It’s been awhile since I’ve put out a post on what's coming up on TV, but with the second half of the season approaching, it seemed appropriate. Here’s some items to think about adding to your TiVo’s record list (or your viewing plans):Grendel. Sci Fi, Friday Jan. 13. The legendary tale of Beowulf gets yet another retelling, this time by Sci-Fi. There’s not much out there on it, but if you’re into classic lit or good tales, this might be one for you to consider. The epic poem is full of potential God-talk, with overt biblical references and allusions. Even without those, its themes (like those of good versus evil and sacrifice) make for great opportunities to bring God-talk into open spaces.
24. Fox, Sunday and Monday, Jan. 14-15. This one’s on my list of the Top 10 TV Shows and, with critics slobbering over these first four episodes of the season, it looks like it could be a good one, heh. What’s happening? Well, Jack may have been imprisoned and tortured for the past year in China, but the U.S. hasn’t had things easy either, suffering constant terror attacks—so much so that internment camps are making a comeback. TV Guide’s Matt Roush touts the “pulse-pounding pleasures” while Entertainment Weekly’s snagged guest-writer Stephen King (whose piece’s entitled “So good it’s scary”) says, “When I got to the shocker that ends episode 4, I could understand Jack Bauer’s expression of disbelief. It’s a perfectly human reaction to what has just happened. And yet at the same time I’m sitting in my office chair and thinking, This could really happen. And at the some point, it probably will.” Oiy. This series has generated a lot of God-talk, including Hollywood Jesus’ Maurice Broaddus, who says “the essential story, the monomyth, echoes the story of Christ.” Christianity Today offers a Bible study series based on the show. And then there’s Mark Driscoll’s comparison of main character Jack Bauer to Jesus as well as linking the series’ themes to penal substitutionary attonement and Aslan (the first of which, at least, stirred the hornet’s nest in Christian blogdom, as JollyBlogger observes).
Smallville. Thursday Jan. 11. The chronicles of the young Clark Kent (and Lex Luthor, Lois Lane and Lana Lang) returns this week—much to the delight of this blog, which has found plenty of God-talk in this series. What’s coming up? TV Guide reports Clark (masquerading as Green Arrow) plants one on Lois Lane in Hydro (Jan. 11) and that Martian Manhunter returns for Labyrinth (Jan. 25). Me? I’m looking forward to the formation of the Justice League on in Justice (Jan. 18). Yes, I’m a geek, but at least I’m a happy geek.
Regarding this blog’s other favorite television shows, Battlestar Galactica returns on Sundays starting Jan. 21, Heroes returns on Jan. 22 (what genius put 24 and Heroes up on the same night and time?!), Lost returns Feb. 7 (with an uninterrupted run of 16 episodes), and Jericho is back Feb. 21. For more on why this blog TiVo’s these series, see here.
(Image: by *davierae* at flickr)