How Come There Aren't Any Christian TV Shows?

[Opus1]

DavisMcDavis wrote:

I remember being so bored during church sermons that I resorted to reading the Bible, of all things, where I came acrosss Judges 19. Now there’s a Bible chapter that would make a hit TV show…maybe it’s not so hopeless after all.

I think a TV show based on the Bible would be great entertainment. Unfortunately, I doubt a lot of Christians would care for it. It would also have to be rated TV-M, for all the sex, violence, and language.

How about these for some good episodes?

Sodom and Gomorrah:
A man offers his virgin daughters to a crowd of would-be angel-rapers, only to be seduced by them later while in a drunken stupor.

Dinah and the Hivites:
After Dinah is raped, the Israelites trick the Hivites into circumcising themselves. Two days later, while still in pain from this procedure, they are attacked by the Israelites and killed.

Samson:
The judge Samson is seduced by a prostitute into revealing the secret of his great strength, only to come back later and kill a bunch of Philistines in his final act.

The Amalekites who just won’t die:
Saul kills all of the Amalekites. Then David kills them all again. But, somehow, they just don’t die, and return to invade Israel again.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be a drama. We could do comedy as well:

How much for that one?
An episode where various Biblical figures bemoan how much they paid for a wife. David’s wife cost 200 foreskins; Hosea’s is 15 pieces of silver and half a homer of barley; Jacob gets by far the worst deal, having to work for Laban for 14 years to get his two wives.

Who’s she again?
Hilarity ensues when an elderly and forgetful Solomon keeps mistaking his wives for each other.

What did he look like?
Moses refuses to describe what God looks like to the curious Israelites, despite repeated requests. He is finally forced to admit that he never actually saw God’s face, only a divine mooning. He is teased mercilessly about this in the years to come.

Or how about a Fox-style reality special? “Jesus’ Biggest Magic Tricks Revealed!” Walking on water, feeding the multitudes, coming back from the dead–If you don’t want to know how these tricks are done, turn the channel now!

[Keeve]

Do none of you people watch Seventh Heaven??? I’m really curious what the rest of you think about it, and I’ve gotten zero feedback on it.

[Ms2001]

I want to know why there are no going to the bathroom TV shows. It seems like every time we see the characters, they’re talking or advancing the plot somehow, never in the john! Why are they discriminating against the entire population of the US?

[SkeptiJess]

Freyr: Just for a silly-a$$ idea, how about if neither gets “converted” in any sense, but they all learn something about tolerance and acceptance, and human caring, from the ordeal? Now there’s a controversial story line!

Controversial nothing, Polycarp – it’s downright unbelievable! Tolerance and acceptance? Vampires and space aliens are just so much more believable! :rolleyes: Actually, I kind of liked your idea, Poly – well scripted and acted it has the makings of a good show.

[Ben]

*Originally posted by Mojo *
**If you want a major character in a show who repeatedly professes his belief in God, there’s always the Flanders on the Simpsons, “Touched by an Angel”, **

For that matter, the Simpsons are all Christian, as were all members of the bridge crew of the Enterprise on the original ST. (Against the express wishes of Roddenberry, incidentally.)

Why are you complaining about TV shows? Isn’t the Presidency enough for you people?

-Ben

[ricksummon]

ALL the members of the bridge crew on Star Trek were Christian? Even Spock?! Call me crazy, but I never saw him play any gospel tunes on that Vulcan harp of his.

[evilbeth]

*Originally posted by Polycarp *
**Freyr: Just for a silly-a$$ idea, how about if neither gets “converted” in any sense, but they all learn something about tolerance and acceptance, and human caring, from the ordeal?

Now there’s a controversial story line! **

But, with all due respect, Polycarp, if the show is basically just about how all these people live together, then how is it more of a Christian show than any of these others that have been mentioned? Basically, it would just be a show with a bunch of different people doing what they can to get along in this crazy world.

Now, if the show were to always have the Christian families come out on top at the end of the hour with the other non-Christian families having learned a good lesson from the teachings of the Lord, then I could see it being touted as a specifically “Christain” show. Otherwise, it just becomes a non-religious/non-denominational family-type show.

[MattTheCroc]

I was watching re-runs last night, and it turns out Becker (from the show “Becker” surprisingly enough) is implied to be atheistic. When he’s feeling a little down after a patient dies, his receptionist mentions that she “has a bible in her top drawer” and she asks if he’d like to read it. He says no, because then he’d “be one of those people who read the bible” and follows up to say how the booze in his top drawer fulfills the same function. A bit later he says he envies his receptionist and her religious ways. Pretty heavily implied, IMO.

[Keeve]

*Originally posted by Ben *
For that matter, the Simpsons are all Christian, as were all members of the bridge crew of the Enterprise on the original ST. (Against the express wishes of Roddenberry, incidentally.)

Roddenberry wanted no mention of any earthly religion in the original Star Trek, and that is exactly what he got. The original series even had a wedding on one episode, and they pulled it off without mentioning any deity of any kind. Have you any cite for where Christianity was invoked?

[John_Corrado]

Have you any cite for where Christianity was invoked?

Well, there was that awful “Sun God” episode.

[John_Kentzel-Griffin]

*Originally posted by ***Polycarp **
Try this story concept, then.
<snip>
[li]Teenage boy from one family is dating girl from another. She gets pregnant. Abortion question. Concern, support, moral issues from neighbors.[/li]

I like this idea. Should Joe dump is girl friend? Since this is television there has to be a happy ending: Joe sticks by his girl friend when she tells him she is still a virgin.
Next week’s episode: When is myrhh an appropriate gift for a baby shower?

[Kamino_Neko]

*Originally posted by MattTheCroc *
I was watching re-runs last night, and it turns out Becker (from the show “Becker” surprisingly enough) is implied to be atheistic.

More than implied. He states it outright, several times over the course of the series.

Notably in one episode where he has an argument with a (Catholic) priest about God vs Doctors in saving peoples lives.

[Shodan]

If it helps any…

An article in the St.Paul Pioneer Press (sorry, don’t have the cite) covered an interview with the creators of the ‘Touched by an Angel’ series. In it, the writers mentioned that the network executives (not sure if this is the censorship department or what) specifically forbid the use of Jesus’ name on the series. So ‘Touched by an Angel’ is more genericly Judaeo-Christian, non-specific religious than explicitly Christian.

In another article, the creators of the ‘Veggie Tales’ series mentioned the pressure put upon them by the networks to remove specific mentions of God in favor of what the networks refer to as ‘life lessons’. The creators of ‘Veggie Tales’ are self-identified Christians, and mentioned that they didn’t see any point to the series if no mention of God was going to be made.

FWIW, I saw a ‘Veggie Tales’ Christmas special which was explicitly Christian in the same way that the Peanuts TV special run every year is explicitly Christian (Charles Schultz was also a self-identified Christian, at least when the special was created in the 1960s). A character in both specials retells the story of Jesus’ birth as it appears in the gospel of Luke. The point of the ‘Veggie Tales’ special is mostly that ‘Jesus is the reason for the season’.

I did NOT see the ‘Veggie Tales’ Christmas special on PBS, but on a local station owned by a Christian.

[quentin_crispbread]

I can see it now…“Christ!”,the sitcom.Starring Tom Sellack as the careworn savior,and the jolly japes he gets up to.Also starring Jennifer Love-Hewwitt as the sexy Mary Magdalene and Danny DeVito as the wisecracking mischevious Judas…from the same team that brought you “Caroline in the vatican”

[andros]

Charles Schultz was also a self-identified Christian, at least when the special was created in the 1960s

Actually, it was thanks to Linus’s speech at the Christmas pageant that I memorized the text of Luke’s Christmas story. I can still hear his voice any old time I want to, saying "And there were in that country shepherds, abiding in the fields . . "

Awfully Christian show, that.

[Wildest_Bill]

Originally posted by Shodan:

An article in the St.Paul Pioneer Press (sorry, don’t have the cite) covered an interview with the creators of the ‘Touched by an Angel’ series. In it, the writers mentioned that the network executives (not sure if this is the censorship department or what) specifically forbid the use of Jesus’ name on the series.

And…

In another article, the creators of the ‘Veggie Tales’ series mentioned the pressure put upon them by the networks to remove specific mentions of God in favor of what the networks refer to as ‘life lessons’.

See I knew “Christians” were being discriminated against by the big honchos at the networks. I mean they don’t mind raking in the money from the sponsors of “Touched by Angel”(since the show does so well) but they in their “contract” no less forbids that a show about angels from God sent here to do his work can not mention Christ. This is bull. Veggie Tales does the same thing. You have to be blind not to see a pattern here. I think every Christian should boycott the TV networks. I mean just stop watching the trash. Then viewership would decline and advertisers would move their advertising dollars somewhere else.

[Keeve]

Originally posted by Wildest Bill *
they in their “contract” no less forbids that a show about angels from God sent here to do his work can not mention Christ. … I think every Christian should boycott the TV networks.*

The charter of the Straight Dope is to fight ignorance. I have come to you today to be enlightened. No, I’m not being sarcastic.

I can understand why a Christian would prefer that a tv show should speak about Jesus. But Wildest Bill sounds offended that Jesus is excluded from the show. Well, I can understand being offended somewhat, but offended to the point of calling for a boycott sounds extreme to me.

Jesus is one member (is that the right term?) of the Trinity. But so is God. Is it so terrible that the show mentions God but does not mention Jesus? If a show is more generically “religious” than specifically “Christian”, okay, it would not be your first choice, but is it something to complain about?

I am very serious here. This Jew would like to understand Wildest Bill’s perspective better. Did those angels ever do something that was frowned upon by Christianity? It’s not like they ever prayed in a synagogue or mosque, is it? They didn’t ever deny Jesus, did they? so what’s the problem?

[Wildest_Bill]

Keeve,

Now this where me(being a Christian)and you(being a Jew) are going to differ a little do to our beliefs. See I believe Jesus is a very important part of the trinity and you don’t. So the network forbidding to have “Christ” mentioned bothers me and other Christians more than it would bother you. Because in a Christian’s belief Christ is an integral(sp) part of our belief about God. Kinda of like having a show about cars but leaving out the motor.

[Ben]

*Originally posted by John Corrado *
**

Have you any cite for where Christianity was invoked?

Well, there was that awful “Sun God” episode. **

Precisely!

Anyway, it’s a little surprising that no one (AFAICT) has pointed out the real problem with WildestBill’s question:

‘Christians are such a powerful majority, why don’t the networks make shows that talk about the struggles Christians face as a persecuted minority? You know, like the struggles of being a Christian at work? I guess it’s just because the networks don’t care about us persecuted minorities, no matter how numerous we are or how much disposable income we have.’

The real question is, why do things so often turn lame when Christianity is introduced, like B.C. or Davey and Goliath?

-Ben

[Kimstu]

Wildest Bill said: *See I knew “Christians” were being discriminated against by the big honchos at the networks. I mean they don’t mind raking in the money from the sponsors of “Touched by Angel”(since the show does so well) but they in their “contract” no less forbids that a show about angels from God sent here to do his work can not mention Christ. This is bull. *

Just one caveat, Bill: according to Jews and Muslims, of course, “angels from God sent here to do his work” have nothing whatever to do with Christ, and that’s not “bull” at all. (Same probably holds for other groups like Baha’i, but I don’t have a complete list of theistic angel-accepting non-Christian faiths handy. :))

And as for “discrimination,” remember that this is all about the sponsors. I sympathize with your indignation that Christ should somehow be a “taboo” topic on a network show, but I seriously doubt that this is the result of some powerful conspiracy of non-Christian or anti-Christian network executives who are out to “discriminate” against Christians. They forbid the writers to mention Christ simply because they fear it will turn off the audience and the sponsors will be mad at them. If they thought mentioning Christ would increase viewership, on the other hand, they’d be sticking his name in every other sentence: a character wouldn’t so much as open a jar of peanut butter without first asking for Jesus’s aid in his efforts.

So here’s a question for you, Bill: why, in this country where some 85% of the population identifies itself as “Christian”, are advertisers and market researchers so convinced that mentioning Christ explicitly in a television show will turn off viewers? Are they just massively deluded or over-timid, or is it true that most of that 85% just isn’t interested in hearing about Christ on network TV? If not, why not? Is it because many people with some exposure to churchgoing and sermons associate the mention of Christ with stuff that is tedious, boring, and preachy?

I agree that a well-designed and well-written show on Christian themes could overcome this distaste: look how “The West Wing” seems to have triumphed over most people’s distaste for hearing about politics. But I think that the basic distaste is out there in the audience, not just in the minds of the producers, and that’s why they’re trying to avoid the issue.