With the arrival of GCB (Good
Christian Bitches was the original title-I shit you not-they
changed it to Good Christian Belles when WFAA (Dallas) and other
ABC stations threatened not to run it), I would say that the
contribution of TV is not zero, but negative. It's supposedly
about a church in Dallas, but it is SOOOOOO overdone that it's
pathetic. It is now OK to bash Texas and Christianity at the same
time. The President and ABC do it all of the time.
And they can all go pound sand. At least by moving to the SEC, the Aggies are now on CBS.
David
"I am so Libertarian that I
don't think lawyers and doctors should be licensed by the
government. I am
so Libertarian
that I make some Libertarians
cringe."--Neal
Boortz
One thing the following article is all-too-right about is
the near total absence of religion
as a theme on prime time TV. Mostly it isn't there, and
when it is, it is mostly
secondary, and largely irrelevant. Or even trivial.
The article makes a point about "All-American Muslim," as
if the show was something
else than what it is, a whitewash of Islam, a falsification
of Islamic teachings,
a gross distortion of the truth. Then the article also
comments on "Touched By an Angel,"
as if that show, gone for a number of years already, wasn't
mostly a politically correct
version of a religious soap opera even if it had its
moments.
But what can anyone expect ? TV producers are clueless
about the substance of faith
and religion generally. They seem to make no effort at all
to hire competent religious
scholars, they don't seem to know that there even is such a
thing as religious
scholarship, and inevitably show religion as a superficial
and stereotyped phenomenon.
Things don't have to be this way.
Dammit, there is so much good material awaiting discovery
by TV. Just a few examples :
Think of TV shows about Papal politics, about the
sometimes fierce debates between
Christians and Hindus vs Muslims, about how Jews sometimes
debate each other,
about Atheists in their war against religion, about new
religions as they try to remake
the culture based on new outlooks. There is a wealth of
material, not even counting
any number of historical themes that could be explored.to
terrific effect --the Reformation,
Deism in early America, the challenge to faith under the
Nazis, religious persecution
under Soviet Communism, the rise of Zionism, the
Evangelical revival of the 1980s,
and much else.
Billy
===================================
RNS / Religion News Service
Why is
it so hard to do religion in prime time?
Piet Levy|
(RNS) Many TV network executives, advertisers and producers
would sell their souls to get the kind of audience God has.
But giving religion a starring role in prime time? Not so
much.
Religion, God and spirituality have made cameos across the
dial from "The Sopranos" to "The Simpsons" -- though usually
as a prop or walk-on role. But shows where religion is a
central part of the premise are rare, and the ratings are
generally far from heavenly.
Short of touchy-feely shows like "Touched By an Angel" or
"Highway to Heaven," why is religion so radioactive in
Hollywood?
This month, cable network TLC canceled "All-American
Muslim" after only about 700,000 viewers watched the season
finale of the reality show featuring Muslims in Dearborn,
Mich.
Meanwhile, ABC's saucy new drama "GCB" -- think "Desperate
Housewives" in choir robes -- that's based on Kim Gatlin's
novel "Good Christian Bitches" has been panned by critics
and called "anti-Christian" by Newt Gingrich. The "GCB"
premiere on March 4 lost the coveted 18-49 demographic, but
climbed back during its sophomore episode.
From a storytelling perspective, stories concerning
religion have a sort of universal appeal, said Cathleen
Falsani, the new media director for Sojourners and a
prolific author on the intersection of religion and pop
culture.
"Art imitates life, and in this country and most of the
world, religion, and certainly spirituality and faith, is a
massive part of a lot of people's lives, whether we're
embracing it or reacting against it," she said.
TLC thought "All-American Muslim" would be a fitting
companion to its hit show "Sister Wives," about a polygamous
fundamentalist Mormon family, said the show's co-creator and
executive producer, Mike Mosallam.
"TLC prides itself on exposing groups of people that
normally you don't get to really see on mainstream TV,"
Mosallam said. "They saw the opportunity to shed light on a
community that had been misunderstood for so many years."
Mosallam said TLC expected some scrutiny for the show, but
ultimately the conservative backlash that the show was
apologetic propaganda for Islam received more attention than
the show itself.
Jack Kenny ran into similar problems with his short-lived
NBC drama, "The Book of Daniel," about a dysfunctional but
loving family headed by a pill-popping Episcopal priest,
which was pulled in 2006 after just four episodes.
"TV shows generally need to be relatable to large groups of
people," Kenny said. "Everybody has their own specific view
of religion ... and people feel like their religions are
challenged all the time. People aren't comfortable living
with it, much less laughing about it or following a story
about it."
As a result, said Bob Thompson, a pop culture expert at
Syracuse University, "many religious subject matters have
been underutilized (on TV) simply because there's a sense
that they'll be controversial."
It's also sensitive terrain for advertisers. Lowe's
famously pulled its ads from "All-American Muslim" last
December after receiving complaints from the conservative
Florida Family Association. "The Book of Daniel" was marred
by email protests before his show even aired, "and every
single sponsor bailed out, except the Burlington Coat
Factory. There's no TV show if no one buys ads," Kenny said.
Christopher Jones, vice president for the New York-based
media buying agency Initiative North America, said some
clients specifically request that their ads avoid shows
related to religion or politics. Those decisions are made
"on a case-by-case basis," he said, but "we don't
particularly have a client that I'm aware of who views
programs with a religious spin as critical to their brand
positioning."
ABC’s saucy new drama, “GCB” has been panned by critics and
called “anti-Christian” by Newt Gingrich. RNS photo court
ABC/KAREN NEAL.
Religion isn't necessarily a deal breaker; sometimes the
show just isn't interesting, said Stewart Hoover, director
of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the
University of Colorado at Boulder, citing "All-American
Muslim" as an example.
In retrospect, Mosallam, the show's co-creator, sees the
point.
"People were somewhat jarred by the fact that we were
asking them to subscribe to a reality show that was not
about table flipping and cat fighting," Mosallam said. "It
was about the normal, everyday lives of American citizens,
which is not something you see on TV."
To be sure, religion-oriented shows can and do succeed.
"Touched by an Angel" and "7th Heaven" had long runs because
they took a "feel-good" approach to faith and were
"generically religious," Hoover said.
"Sister Wives" and HBO's polygamy drama "Big Love" excelled
because they looked at a marginalized religious group whose
fringe practices wouldn't challenge the majority's beliefs.
Going forward, especially if "GCB" is canceled, Hoover
suspects there could be a downturn in shows with religious
themes "if the industry sees these as examples of what
happens when you do religion."
Mosallam is undeterred, saying "All-American Muslim,"
though a ratings failure, still raised awareness and paved
the way for more shows about Muslims in the future.
But for his part, Kenny said he will never create a show
exploring religion again.
"You have to be a hit out of the box, within three
episodes, or you're canceled," he said. "There are all these
hurdles that are so enormous, why would you want to put in
front of it this hurdle of overcoming religious
controversy?"
