5 ways The Bible wins and 5 . . . well, not so much

In which I interrupt my previously scheduled blog post to say a few words about The Bible.

How many of you watched the premier of The Bible, the ten hour miniseries on the History Channel Sunday night? No doubt some viewers have strong opinions of the choices that the filmmakers made. But positive, negative, or—like mine—a little bit of both, The Bible was an undertaking on an epic scale. Here are my impressions of the first episode.
5 ways The Bible wins:

1. Stunning visuals: the ark floating on an endless sea, the garden of Eden, the parting of the Red sea, and the Exodus. My favorite was Adam, rising out of the clay.

2. Sarah: her laugh when Abraham announced that she would bear a child at 90 was remarkably restrained.

3. The sacrifice of Isaac: the most moving moment of the episode.

4. Ninja angels: I know lots of people didn’t like them, but I did.

5. At one point while watching the the two hour premier with my husband, I looked up to find that all my children had wandered in to watch. Big win.

Here’s what I wish could have been different.

1. It just moved too fast. Episode one sped from Genesis to Joshua in two hours. I’d hardly entered emotionally into a story before it moved on to another.

2. I can understand why the filmmakers chose to skip over the story of Joseph, but I still didn’t like it.

3. Yes, some of the actors have British accents (and I think I heard a wee bit of Scottish from Noah) but what else could they do? Fake a Hebrew accent?

4. Caucasians. Couldn’t they find extras for the Exodus that didn’t look like they just came off the set of Vikings?

5. The voice-over narration. Just bugged me.

All things considered, I give The Bible a thumbs up. Genesis to Revelations in ten hours is a monumental task, and I commend the History Channel for putting it on prime time. Face it, anything on TV these days that doesn’t have a laugh track or a dimwitted father should be celebrated so I’ll be tuning in for the next episodes.
Here’s the breakdown of the episodes if you want to make sure to see your favorite Biblical stories:

• March 3, Episode 1: Genesis to the entry into the Promised Land (re-airing throughout the week)

• March 10, Episode 2: Joshua, Samson, Judges, David & Goliath, David, Saul, Solomon

• March 17, Episode 3: Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Jews return to Jerusalem, Roman occupation, Birth of Christ, John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter

• March 24, Episode 4: Jesus’ ministry & miracles, Pharasees, the Disciples, Last supper, Judas, Peter’s Denial

• March 31, Episode 5: Nicodemus, Caiaphas, Pilate, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Jesus returns, Holy Spirit comes, Martyrdom of the Disciples, John’s survival and exile to Patmos, Revelation

 

What about you? Will you be tuning in for an episode of The Bible?