Revelations on NBC

[Brian Damage]

The end is here...

This limited drama series revolves around a group that works to hold off the apocalypse. More specifically, it's the showdown between God and Satan as foretold in the Bible book of Revelations.


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Set just before the start of Armageddon, the series will follow two central characters, a physicist and a nun, who are racing against the clock to see if the end of the world apocalypse can be averted. Bill Pullman is up for the role of Dr. Richard Massey, a Harvard professor whose daughter is murdered by satanists while McElhone stars as a nun who recruits Massey to help investigate whether what's told in the Book of Revelations is starting to come true. Seltzer and Polone with executive produce the project along with Pariah Television's Vivian Cannon and Jessika Borsiczky.

[Brian Damage]

It'll be on Wednesday April 13th on NBC

[Janice]

It looks interesting. A bold concept. I'll have to check it out.

[Brian Damage]

Definitely check it out. I don't want to sound morbid, but with the passing of Pope John Paul II, I have a renewed interest in religious theology.

[Brian Damage]

'Revelations': Armageddon comes to prime time

By Bill Berkowitz
Online Journal Guest Writer

March 26, 2005 (WorkingForChange)—"Revelations" is the name of an upcoming six-part television series based on the Bible's Book of Revelation. The first episode is scheduled to be aired by NBC on Wednesday night April 13.

Unlike other religious-oriented television fare—"Joan of Arcadia," "Touched by an Angel," and "Highway to Heaven"—"Revelations" promises to pull no punches in a "The Passion of the Christ" sort of way. To paraphrase the words of famed boxing announcer Michael Buffer, "Let's Get Ready to Rapture!"

"We felt what needed to be done is a television show that expressed itself as Christian," Gavin Polone, the executive producer of, and, according to the New York Times, "the driving force behind 'Revelations,'" told the newspaper. "We're very clear about that here . . . The words 'Jesus Christ' or 'Christ' are used three times a minute."

"In tumultuous times like those we live in, apocalyptic buzz is always on the rise—as is spirituality," Kevin Reilly, the president of NBC Entertainment who gave the go-ahead for the series, told the Times.

"Revelations" teams Sister Josepha Montifiore, "a globe-trotting nun" played by Natascha McElhone, with Dr. Richard Massey, "a Harvard astrophysicist (and religious skeptic, of course)," played by Bill Pullman, who try "to determine whether the end of the world is indeed near," the New York Times reported.

Here is how the newspaper described the plot:

Montifiore and Massey "encounter all manner of unexplained phenomena and bizarre characters, including a brain-dead girl who appears to be channeling the spirit of Massey's murdered daughter, a virgin-born infant believed to be either the son of God or the spawn of Satan, and the powerful Satanist, Isaiah Haden . . . who ritually sacrificed Massey's daughter. "

"Revelations" may be as edgy and engaging as NBC officials are promising and it may prove to be a ratings magnet, drawing the attention—and purchasing power—of the so-called values voters' crowd. But will the mini-series really pull no punches? Will it deal with some of the controversial and troubling beliefs of biblical literalists; The Rapture for example? If it does, how will it relate to the fate of those "left behind"—the millions of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and non-believers doomed to suffer "The Great Tribulation," a seven-year period, the last three and a half years of which contains great misery and devastation?

'Revelations' vs. Religion-Based Reality

"Revelations" is going to have to push a super strong Tyvek envelope to be more edgy than some of the religious-themed dramas that are playing themselves out on television's cable news networks.

A few weeks ago there was the case of Ashley Smith and Brian Nichols. The twenty-six year-old Smith was kidnapped by Nichols—an accused rapist—after the 33-year-old man had just killed a judge, a court reporter, and two law-enforcement agents in and around an Atlanta courthouse. Apparently, after Smith read Nichols some passages from Rick Warren's best-selling Christian self-help book called The Purpose Driven Life, Nichols allowed her to go and visit her daughter. Once freed, Smith called the police and they captured him.

The subsequent blather was more about religion and the power of Warren's book than the murder of four innocent people. As The New Republic's Lee Siegel pointed out, while the focus was placed on how Smith's deeply held religious beliefs helped save her life, cable television's talking heads failed to note that "Nichols himself had gone to a Catholic school and had been a religious man, very active in his local church, where he played the organ." This scenario has the makings of a new reality TV program called "Good Religion, Bad Religion."

The Smith/Nichols Affair hit its tipping point on Larry King's CNN talkfest. King brought the man who taught Rick Warren, Reverend Robert Schuller—the creator of television's "Hour of Power" ministry and the man who started at a drive-in theater and later built the multi-million dollar Garden Grove, California, church known as the Crystal Cathedral. According to Lee Siegel, when Schuller was asked by King if the killings shook his faith, he "responded that they did not because 'killings are a part of life.'"

Schuller then told King that his "teacher had been Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist-author of a once-famous book called Man's Search for Meaning. According to Schuller, Frankl had received the following confidence from none other than Sigmund Freud himself: 'The longer I live, the more I despise the human being.' So Warren's book, read by 20 million of the Christian faithful, had its origin in Frankl's book, which had its origins in Auschwitz," Siegel wrote. All in all, the performance of the media was enough to make one look forward to the "end-times."

Schiavo Twenty-Four/Seven

And then there's the Terri Schiavo case: What began as one family's tragic story involving the right-to-die has evolved into a mega-spectacle involving a cast of thousands—mostly peripheral characters—and cable television's news networks. Christian fundamentalists, who don't believe Schiavo's husband has the right to have her feeding tube removed although she has been in a "persistent vegetative state" for years, flocked to Florida. There are state judges, appeal court judges, the state legislature, members of Congress (including the embattled and ethically-challenged Tom DeLay), and the President of the United States, who signed emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life.

Could there be any better actualities than shots of Christian fundamentalists falling onto their knees in prayer outside Woodside Hospice, in Pinellas Park, Florida? How about a shot of Bo Gritz—the former Green Beret commander and prominent member of a militant antigovernment movement—getting arrested while trying to deliver a cup of water to Schiavo?

Other than the role of the Republican Party, which thinks the Schiavo case is a great political issue, the most obscene aspect of the Schiavo story is the presence of Randall Terry, the founder of the radical antiabortion group Operation Rescue and the President of the Society for Truth and Justice. Terry was brought on board by Schiavo's parents, who hoped he could mobilize Christian fundamentalist support for their daughter. "Our family asked Randall Terry to come, and we gave him carte blanche to put Terri's fight in front of the American people," Bob Schindler, Terri's father, said. "He did exactly what we asked, and more. Randall organized vigils and protests, he coordinated the media, he helped us meet with Governor Bush."

As a family spokesperson, Terry has spent much of his time railing against Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, claiming he had deserted his wife. Somewhere along the way, he has apparently forgotten his own spotty record on marital fidelity and other "family values": A few years ago, Terry deserted his wife and children for a young woman that had worked on his failed congressional campaign; last year, when Terry's son Jamiel revealed that he was gay in Out magazine, he responded with a diatribe in the Rev. Son Myung Moon-owned Washington Times, criticizing his son, writing that: "He is no longer welcome in my home."

The cable's television news networks—which also appear to be in a persistent vegetative state—have latched onto the Schiavo case.

As comedian and social commentator Bill Maher pointed out on his Friday, March 18, HBO program, "Real Time With Bill Maher," the major news weeklies have been paying an inordinate amount of attention to religious subjects, featuring religious cover stories a number of times over the past year. Now, NBC is hoping to cash in on America's latest love affair with God. Unfortunately for NBC, not even an edgy and entertaining end-times mini-series may be able to compete with real-life religious-based dramas dominating the news-scape.

[Mr. Television]

It does sound interesting. I'll have to watch it.

[Brian Damage]

Don't forget to watch this Wednesday! It is on NBC. Hey Brian, how about making this thread a sticky? I know it isn't on ABC, but it is highly anticipated.

[Janice]

'Revelations' Looks Ahead to World's End


(AP) Bill Pullman, left, as Dr. Richard Massey and
Natascha McElhone as Sister Josepha Montafiore star...
Full Image

NEW YORK (AP) - For some viewers, NBC's miniseries based on the Book of Revelation may seem the latest signpost on the road to Armageddon. "Revelations" premieres less than two weeks after the death of Pope John Paul II. Meanwhile, the right-to-die battle waged over Terri Schiavo echoes in the series, in the character of a Miami girl who is declared brain-dead after being struck by lightning - then is witnessed speaking the word of God.

But judged as television, not an omen of the End Times, "Revelations" isn't much of a revelation. Instead, it makes for pretty standard popcorn fare. If the end of the world really is near, you might consider spending your limited time on something better than this creepy, gloomy show.

The only hour of the six episodes made available for review (airing 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday) sets up "Revelations" as a good-vs.-evil slugfest packed with turgid dialogue and lots of lightning and thunder. It's a divine twist on "The X-Files," complete with skeptic and believer in an uneasy partnership.

Dr. Richard Massey (Bill Pullman) is a Harvard professor and renowned astrophysicist, the ultimate secularist for whom any question has a scientific answer.

He has been sought out by Sister Josepha Montifiore (the comely Natascha McElhone), an Oxford-educated nun convinced that Massey can help her prove the second coming of Jesus Christ - who just might be an infant miraculously saved from a shipwreck in the Greek isles.

Sister Jo approaches Massey at a pivotal moment. He is reeling from the ritualistic murder of his 12-year-old daughter at the hands of Isaiah Haden (Michael Massee), a demented satanist who ate the girl's heart and now predicts the triumph of dark forces in the end.

And the end may be just around the corner.

"I know, it sounds preposterous," allows Sister Jo when recruiting Massey's help. "But as a fellow scholar I can tell you that all the signs and symbols set forth in the Bible are currently in place for the End of Days."

Want to bet Massey will buy into that?

"Believe whatever you want to," he scoffs at Sister Jo, whereupon she fires back, "Deny whatever YOU want to."

Just keep the story moving.

Frederick Schmidt, a biblical scholar at Southern Methodist University, calls "Revelations" the latest pop-culture agent of "speculation that veers away from theory into superstition."

A similar assessment comes from Jerry B. Jenkins, who with Tim LaHaye co-authored the hugely popular "Left Behind" novels, chronicling the fate of those stranded on Earth after Christ lifts the faithful up to heaven at the end of the world. Jenkins has described "Revelations" as "a mishmash of myth, silliness and misrepresentations of Scripture (which) seems to draw from everywhere and nowhere."

But why not? Entertainment is entertainment, and that's the overriding mission of "Revelations."

"It isn't necessarily preaching anything," acknowledged "Revelations" executive producer Gavin Polone, who added, "I don't think there's going to be some church that says, 'Yes, what's going on in this television show corresponds to what we believe.'"

Even so, when the producers and stars met with reporters in Manhattan, they had a lot to say about humanity at the brink.

"The news that we take our morning coffee with really makes us realize that anything can happen," said executive producer David Seltzer, who created and wrote the series. "And not only that, all the signs and signals of the Bible in regard to the End of Days really are in play."

These days, what's truly in play is religion-flavored drama. The TV industry, long blasted as godless, now seems eager to cash in on moral values, and to share the bandwagon with such profitable hits as "The Passion of the Christ" and "The Da Vinci Code." Networks are developing hard-edged series with religious themes, and will surely crank out more if the signs are favorable.

So now all eyes are on "Revelations" - edgy, dark, macabre - to see what its airing portends. Will it transport its audience? Earn renewal next fall? Spawn a slew of similar shows? These answers, unlike so many others, should be quickly known and beyond dispute. In the end, TV's gospel is according to Nielsen.

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) FOX brought out its heavy artillery to crush NBC's limited run drama "Revelations," bloating "American Idol" to a full hour on Wednesday (April 13) night. The move certainly benefited FOX, which drew a huge audience for its extra-long results special, but NBC's religious-themed drama held its own, exceeding NBC's time period averages by a comfortable margin.
Facing one of television's most popular shows, "Revelations" still managed to draw 15.6 million viewers for the 9 p.m. hour, well above the 11.1 million averaged by "The West Wing" in the same slot (though far behind the 24 million lured by "American Idol"). "Revelations" also did a 5.2 rating among adults 18-49, NBC's demographic numbers against a regularly scheduled "American Idol" since an NBC Finals telecast during the show's 2002 summer season.

Although the Bill Pullman drama is only scheduled for a brief run this spring, NBC has candidly discussed the possibility of future limited seasons for "Revelations" or even a regular slate of episodes eventually.


The returns were a bit cloudier for the premiere of FOX's hastily produced Pamela Anderson comedy "Stacked," The bookstore sitcom drew 8.3 million viewers and a 3.8 rating in the 18-49 demo. Neither figure was earth-shattering on its own, but "Stacked" improved on its "Simple Life 3" lead-in by 30 percent in total viewers and 31 percent in adults 18-49. Not surprisingly, "Stacked" performed particularly well in male demos.
FOX will give viewers a second chance to catch the "Stacked" premiere when it encores on Sunday (April 17) night at 9:30 p.m.

[Mr. Television]

I forgot to watch but NBC is rerunning it Sunday Night. Its nice to see that any show did good against AI.

[Janice]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200...D89IPG701.html

NBC's 'Revelations' Off to a Strong Start

NEW YORK (AP) - It's a revelation: NBC figured out something to compete against "American Idol." NBC's spiritual miniseries "Revelations" reached 15.6 million viewers for its debut last week, positive ratings news for a network that needs it. It was the most-watched NBC show airing opposite the Wednesday edition of Fox's "American Idol" since a National Basketball Association finals game in 2002, according to Nielsen Media Research.

CBS scored another easy victory as the most popular network in prime time last week. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was the most-watched program.

Fox's Emmy-winning comedy "Arrested Development" ended its season last week with an episode seen by only 6 million people. Despite the sitcom's critical raves, those ratings put it at risk of not returning

Despite the continuing domination of "Desperate Housewives" and its Sunday night lineup, ABC slipped to fourth place. The lackluster showings of new series "Eyes,""Blind Justice" and "Jake in Progress" proves not everything ABC programmers touch turns to gold.

For the week, CBS averaged 12.2 million viewers (7.9 rating, 13 share). Fox was second with 9.7 million (6.0, 10), and easily won among the 18-to-49-year-old age group that advertisers like. NBC had 8.7 million viewers (5.9, 10), ABC 8 million (5.2, 9), UPN 3.2 million (2.1, 3), the WB 2.9 million (2.0, 3) and Pax TV 550,000 (0.4, 1).

NBC's "Nightly News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8.7 million viewers (6.2, 13). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 8.4 million viewers (6.0, 13) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.4 million (4.5, 10).

A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show. For the week of April 11-17, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 27.5 million; "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 25.6 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 25.3 million; "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 25 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 20.7 million; "Survivor: Palau," CBS, 20.4 million; "Without a Trace," CBS, 20 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 19.2 million; "House," Fox, 17.8 million; "Law & Order," NBC, 16.9 million.

[Brian Damage]

It's nice to see it get a strong start. It is a very good mini series.

[Mr. Television]

I finally got to see it and its pretty good. I'll watch it again tonight.

[TripperFan]

I sure hope they rerun the series again in the summer. I missed the first and possibly second (?) episodes, so no sense trying to get into it now

I really want to see it - looks great!

[Van_Smack]

I would have to say that last night might have been my favorite episode of the season so far. That whole thing with Hawk was pretty intense. The last two episodes look like they will be pretty packed too.