NEWS STORY: Religion finding its way on to prime-time television

c. 1998 Newhouse News Service UNDATED _ First there was “Touched by an Angel.” And its ratings success begot “Promised Land,” which together begot others such as “7th Heaven,” “Soul Man” and “Nothing Sacred.” But it was when the self-proclaimed “domestic goddess” Roseanne proclaimed on her final show, “I learned that God does exist,” that […]

c. 1998 Newhouse News Service

UNDATED _ First there was “Touched by an Angel.” And its ratings success begot “Promised Land,” which together begot others such as “7th Heaven,” “Soul Man” and “Nothing Sacred.”

But it was when the self-proclaimed “domestic goddess” Roseanne proclaimed on her final show, “I learned that God does exist,” that the trend was confirmed: Religion has made it to prime time.


An annual study sponsored by the Alexandria, Va.-based Media Research Center found religious topics made their way into prime time 551 times in 1997, almost double the number of references in 1995 and about a fivefold increase since the organization began doing the study in 1993.

The bottom line? Religion is helping Hollywood’s bottom line.

“The networks and advertisers are finding out that religion sells. And that’s what drives the networks,” said the Rev. Thomas E. Boomershine of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. “Basically, it’s just a working out of market forces.”

Researchers from the Parents Television Council, the Hollywood project of the Media Research Center, watched 1,800 hours of prime-time programming, nearly all of the original programming on the six broadcast networks. They evaluated every treatment of religion, from plot lines to isolated quips.

For the most part, this new prime-time religion portrays faith in a positive light, according to the Media Research Center study.

Overall, positive treatments of religion outnumbered negative treatments by a two-to-one ratio.

CBS, with “Touched by an Angel” in the forefront, was the most faith-friendly network, according to the study. Sixty-five percent of the time its shows touched on religion, the portrayals were positive, while only 16 percent of the references to religion were negative. The rest were mixed or neutral references.

Reflecting a new comfort level with religious topics, expressions of faith were found woven into the plots of dramas and sitcoms even where angels or clergy are not part of the character mix.

For example, in “Walker, Texas Ranger,” a woman prays for her 10-year-old granddaughter who is on life support after a drive-by shooting. The hospital room is illuminated with golden rays, and the girl takes the tube from her mouth and tells her grandmother, “Everything is going to be OK.”


In the final “Roseanne,” the title character declares her belief in God: “He and/or she is right inside you, underneath the pain, the sorrow, the shame.” And in an episode of “Boy Meets World,” the teen-age character Shawn asks God to spare the life of a teacher injured in an accident. “God, you’re not talking, but I know you are here. … I don’t want to be empty inside anymore,” Shawn says.

However, when television goes beyond general expressions of spirituality and into devout expressions of a particular faith, the negative stereotypes of ruler-wielding nuns and crazed fundamentalists return, the study found.

Forget the reality that religious sisters today are hospital presidents and college professors, or some of the most influential advocates for the poor and children.

On television, one is more likely to hear the lead character of “3rd Rock From the Sun” exclaim he is “tired of feeling like a Catholic schoolboy who’s always getting his knuckles rapped by the nun he’s dating.”

Mark Honig, executive director of the Parents Television Council, said many people who produce television programs cannot relate to the lives of religiously committed Americans.

“I think they spend too much time in Hollywood and New York, and don’t get out much among the public,” he said.


Still, his group’s study found no show to be outstandingly hostile, and no network portrayed religion negatively as much as a third of the time it dealt with the topic.

And sensitivity is often in the eye of the viewer. One show that was strongly criticized by conservative Catholic groups, “Nothing Sacred,” was to Boomershine an example of the best television has to offer in portraying religion.

“It’s about real-world religion,” he said.

Viewers say they want religion on television. In a 1997 poll commissioned by TV Guide, 68 percent of respondents said they were eager to see more prime-time spirituality.

Where religion will rise and fall on the small screen ultimately will have more to do with money than noble intent, analysts say.

“Nothing Sacred” disappeared from view, but the reason had little to do with controversy and nearly everything to do with low ratings.

The bottom line is broadcast television is a business and as long as religion gets good ratings, there will be a lot of religion on prime time, said Frances Plude, who teaches communications at Notre Dame College.


“If those ratings fall,” Plude said, “you can be treated like leprosy.”

DEA END BRIGGS

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