History Channel's The Bible

[Moviefan1203]

Disclaimer: Please, please, please do not turn this into a religious debate, this thread is about the miniseries. Thank you.

Actress Roma Downey ("Touched By an Angel") and her husband, producer Mark Burnett ("The Voice," "Survivor," "The Apprentice") are very excited to present their epic miniseries that was five years and a lot of hard work in the making--The Bible. The series covers Genesis through Revelation, presenting two or three major stories within each 2-hour episode, and the cast and crew worked hard to create a genuine interpretation reverently portraying events from scripture. The series will air on the History Channel beginning March 3, 2013, and run for five consecutive weeks, with the final episode showing on Easter Sunday.

I've been anticipating this for a long time and cannot wait to see it. With it being a History Channel production, I am beyond excited for it.

[sycro]

I'm looking forward to it as well. If it ends up being even half as good as Hatfields and McCoys, it'll be great.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by sycro

I'm looking forward to it as well. If it ends up being even half as good as Hatfields and McCoys, it'll be great.

Yeah, Hatfields & McCoys was some damn fine filmmaking.

[Clark Kent]

The only thing that makes me leery is the involvement by Mark Burnett. His track record is mostly in trashy reality television.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

The only thing that makes me leery is the involvement by Mark Burnett. His track record is mostly in trashy reality television.

With the History Channel behind it, I think we're in good shape. Historically, it'll be very accurate.

[Punishment1o1]

I'm actually really excited for this and can't wait for it to come on. It'll be interesting to see what Bible stories they chose to adapt.

[Col. Zombie]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

The only thing that makes me leery is the involvement by Mark Burnett. His track record is mostly in trashy reality television.

He has stated that he wants nothing more than a visual retelling of the stories, as they are recorded in Scripture.

As a believer, I for one can't wait for tonight's series premiere and happy to see Burnett's involvement. It looks pretty spectacular.

[jag2007]

It was pretty ok over all so far. I was entertained.

[sycro]

Originally Posted by jag2007

It was pretty ok over all so far. I was entertained.

I'm surprised how little coverage the History Channel gave this. If it weren't for previews before movies at AMC Theatres, I would have never known. But they've spent the last week advertising Vikings, including having a countdown to the premiere today (which was immediately after The Bible).

[ChiefSequatchie]

Much better than expected. Funny they didn't promote this like they have done for Vikings which I skipped for Finding BigFoot

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Col. Zombie

He has stated that he wants nothing more than a visual retelling of the stories, as they are recorded in Scripture.

Still, there is the question of "Why the History Channel, and not, say, A&E? "

(When we get scenes of Noah's flood causing Pangaea to break up, I smell a bit of creeping ID-Creationism trying to get a foot into the mainstream door...
And Downey's already had her foot in the Bible-belt-goes-mainstream-programming door for years.)

[Col. Zombie]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Still, there is the question of "Why the History Channel, and not, say, A&E? "

Well, I see your point, however... Regardless of how one interprets the Scripture, literal, metaphoric, or complete fairytale, (I subscribe to the former with some shades of metaphorical and abhor the latter) it would impossible to argue that the history of the past 2,000 of Western civilization hasn't been shaped in nearly every facet of life by the Bible.

I can see precisely why it's on History.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Still, there is the question of "Why the History Channel, and not, say, A&E? "

Because it is history. The most important of all history in fact.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

Because it is history. The most important of all history in fact.

The NEW Testament is history (to a point); as for whether the OLD Testament is history....consult your local sect.
Most Catholic, Protestant and even Jewish groups accept that most of Genesis might not have, um, actually happened, or that Revelations was an allegorically-worded letter to churches and not a "horoscope" excuse to read middle-east political headlines.
The ones that DO believe every word literally down to the last semi-colon, tend to be the ones most interested in movie and TV deals. (Remember all those televangelist-funded Left Behind-clone Revelation thrillers that claimed they were "outwitting" Hollywood to get their owners' message out?) I might be VERY quick to put Creation Ministries, who endorsed the series, and consultant Joel Osteen, in that category.

(A&E had the very good "Mysteries of the Bible" documentary series in the 90's that covered the best-known stories from an actual historical standpoint, and tried to separate fact from fiction--
I would've expected as much from the History Channel back then, but not after their Hatfields & McCoys search for Big Miniseries to put on Blu-ray.)

[Moviefan1203]

Source - http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/03/04/bi...ngs/?hpt=hp_t2

History Channel’s The Bible premiere delivered divine Nielsen ratings Sunday night, thumping all of the major broadcast shows.

The miniseries’ two-hour cable network premiere was seen by 13.1 million viewers and scored a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49. That’s more viewers and a higher demo rating than any show on the major broadcast networks last night and ranks as cable’s most-watched entertainment telecast this year. If you include the show’s repeat, the viewership rises to 14.8 million for the night.

“The success of The Bible has catapulted History into one of the most powerful brands across media landscape and we could not be more thrilled and more proud,” Nancy Dubuc, president of A&E Networks. “Clearly there is a nationwide groundswell that was waiting for this moment … An enormous debt of gratitude goes out to everyone and the amazing effort put forth to drive us to this amazing win. Clearly the passion for this project has resonated with our viewers and across the nation. We are thrilled, and the story is only just beginning.”

The Bible couldn’t quite top History’s previous record-setting mini Hatfields & McCoys, however, which had a stunning 13.9 million viewers for its premiere last year. And last night’s 18-49 demo rating is almost certainly lower than AMC’s mega-hit The Walking Dead (those ratings will not be released until tomorrow), though The Bible very likely had more viewers.

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The Bible is a 10-hour live-action miniseries executive produced by Survivor and Celebrity Apprentice executive producer Mark Burnett along with his wife Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel). Burnett has said he made the special effects-filled project to help tackle “Bible illiteracy” among young people. “In school, you have to know a certain amount of Shakespeare, but no Bible,” Burnett told the Christian Science Monitor. “So there’s got to be a way to look at it from a pure literature point of view. If it wasn’t for the Bible, arguably Shakespeare wouldn’t have written those stories.”

Burnett predicted that The Bible, once you include home video and international sales, will eventually be seen by more viewers “than any of our other series combined over the next three decades.” It’s off to a good start — among the broadcast shows that The Bible out-performed among total audience last night was Burnett’s own All-Star Celebrity Apprentice premiere on NBC which returned to a disappointing 5.1 million viewers.

“We could not be more thrilled with this out of the gate success,” said Downey and Burnett in a statement. “The world is watching right now and we are incredibly humbled by the reaction to the series. This No. 1 series is a tribute to all those who have helped us to spread the Word. Ultimately The Bible will be seen and felt by billions around the globe …Today, more people are discussing God’s chosen people — Moses and Abraham — in one day than ever before.”

Also last night, History’s first scripted series Vikings delivered 6.2 million viewers for the premiere and 8.2 million for the night.

The Bible‘s strong ratings performance comes despite the project garnering some poor reviews from TV critics; EW’s own Darren Franich called The Bible a “cheesefest” in this week’s issue. What do you think of History’s big Bible numbers?

[sycro]

Originally Posted by EricJ

(A&E had the very good "Mysteries of the Bible" documentary series in the 90's that covered the best-known stories from an actual historical standpoint, and tried to separate fact from fiction--
I would've expected as much from the History Channel back then, but not after their Hatfields & McCoys search for Big Miniseries to put on Blu-ray.)

Have you never watched The History Channel? They have those type shows on 4 days a week....