That Prime-Time Religion

You may feel the faith-and-family themes could be handled better on cable--mainly because they have been. The less flashy, more affecting Rescue Me, besides its divine tête-à-têtes, deals with the Catholic guilt of Leary's character (who also loses a son and pops pills). The most glaring parallels are to HBO'S Six Feet Under, with its Episcopal repression, uptight gay son and angry, artistic daughter. On Daniel, the network leash keeps tugging distractingly. Peter, like so many other gay TV characters, is conveniently "getting over a breakup," and in the pilot, Daniel has to have a pat moment of connection with each of his children before the credits roll.

Daniel deserves a chance to improve, though, if only for its ambition. No, its Westchester-liberal milieu is not representative of all American Christians, but guess what? No Christian denomination is, and it is insulting to assume that an audience won't understand that. Red staters watch Desperate Housewives; law-abiding citizens follow The Sopranos. Some deeply devout Christians may be put off (though the fact that the guy with the family troubles is a liberal may reaffirm their beliefs). Some secularists may not like all the God talk. But what should matter to most is whether Daniel can, as it sometimes does, capture life in all its risible, messy fallibility. Religion is polarizing, yes, but there are things many viewers can agree on: that being good is both necessary and difficult and that sin is both ubiquitous and--if you tell the story right--blessedly entertaining.