THE BOOK OF DANIEL who saw it?

[Marty]

I really am not sure what to think about it just yet. I don't think the whole concept of the new TV series sunk in quite yet.

Ok let's see: He's a priest that pops pills. Not sure why. I think they calm him down. He does share them with the Bishop who is a female. His father is also a Bishop and his mother has alzeheimers so his father is doing the female Bishop on the side.

One son is adopted Chinese boy who is doing this girl left and right throughout the show but her parents don't like it because he is Chinese and want to break them up.

The other son is gay.

The daughter sells pot to get money for things she doesn't want to ask her parents for. She get busted, does community service picking up trash on a road gang and makes friends with a computer hacker who pirates stuff on the net. She gets her to pirate her some things she needs and sells her pot too in exchange for some programs. She still has a stash.

The wife is just strange and loves sex on Fridays which is their appointed sex night.

The brother in law stole $3 million dollars from the church fund to build thier new school and ran off with his sexretary and left his wife. Had a heart attack in Florida naked and no money was found. But the sexretary and his widow now we find out are part of thier former threesome.

Our priest goes to his friend who is the pastor of a Catholic Church to get him to call his friends in the mafia to find the missing 3 million bucks. The Catholic priest comes though. The mafia finds the money but won't tell our priest where it is unless he hires them to build the new school.

Meanwhile we have Jesus who appears to our priest at random times and does want our priest to please stop popping those pills. He doesn't really say much. Mostly one liners, but He does talk to our priest and is there for him but just doesn't say too much about nothing and allows our priest to talk things out but mostly wants him to be able to work things out for himself.

It's amazing but for some reason I just don't find this show terribly offensive or a real mockery but mostly rather trashy.

I think the show is a little bit over the edge. I think it could have actually worked very well if they didn't have to use a Church, any Church for it's homebase. I think it would have been done much better in a dysfunctional family setting and not have to use a religious theme for it at all.

Living here in the "Bible Belt" we have many people outraged and making an effort to get it off of our local TV Station out of Chattanooga and boycotting it.

 

[minimama]

I was really looking forward to seeing this show. I thought it was such a great concept. Wrong! I won't watch it again. Goes against anything I want in my life or want my children to learn. They had a great chance to make a wonderful show with some terrific talent and blew it big time.

My opinion for what it is worth.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Thanks for the heads up, Marty, this is one show I can do without!!

Anyone else getting really tired of all the "aliens among the end of the world is nigh" series, whilst we are on the subject of junky shows???

 

[Robin1]

There are several small stations that are refusing to show it.

Why don't they make movies like they used to, when people actually had to act. No special effects. When sitting in the livingroom with the whole family to watch tv, you didn't have to worry that something questionable might come on.

Why is there such a need to "shock" people? :no:

I think I'm getting old.

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Robin

 

[KrisP]

Awww, now see I LOVED it, but then I read a bit about it beforehand so knew what to expect. I wasn't watching it from a religious aspect at all, but as a rather dark humor. The sense of humor of Daniel is a LOT like my husbands and the conversations he had with Jesus were actually kind of enlightening.

Then again I've been an Aidan Quinn fan for years and he fit the character to a T. C'mon, I'm a desparate housewifes fan too.

No, I wouldn't be friends with the the people in the show, but get a chuckle at the facade that they TRY to carry on in their lives.

It could also be that I knew the young pastor in our church really well in my younger days and saw the trials and tribulations she had to go through in her position, our church was rather "stuffy" and they ended up driving her out. :no:

I'll watch again,

krisp

 

[jdomep]

I wasn't offended at all - I just viewed it like you would a soap opera. I laughed a few times - but like Krisp said I enjoy that dark humor. It is not going to be top of my list but I would watch again if I have time.

 

[Horsefeathers]

A lot of people wrote and called into our local station & NBC and got it cancelled here. The articles I read about it said the show portrayed the "average american family" and even read some that said they couldn't understand why everyone was so upset... it was about religion! From what I read from Marty... that is NOT the average family... I don't really feel like getting on a soapbox this morning, but do we really need another show like that on the air? I know lots of average families (including mine) and what it portrays is not them... at all! Maybe I too am getting old, but what happened to good morales and "feel good" shows... These are just my opinions... no nasty e-mails or flames please... I wouldn't let my son watch it.... :no:

Chris

 

[Marty]

OK Now I slept on it. No, I am not insulted. I come from a strict Catholic upbringing however and know that my pastors didn't pop pills but shared a few beers with my dad on the boat quite a few times, and there was always a big uproar about the way funds were handled in our Church by everyone. I can relate to that.

I think I would have liked it better if there were a whole lot more Jesus scenes in it.

HE didn't say enough in my opinion.

HE wasn't quoting bible quotes or anything like that and seemed to me to be sitting on the fence so-to-speak when I was hoping HE would come right on out and say a few more lines where I felt they were needed. I was anxious to hear from HIM but I felt let down.

I would have wanted HIM to say more about the things that were going on, show a little bit of disapproval, and I feel HIS appearences were very limited and I really wanted to see and hear more from HIM.

But when things were happening, instead of giving HIS opinion and guidence, HIS only advice was "leave it alone" "let it play out and see what happens" and HE was very vague, and cool and calm.

This is no different from any other trashy soap opera and actually things going on with those characters are very real and happen in a lot of real life families. Stealing, extortion, hormonal teenagers, cheating spouses, cyberspace pirating, the mob, and selling dope. All real. But this show does it all! Are there no nice characters besides the pastor himself? If they are going to include Jesus in this show, then they need HIM to appear and do what we want and expect HIM to do, and that means SPEAK TO US.

 

[keeperofthehorses]

We had it on last night, but it wasn't good enough to distract us much from the game of Canasta that we had going (I finally won one). When the priest said "G.D." both of us looked up, looked at each other and you could just tell we were thinking the same thing. "Right, a priest would say that." I do have to say that all of the 'Dysfunctional Family' shows make us feel better about our own lives. LOL

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[lyn_j]

[SIZE=18pt]I didnt even watch it because I had seen the previews and I guess to me it made light of Jesus and put him in a persona that He doesnt deserve. Also I consider my family the average american family and the one on the TV is really screwed up.... Dont much like soap operas either ..... No one I know has as many problems and crisis like on TV.[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[ShawneeCreek]

The acting sucked, the story line was too typical and predictable, and Jesus was just plain boring....I didn't see any humor dark or light

: The family dinners were the worst scenes shown.

 

[KrisP]

Like I said, maybe it's just my dark sense of humor, but I liked it

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But then I grew up in a very similiar type of environment and am from one of "those" families that puts the fun in dysfunctional, lol. I've got a brother that has converted to Catholocism (sp??) and their priest was recently in rehab and it wasn't for alcohol. I watched "deals" between the parents who were judges, the owner of the local paper, teachers, coaches and owners of businesses in town, ministers and their kids etc, oh, and I was the mayors kid through most of it, lol.

I am much more open to any and all religious views than many I know and thought most of the advice given was not bad, heck I think that whoever/whatever created us HAS to have a sense of humor, look at us. And yep, even heard a minister say GD on more than one occasion, lol, a ROWDY youth group CAN test the limits!

I actually was laughing last night at the wife, she could have been a LOT of the wives in this town when I was young

Hmm, I also grew up between two very strict Catholic families that REALLY rolled their eyes at us (we were "those Lutherans") next door.

I took it light heartedly and know it isn't supposed to be all about religion, it's a show to try to take on other shows and up the ratings. I'm sure it won't make it past this initial run but I'll get a laugh out of it for now.

Krisp

 

[minimama]

No, it isn't about religion, but, since when did drug addiction, drug dealing, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, adultery, and alcoholism (wife) become humor?

This is the reason I do not find anything cute or funny in this show. And by the way, this is not actually an example of dark humor either. Dark humor I like!

I adore Aidan Quinn!! I love Desperate Housives too (Speaking of dark humor). But the acting in this was poor, the storylines did not flow and it was not funny to me at all. And the character of Jesus in the show did not fit what those of us that know Jesus, know he would be like. Not that he would quote scripture, but, he would also not have just sat there while the priest counseled a couple that had come in for pre-marital counseling, and the preist asks so, hows your love life? NOT gonna happen!

So, after sleeping on it, I still won't watch it again and now plan to also write a letter to our local station to try to get it off the air.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Hmm just me I guess but I dont understand this try to get it off the air thing the great thing about a TV is it has a channel selector, there are many things I dont like watching on tv including some of the TV churches which I feel some are just trying to get and make money for there own use but again great thing those channel selectors. :aktion033:

 

[runamuk]

Me me I loved it it was just great. Finally something on tv on Friday nights. I haven't read any of the replies yet. I thought it was well done and has an interesting cast and is some fun TV.

 

[KrisP]

Ok, believe it or not I just figured it out on why I liked it but why to me something was missing!

In all seriousness it is VERY similiar to part of my family that I haven't seen for YEARS! I have an Uncle who was a Lutheran minister and honestly he IS a wonderful man, he did what his family wanted, what his parents wanted, he tried SO hard to fit the role. And my four cousins could all be quite something else when we were all young, they were something else, and tried my uncle no end. Finally one day my uncle just had enough and walked out, he now lives in out in the woods communing with nature and is a much happier person.

I was just waiting for Daniel to have enough and just leave.

See, told ya my family put the fun in dysfunctional

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Krisp

 

[Horse Hugs]

I watched it last night and I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if it's going to be one of my regular shows or not, but time will tell.

I think people are reading too much into the religious part of it. I think the church is merely a setting, a new back drop. Just like that HBO show that takes place in a funeral parlor (I never watched it but lots of people liked it) just a new concept. I don't think it was intended to be a spiritual show.

Dsyfunctional families are "in" right now. A comedy script writer is not going to make any money with a show like Leave It To Beaver right now. But there is the Disney channel and the networks that play old movies and old shows that people can watch. It wasn't on until 9:00pm here and if my children were under 15 they would have been in bed so I don't think it was meant to be a family show.

Anyway, I liked it and found it amusing. I thought the banter between the kids was pretty funny, especially at the dinner table. I thought the fact that Daniel couldn't find a way to tell his father, the Bishop, that his son was gay was really funnyt and that the son had to go out on a date was hilarious. I loved the scene where the son meets the brother of his "date" at the church and the dialog between them all, including his sister was comical.

I like to think that my family is fairly normal but I sure wouldn't want to watch a show about us. When I watch TV I want to see something different. But, if I don't like it, I turn the channel :bgrin

 

[runamuk]

OK after reading the replies I just can't keep my mouth shut :bgrin

HE didn't say enough in my opinion.

Actually jesus seemed very much like I would expect and if you were paying attention...one of his one liners was "I am a good listener"

Jesus was just plain boring

so is jesus supposed to be this wild character? I thought he was a quiet man a simple man who made his mark by being someone people wanted to emulate not some great orator.....

Now for my personal view of average american family...it fit pretty nicely

When I was 13 the kids all went to youth group at the local non-denominational to sneak back in the woods and smoke weed.............

My uncle is an ordained lutheran minister.....and our family definately isn't perfect, drug addictions hapened, mental illness happened, dementia happened, cancer happened, unwed teenaged pregnancy happened.....hmmmmmmm..maybe we accepted that people screw up instead of hiding all of the skeletons and putting on a plastic front

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My other side of the family founded an episcopal church and well lets just say I am pretty sure that cousin is gay.......

So have I left out any of the elements of the show that are so SHOCKING...what is shocking is people who THINK this doesn't all go on even in GOOD families...........some families are just better at hiding their flaws

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[Horse Hugs]

To be blunt- you can't get more screwed up than the church. Pick any religion and you will find major scandals, sex crimes and fraud. It was just a matter of time before a comedy was set in and about the church.

 

[Narrow Way Farm]

I won't go in to deep on this one, I choose not to view this show the commercials about it were offensive enough for our family.. This is NOT a show I feel views the average family. It certainly does not portray mine or anyone I immediatley know. This is one individual that did write and ask why NBC had to put this trash on the air, as we have enough sleezy junk with soap operas and everyone sleeping and popping pills, and all that other garbage there.