At PopWatch, we strive not only to be a place where you can discuss today’s pop-culture hullabaloos, but also those of tomorrow. And whaddaya know, today, we stumbled across three different news stories about upcoming TV projects that set off our Official PopWatch Controversy-o-Meter™.
- Scoring a ”4” on the meter is Fox’s Church of Steve, from executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, about a dude from New Jersey who discovers he’s a descendant of Jesus. Not exactly as eyebrow-raising as a wisecracking Jesus appearing to a pill-popping priest of last year’s short-lived The Book of Daniel, but you know at least a few fringe groups will be protesting it when (or perhaps before) it ever hits the airwaves.
- The mere title of the proposed Canadian sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie seems tailored to be paired with words and phrases like ”hot-button,” ”polarizing,” and ”provocative,” and therefore scores a ”7” on our meter. Still, wouldn’t you rather follow the lives of a Muslim family in a remote Saskatchewan town than a group of sexy, white singles in Manhattan?
- Finally, scoring a whopping ”10” on our meter is a loosely autobiographical sitcom pilot from Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos, who met on the set of All My Children. I’m not saying the perky/amusing morning-show host shouldn’t be allowed to expand her oeuvre, but I can’t help but anticipate the stale stench of another setup-setup-punchline-HUGE LAUGH TRACK-comedy in the making. So unless Ripa and Consuelos secretly have an insane Whitney-Bobby dynamic on the home front, then I’m afraid this project needs to be Rated H…for ”Hell to the no!”
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I cannot tell you how excited I am to see the province of Saskatchewan mentioned in PopWatch. I never thought I would see the day. Saskatchewan, I miss you so!! Go Riders!!
PS. Obviously I think the “Little Mosque on the Prairie” is the most interesting of the bunch!
Hey Michael, I’m a big fan, but seriously man. “Hell to the No” as a catchphrase is so old. It was probably funny a few times after we first heard Whitney, but the way she’s lived her life, I only feel sorry for it all and hope she puts her life back together, so she doesn’t have to use silly forms of expression like that.
I think the first two concepts sound really promising. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are hilarious, and they could work wonders with the idea of a normal guy being the descendant of the Son of God. A sitcom about a Muslim family in Canada also sounds pretty good. Hopefully, it can portay Muslims as “normal” people in a funny and clever way without resorting to stereotypes. As for the last one, well, I have to echo the words of the inimitable Michael Slezak..Hell to the No!
Church of Steve sounds exactly like that British series about Jesus, being a delivery boy… I remember seeing on Netflix becuase you can order it. But can’t remember the name… anybody know?
White Singles
Where single white females and single white males of European ancestry go to hit it off.