Six shows to watch

As the Fall TV season starts unveiling its pilot episodes, ushering in new hits and misses, here are 3 newbies and 3 returners that may offer some interesting religious stories this year…  NEW SHOWS:  Will we be pleased?  YES… Red Band Society (FOX) Wednesdays at 9:00pm EST Pilot Premieres: September 17 Why:  This may be … Continue reading →

Swing and a Miss? Will Sleepy Hollow Connect?

The Fall 2013 TV season starts with a bang this week.. or perhaps with a slice.  A slice from the Headless Horseman’s broadaxe to be specific.  FOX’s Sleepy Hollow, premiering in its Monday 9pm timeslot, has the potential to be an interesting reimagining of Washington Irving’s classic and gripping legend.  If not handled well by … Continue reading →

Soulful Idols: Religious Affirmation on American Idol

Though at times they’ve looked for laughs when contestants have claimed to hear the “voice of God,” FOX’s American Idol openly embraced the Spirit as it wrapped its season 12 time in Vegas and moved back to LA.  Demonstrating the power of song to move an audience and the potential for television to transcend itself, the success … Continue reading →

This Isn’t ‘Six Flags Over Flushing’: Spielberg’s Animaniacs and Mocking the Devil

The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) did a good deal to chart what it means to be irreverently funny in television animation.  Before Comedy Central’s “South Park” and FOX’s “Family Guy” took the post-Al Bundy television cue of crudeness and sacrilege to new heights (er, depths?), the Animaniacs gave viewers a full helping of … Continue reading →

Voice of God? Ha!: American Idol and Divine Inspiration

It didn’t work out so well for France’s Joan of Arc, and it didn’t work out so well for American Idol’s Anastacia Freeman either.  In the last round of auditions before Hollywood, the show made use of one contestant’s belief in hearing messages from God as material for one of its ridicule-bits, leaving viewers with … Continue reading →

Help me, God!: The Simpsons and “Normalized” Religion

It’s been called “the most religious show on TV.”  With an image of God, a quippy church corner marquee, and an earnest prayer’s prayer, FOX’s recent “The Simpsons” episode proves why.  This episode is not actually focused on a religious theme, which may actually confirm the claim that much more. In the 11th “Changing of … Continue reading →