TV Shows And The BibleChikamu

Hollywood Orchestrates Resurgence of Bible-Themed Programming

In 1994, TNT was a fledgling cable network just six years into its existence when it made an unconventional move—it launched the TNT Bible Collection, which would feature 17 classic Bible stories told in 27 parts over an eight-year span. The series started with Genesis and ended with Revelation-themed The Apocalypse and depicted many of the iconic narratives in between.

Some of the notable cast members featured throughout included Richard Harris (who played the lead role in Abraham), Ben Kingsley (who played Potiphar in Joseph and the lead role in Moses), Leonard Nimoy (who played Samuel in David), and Patrick Dempsey (who played the lead role in Jeremiah). The TNT Bible Collection proved to be the front-runner of a movement to bring more Bible-themed programming to the small screen.

Seven years later, in 2009, NBC released a modern adaption of the story of David called Kings in which the writers took a great deal of creative license with the source material. The show failed to secure a consistent audience and was canceled after one season. 

That didn’t hinder reality TV mogul Mark Burnett and his wife, actress Roma Downey, from embarking on an ambitious journey of their own in 2013. With the 10-part series called The Bible that aired on the History Channel, their goal was to bring a more textually-accurate set of Bible stories back to the small screen. Perhaps just as important was their desire to do so with the highest level of production to date.

“Part of what we hoped to accomplish with the series was to show the Bible is not simply a collection of unconnected stories which are often discussed and analyzed in snippets with chapter and verse numbers,” the couple wrote in an op-ed for The Huffington Post. “Instead, we wanted to show how the Old Testament connects seamlessly to the New Testament. How they are one sweeping story with one grand, overriding message: God loves each one of us as if we were the only person in all the world to love.”

Each episode averaged between 10 and 13 million viewers and was later repurposed into the blockbuster film Son of God, which brought in over $60 million at the box office. The Bible’s roaring success also prompted NBC to pick up Burnett and Downey’s sequel series A.D. The Bible Continues, which aired in 2015 and follows the disciples after Jesus’s ascension and the early days of the Christian church as detailed in the book of Acts.

“The Bible is a living book,” Downey told Charisma Magazine. “We’ve been able to breathe fresh visual life into it and bring that to this generation.”

In March 2016, on Palm Sunday, the FOX network added to the renaissance with its unique live production called The Passion. Inspired by a similar telecast from the Netherlands, the musically charged event focused on the last few hours of Jesus’s life.

The star-studded cast included Tyler Perry (narrator), Jencarlos Canela (Jesus), Chris Daughtry (Judas), Prince Royce (Peter), Seal (Pontius Pilate), Trisha Yearwood (Mary) and Michael W. Smith and Shane Harper (disciples). The modernized dialogue and set design amplified a unique song selection that included remakes of Celine Dion’s “Love Can Move Mountains,” Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open,” Train’s “Calling All Angels,” and Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero.”

Throughout the presentation, a crowd of people followed a 20-foot illuminated cross that was being carried along the streets of New Orleans from the Super Dome to Woldenpberg Park until it arrived at the primary stage just in time for the crucifixion scene (Matthew 27:32-56).

The Passion captured an audience of 6.6 million viewers and continued the strong run of TV shows based on the Bible that TNT launched 22 years earlier.

“I love this story,” Perry told Parade. “I love the idea of it being told very modern, very updated, so that not only people who know about it and who are believers, but people who are not, people from all walks of life, can look at this story, get it, understand it, appreciate it, and have love for it, just as I do, just as it is.”