Watching The Book of Daniel (NBC)

A couple of days ago I wrote a blog entry about the campaign to get NBC affiliate stations to refuse to air the new NBC program, The Book of Daniel. At the time, I said that stations should air the program, and that I would decide whether I like the program after I had seen the program, and not before. My channel changer is in good working order, as is the on/off switch on my television.

I have now seen the program, and I believe that I will use that working channel changer to tune in to this program from time to time. I am not unequivocally pleased with it. I don’t think it is great, but I would call it pretty good. It has potential. There are some artistic problems, in my view, and the view of Christianity will certainly be troubling to Christian conservatives. Despite certain troubling elements, I think that calling the program “anti-Christian” is just plain wrong.

First, let me address the things I really liked.

I like the way Jesus is portrayed. Jesus is shown encouraging people to do better, but not as judgmental. During the show Jesus says that he talks to everyone, but many are not listening. In a number of conversations, I think there was a consistent good message.

I like the portrayal of the pastor’s difficulties. He’s not a superman. He has family problems, one of his sermons is misunderstood, there are frictions with the church leaders, and so forth. His relationship with his father, a bishop, looks worth exploring.

Next, there were some things that I think have potential to be either challenging and interesting in future episodes, but may be troubling to some viewers.

Probably the most obvious difficulty conservatives will have with the show is the pastor’s gay son, and the way in which his parents accept his sexual orientation. They do not always appear comfortable with it. They are embarassed to have other family members and friends find out, but they seem supportive within the smaller circle. I would suggest that the struggle the family have with this issue is one that is familiar to many families, and that exploring this in entertainment is not a bad idea. It’s interesting to have people who are troubled in some ways, but nonetheless strive to respond in a Christ-like way, however difficult that is for them.

I’m mildly troubled by a casual attitude toward premarital and extramarital sex, but this is probably a realistic portrayal of what goes on in mainline churches throughout America. I should note that the pastor himself is troubled by some of what was going on.

On the truly negative side, I think they have overloaded this show with problems. There is simply too much going on. I think that may drive some people from watching the show. So many things are going wrong to so many people. Those people are tied together in such a complex web of relationships. I hope they can bring it all together down the road so we don’t have so many things to think about. Despite my treatment of it as though it’s pure social and spiritual commentary, this is supposed to be entertainment, and it will be hard for viewers to enjoy the show if they have to take notes to keep up with all the disasters.

For the moment, I would rate it 4 out of 5, and I will watch a few more episodes.