The Bible (miniseries)


The Bible is a television miniseries based on the Bible. It was produced by Roma Downey, Ryan Crego and Mark Burnett and was broadcast weekly between March 3 and 31, 2013 on History channel.
Burnett, best known for producing prime-time hit reality shows, considers the scripted 10-hour series to be the "most important" project he has undertaken. The project was conceived by Burnett and Downey after watching Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 film The Ten Commandments for the first time since childhood.
The series is Mark Burnett's first scripted project. In addition to Burnett and Downey, executive producers include Richard Bedser and History's Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs. The first episode of the mini-series was seen by 13.1 million viewers, the largest cable television audience of 2013 to date. The second installment continued "to deliver blockbuster ratings" for the network, attracting 10.8 million viewers. The third installment on March 17, 2013, was once again the No. 1 show on all of Sunday night television with 10.9 million total viewers. In addition, the series garnered 4.2 million adults 25 to 54 and 3.5 million adults 18 to 49. In total, with subsequent airings, The Bible has received more than 100 million cumulative views.
The series received Emmy Award nominations for best miniseries, sound editing and sound mixing on July 18, 2013.
Parts of the telecast – including unaired footage – have been turned into a feature film about the life of Jesus entitled Son of God. A sequel series with the title A.D. The Bible Continues aired on NBC.

Description

The series covers "Genesis to Revelation" in "one grand narrative," structured as 10 1-hour episodes originally broadcast in five pairs, with each episode containing two or three biblical stories told through live action and computer-generated imagery. According to Burnett, it included "obvious" stories such as Noah's Ark, the Exodus, and the life of Jesus Christ. Five hours are taken from the Old Testament, five from the New. The series is based on the New International Version and the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
Downey and Burnett said their "greatest hope" in making the series was that it would "affect a new generation of viewers and draw them back to the Bible."
"Part of what we hoped to accomplish with the series was to show the Bible is not simply a collection of unconnected stories which are often discussed and analyzed in snippets with chapter and verse numbers," the pair wrote in an op-ed in The Huffington Post. "Instead, we wanted to show how the Old Testament connects seamlessly to the New Testament. How they are one sweeping story with one grand, overriding message: God loves each one of us as if we were the only person in all the world to love."

Cast

Development

In May 2011, The New York Times reported that Downey, Burnett and their production team were selecting stories for the series, with production scheduled to begin in 2012 for a 2013 broadcast. The budget for the series was under $22 million. Researchers and theologians were asked to verify accuracy. Academic consultants included Craig A. Evans, Helen Bond, Paula Gooder, Mark Goodacre and Candida Moss. Shooting took place in Morocco and elsewhere.
Burnett and Downey consulted "a wide range of pastors and academics," including their friend Joel Osteen, Joshua Garroway, and a Catholic cardinal. Geoff Tunnicliffe of the World Evangelical Alliance, read each episode's script and visited the set in Morocco: he "wanted to be sure that the final edits would hold together as a singular thematic message throughout the entire series" and "was not disappointed." Another consultant, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly, applauded the couple's courage for making the series: "Let's face it, it takes some moxie to lift up the Bible in the middle of Hollywood. In fact, when they first proposed the project they were told to try and tell the story without mentioning Jesus. They refused."
Other project advisors included:
Days before the series premiere, Downey and Burnett authored an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal arguing that Bible teaching should be mandatory in U.S. public schools because "he foundations of knowledge of the ancient world – which informs the understanding of the modern world – are biblical in origin."

Reception

TV ratings

The opening episode of the series premiered to very high ratings. The miniseries was watched by 13.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. In Canada, the premiere was watched by 1.05 million viewers. The second installment saw a ratings slippage, but still brought in 10.8 million viewers, tops in all television for the 8–10 p.m. time period. Week three's installment, meanwhile, garnered 10.9 million total viewers.

Critical reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 14% of critics have given the series a positive review based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 4.63/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "An earnest but shallow take on the Greatest Story Ever Told, The Bible suffers from leaden pacing and mediocre special effects." At Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Allan Yuhas of The Guardian compared the series to reality TV, as well as criticizing the lack of ethnic minorities in major roles.

Distribution

On March 19, 2013, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett offered remarks on the viewership and its anticipated diffusion. He said: "We've realized, on the journey around the country to churches and all over the place, many people cannot afford cable TV. And those people need to see this Bible series. So we're rushing the DVD out April 2nd, also immediately with Spanish subtitles. This is very important. And this is only for America and Canada. Now we're about to start around the world. This will be in every country of the world. More people will see this series than everything we ever made together, combined. Billions of people will see this series. Billions."

Differences from the Bible

In the introduction to each episode, the message is displayed "This program is an adaptation of Bible stories that changed our world. It endeavors to stay true to the spirit of the Book." Roma Downey stated in an interview, "we had a great team of scholars and theologians helping us, making sure that we told these stories accurately and truthfully". A few of the cases of artistic license that have raised comment include:
  • In the Bible, Noah's three sons are fully grown men, whereas in the TV series they are depicted as boys.
  • Abraham is depicted as begging his nephew Lot not to part ways with him, whereas in Genesis they part amicably and Abraham encourages Lot's decision.
  • In the Book of Genesis, the angelic visitors were approached by Lot, who insisted they stay with him. Then they feasted with Lot in his home. The series shows the angels approaching Lot and begging for help with no hospitality extended to them.
  • The text describes a mob gathered outside of Lot's home wanting to rape his two angelic visitors, and Lot offering his daughters instead. The series omits this.
  • The series shows Sarah running after Abraham once she realizes he is going to sacrifice Isaac. This is not in the text.
  • In the Binding of Isaac, the text describes an adult ram caught by its horns in a thicket. The miniseries depicts a juvenile lamb caught by its leg.
  • Moses's sister Miriam is depicted as a slave and as younger than him, while in the biblical story she is significantly older and has been watching out for him since he was a baby.
  • The Bible text says that Samson tied torches on 300 foxes' tails, causing them to burn the Philistines' crops and plants. This was because Samson was angry with his father-in-law for giving his wife to another man. When they heard this they burned Samson's wife and her father to death. In the series the Philistine commander has Samson's wife and her father put to death as a consequence for marrying Samson because he was an Israelite.
  • The incident in which Saul makes an unlawful sacrifice to God before the prophet Samuel arrives takes place before the famous Battle of Michmash. In the Bible, it was when he spared King Agag of the Amalekites that Saul was denounced as king by Samuel and the Lord, several years after King Saul's unlawful sacrifice.
  • When the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, Jeremiah is depicted as escaping unnoticed by the invaders. In the text Jeremiah is captured, bound in chains and later released.
  • The show depicts Daniel and his three compatriots being captured during the siege, when in the Bible they were deported more than a decade before Jerusalem's destruction.
  • The miniseries depicts the prophet Isaiah as a contemporary of Daniel, living during the time of the Babylonian exile. This is a major inconsistency with the text as Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus the Persian would release the captives after a period of time. This prophecy occurred 150 years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of these feats, and 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile. Thus, Isaiah could never have existed contemporaneously with Daniel and Cyrus..
  • In the miniseries' depiction of the Temptation of Christ, the Devil takes Jesus to a high mountain where he tempts Jesus to throw himself down. In the text, the Devil tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. The high mountain was where the devil tempted Jesus to worship him.
  • In the Bible, Jesus has the mourners remove the stone, and then he called for Lazarus to come out. In the miniseries, Jesus enters Lazarus' tomb and kisses him on the head, while not even addressing Lazarus, and gives a brand-new monologue.