Jack Kenny has sent this letter asking for help. I thought hard about whether to post it. While I’ve welcomed the evangelism opportunities the show has provided, I don’t have a stake in its success. And lobbying for a television show isn’t really up the Church’s alley. So if Daniel just wasn’t drawing much of an audience, well, I don’t know that I’d have put Jack’s post on the blog. But the show isn’t being given the chance to succeed or fail on its own merits. And it deserves that much. So here it is.
Jack writes:
First, I want to THANK all of you for the myriad messages of SUPPORT I’ve seen on this and many other boards and sites. Most everyone seems to understand that this is NOT any kind of attack or mocking of Christianity, but rather simply a fictional story in which the characters happen to be Christian. And also, very good people – despite being distilled down to their one or two flaws, something I don’t think any real person would care to have done to them either. So again, I thank you for your unwavering support and the fascinating discussion I’ve been witness to on these sites.
Second: HELP!!!! The American Family Association is using this show as a fundraising tool. Right next to the button to click to send a message to NBC or an advertiser is a button to click to “donate” money to their “cause.” A cause that I can only view as unAmerican – the cause of censorship. Even though, as far as I can find, the AFA has actually NEVER had a successful boycott, it’s the fear of one (and we all know how effectively fear has been used lately) that has advertisers slow to buy time on the show.
Click for more.
It certainly isn’t the reviews. The critical response has been 90% RAVES! This is a GOOD SHOW. The actors are BRILLIANT. And I think you’ll find that they just get better and better with each episode- something that often happens as actors get to know their characters better than we (the writers) do.
But YOU ARE IN DANGER (see how that fear tactic can get your attention?) of NEVER SEEING THEIR MOST BRILLIANT WORK YET!!! I believe that you, the fan, the viewer, the supporters of this show – and I know there are a LOT of you – deserve to see the last three episodes before the Olympics. Please believe me when I tell you that the stories that we are about to tell you – most especially the last two – are the most heart-breakingly beautiful stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of being associated with.
In the next episode – 1/20, Adam finally gets the parenting from Daniel that he’s so desperately needed. And Daniel ministers to a most unlikely congregant.
In the one after – 1/27, Peter and Adam find themselves in a situation that they never could have imagined.
And in the third – 2/3, we get to go back in time and meet Peter’s identical twin, Jimmy, as he is dying from leukemia – beautifully played by Christian Campbell in a dual role.
And we learn a great deal about what made the Websters who they are today.
So HERE’S WHAT I’M ASKING: Write, E-Mail, call, visit your local NBC affiliate, and insist that they run the next three episodes of The Book of Daniel. And reward them with your unwavering support of their station. Ordinarily, I would never ask anyone to do this, but the AFA and bullies like them are hard at work to try and prevent you from seeing these beautiful shows, and that is CENSORSHIP – pure and simple. And that is both un-Christian and un-American! So do what Americans have been doing for centuries: SPEAK UP! Let your voices be heard.
ALSO: Do the SAME thing to the ADVERTISERS. Call, write, e-mail, anything you can do to thank them for supporting this show, and request their continued support. Believe me when I tell you that the other side is bringing their point of view to the advertisers, and if you want your voice heard, you MUST do the same thing. It seems ABSURD to me (as I’m sure it does to you) that we must speak up to be given the opportunity to choose for ourselves in this country – but that, I’m afraid, is what it has come to. The bullies are in the playground going after the new kid, and I need you to speak up NOW. You can find a list of advertisers conveniently posted for us on the AFA website –www.afa.net
Please know that I am not trying to force something down someone’s throat who doesn’t want it – unless you’ve gotten one of those defective TVs with only the one channel. I am trying to let the fans of the show know, that they are in danger of losing the opportunity to watch and decide for themselves. Be VOCAL, and be HEARD. The censors on the other side are doing it, so we must as well.
Thank you for your time. And your support. I hope to continue to write shows that, to paraphrase Lincoln, will at least “please some of the people all of the time.”