understanding

Twenty-six special episodes of Sesame Street will air in Kosovo as a way to promote ethnic diversity among children. The series, which is essential seen by children worldwide now, first came to the region in 2004. The new episodes, which will broadcast in both Serbian and Albanian languages, will combine footage from the series featuring the beloved Muppets with footage shot in the region. Kids fell in love with the series when it premiered there two years ago, and it was also praised for promoting respect among different ethnic groups. Maybe we could actually achieve world peace if we all just watched Sesame Street all day. At least up to the point when the Grover supporters wage an attack on the Cookie Monster sympathizers. Then the whole mess just starts over again.

In the middle of his sermon, Reverend Daniel Webster (Aidan Quinn) poses this question to the congregation:

"If there were no temptation, how can there be redemption?"

The Book of Daniel made its much anticipated debut Friday night on NBC with a two-hour episode. If you saw it, you know there were so many subplots that trying to recap them here will make your (and my) head spin.

In a nutshell, Daniel's life is a complicated one, to say the least. This Episcopalian man of the cloth has to deal with his teenage daughter (Grace) being arrested for dealing pot, to having a gay son (Peter) that causes confusion for him, to having an adopted son from China (Adam) who pokes fun at his Asian features and heritage, to having a neurotic wife taken to having martinis as soon as noon passes, to having a female bishop critiquing his Sunday sermons, to finding out his brother-in-law has embezzled $3.2 million from the church, to dealing with a stiff and wooden father who happens to be a bishop, to his mother suffering from Alzheimer's, to interacting with a Mafia-connected Catholic priest. (I could go further but I think you get the general idea.)