Author: Mark Forstrom (Page 13 of 13)

Thanks to all of you who voiced your complaints about this show that mocked our faith!

Here’s the news report from worldnetdaily

NBC pulls the plug on ‘Book of Daniel’
Creator tells fans controversial show yanked from Friday night schedule
Posted: January 23, 2006
11:59 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

NBC’s “The Book of Daniel” may have launched to great controversy and hoopla.

But, today, the show ended with a whimper – pulled unceremoniously from NBC’s Friday night schedule, effective immediately, with no more of an announcement than an entry on an NBC blog by creator Jack Kenny.

“Unfortunately, due to many reasons, ‘The Book of Daniel’ will no longer be aired on NBC on Friday nights,” he wrote to fans. “I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of you who supported the show. There were many wonderful, talented people who contributed to its success – and I do mean success. Whatever the outcome, I feel that I accomplished what I set out to do: A solid family drama, with lots of humor, that honestly explored the lives of the Webster family. Good, flawed people, who loved each other no matter what … and there was always a lot of ‘what’! I remain proud of our product, proud of my association with Sony, NBC Universal, and NBC, who all took a chance on a project that spoke to them, and proud to have made an impact on so many of your lives.”

Aidan Quinn as Episcopal priest with Garret Dillahunt as ‘Jesus’ in NBC’s ‘Book of Daniel’

As WorldNetDaily first reported, “The Book of Daniel,” written by a homosexual, was promoted as the only show on television in which Jesus appeared as a recurring character and the only network prime-time drama series with a regular male “gay” character, a 23-year-old Republican son. The main character, Daniel Webster, was a troubled, pill-popping Episcopal priest.

Touted as the riskiest show of the year, it included a wife who relied on midday martinis, a 16-year-old daughter who was a drug dealer and a 16-year-old adopted son who was having sex with the bishop’s daughter. At the office, the priest’s lesbian secretary was sleeping with his sister-in-law.

One NBC affiliate after another dropped the show. Advertisers ran from it. And, apparently, despite all the controversy it generated, so did viewers.

Nashville’s WSMV-TV General Manager Elden Hale, Jr. said: “Based on a review of the first three episodes and the clearly voiced concerns from our viewers, we have determined that the program ‘The Book of Daniel’ is not appropriate for broadcast television in this community.”

After the first three episodes, only Burlington Coat Factory was left as a national sponsor.

The heat began to generate for the show following WND’s first story. Shortly afterward, the American Family Association launched a national boycott, citing WND’s story.

AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon said NBC’s decision to cancel the program is instructive.

“This shows the average American that he doesn’t have to simply sit back and take the trash being offered on TV, but he can get involved and fight back with his pocketbook,” he said.

The network had to absorb millions of dollars in losses each time it aired the program, Wildmon pointed out, because the show’s sponsors bailed out.

“We want to thank the 678,394 individuals who sent e-mails to NBC and the thousands who called and e-mailed their local affiliates,” he added.

Besides Nashville, other NBC affiliates across the nation either never aired the show or stopped broadcasting it. They included Hattiesburg, Miss.; Meridian, Miss.; Jackson, Miss.; Amarillo, Texas; Wichita, Kan.; Beaumont, Texas; and Terre Haute, Ind.

Only six episodes of the “Book of Daniel” were shot. Kevin Reilly, NBC Entertainment president, said the network’s reluctance to order more episodes had more to do with the series’ sluggish ratings performance than controversy.

“We’re going to continue to put on creative programming, regardless of any possible controversy,” Reilly said last week. Earlier, he announced the cancellation of “West Wing.”

The network has slated an episode of “Law and Order” in place of “Daniel” for this Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Tonight’s youth group experience was a powerful reminder to me of why I like being the Sr. High youth pastor.

Sr. Highers are so capable, enthusiastic, dedicated, and motivated! Here are some examples just from tonight.

1. Worship was 100% done by students: selecting, practicing, balancing sound, formating power point, and integrating it with the rest of the night.

2. The student’s testimony was fresh, raw, passionate and real. How many adults would commit major sins and then get up in front of their peers within days to confess and challenge them?

3. Jon totally took the initiative in this lesson. He had approached me some weeks ago, saying that God had been challenging him and teaching him some things from his Word that he’d like to pass on to the group. His commitment to being a student of the Word challenged more than just his peers you can be sure.

4. Irene got up tonight and announced a new ministry that she and 4 fellow seniors had started: a weekly inner city kids ministry at the HD Youth Center. Without any adult involvement or prompting they’ve made arrangements to be there with crafts, snacks, games, tutoring, and more every Tuesday afternoon. Starting yesterday!!! Their initiative and desire to make a difference in the world is outstanding!

5. The game that was planned was appropriately crazy. They approached me with the idea on Tuesday, wanting to make sure the night had a fun element. Again, it was all their initiative.

For many of these students, Sr. High is their first opportunity to have the maturity, the skills, a degree of independence (and often wheels!) to really begin to put their faith into action like never before. It’s so fun to be a part of these formative years, which hopefully launch them on into life at full-speed.

Being around them spurs me on to greater faithfulness.

Now can you see why I like my job?