Aidan Quinn

Book of Daniel Mixes Dope and Faith

• Jan 5, 2006 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Webb Mitovich

The Book of Daniel's Garrett Dillahunt and Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn's Daniel Webster sees and talks to Jesus in NBC's new (and controversial) The Book of Daniel (premiering Jan. 6 at 9 pm/ET, before settling into its Fridays-at-10 time slot). Then again, maybe the good reverend is simply stoned on all the Vicodin he's taking on the sly. Or stressed out about having a gay son or a pot-dealing daughter. Yes, it's that kind of "religious" series.

But as opposed to the most obvious comparison, CBS' God-seeing Joan of Arcadia, Daniel's sit-downs with J.C. (played by Deadwood's Garret Dillahunt) aren't presented as "the grand gimmick." "If someone wants to make it the hook, they could, but I think it's very much just a by-product," Quinn tells TVGuide.com. "The read more

WATCHDOG GROUP BURNS BOOK

• Dec 28, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Webb Mitovich

The Book of Daniel's Garrett Dillahunt and Aidan Quinn

Surprisingly — or not? — the American Family Association, which has smote irreverent series dating back to Charlie's Angels, is taking issue with the new NBC drama The Book of Daniel (premiering Jan. 6), in which Aidan Quinn plays a clergyman with a colorful clan and who, by the way, occasionally chats with Jesus (played by Garrett Dillahunt). AFA biggwig Rev. Donald Wildmon slams Quinn's character for being a "drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose wife depends heavily on her midday martinis," takes issue with (shocker alert) the show's portrayal of homosexuals, and pegs the drop-ins by Jesus as "very unconventional." Wildmon's obviously a Willem Dafoe loyalist. read more

Now that the dust has settled...

• Dec 2, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Now that the dust has settled a bit on all the 2006 mid-season changes that will be kicking in as soon as the holidays are over, here's my night-by-night scorecard of the imminent battles we'll be covering a month or so from now. Monday The big news is the return of 24 on Fox, with a four-hour blast January 15-16, followed by all-new episodes through the rest of the season. For the first two months, Skating with Celebrities (a rip-off of Dancing with the Stars) will be 24's lead-in. But come mid-March, Prison Break will return. What a one-two punch that promises to be! CBS will coast along by capping off its popular comedies with read more

NBC RESTS JOEY, SCRUBS BACK IN

• Dec 1, 2005 03:00 AM ET
• by Matt Webb Mitovich

Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke in Scrubs

NBC has announced its mid-season game plan, and it goes a little something like this: Effective Jan. 2, My Name Is Earl and The Office, as speculated, move from Tuesday to Thursdays-at-9, where they will follow a pairing of Will & Grace and the new sitcom Four Kings (starring Seth Green, Shane McRae, Josh Cooke and Todd Grinnell). Filling the Tuesday void are back-to-back airings of new Scrubs episodes, which will have Fear Factor as its lead-in. Succeeding The Apprentice: Martha Stewart on Wednesdays at 9 is The Biggest Loser: Special Edition, a series of standalone and themed spec read more

I recently read in ...

• Nov 4, 2005 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Question: I recently read in TVGuide.com's "Entertainment News" that NBC had trimmed its 13-episode order of The Book of Daniel to seven. I have been eagerly awaiting this new Susanna Thompson series and was not pleased to hear this latest development. Do you know if NBC plans to air this series at all? I thought once one of their new shows bit the dust this fall that BOD would take its place, since NBC had seemed to be so high on the show. What's your take on this? Do you think BOD will ever see the light of day, or will it be like Susanna's last venture (Still Life), which Fox filmed and never bothered to air? Answer: To be honest, I think NBC is scared of this show. Not so much entertainment president Kevin Reilly, who came to NBC from FX, because The Book of Daniel is a show that reflects that sensibility: risk taking, exciting, controversial, original, extremely well acted and written. But his bosses, I'm sure, are worried about the show's commercial potential, in part because it ... read more

NBC is heading for a fall this...

• Jul 26, 2005 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

NBC is heading for a fall this fall, and it isn't likely to be pretty. The network didn't even make much effort to pretend otherwise over the last few days of presentations, and that's rare honesty for a summer press tour. Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly, mired in the post-Friends doldrums that his predecessor Jeff Zucker left behind upon ascending the corporate ladder, knows the turnaround will be slow and ugly.

Certainly, the response was tepid to hostile for such middling-to-awful new series as Surface (a "big tent" family/sci-fi/fantasy drama about a new species of sea creature), Inconceivable (a smarmy drama set in a fertility clinic) and E-Ring (a rare misfire from Jerry Bruckheimer's factory, an uninspired JAG-lite set read more

The show that you said you ...

• Jul 22, 2005 04:00 AM ET
• by Matt Roush

Question: The show that you said you liked, The Book of Daniel, is saved! What is it about exactly and when do you think it will debut? Answer: The Book of Daniel will premiere on NBC sometime midseason, but the real questions will be on what night and at what time. The show will need to be protected, which may be tough for NBC if the network continues to slip this fall, which is entirely possible. For instance, it would be disastrous if it were scheduled Fridays at 10 pm/ET, replacing the unbearable new drama Inconceivable. This show needs to air where people might actually find it. Daniel is a darkly comic drama starring Aidan Quinn as an Episcopal minister juggling domestic and professional problems, with scandals erupting at every turn and a skeptical bishop (Ellen Burstyn) watching his every move. The cast in the pilot includes Once and Again's terrific Susanna Thompson as his wife, Christian Campbell as his gay son, and as Jesus — who appears to Daniel frequently — Garret Dillahunt ... read more

BOOK REPORT

• Jul 15, 2005 04:00 AM ET
• by TV Guide News

NBC's Aidan Quinn drama The Book of Daniel, which was presumed dead when it failed to land a spot on the fall sked, has been given a stay of execution. Per Variety, the Peacock ordered the show for midseason. Daniel centers on an Episcopalian reverend (Quinn) who's hooked on prescription pills and talks to Jesus — and that's just before noon. In related news, Joan of Arcadia — hoping for her own reprieve — is mulling over a heroin habit. read more