`NOAH' SERIES GETS FLOOD OF COMPLAINTS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Staff Writer

NBC apologized Monday to viewers who flooded the network and its affiliates with complaints about the adaptation of Bible stories in the much-hyped ``Noah's Ark'' miniseries.

``I couldn't believe what I was seeing,'' said Sherman Oaks resident Jane Jason, 74. ``They called it `Noah's Ark,' but they didn't show the story of Noah.''

The miniseries placed Noah (Jon Voight) at the scene of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, an event the Bible says actually happened hundreds of years after the great flood.

NBC - which prefaced both halves of the program Sunday and Monday with a disclaimer stating ``dramatic license'' had been taken with some of the events depicted - issued a statement saying it ``apologizes if any viewers found the treatment of the material objectionable.'' A representative said the network had received fewer than 100 negative calls about the show, but that more than 1,000 people had phoned to order videotapes of the series.

Despite the complaints, Sunday's opening installment of the miniseries garnered 50 million viewers, the highest overnight rating for a movie on any network this season.

``It was misleading,'' Jason said. ``Now, if NBC gives me the news on Kosovo, I'll think they're only trying to make it dramatic. There was no need to do this - no rhyme or reason. I was very disappointed.''

Renee Porter of Canoga Park said she left a message with NBC voicing her disapproval.

``There's meaning behind the story of Noah's ark, and to have them portray it all jumbled up with Sodom and Gomorrah for entertainment purposes is not right,'' she said. ``Why does NBC assume it's OK to tell a lie when the Bible says you shouldn't lie in the first place?''

Not everyone has a problem with the miniseries, dubbed ``a cautionary tale'' by its producers, who say the story warns that mankind should take better care of the planet.

The Rev. Tom Rausch, chairman of the theological studies department at Loyola Marymount University, believes Bible stories are ripe for dramatic retelling - even if they are offered in somewhat jumbled fashion.

``First of all, the Bible isn't really history,'' he said. ``It's a number of stories, plus historical material and other material that should be characterized as stories. I really don't have a problem with it.''

For its part, NBC concedes that dramatic and historical license was taken with the miniseries but insists the show ``remains faithful to the essential spirit and values of faith and humanity reflected in the story of Noah.''

Along with Voight, the show starred Mary Steenburgen, F. Murray Abraham and Carol Kane.

Steenburgen, who played Noah's wife, Naamah, said while a good deal of research went into NBC's ``Noah's Ark,'' the story doesn't correspond completely with the biblical version.

``Is it 100 percent exactly the way everybody's going to expect it to be?'' she said in a statement. ``No, it isn't. (But) I think our task is to make something that inspires people, that makes people think, that makes people go back and examine the story themselves, to search for the meaning.''

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PHOTO Jon Voight, Mary Steenburgen and F. Murray Abraham appear in a scene you won't find in the Bible.