You have probably heard from one of the many reports circulating that NBC has cancelled The Book of Daniel due to poor ratings after airing only three of the initial eight planned episodes.

According to the Chicago Tribune:

Originally planned as a limited-run series of eight episodes, the controversial program about a pill-popping Episcopal priest with a troubled family has been pulled by NBC after airing for only three weeks. The series' ratings had not been great since its Jan. 6 debut, and the low ratings for the Jan. 20 outing of the show were the final straw. According to NBC, no further airings are planned.

I'm sure that there will be those who will criticize the Christian community for supposedly causing its cancellation. But I don't think we were the ones who killed it. It was practically stillborn to begin with. Besides all the ethical criticisms of the show, it primarily suffered from three things: bad writing, bad acting and Hollywood producers out of touch with the mainstream.

The demise of The Book of Daniel should come as no surprise. As I suggested in my initial review of the show, there was no way it could last for very long:

My hunch is that tonight's broadcast probably got decent, if not good ratings because of all the publicity the show received leading up to its debut. However, after that, the audience will begin to shrink. Add to that the time slot given to the show: 10 PM EST on Friday night. That has to be the worst time slot a show could receive.

My prediction is that by mid-spring, The Book of Daniel will be sealed for all of eternity (my apologies to ch. 12, v. 9 in the real Book of Daniel).

Mid-spring? Evidently I was too kind.

Tags: television