I thought it was a pretty genial, sympathetic show about the good parts of The Bible. You know, the forgiving parts. It upsets me to think that in this battle of fundamentalism in which we're now embroiled, the one truism seems to be that God can't have a sense of humor. (I mean, really, the giraffe and the platypus and New Jersey to the contrary.)
Aidan Quinn's a very likable actor who carries off the part of a troubled and overwhelmed clergyman with aplomb. His talks with Jesus play not quite as santimoniously as on Joan of Arcadia, which is probably a good thing.
It actually put me in mind of The Last Temptation of Christ a little bit. Long after my faith had started to flag and wane, seeing that movie revived things a bit. After years of having Christ's divinity pounded into you, the portrayal of his humanity did a whole lot more to make me appreciate the m
ysteries of my faith than Mel Gibson's violent porn show ever could.Now that the right wing wack jobs have total control in the USA, (but still get to whine like someone's actually trying to take stuff away from them) I think the values embedded in shows like The Book of Daniel could provide a tonic. If NBC doesn't cave in, all afraid, that is.
Although, gotta admit, seeing Garret Dillahunt (left, with Aidan Quinn) as Jesus is weird after being creeped out by him all through Deadwood's season two.
Historically, Daniel Webster was the best President the United States never had. A man famous for compromise, who got things moving and solved through finding a middle ground. That strikes me as a very good quality for a man of faith, and a very rare quality in the public discourse today.
And let's not forget that in literature, Daniel Webster out-argued the Devil.
Hope he gets the chance to do the same on NBC. But I shant hold my breath.
UPDATE: for another take (negative) on the show -- but refreshingly, not a crazy (or unfair) one -- check out Salon's review by the Real Live Preacher.
2 comments:
I don't see this show lasting very long. Most shows with religious themes get cancelled eg. Joan of Arcadia, Wonderfalls.
I liked it, but not as much as I wanted to. I wanted it to be The Best Thing Ever, just to spite the protestors. Maybe this is sacreligious, but it reminded me a bit of Desperate Housewives, which I could never get into - a bit too much going on, a bit too over the top. It did OK in ratings but not great, and NBC is calling it a "limited series" now, so yeah, not holding my breath on a next season.
An Episcopalian diocese has a blog about the show (www.blogofdaniel.com) where there's support and reasoned debate about it. Kind of cool, since it's their denomination being portrayed. Sort of.
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