Yahoo! News - NBC Pairs Jesus, Pill-Popping Priest in TV Pilot
A show that seeks to answer that age-old question-What Would Jesus Sell?

BURBANK, Calif. (Reuters) - NBC, praying for new hits as it weathers a post-"Friends" ratings slump, may soon be bringing Jesus to prime time -- not as a biblical miracle worker, but as a modern-day private savior for a pill-popping priest.

"Daniel" is one project that NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said he is particularly excited about, citing it as a prime example of his big new watch word in program development -- "fresh."

"I like that it's slightly provocative," he told Reuters. "We did realize that we're in uncharted waters. ... It certainly stirs people's passions and stirs opinions, and if we do it right, with quality, I think there's millions and millions of people who would say, 'Hey, that's what I've been looking for on television."'

According to NBC's promotional materials, its pilot drama depicts Jesus as a "contemporary, cool" figure who appears as a personal confidant to an Episcopal minister named Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn), who in turn is wrestling with family issues and a dependence on prescription pills. The cast co-stars Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn as Daniel's church superior and newcomer Garrett Dillahunt as Jesus.

I don't know whether to laugh or to be very, very frightened. If it's a hit, we could see all kinds of copycats- "CSI: Bethlehem, Desperate House Nuns, Everybody Loves Peter...it could get really ugly.

And I'm really sorry to see that Ellen Burstyn, who was one of my favorites at one time in my life, is that hard up for work.