I would like to take this opportunity to rebuke entertainment journalists worldwide. I am referring, of course, to the somewhat dated news that NBC has cancelled The Book of Daniel. Another slew of articles appeared in my news reader on the subject today, and each was predictable down to the letter, being nearly word-for-word copies of the original news story from earlier this week.

Today, however, most of the articles were unapologetically of the ultra-conservative "thank-ya JEAY-zus-uh that sinful blaspheming filth is off the air" variety, which really freakin' annoys me.

Why? I'm not really sure, to be honest. I liked the show, but it wasn't the greatest show on earth or anything. It had potential, though, and the characters were interesting, which is more than I can say for 99% of the other shows on television.

Unfortunately, the AFA had it in for Daniel before it was even aired. And that's what ticks me off I guess. They denied me the right to pick what I wanted to watch.

Now if you confront the AFA (and I did), they will smile politely and deny that they unabashedly bullied the network into pulling the show. It was simply a poor show with poor ratings, they'll say... just an economic decision. It could have happened to any show. However, if you subscribe to their mailing list (and pay your dues on time), they will clap and cheer and crow to the stars about how much power the average (due-paying) Joe has to fight smut on television, and solicit donations to continue the good fight. (One has to wonder, at this point, what kind of salary AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon pulls down.)

Anyway, back to the journalists. If you've read anything about the show, you have undoubtedly heard the phrase "pill-popping priest" more times than you can bear. Likewise, you've heard "drug-dealing daughter" a thousand times. And, of course, you may have heard such phrases as "wise-cracking Jesus" or "laid-back Jesus" or "hip Jesus." (Apparently there aren't any clever three-word alliterative phrases for Jesus.)

Now, anyone who has actually watched the show will know those sound bite phrases are gross over-simplifications of the characters in question. But we certainly can't expect journalists to take the time to research their subjects. They're too busy copying down "pill-popping priest" in their little notebooks, thinking to themselves, "damn, that's good.. I've gotta use that one! Three P-words in a row! Wow!"

To be fair, some journalists had the wherewithal to mix up the words they stole a little. Those creative geniuses might have said "a priest who pops pills," for example.

Here's an article from today that is typical of the incessant mis-characterization of the show, and really makes me pretty ashamed to be Episcopalian to boot: Episcopal Priest Pleased Book of Daniel Yanked from the Tube. At least they didn't say "NBC closes The Book of Daniel" or "NBC shelves The Book of Daniel" in the story title. I guess journalists have some standards after all.