NBC Opens Up 'The Book of Daniel'

Aidan Quinn thinks The Book of Daniel is a "pretty down-the-middle, wholesome show." But the 46-year-old actor just might be the only one on the planet who believes that.

Not even NBC, which green-lighted this new drama about an Episcopal priest named Daniel Webster (Quinn) who sees Jesus, has been kidding itself about how the series would be received. NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker admitted, "It's going to raise some eyebrows in certain circles. That's not a terrible thing. There will be some advertiser issues, but that's OK. And clearly there will probably be some pulpit issues."

Daniel Enters the Lion's Den
Nearly six months before Friday's premiere (Jan. 6), TV critics were already gearing up for a fight—defending a show that hadn't even aired but some already felt was the "best new show of the season." In August, The Dallas Morning News ran the headline, "Daniel May Face the Lion's Den." In December, the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City anticipated (and railed against) criticism from what columnist Scott D. Pierce called "groups—and you know the kind I'm talking about—that won't like the portrayal of the clergy in The Book of Daniel." He continued, "They're going to point out that Daniel is hooked on prescription painkillers. His boss, [Bishop Congreve], wants him to share the painkillers with her. His father, another Episcopal bishop, is an uptight, hard-nosed guy who, as it turns out, is committing adultery."

Indeed. Groups are pointing out those things. And more. Daniel's eldest son is choosing to live a homosexual lifestyle—and Dad and Mom support his choice. His 16-year-old daughter sells marijuana. (They don't support that, but their live-in housekeeper does. She pays Grace for weed which she smokes to combat her diabetes symptoms.) And Daniel's other son, Adam, spends the majority of his time figuring out ways to get into the sack with his not-quite 16-year-old girlfriend. Dad's not keen on this, either, for the record. But he seems more concerned about Adam frightening the family by disappearing for hours on end than he is with promiscuity. Respect others' feelings, above all, is the message he drills into the boy.

Jesus Joins Him There
Since Daniel has such a direct line to "Jesus," who often appears to him out of thin air, the priest naturally asks for advice. What he gets in return are either platitudes or benevolent expressions of tolerance. What does Jesus say about Grace selling drugs? "She'll be fine, she's a good girl." About Adam's high school sexual romps? "He's a kid, let him be a kid." About Kevin sleeping with a girl because he's too nervous to tell her he's gay? "Kids, huh!?" That counsel is a long way from the holy compassion found in the Lord's instructions to the woman caught in adultery (in John 8): "Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."

So I'll sum up why the American Family Association—one of Pierce's "groups"—is trying to convince NBC affiliates not to open up The Book of Daniel. The series wants us to think of Jesus as a joke. More of a wimpy, severely seared conscience than a loving yet righteous God. It preaches that homosexuality is both genetically derived and socially proper. "It's time we stumbled into the 21st century," says Daniel. That sex before marriage should be assumed (Daniel certainly does during a premarital counseling session). And that pot is part of life—unless it's your daughter who's the one risking her future by dealing it. It also throws in sly quips about incest and masturbation, along with profanity (Jesus' name is abused), crude comments, sexual scenes and innuendo.

Still, Quinn says he isn't "particularly worried about people having a tremendous problem with [Daniel]. And if they do," he says, "then they need to maybe look at the shallowness of what their own faith is built on if our depiction in this pilot is upsetting them."

Written millennia before anyone ever dreamed of TV, the Bible's book of Daniel, in chapter 1, verse 17, says that "God made [Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel] smart and wise." Smart enough and wise enough, I'll warrant, that if those four men were living today, they'd see right through the shallowness of Quinn's show. And they'd probably stand up to NBC the same way they stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar.

But don't tell Bishop Congreve I'm using Scripture to punctuate my thoughts. When Daniel does it, she scoffs, "Please, don't quote the Bible to me, I've got a master's in philosophy."

ONLINE EDITOR'S NOTE: THREE WEEKS AFTER PLUGGED IN ONLINE PUBLISHED THIS ARTICLE, AND AFTER AIRING ONLY THREE EPISODES, NBC NOTIFIED AFFILIATES THAT IT WAS CANCELING THE SERIES.