The Book of Daniel (NBC)

I must say that I wish I could get those two hours back again. What a waste of time. I can’t say that my sensibilities were necessarily offended, although having my intelligence insulted to such a degree should have done it. It's hard to tell if the writer was actually truly serious about some of the plot points. One of the pastor’s questions during a premarital counseling session was “how’s everything in the bedroom”, asked with a perfectly straight face; and one mothers’ only problem with the back seat antics of her teenaged daughter was that the out-of-wedlock babies would be… gasp… Asian! Is that supposed to make the other mom, who doesn't see a problem with the kids just "going out to a movie" (yeah, right!), look reasonable?

Aside from the story itself, the actors portraying the “kids” laid it on so incredibly thick it was impossible to care about them, or even take them seriously. Real people with the kinds of issues portrayed here are worthy of our compassion. But I just couldn’t muster it. This story doesn’t try to make us laugh at ourselves, like I had hoped. (You've got to see "Saved" for that!) This doesn’t even rise to the level of mockery, as the protesters feared. This was nothing but slapstick.

Which is a bummer, cuz I really dig Aidan Quinn. He’s a cutie. ;-)