The Book of Daniel

I've enjoyed this NBC drama (on Friday nights), but it struck me as a hard sell. I think they're trying to copy night time soap opera successes like Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, with the convoluted and slightly shocking relationships -- among the many, many story lines: the female bishop of Daniel's church is having an affair with another bishop (who happens to be Daniel's father), one of Daniel's sons is gay, though he recently had sex with a girl (long story) and the other is a teen Casanova, Daniel himself is addicted to vicodin.

Unfortunately, last week the network said they were taking the show off the schedule (though they did not say they were cancelling it). Apparently the religious right has been protesting the show's disrespectful attitude toward Jesus (who is a character on the show), especially because this Jesus is "tolerant of sin." For myself, I'm hoping they're dropping the show because the ratings are low (less than 7 million the first week and less than 6 million the second week), and not because Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association and others are making a fuss. Why is it somehow acceptable to protest a disrespectful portrayal of Jesus, but if you care about the way women or racial minorites or gay people are portrayed in television you're some kind of whiny PC freak. If Reverand Wildmon and his flock don't want to watch the show, by all means, put the TV on a different channel. That's the approach I take with say, NASCAR races, the WWF, and The Bachelor.

ADDENDUM (1-29-2006):
In this week's TV guide, the show is back on, but listed as the season finale, which seems a bit odd considering it's only the third time the show is airing. Oh well. I liked it but didn't expect it to last.