JESUS MAKES QUITE AN INTERESTING COMPANION IN 'BOOK OF DANIEL'.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic BEFORE IT HAS even aired, NBC's thoughtful new series ``The Book of Daniel'' has invoked the wrath of certain fundamentalist religious groups, which seems to be a fair assessment of its quality. After all, rational people don't waste their time complaining about utterly dismissible junk (except, of course, for TV critics). The grousing, it seems, comes over the show's depiction of an Episcopal priest's dysfunctional family dysfunctional family Psychology A family with multiple 'internal'–eg sibling rivalries, parent-child– conflicts, domestic violence, mental illness, single parenthood, or 'external'–eg alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital affairs, gambling, . At the risk of seeming obvious, I'd like to point out that drama comes from friction - here, the sort of spiritual friction that comes from a biblical understanding of life and the way it sometimes can actually play out - and that a fundamentalist viewpoint in which all things are certain does not lend itself particularly well to dramatic conflict. So I would posit that this is precisely why the family life of Daniel Webster (a nod, yes, to poet Stephen Vincent Benet's book ``The Devil and Daniel Webster,'' though his Webster was a statesman-lawyer) - that aforementioned priest played with consummate skill, sensitivity, wit and no small amount of mumbling mum·ble v. mum·bled, mum·bling, mum·bles v.tr. 1. To utter indistinctly by lowering the voice or partially closing the mouth: mumbled an insincere apology. by Aidan Quinn Aidan Quinn (Irish: Aodhán Ó Cuinn) (born March 81959 in Rockford, Illinois,) is an Irish American actor also known as the Quinnster. Aidan Quinn was born in Rockford, Illinois. - makes for a promising TV series. His wife Judith (Susanna Thompson) may be a lush; his son Peter (Christian Campbell) is clearly gay; his daughter Grace (Alison Pill) is dealing pot; his adopted son Adam (Ivan Shaw Ivan Shaw is a Chinese-American actor who made his daytime debut in December 2002, playing young Henry Chen in the ABC daytime show All My Children. Shaw moved from Taipei, Taiwan at age 4 to Upland, California where he grew up with his older brother, Eugene (also ) is a major womanizer wom·an·ize v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. ; and, if all this isn't enough to have Daniel lunging for his Vicodin, his brother- in-law (not seen) has absconded with his church's building fund, and his church's bishop (Ellen Burstyn) is having an affair with his father (James Rebhorn). Admittedly, much of this information is delivered breathlessly in tonight's premiere nearly to the point of exhaustion - a concession to contemporary TV edicts that the viewer must not just be grabbed but throttled in a first episode's early minutes. Surely, one wonders, beleaguered be·lea·guer tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers 1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems. 2. To surround with troops; besiege. Daniel has something to cling to for hope? And that brings us to what is either the show's most inspired or its most blinkered blink·ered adj. Subjective and limited, as in viewpoint or perception: "The characters have a blinkered view and, misinterpreting what they see, sometimes take totally inexpedient action" conceit, that Daniel has regular rap sessions with Jesus himself (Garret Dillahunt), whose advice sometimes isn't even very good, although he does crib a line for a eulogy. This seems too precious by half; even when Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Leary's far-more-unhinged character spoke to Christ far more cheekily on FX's ``Rescue Me,'' it seemed a bit much, a little too ``important.'' But even given ``The Book of Daniel's'' excesses, there is always, somewhere, at precisely the right moment, a line of dialogue that is so unexpected and yet so perfectly funny in its context that you'll likely be willing to stick with the show to see where it will go next. Series creator Jack Kenny previously produced network TV's darkest, most probing dysfunctional-family sitcom in ``Titus,'' so he understands the territory he's mining here. And if you're even moderately versed in Hollywood character actors, you understand what a brilliant cast Kenny has assembled here. Kenny clearly intends to create some significant television with this series, and in three episodes made available for review, he's largely succeeded. He's also overreached in places, and some may find the show too overheated o·ver·heat v. o·ver·heat·ed, o·ver·heat·ing, o·ver·heats v.tr. 1. To heat too much. 2. To cause to become excited, agitated, or overstimulated. v.intr. to take seriously. But I say this is TV's most elucidating examination of clergy since 1997's ``Nothing Sacred.'' David Kronke,(818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com THE BOOK OF DANIEL Noun 1. Book of Daniel - an Old Testament book that tells of the apocalyptic visions and the experiences of Daniel in the court of Nebuchadnezzar Book of the Prophet Daniel, Daniel - Three stars What: Dramedy starring Aidan Quinn as an Episcopal priest with a host of family woes. Where: NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. (Channel 4). When: Premieres at 9 p.m. Friday; then 10 p.m. Fridays thereafter. In a nutshell: Antic and a bit overheated, but with nice characterizations and moments of inspired dialogue. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jesus (Garret Dillahunt, left) is on hand to give advice to a troubled priest (Aidan Quinn) in ``The Book of Daniel.'' |
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