Despite all the publicity leading up to Friday's premiere of The Book of Daniel on NBC, it still didn't do so hot in the ratings. The two-hour premiere, which aired from 9-11 pm on Friday, averaged about 9 million viewers. That's fewer than Close to Home, Numb3rs, In Justice, and 20/20, which all aired against Daniel on CBS and ABC. In Justice and 20/20 barely beat Daniel, each with a little more than 9 million viewers.

I watched The Book of Daniel out of pure curiosity. I like Aidan Quinn and I wanted to give the guy a chance. Plus, I wanted to see whether all the ruckus was justified. It wasn't.

Surely, you've seen the ads for NBC's big new midseason dramedy, The Book of Daniel? The one where the Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest talks to a bum-hippie Jesus about his drug dealing daughter and his gay son and the fact that his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law? You know, the one that looks like a piece of overcooked, self-conciously "quirky" Ally McBealist crap? As Adam pointed out yesterday morning, the American Family Association is even more excited about Daniel than I am, although for entirely different reasons; in fact, they're calling for NBC to cancel the show before it even airs. In a statement sent to their members, AFA said, "It would be beneficial to all if NBC showed a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible." They're asking their members to bombard the network with letters until they get their way. Meanwhile, NBC has fought back with a statement of their own, predictably insisting that if we try it, we might like it. "We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family," the network says. 

Hmmmm... an absurdly reactionary organization is trying to get an apparently crap show canceled before it debuts. That's just silly. Then again, it is, by all appearances, a crap show. What side to take?