A Devilish Daniel Webster

According to this story from Beliefnet, NBC Television has a real treat in store for people interested in religion: their upcoming drama series, The Book of Daniel, is about a married Episcopal priest, Daniel Webster, who is addicted to Vicodin, who is married and has a gay Republican son and a drug-dealing 16-year-old daughter. The American Family Association notes that the priest's secretary is a lesbian who is sleeping with his sister-in-law. Did I mention he also has a 16-year-old adopted son who is sleeping with the bishop's daughter?

The writer for the series, Jack Kenny, who describes himself as a real "spiritual" person, is also a practicing homosexual "in recovery from Catholicism" and studying Buddhist beliefs.

His main character, Daniel Webster, talks to Jesus, who appears to him every now and then in times of great stress. Kenny does "believe in Jesus, but not necessarily "all the myth surrounding him."

NBC purportedly is launching the series in an effort to recover from a fourth-place finish in recent ratings. Since Episcopal parishes led by priests such as Daniel Webster are wildly successful, I think they have the making of a hit.

Speaking of "hits," I note that Kenny says,

"Organized religion is, to me, almost the same organism as the Mafia."

Really? Well, after all, he says,

"It's got its internal politics, it's got rules that it follows, rules that it doesn't follow, who's allowed to do what to who. It's got skeletons in the closet and scandals and all those things. It skirts the law because it can. They do it legitimately, where the Mafia does it illegitimately. I always wanted to explore religion the way 'The Sopranos' explored the Mafia, through the focal lens of a family."

And who says the media is not paying enough attention to religion?

Comments

[Dcn. Michael D. Harmon]

You know, I think I could write several episodes of this series.

[Rev. Scott Stiegemeyer]

Yet another example of how Hollywood is completely out of touch with typical America. While the show sounds ridiculous and possibly blasphemous, it is probably less dangerous overall than other more "family friendly" entertainments. This one is still so over the top, that I think the average viewer will know religion is being jabbed. Movies and programs that are clean-cut and have the gloss of religiosity probably seduce more people away from the particularities of orthodox Christianity.

[Patrick S. Allen+]

Sadly, it looks to me like Hollywood's pretty well in touch with the reality of the Episcopal Church!

[Gayle Miller]

How despicable - and yet somehow predictable! This is, after all, the network that worships and adores Katie Couric. I would suggest organizing a month long boycott of ALL NBC programming. This would drop their numbers and thus the rate they are able to charge advertisers. Get them where they live! And be sure to let them know WHY they are being boycotted.

[Juli]

Sadly, it looks to me like Hollywood's pretty well in touch with the reality of the Episcopal Church

Heck, yeah, all the Episcopal priests I know have gay Republican sons (I think there's even a support group for parents in that situation) - and conservative female bishops.

[RA]

They will probably be showing this in our government schools soon.

[The young fogey]

I predict it will go down the toilet faster than 'Nothing Sacred' and before that 'Soul Man' with Dan Aykroyd (remember that)?

Looks about as realistic a depiction of Episcopalians and their church life as 'JAG' was of military lawyers. (That is, not at all. Both are often rather boring in real life.)

I agree that the funniest thing here is that Hollywood is so out of touch they don't seem to realise that liberal churches are dying.

It's just a lapsed RC's bizarro fantasy and chances are the only things he knows about Episcopalians are what he reads online.

[tbrosz]

Wonder why they didn't call it "The Saviour and Daniel Webster." (Apologies to Stephen Vincent Benet)

[G Cruz]

I quit watching NBC dramas. They are disgusting.

[InJesus'sName]

Yeah, like Desperate Housewives, no one will watch that smut. Or Sex In The City. Or the "f-cking" Sopranos! When will you liars admit you are a part of this world, and publicly act disgusted, only to indulge in private? Pharisees.

Gee, I wonder why, despite being a majority, (as you like to rub in) you can't control television to your desires. Sure, Hollywood tries, with things like Seventh Heaven or Touched by an Angel, but nobody watches it! Even christian networks and programs like the 700 club need donations to stay on air. Because they can't compete for mindshare, even amongst the holiest among you. Just not sexy enough...?

I promise, like Desperate Housewives, this TV show will be red state dinner conversation.

[Tony Esolen]

In Jesus' Name, whoever you are:

Didn't your grandma ever tell you to keep a civil tongue in your head?

A lot of the bloggers on this site do not have TV in their homes, partly because it's a waste of time (I should say, a boring waste of time), and partly for the same reason why you wouldn't want to open an air duct from your living room to the sewage treatment plant. Others, like my family, have a TV and use it for watching videos of old movies and The Twilight Zone.

I've never seen Desperate Housewives. I've never seen Survivor or The Apprentice or American Idolatry or any of their clones, though I'm aware of their existence. Once, ten years ago, I saw an episode of Seinfeld. It was mildly amusing. Once, four years ago, I saw ten minutes of an episode of Friends, while waiting for a Cardinals-Braves ballgame that had been delayed by rain. It was utterly unfunny and frankly appalling. Nobody in my family has watched a network produced show, regularly, since about 1992, when we threw The Simpsons overboard. Or maybe it was Law and Order, a few years later. Nobody in this house has seen the Sopranos -- can't even tell you what cable channel produced it. I have an idea of what Ray Romano looks like, but can't tell you a thing about his show. My father-in-law watches JAG, and I have to put up with it when I'm visiting, but even that makes me want to throw something through the screen. He also likes reruns of something sickeningly PC about a gal doctor in Oregon in the 1800's who whips up herbal remedies like an Indian and does therapeutic massage on the side. I have to leave the room when that comes on and take a dose of Pepto Bismol -- never could stand tripe.

So we won't be talking about Daniel Webster in my house. My kids won't even know it exists. That doesn't make us virtuous people. But it does free up a lot of time. So my son can work on computers, and my daughter can teach herself Swedish, and my wife can run events for homeschoolers, and I can sit at the piano and amuse my own ears if nobody else's. It frees up time for reading Milton, or for building a rabbit hutch, or for baking pies, or for talking to people you live with. It frees up time for life. I like life, and recommend it without reservation.

[Joe Long]

Wow. They really don't believe we EXIST, do they?! "Everyone" must watch "The Sopranos!" And "Desperate Housewives!" Otherwise...why...why, someone DOESN'T watch, and that would be just...why, I can't IMAGINE what that would be!

Sorry; I'm dimly aware of many "must-see" entertainment creations, only because of the discussions they generate elsewhere...and what I pick up second-hand, very rarely generates any feeling that I'm denying myself any pleasures at all. Dude, do you know any vegetarians who really don't eat meat? I mean, who don't even really WANT to eat meat; who actually sicken at the sight of it? Who don't sneak out for a Big Mac? We're sort of like them.

[newton]

Can't stand Desperate Ho-usewives. Don't watch reruns of sitcoms. In fact, the TV at home is quite the show... for DVDs and the news, maybe...

But in general, the idiot box is ignored. I'd rather spend my time reading books... and blogs. Besides, there's time in the treadmill that I have to do for at least one hour a day, so... Crank up the radio and go!

[newton]

Besides, how much do you want to bet that series makes it through the first six episodes?

I'm willing to say that it will be cancelled after the first three or four viewings. It will be our way to show NBC that they better put something we like, for a change.

[susan]

When Hollywood offers Nationalized Entertainment then maybe I will show some interest in the products they offers.

[Tim Smith]

This excerpt from the January '06 newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona suggest that Episcopalians are already smitten.

NBC drama series features life of an Episcopal priest
The pilot for the new series was shot in Pasadena, Calif., at All Saints Episcopal Church to the great delight of the congregation. "How cool is it that a progressive Episcopal priest has a shot at being a prime-time drama protagonist," says the Rev. Susan Russell, associate rector. "How surprising might it be to many who tune in to find out there actually is a church where women can be bishops - clergy can be human - and there's enough good news around to extend to everybody?"

For those who may have missed it, All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena is threatened with loss of its tax-exempt status because of a sermon titled, "If Jesus debated Sen. Kerry and President Bush." In this sermon the former rector opined that, "The Religious Right has drowned out everyone else. Now the faith of Jesus has come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war and pro-American." The new rector, in response to the IRS investigation, wrote: "There must be no fear of incrimination that a value-filled sermon will be subjectively deemed to be a partisan-filled endorsement."