Talk about your missed opportunities. “This program was the first ever prime time Christian drama series in the history of broadcasting. It follows the life of five Christian actors who perform a weekly stage show for their community.” It ran a sporadic 3 seasons over a period of 7 years from 2007 – 2014. Of all the garbage Hollywood puts out this was an opportunity for the Christian community to get behind and whole heartedly support a Christian show. When I discovered it 8 years ago I immediately saw that DVDs of it should be in every church library.
It could have been the beneficiary of “write-in” campaigns to be put on local cable outlets. Binge showings to spread the word could have been shown at indie theaters on community night. There are few more splintered bodies in this nation then Christians. The lack of a coherent voice in any number of areas is obvious. The prolife movement, family building, schooling, Christian rights… the tower of Babble seems to fit in there somewhere. So the next time you turn on the television and are greeted by a barrage of loud, crude, vile “entertainment”, think for a moment what could have been.
Just last night I saw a move from 2008 called, ‘The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry‘. It was put out by Rich Christiano, the twin brother of Dave, who was the force behind ‘7th Street Theater’. In the movie (a solid 4 of 5), young Dustin is suffering the trials of teen angst out the wazoo. The evil bully Nick, the love of his life Tanya, being raised by a single mom, I mean serious angst. Along comes Mr. Sperry (Gavin MacLeod) who asks Dustin to mow his lawn (for $3 whole dollars, it was set in 1970).
Little did Dustin know of Mr. Sperry’s nefarious plans! Just kidding, Jonathan Sperry saw a fatherless young boy he knows from church who might need some male mentoring. One thing leads to another and after befriending Dustin and his pals, Mr. Sperry ends up leading them in a youth group bible study. That actually happened back then, I know. God often imparts a little wisdom to Christians like Jonathan, which allows him to help guide Dustin through the trials of growing up. The movie also starred Robert Guillaume as the cantankerous Mr. Barnes. Its great to find out these guys you knew from Love Boat and Benson were also Christians.
For some reason that same wisdom that is so evident among individual Christians, often is vacant in Church leadership. Like in their failure to support this dynamic duo of Christian entertainment.
Johanna Jowett, Shane Willimon, Hugh McLean
As a side note, I’ve actually kept track of what shows have ever said the name of Jesus (this one did) in this supposedly Christian nation. The Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Little House on the Prairie did from time to time. The Waltons did once in the pilot movie, once in the series. Walker Texas Ranger several times. And oddly enough, Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman. The other thing that occurred to me just now, everyone of those shows ran on CBS I believe.
Come to think of it, Little House ran on NBC. But I digress. There were also a number of shows that portrayed themselves as Christian but clearly weren’t. Highway to Heaven with Michael Landon was one of those. On this show angels were dead people who went around helping people. A lot of people have no idea just what kind of creature angels are. But I do feel confident in saying that these fearsome beings are not simply people who have assumed room temperature.
Another was 7th Heaven, they were allergic to Jesus also. Perhaps the most blatant anti-Christian was Touched by an Angel with Roma Downey. At 5 minutes till on each episode the miscreant would be healed by the fiery redhead when she would stand in front of him and say ‘Gawd!’ in a stern voice while a hair light would shine from behind. Somehow this would heal our guest of the week of his lack of compassion or generosity. All it did was make me appreciate ravishing redheads from the Scottish isles. There is only One thing that makes Christianity ‘The Way’ and that is Jesus, or Yeshua if you prefer.
Iowa life 