Book Of Daniel Cancelled...

[Bzzzz]

These idiots who fought to have this series cancelled will one day be fighting against religious persecution that they created.

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48476:grr:

[NMDemDist2]

1. Good Grief `

didn't even have a chance did they?

[mandyky]

2. check your link

isn't working for me

[bowens43]

3. No they won't.

They will WELCOME the establishment of strict 'biblical law' just as the taliban welcomed their version of strict Islamic law. The most significant threat facing our nation and our freedom is Christan fundamentalism.

Make no mistake about it, these people do not believe in individual freedom. They do not believe in cur Constitution or it's Bill of Rights. They will, if allowed, dictate the way that you and I live our lives.

[Ian David]

7. Just wait until the Pentacostals ban Virgin Mary statues

And when the different sects start arguing over laws that acknowledge salvation through good works vs salvation only through the grace of Christ.

And when the Seventh Day Adventists want to have stores open on Sunday and closed on Sundays.

When the Mormons want to ban alcohol and dancing. (Jump back!)

When the Moonies want to ban crosses.

They'll see it's not such a simple matter of having a "Christian Country."

[Ian David]

4. Didn't get to watch. They put it on during Stargate/Battlestar Galactica

[Ian David]

5. I think we should persecute the Mormons or the Catholics first.

Check with your Pentecostal friends and see which one they hate more.

They're the ones running the country, it's really up to them to decide.

[no_more_rhyming]

19. It would definitely be Mormons first. Catholics believe

Jesus is the Messiah as do Pentacostals. Mormons have a slightly different twist?

[xchrom]

6. another day -- another talibornagain outrage.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

8. This is WorldNutDaily...

...and a brief googling for a "book of daniel" blog reveals one which says nothing of the cancellation referenced in the WND article. This may in fact be bullshit.

Edit: Confirmed that it is true. Fuck NBC.

[alarimer]

12. NBC has become a chickenshit network

Cacelling their BEST show, the West Wing and caving to fundie freak pressure on this.

[rinsd]

56. Huh?

West Wing has been going downhill in the ratings for years even though I thought this season was excellent. It was getting killed by Lost and then Desperate Housewives. When you add in the death of a main character, the turnover the plot would have called for next season, it makes sense to end the run now.

As far as Book of Daniel, it didn't get many viewers its first night and got even less its 2nd. That is not a good trend for a new TV show regardless of content. See that show with Rollergirl, they got all of one episode.

[Dover]

9. I caught that show once and just got a case of the giggles....

It's like they tried to fit every possible controversial subject into one show -
A priest (not the main character but another) with mafia ties, A brother-in-law who embezzled funds from the church, a female bishop, three children (one adopted bi-racial womanizer, one drug dealing, one gay). And then of course there was Jesus, helping the main character (a reverend who has an addiction to pain killers) sort it all out. Ha!
My feeling was that some producer/writer had a wicked sense of humor.

Just your typical community. SNL skit material.

[vptpt]

10. I saw the first episode and that it was kinda boring

Like they were trying too hard. Maybe I wasn't stoned enough.

[Dover]

11. I understood why the main character was on painkillers....

everything was hitting the fan and yet it was boring...almost a deadpan.

[DrDan]

14. yep - same observation

it was just plain terrible

[Dover]

16. Maybe if they had played it like a comedy or a spoof ....

I just couldn't take it seriously.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

20. It was interesting in a kind of mindless

soap opera way. I was amazed at the huge home, but led to believe the wife had money.

As an Episcopalian, I'm here to tell you not many priests live his lifestyle.

But I really liked the Jesus. He was like the "Jesus Buddy."

[Dorian Gray]

27. Yeah,

the first two episodes were painful. The last episode, however, seemed to have some promise. It's a shame they won't let the show play out a little while longer. But, the first episode where they jammed every kind of problem into the family and into the show's universe stunk of overwriting. It was a little too over the top! (I wasn't offended at all, but when the mother is a boozehound, the father pops pills, the daughter sells pot, the grandmother has alzheimers, the Bishop Grandfather is sleeping with another (female) Bishop, one son is a male slut, the other son is a gay man who sleeps with a woman in the back seat of a car in the second episode (don't ask! It was stupid), the housekeeper has diabetes and smokes pot, and the wife's sister is a lesbian, no... she's straight. No, she's a lesbian. No... that guy's hot! ... well, it just feels over the top and melodramatic!)

[Dover]

30. HAHAHA! Ya see.....there I go again. It's really pretty funny!!!

I thought either the writer was consciously doing it, or was just the worst ever!

But wouldn't it make a great SNL skit?

[bloom]

54. I thought

it was too stressful to watch.

I watched the first two - back-to-back episodes because of the controversy - but I don't really go for that sort of thing, anyway.

62. Agree - it was too much

I felt like the father/priest was running around trying to fix everything and it put in every kind of issue. The wife was annoying in my view, hyper and like a socialite or something, not sure what she was. And then they throw in a black woman who is their what? - their housekeeper!

However every other show is about child molesters and murderers - like CSI, Law and Order, Medium, Criminal Mind. There is nowhere to turn but rentals.

[Carni]

34. It sounds kind of like a knock off of six feet under

I never caught the show but the description and clips I have seen reminded me of six feet under (granted the characters in six feet under were undertakers and not clergy but it's kind of similar IMO)

[underpants]

40. Not to argue but I thought it was pretty good

Gee they tried to fit every possible issue into one family....No one has ever tried to do that before huh?

So they tried to drop you into the story mid stream. I thought it was very well written and very well acted. It moved very quickly so there wasn't the normal painfully boring hand ringing over every little detail of the story. It did borrow the tried and tested model of having the main character having to make sense of everything and bringing it all back to some sort of world he can understand or manage.

Just one man's opinion.

[Dover]

42. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've found my tastes at odds with

others, and my sense of humor. I make the mistake sometimes of assuming others see things in a similar way. Forgive my laughter...not directed at you. Just a different perspective on things.


I agree with those who feel the show should have been given a bit more of a chance to work out the kinks. And I really do respect some of the actors and know from experience they are talented. I don't know all the politics surrounding it, but do feel that the writing might be as much the reason it was cancelled as it was the protests.

[underpants]

44. Eh

okay.

Even with all the pre-production work I love watching reruns of shows from the early years (especially pilots and the first say 5 shows) to see how they had to "get their legs under them". For Daniel it would have been a matter of trimming back the sails not having to come up with something new or other story lines.

Yes every one seems to have their own world their own view of the same things.

[Dorian Gray]

72. Well, I actually thought that the third episode

was quite good. It felt like they found their rhythm with the third, and it's a shame that they can't forge on to make the show a better show. But, having said that, I was not a huge fan of the first episode at all. I only gave the show a chance based on the potential. I love Aaidan Quinn, and I thought that they could tighten up the writing to make it flow better. With all that was going on in the first episode, I still found myself somewhat bored. That's not a good sign for the pilot.

[FreedomAngel82]

59. Even though others might not like it

why not at least give it the chance? They're not even letting that happen! Did they get outraged at "Touch by an Angel"? Or how about "Medium"? Or "Ghost Whisperer"? There are lots of shows out there so why this one? If they don't like it turn the freakin channel! But don't not let someone else watch it! This is my problem with it. They're taking away someone else's free speech when there are other things to do in life.

[rinsd]

78. Freedom of speech?

At what point did the government ban this show?

[hexola]

13. It really wasnt that good...(nt)

[AZBlue]

70. It wasn't. I mean, gays, priests on drugs, priests having affairs,

pot-selling teenagers....sounded like just my kind of show!! But, even I couldn't keep watching it.

[Dorian Gray]

73. That's the irony...

despite all those things that make a show interesting (the built in turmoil!), it was still boring!

[AZBlue]

76. So true!!

I never looked at it from that perspective, but you're right. With all that going on, you'd almost have to try really, really, really hard to make it dull!

[Strathos]

15. Has the fat lady finally sung

Are we know a nation ran by the radical right?

Honestly folks, I'm a little scared.

AND, now we can't even move to Canada.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

21. It isn't the first show to be cancelled

The fundies also bitch about Ghost Whisperer and Medium, and they are still going strong because they have a viewship.

Bottom line: money. This show wasn't making enough because after the first few times the ratings plunged.

[Blue Belle]

51. Not since the Dallas/Falcon Crest days has a Friday Night

timeslot made any money. It's usually the kiss of death.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

60. Yeah, Friday is not usually good TV

[Dorian Gray]

29. I'd be more concerned

if the show were actually good. But, it wasn't. It was an "Over the top" mess. Too much happening, with stilted and awkward writing. The third episode showed some promise (I watched all three), but it was too little, too late. If it's not a good show, you can't attribute the lack of viewership to the fundatmentalists who protested the show. It was because of them that I even heard of the show in the first place and gave it the shot that I did.

[underpants]

17. Almost no ads last week all NBC promos

Your link doesn't work.

I was going to post on this. There were NO ads on during the show only NBC promos and Olympics videos-never a good sign.

I'll look for another story. Really good TV this would be a shame.

[PeachyDem88]

18. NBC...

They've lost the West Wing and the Book of Daniel. They've also lost me as a viewer. I barely watch TeeVee as it is... What's left?

Perfect Hair Forever... I will continue to watch that.

Olbermann and Colbert are pretty good.

Bleh... Damnable fundies...

Are you sure about this? I can't get the link to work... And I haven't heard anything about it being canceled.
------------------

On Edit: Yep. The Book of Daniel is gone. What a shame.

[Malikshah]

22. Uh, many of the folks I know who watched it...

90% who are card carrying members like myself of the Friend of Dorothy club :) found the show completely dull and boring.
Over the last two weeks we were shocked they hadn't made a move--not out of controversy, but rather, poor writing...

Now, Hot Properties (ABC), on the other hand...that was a crime. "Fruit and Cake...fruitycake!":)

[AtomicKitten]

23. yabbut Aidan Quinn is still a hottie. n/t

[Dover]

24. Yepper...I hope Jesis saaaaves him from the right wing and

ratings wrath! Surely there is a show worthy of him out there somewhere.

[AZBlue]

69. He almost made it watchable.

I have say "almost" though....even he couldn't save it for me.

(he's gotten even cuter as he's gotten older, IMO)

[npincus]

25. how did 'Desperate Housewives' get away with the nun- ass kicking?

Anybody watch that?

A hot-looking nun with questionable motives badgering Carlos to leave his wife, played by sexy Eva Longoria? Nun throws object at said wife's head (after wife's machinations get nun transferrred to a faraway parish)... and the wife and nun go at it in the church? Rolling around on the floor, punching, kicking, knocking down the debvotional candles, etc.?

How did ABC get away with that one, I wonder? Are Catholics fair game to the Christian Right?

[Dover]

26. Humor.......that show doesn't take it self too seriously.

It's fun.

[npincus]

33. hmmm...

I wouldn't think that humor would give the show a pass with the wing-nut crowd, but perhaps you are right.

[Dover]

37. A fickled crowd. Will and Grace got away with it...but Ellen did not.

Good, clever writing and humor go a long way me thinks. I do wonder if The Book of Daniel had been written with the same humor as Housewives if it wouldn't still be on the air. It has all the ingredients but lacks the writing.

[ronnykmarshall]

65. That was a riot.

I'm gonna miss the crazy nun.

[MadHound]

28. The American Taliban wins another skirmish in the Culture Wars

And they won't be happy until we're all living under Biblical Law. The trouble is that they're all going to have to agree exactly what that Biblical Law is, and sad to say, will probably fight some sort of civil war, complete with nukes, in order to accomplish that.

It seems to me that the religious right wing in this country has some sort of desperate need to fight. If they're not fighting the dreaded "others", then they're fighting amongst themselves over doctrinal issues. Sad, very sad for a religion that is supposed to be one of peace.

[Squatch]

31. Are they going to air the last 4 episodes?

I kinda enjoy the show.

[DanCa]

32. There probably wasn't enough blood for them.(nt)

[Dover]

38. Lol.

I think they tried to compensate with pain and suffering. I know I felt their pain.

[JVS]

35. If you make a shitty show which happens to be controversial...

that does not necessarily mean that you were canceled because of the controversy.

[mattclearing]

36. If it's true, the show was pretty dumb. Who cares? n/t

[WernhamHogg]

39. The show was doomed to fail

Unfortunately, the show seemed destined to fail. NBC hid the show away on Friday nights which is one of the worst times for a show to air. They might as well have aired it at 3 AM on a weeknight. Too bad that it appears NBC caved to the fundie nuts on this, I really wanted to catch an episode.

[wixomblues]

41. It's the ratings, and it's a terrible show.

Networks care about numbers, not fundies. NBC has plenty of good shows on, and gay friendly shows. Dick Wolf pretty much owns their primetime, and he's a good clean clear thinker like the rest of us. Daniel was trite, and a pale imitation of the already crappy "Desperate Housewives". Edginess for edginess's sake.

[NYCGirl]

43. It isn't about the controversy. It's about the ratings. And the show

itself was pretty bad.

[noonwitch]

45. The show was way overcomplicated

I watched the first episode. There were too many issues, too many characters and too many subplots for the average viewer.

[Maat]

46. Well, I'm going to suggest to the creator of the show ..

that they market it on DVD.

Personally, I thought the show was so-so; but I'll buy four sets and send them to my fundie relatives, make the show's creator some money, and irritate the heck out of the American Family Association!

I really liked the character of 'Jesus' on that show.

I truly resent the American Family Association telling me what I can watch. I'm trying not to waste precious time sending them a hostile email telling them that they are a bunch of bullies, but it is difficult.

[NYCGirl]

47. I prefer the Jesus on "Rescue Me". They have Mary Magdalene, too.

[Maat]

48. I'll check Jesus out there!

Thanks for the info.!

[NYCGirl]

49. Denis Leary's character has regular conversations with Christ and

Mary Magdalene, who refers to Jesus as "her boyfriend." It's a great show.

[Maat]

50. That does sound good. I'll be sure and check that out.

I still think that if the Book of Daniel comes out on DVD, we should buy just to tick the fundies off!

[bloom]

55. I think they are proud of being bullies... n/t

[NaturalHigh]

52. They got better ratings on Friday night...

by showing Law and Order reruns (which I always looked forward to seeing). From what I've heard the show just plain sucked.

[onenote]

53. yep ... started out at around 9 million viewers and dropped to 7 million

which is abysmal for network television. Any show with those kind of numbers in prime time is dead meat.

onenote

[FreedomAngel82]

57. So much for free spech

I guess the first amendment is dead too along with the fourth. Doesn't anybody know what a remote control is anymore?

[rinsd]

58. Check the ratings....

...also check out the other shows that got a swift ax.

There is a correlation.

[PaganPreacher]

79. Doesn't anybody know what a "Constitution" is anymore?

That First Amendment you referred to begins with, "Congress shall make no law..." "Father Daniel", a TV show with poor ratings and poor advertising revenue, was canceled by the network, not by any act of Congress.

No one's freedom of speech was abridged or intruded upon here.

It was a commercial decision by the owners of the product, NBC. The first rule of commerical television is, "If it don't pay, it don't play". The sole purpose of commercial television (including ALL network news) is to sell ads; the viewer is actually the commodity the network sells to the advertiser.

The Pagan Preacher
I don't turn the other cheek.

[Skidmore]

61. I keep hiding this thread and it keeps coming back.

What's the deal.

[lies and propaganda]

63. and this was because of pressure from the AFA?

These people would string Jesus' hippie ass up so fast.

I thought it was a good show that was actually a preety damn honest look at life in general. And it was entertaining and nothing else is on Fridays. NBC can kiss my ass, they think the Olympics is enough?

[NYCGirl]

64. No, it was because few people watched it. NT

[lies and propaganda]

66. but the AFA just happened to call for its cancellation>?

they must just have great timing :sarcasm:

[NYCGirl]

67. They called for it even before the show premiered. It actually got better

ratings in the first episode. Then it faded badly.

[dback]

68. It was a great show--look for the DVD in a few months

They'll probably release the whole thing on DVD as a miniseries, since only 3 episodes (and the 2-hour premiere movie) were aired. It's also a good candidate for cable (Bravo, Logo, etc.).

I thought it was brave and intelligent, if a little soapy plot-wise. And the actors--especially Aidan Quinn, Ellen Burstyn and Susannah Thompson--were glorious. (Quinn might even get an Emmy nod, if there's not a lot of Best Actor competition.)

I don't think it was the subject matter that turned people off, but the time slot--Fridays at 10:00? Eewwwww. (CBS' "Numb3rs" has owned the slot for the past year.) It actually might have done better replacing the cancelled "West Wing" Sundays at 8:00, so folks could watch it and then switch over to "Desperate Housewives." (On the other hand, there's a lot of sexual material, so maybe the 8:00 slot would've caused more problems.)

Maybe this plus ABC's meltdown a few years ago with the superb "Nothing Sacred" is a sign: don't mess around with dramas about priests. Aside from "Seventh Heaven," they just don't fly.

[PaganPreacher]

80. I hope the "Director's Cut" DVD is better than the regular stuff.

I'd buy a DVD set that included "too hot for network TV" material- I have a couple of ideas that would sure spice it up!



Either that, or some kung fu:



Otherwise, I'll save my money for the next season of "The Shield" and "Battlestar Galactica".


The Pagan Preacher
I don't turn the other cheek.

[SW FL Dem]

71. SHIT - I liked that show.

the wingnut fundies win again.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

74. It seems like all the good shows get cancelled (Arrested Development, etc)

I've started to get to the point where I don't even want to watch anything for fear it will end up getting cancelled.

[RB TexLa]

75. I wonder if it were a plumber

with personal and family problems who spoke to God about them if they would have had such a fit. I always find these types of shows to be interesting, I thought Joan of Arcadia was very good.

I didn't see the show but heard what all it was about, and I think it could have been quite helpful as a Christian. Showed two things, one that God is present today, not some forgotten event in history, and that men and women who give their lives to the church are people. And they face the same problems that we all can come across. I think too many feel that priests and nuns (pastors and such) spend 24 hours a day praying and such.

[catmother]

77. well i thought it was a great show -- so did my husband and my

mom -- and even though i'm not a christian i like the way they portrayed jesus -- as a friend -- someone you could talk to who was not judgemental.

i am disappointed and disgusted that the fundies have that much power in this country. i'm thinking more and more of leaving this country and living somewhere else.

so maybe it was far from reality -- but it was refreshingly different.

on edit: i am so damn pissed -- first alito now daniel. what will be next?