c. 2006 Religion News Service

NEW YORK _ NBC’s new Friday series “The Book of Daniel” is the first network show in years to center on a man of God: an Episcopal priest played by Aidan Quinn. But those who are expecting a rehash of the WB’s “7th Heaven,” a warmhearted drama about a minister’s family that built lessons in every hour, will be bewildered and possibly shocked.

The title character, Father Daniel Webster (no relation to the legendary lawyer from Stephen Vincent Benet’s short story), is the head of a family that’s coping with the loss of a son to leukemia. Daniel pops Vicodin like Tic Tacs and has semi-regular chats with Jesus (Garret Dillahunt of “Deadwood”), who is envisioned as kind of easygoing, invisible best pal, a messianic Harvey.

“He’s Harvey, he’s Daniel’s brother, his father, his son, his confidant, his everything,” said series creator Jack Kenny, during a break from filming the season finale of “Daniel” at Silvercup Studios in Queens. “He’s the one who inspired Daniel’s faith and called him to the priesthood. He’s what I always thought a personal relationship with Jesus Christ should be.”

As if that weren’t enough boycott ammo, Daniel’s daughter, Grace (Alison Pill), is a recently busted pot dealer; his depressed wife, Judith (Susannah Thompson of “Once and Again”), nurses a midday martini habit; and Daniel’s boss, Bishop Congreve (Ellen Burstyn), is having an affair with Daniel’s dad (James Rebhorn), a married priest whose wife is stricken with Alzheimer’s.

Then there’s Daniel’s openly gay son, Peter (Christian Campbell); a maid named Rainy (Fran Bennett) who raids Grace’s pot stash to treat an illness; and the disappearance of $3 million in church funds, which are ultimately found and returned by the Mafia in exchange for a kickback disguised as a construction job.

On top of that, Kenny is an openly gay ex-Catholic whose best-known credit is Fox’s razor-edged sitcom “Titus.” He penned the pilot for “Daniel” as a writing sample, never imagining that a network would give it a green light. To his amazement, fourth place, hit-challenged NBC said yes, held the show until midseason to give it a more prominent launch, and OKed an ad campaign that sells it as a faith-based cousin of “Desperate Housewives.” The series premiered Friday (Jan. 6).

Conservative Christian groups have already mobilized in protest. The American Family Association’s Web site is coordinating a letter-writing campaign under the banner headline “New NBC Drama Show Mocks Christianity.”

The 47-year-old Kenny, who describes himself as “spiritual” and still attends Christian services, knows he’s strolling through a minefield. But he insists that dry recitations of the characters’ problems make “Daniel” sound more provocative than it is.

“There’s no reason for anyone to take this series as a personal affront to their world, their faith and their life,” Kenny said in an interview. “What I tried to do is show religion in a very real context with these particular people, not to say `You should be like this,’ or `This is the way all priests are, and the way all people’s families are,’ but `This is how this one particular family is. Please take a look.”’

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

“I think the show could have been called `Backstage at the Episcopal Church,”’ said Burstyn. “Or perhaps `Religious Families Are as Dysfunctional as Everyone Else.”’

Kenny points out that the series never mocks religion, nor does it show any character doubting his or her faith (a fact that contrasts “Daniel” with ABC’s controversial, short-lived Roman Catholic drama “Nothing Sacred”). Rather, it depicts the Bible, the Episcopal church and Daniel’s sermons as moral yardsticks against which the characters measure (or fail to measure) their actions.

“Daniel would like to see himself as a Bishop Desmond Tutu or a Mother Teresa, a prominent religious figure who inspires other people,” says Quinn, a Catholic who attended Christian Brothers School in Ireland as a child, and whose father studied with the Jesuits for 51/2 years, then quit before he could be ordained. “But he knows he falls far short of that, and it continually frustrates him.”

Daniel’s not alone in his imperfections. His warning to his recklessly randy son, Adam, could describe nearly every major character: “You have no sense of consequence.”

From Bishop Congreve, who secretly beds Daniel’s father and then chides Daniel for giving sermons that describe temptation as an inevitable part of life, to the Mob’s designated bagman, who glosses over his brutal career while fretting that he’s going to hell for being gay, Kenny’s characters follow their impulses wherever they lead, then pick and choose which sins they’ll worry about.

“What does that remind you of?” Kenny asked. Then he answered his own question: “Life.”

MO/PH END RNS

(Matt Zoller Seitz writes for The Star Ledger in Newark, N.J.)

Editors: To obtain a file photo of “The Book of Daniel,” go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.