Punkin' for the Lord

Just a quick recommendation for all of you who may be looking for something different:

Check out One Punk Under God that the Sundance Channel is airing. It's six (half-hour) episodes long, and Sundance has run it through a few times, so you should be able to catch up on it quickly. One episode airs multiple times every week.

The show follows Jim (and Tammy Faye) Bakker's son, Jay, as he tries to reconnect with his dad, comfort his dying mom, goes through a crisis of conscience (which results in a crisis to his ministry), and agonizes whether it is time to pack up and move, so his wife can follow her dreams.

I wasn't really keen on watching this show. As you can surmise from my comments in previous posts, I don't "go to church", and, frankly, I have a lot of issues with organized religion (I don't think they're wrong for people as a whole; just wrong for me). I've spent many years really being disgusted with the innundation of Christianity that has been shoved down my throat by politicians and other heads of churches the past two decades.

But new media looks at religion by shows like Big Love (yeah, they're polygamists, but it was fascinating to see their love of God as an every day thing), The Book of Daniel (a very positive show that got the shaft from right-wing nutjobs who hadn't watched the damn thing), Joan of Arcadia (a sometimes overdone show, which had a great version of God as a character), and, yes, it's true: Real Time With Bill Maher (which had an episode that summed up my disgust with religion mixed with politics so perfectly, I was able to let go of the rage) gave me a new look at religion.

No, I didn't find God or anything, but I was able to be reminded that there are many more religious people out there in the world than the zealots that whine about anything rated above something a 7-year-old could watch, or say gays or single mothers or divored people are affronts to humanity, or politicians who say they prayed for guidance-- and then did the wrong thing.

Aaaaanyway, to get back on track (I did feel I needed to explain my background a little, though), One Punk gives us a look at a man who started a church (called Revolution) that meets in a bar, and has taken in many people whom other religions have left behind. Jay, himself, would probably be shunned (or given strange looks) at many churches because he's scraggly, he smokes, he's got tattoos all over his body, and he's got a few piercings to boot.

It was pretty inspiring to see the kind of church he built. I've long felt that the outdated views some religions have will ultimately be their undoing.

And to add to it, he's trying to reconnect with his father, and, throughout the six episodes, you really get a sense of how each views the other-- and I have to say what happens in the final episode couldn't have been better if it was written that way. He's also trying to comfort his terminally ill mother, and he lets the camera film how he deals with it. To see a woman who knows she is dying fight through it to spread her message as long as she can was pretty inspiring.

And, just as warning (because it could turn some people off), Jay felt that God spoke to him and said gay people are okay. So Jay gave a heartfelt sermon about how, maybe, it's wrong to discriminate. As you can imagine, his backers (who, oddly enough, are Christian Conservatives) pulled out, which sent his ministry in a tailspin.

That storyline right there (especially when he discusses the events with his father) sums up large religion for me. Jay went out on a limb by saying "the right thing", and forces conspired to shut him down. Because Jay doesn't pass the collection plate around at church, he really relies on his financial backers. I won't say what happens to him and the church, but I will say he stuck with his convictions which, in it's own way, is very heroic (and Jim comments about that in the finale).

Well, I certainly wrote more than I expected (and ended up saying very little), but if you're looking for a very well-done reality show (Jay really let us see into his life) or maybe to get a glimpse of an alternative religion, then check it out. It's a very honest look at one man's life. The ups and downs, triumphs and defeats.

I'm glad I took Entertainment Weekly's advice and watched it, and I really don't think you'll be disappointed if you watch it too.

Premieres and Notables Feb 12- 18

Sorry for the lateness again-- but this is a quiet week (finally), so you're not gonna miss anything.


Wednesday, 2/14

Catch up with one of the hottest new shows of the season when CBS runs a Jericho recap at 7 CST. Next week begins the new epsiodes.


Thursday, 2/15

Buffy creator, Joss Whedon, directs an episode of The Office where Michael speaks at Ryan's business school, and Dwight tangles with a bat in the office.

Friday, 2/16

Instant Star; The N. 7:30 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Mail Call; History Channel. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.
I wish I had more time to watch this fascinating show.

Real Time With Bill Maher; HBO. 10 pm. Season Premiere.
Must See TV, right here.

Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry; HBO. 11 pm. Season Premiere.


Saturday, 2/17

Justin Timberlake's last hosting duty on Saturday Night Live caused a buzz with the video "Dick in a Box", and tonight's your chance to catch it again (or the first time). But since SNL sucks-- hard-- here's a link to the (uncensored) video without having to watch all the rest of the garbage:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA

SNL usually makes me puke, but those three minutes made me laugh.


Sunday, 2/18

Amazing Race; CBS. 7 pm. Season Premiere.
I had been a faithful watcher of the show until last year, when I stopped watching due to time constraints. But this season is an All-Star one. Yeah, frickin' Rob & Amber are on it (now using family and friends' fifteen minutes of fame, apparently), but so are Kevin and Drew-- two of the funniest reality show contestants on any show. Recommended.

Planet Carnivore; National Geographic. 7 & 8 pm. Series Premiere.
Series looking at some of the most skilled predators on the planet. The first ep is about a lioness in Tanzania.

An, finally, the Sundance Channel airs the entire second season on Slings and Arrows from 2-7 pm CST (six 50-minute episodes). Admittedly, I wasn't as excited about the second season as I was the first, but it's still great television. The 2nd season followed the attempts to get a performance of MacBeth made. Also, there was some great moments and commentary about marketing when the festival's main financial contributor pulled out, and the marketing firm hired to raise awareness of the show continually insulted all their season ticket holders as well as theatre itself.

After the season rerun, the third season of the show begins (7 pm CST).