Book of Daniel

Kenny beat me to it, but I’m not going to let the 2 entire hours of my life go unblogged. This is a 1 hr show, but the premiere was 2 hours long. Really there was only about 1 hr of show though, because they kept going to commercial like ever 3 minutes. And to go to commercial they freeze the last frame of the action and poorly (or maybe just ugly-ly) turn it into digital stained glass. Ha, church show, stained glass.

The priest has a vicodin problem. His wife drinks too much. His mom has Alzheimer’s, so his dad is cheating on the mom with the woman bishop. The brother in law is now dead and the sister in law and her lesbian lover stole millions from the church. The son is gay. The adopted chinaman is not white. And the pot selling daughter is just retartedly teenaged and mood swingy. The maid steals a bit of pot from the daughter and we find her smoking it while the cheating lady bishop comes to visit. All they need is a midget or a monkey and it might as well be Passions.

Since they are a family, they have dinner together a gazillion times during this 2 hrs, or at least 3 times. And the conversation never changes. Oh, look, there’s an Asian kid. Oh boy, there’s a not quite “out” gay. The lame stereotypes never stop being mentioned in increasingly more banal ways. I found myself getting annoyed, then stopping to thing. Was this how people really were? Uninteresting, with the same things to say every hour of every day? I started to worry.

The daughter thinks she needs a $4000 graphics program so she can do her manga. Now, manga, you see, is not quite a middle american word yet, so it is treated as some strange commodity. And rather than tell her parents she wants something, or even that she draws anything at all, she sells pot because they “wouldn’t understand” –might as well be right out of an school special. It was very bizarre to watch, not natural at all. And here’s another part that makes me think. I don’t consider myself that tech savvy, sure I’m better than the unwashed masses, but so are all my friends. In fact, my friends are the ones who let me know I’m not all that savvy. Because when I want software, paying for it (especially with drug money) never crosses my mind. That’s what friends (and sisters) are for. It’s not like the girl was being totally honest and desired to buy software the old fashioned way with legitimately made money. No, she just didn’t know how else to get it.

Tangentially, is this the future? Kids don’t download what they want anymore, they sell, drugs or sex or whatever to buy their movies, music and software? Is this what the studios are hoping will happen?

As for the race issue, the seemed very forced the entire time. The Asian bashing v gay bashing good natured dinner banter was absolutely bizarre. Is this all the family has to say ever? It’s obvious they love to antagonize each other, but are definitely a family that will stick together. Their issues are all individual, and not family related. The family bond is strong. Granted, I’m not really an expert with the racism. But it seemed like the crazy mom (and I imagine we’ll find out what her deal is later) was more concerned with babies than anything else. Is that what parents of high school aged children worry about? Or does she just need to take a few of the priest's vicodin and chill?

It sounds like I don't like this show, but I'll probably keep watching it. It doesn't have much competition, and it's a bit of a loveable train wreck. I suppose you can't expect good things from a girl whose current favorite show is Grey's Anatomy.