The Greatest Story Ever Told, (now on television)

{(The Greatest Story Ever Told, (now on television)}

Happy Easter ! Throughout today, starting with The Ten Commandments airing last night but there was also Ben Hur from a week or so ago to The Greatest Story Ever Told. In perhaps an apocryphal tale, when John Wayne made his cameo as a Roman Centurian whose line: "That Man was truly the Son of God.," Director George Stevens asked Wayne to repeat the line "but with a little more awe." So, John Wayne repeated the words: "Awe, that Man was truly the Son of God."


It is interesting to note that Max von Sydow, the one who played Christ in "The Greatest Story" was the same one who played Father Merrin in The Exorcist. So, in Good Easter fashion, the story is well suited for feature film-length movies. But what about on TV ? There was the Franko Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth that starred Robert Powell. But that was only a mini-series, only four episodes. Making a full on television series, with a budget with actors, writers and producers, on the hope that the ratings did not automatically rate a cancellation.


It would not be easy. Any TV show about Jesus Christ would by definition would have a limited number of seasons. There would be a cast drawn from the Holy Bible but modern interpretations in the performances would make the show entertaining. In the end, that would be the goal, despite this most profound of subject material.


It can also be said that any TV Exec that would be willing to pull the plug on a program that shows the life and times of Jesus, the whole Story and its aftermath, could engender negative consequences. All that being said, any such program would still need to make money with advertisers booking airtime.


However, before a single syllable is put to paper, one would need to see if there was indeed an audience, that people would actually tune in. Contrary to popular belief, the nation is not a religion-free secular humanist society. Despite its assaults, Christianity endures. So, if a program is developed that appeals to that viewership, could it not find its own flavor of success ?


It is on Easter Sunday that a sense of "immortality" was granted. Death was made no longer the main determinant of one's destiny (taxes on the other hand still persist), There is a next chapter. There is a page two. Something to look forward to, whether or not it is televised.

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