha over God, the Devil, & Bob. grrr-argh.

[carnivorousplant]

Our NBC affilliate dropped it, but the WB station carries it.
My tape machine didn't go off 1/13.
Anyone interested in trading DVDs or tapes?
Thanks.

[jsgoddess]

When the episode ended, I said to my husband, "It's Desperate Housewives, but in a church in the suburbs instead of a lane."

I think the show is fairly amusing. As a person with no belief in Jesus, I can't figure out why Jesus is supposed to be so "demeaning" to some people's faiths. He seems pretty unobjectionable to me, but maybe I just don't get it.

Daniel's sons amuse me, though I hate teen love stories. The gay son is great, and I laughed at loud when he bought La Cage tickets. Or was that last week?

Oh well. I won't miss it if it's canceled, but I'll watch it while it's on. Aidan Quinn is eminently watchable.

[Skammer]

I think some are offended by Jesus because he is too ... I don't know; affirming, I guess. Not stern enough; not serious enough, I suppose. Folks, it's a TV show. Didn't we learn from MST3K that we should really just relax?

I didn't think it was all that great last week but I now I'm mad that I couldn't see it again to complain some more. :mad: Plus I like Father Frank.

Did Daniel get his $3 million back? Did we find out who killed his BIL?

[AuntiePam]

Did Daniel get his $3 million back? Did we find out who killed his BIL?

The money back? Sort of. The Catholic priest helped find it. I don't remember if it was explained very thoroughly, or maybe I just wasn't paying close attention. "The mob" has the money. They won't give it back, but they will build Daniel's school. Only catch is Daniel has to use a mob-connected construction company.

Didn't the BIL die of a heart attack during sex with the secretary? I remember a line about orifices.

[Khampelf]

I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but I went out of my way to catch the second episode of this show, after seeing the Pilot last week. It reminds me of a slightly edgier version of Seventh Heaven, a show an ex gf watched that I would see if I happened to be over. It was Seventh Heaven that had the Camden family, with the father a pastor of some sort, right?

Anyway, this show passed the SLK picky TV test. I love the sarcastic Jesus.

[Hung Mung]

I'd like to chip in this for those surprised that Channel 4 pulled that show: I interned there not too long ago and I can attest to the number of outraged people who will call the station and gladly curse at anyone over any mildly offensive thing. Some folks make it a habit to call the news stations and just rip any poor shmuck who happens to answer their call. Haven't seen the show itself, but if it deviates very much from traditional views of Christianity and Jesus it's going to get shot down and quick.

[Amaranta]

I like Aidan Quinn. I like the wife. I like sarcastic Jesus. I like the gay brother.

The wife's sister, the daughter and the adopted son are simply annoying. The Hey! It's that Guy! guy who plays somebody at the church (and whose daughter is sleeping with adopted son) is annoying, and his wife is a bitch. I wanted to smack each and everyone of these characters.

The characters are a little one-dimensional, and the episodes are kind of heavy on plot, but I appreciate the episodes not having one big "message", which keeps it from being like Seventh Heaven-ish tripe.

I'll probably keep watching.

[ltfire]

If you are a fan of ‘Deadwood’, you should recognize that the part of ‘Jesus’ is played by the mental defective cowboy who got off on carving up prostitutes with a very large knife.. :eek:

[Sampiro]

However, it doesn't look like I'll have the opportunity: Channel 4 (Nashville) pulls 'Book of Daniel' (http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060113/ENTERTAINMENT12/601130404) Apparently they got so many complaints last week their voice mailbox was overloaded and shut down.

I didn't see the show, but in Montgomery AL where my mother lives the local NBC affiliate, WSFA, set up a line to take viewers comments on the show. They intentionally delayed taking calls until 9 pm, because they didn't want comments from people who hadn't seen any of it. Unfortunately Christian activists blocked the phone lines (http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060107/NEWS/601070348/1001). Ah... the power of Christ compelled them.

[D-bear]

Well it looks as if NBC has KILLED (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060125/ap_on_en_tv/tv_book_of_daniel) Daniel. Too bad too. I really liked this one, although I guess I'm in the minority.

[betenoir]

Well, whatever happened the "Christians" are congradulating themselve on it...

(Sorry I don't have a link, I'm cutting and pasting from another site that didn't have a link.)



"NBC's anti-Christian program The Book of Daniel has been cancelled! Your efforts, combined with those of hundreds of thousands of other AFA Online supporters, had an impact.

NBC's decision to pull The Book of Daniel shows the power of the pocketbook. NBC didn't want to eat their economic losses. Had NBC not had to eat millions of dollars each time it aired, NBC would have kept The Book of Daniel on the air. Because of your efforts, the sponsors dropped the program. NBC then decided it didn't want to continue the fight.

Even an impassioned plea by Daniel's producer Jack Kenny could not match your participation. "Ordinarily, I would never ask anyone to do this, but the AFA and bullies like them are hard at work to try and prevent you from seeing these beautiful shows, and that is censorship—pure and simple. And that is both un-Christian and un-American," Kenny wrote. His attitude is typical in today’s society. Non-Christians telling Christians what is Christian.

People like Kenny don't want people like you to have a voice. They want to deny you the right to get involved. You are supposed to sit back and take the trash. And when you do speak up they call you names.

This shows us that we don't have to simply sit back and take the trash, but we can get involved and fight back with our pocketbooks. I want to thank the 678,394 individuals who sent emails to NBC and the thousands who called and emailed their local affiliates.

Thanks for caring enough to get involved!

Sincerely,

Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association"

[AuntiePam]

I don't care that it's cancelled, but I don't like the AFA taking credit for it.

I thought the first two hours were pretty good, but halfway through the 4th hour (the 3rd week), I gave up. Daniel's wife was going to be working with an old boyfriend, without even telling Daniel, and they're supposed to be so close.

The adopted son was sneaking around with his girlfriend, the teenage daughter was wearing a silly costume and working at a mall (never saw that before), and one of the mob guys was confessing to Daniel that he was gay and asking "Does God hate me?"

Disappointing.

[Larry Mudd]

Well, whatever happened the "Christians" are congradulating themselve on it...I have a feeling that people like me are more responsible. I tuned in for the first episode but didn't watch more than twenty minutes of it because the acting was poor and the writing was trite and cliched.

Someone told me that I'd missed a great show, so I gave it another chance the next week. Again, it didn't hold my attention.

It certainly didn't offend me. Hell, Father Ted is one of my favourite shows. I even have plenty of tolerance for actual blasphemy if it's witty. I don't recall ever being put off by progressive social themes.

One thing I can't stand, however, is third-rate television.

Dobson can pat himself on the back until he's as sore as a flagellant. He's as delusional as the ant at the elephant under the coconut tree.