TV's New Religious Saga

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Kenny never intended for "The Book of Daniel" to be anything more than a writing sample to branch out of a career in sitcoms. But as he showed it to people, he realized he was on to something more than a means to a new job. "Organized religion is, to me, almost the same organism as the Mafia," he says. "It's got its internal politics, it's got rules that it follows, rules that it doesn't follow, who's allowed to do what to who. It's got skeletons in the closet and scandals and all those things. It skirts the law because it can. They do it legitimately, where the Mafia does it illegitimately. I always wanted to explore religion the way `The Sopranos' explored the Mafia, through the focal lens of a family."

Similarly, when asked whether Jesus really needs to be in this show, he points to Dr. Melfi, noting she's not essential to the plot of "The Sopranos" but provides insight into Tony Soprano's thoughts that just isn't available elsewhere.

"He's not really talking to a living Jesus," says Kenny. "I think he's in Daniel's mind. We see him because Daniel would like to see him. This is Daniel's personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This is how it manifests itself. He talks to him, this is his way of praying: He's talking to his best friend, his brother, his pal, his partner."

Kenny knows he has to step very carefully in writing Jesus. He wants some of those scenes to have a sense of humor, but "without a sense of satire." In one moment in the pilot, Jesus tries to cheer up Daniel by inventing self-help book titles like "Jesus' Guide to a Comfortable Life" and "My Tuesdays With Jesus."

Kenny isn't shy about his own political beliefs, but insists that with this show, "I don't have a platform, I don't have a political idea. If the notion of abortion or gay rights or civil rights or anything was to come up, I would never have Jesus give an opinion about it. But I would have Jesus encourage Daniel to search his own soul for his opinion."

Amid all the recent talk of a culture war and red states vs. blue states, Kenny is acutely aware of the scrutiny he's going to face, both as the creator of a show about religion and as the out and proud creator of same.

"I pull from my own life, but I don't have a gay agenda. Peter is not me, to use an example. He's a conservative, middle-of-the-road Republican gay man, and that's not me."

Since the script first leaked out to the press a few months ago, Kenny has been reading the phrase "pill-popping priest" too often for his liking. "You can't take one aspect of a character and just hammer on it. We all have things in our personal lives where if people took that one thing and defined you by it, you would not be happy. That's not all you are. Daniel doesn't sit in a crack den pouring pills down his mouth. He just has a little problem with prescription painkillers. But we'll play that out, and he'll ultimately overcome it."

Though Kenny won't discuss it, NBC desperately needs a show like "The Book of Daniel"--well-written, impeccably cast and destined to push a whole lot of buttons--to make some noise after the network's fourth-place finish in the ratings this past season. Throughout the development process, the notes from NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly focused almost entirely on minor details.

"And I said, `But Jesus, the Vicodin, the marijuana, that's all OK?' And he said, `Oh, yeah, yeah, that's fine."'

With months to go before the general public gets a look at his show, Kenny knows the temptation will be great to pass judgment just based on a plot synopsis. "Nothing Sacred," an ABC drama about an unconventional Catholic priest, was protested from the minute it was announced, and that one didn't have its main character having regular chats with the son of God.

"I want to write the Jesus that I think he'd be proud of," says Kenny. "I want to write him as the man who is the best part of Daniel, who's reminding Daniel how to live his life, who embodies Daniel's faith and his trust and love in people. That's who Jesus is to Daniel and who Jesus is to this show."

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