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In 2007, writer A.J. Jacobs published a very funny book called The Year of Living Biblically. Eleven years later, it’s been very, very loosely adapted into a CBS sitcom about a man who tries to live his life strictly by the Bible. Is it as funny as the book?
LIVING BIBLICALLY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: The external of a church. Then a priest sitting in a confessional booth hears a knock; a man comes in talking about being a lapsed Catholic and not knowing what to do.
The Gist: The lapsed Catholic is Chip Curry (Jay R. Ferguson, who you might recognize as the bearded, beleaguered Stan from Mad Men), who recounts to the priest, who goes by Father Gene (Ian Gomez), the story of how he decided to live strictly according to the Bible. We flash back a few weeks to the wake for Chip’s close friend. He starts to spiral after his friend’s mother tells him he’s going to hell because he never goes to church. He’s so bummed that his wife Leslie (Lindsey Kraft) tells him he needs to get his act together because they’re going to have a baby.
After accidentally picking up a bible in a bookstore, Chip decides to do a spiritual cleanse of sorts and live life strictly according to the Bible until his baby is born. Which is what what brings us back to the confessional; Father Gene tells him that living strictly according to the Bible is impossible: for instance, it says that you shouldn’t wear mixed fibers. However, Chip, who goes all in whenever he does something, is determined to take the Bible literally.
He shows up to his job as a newspaper movie critic (when was this pilot written? 1997?) in an all white suit, and eventually throws a rock at his sleazy co-worker Gary (Joe DeRosa), because he’s cheating on his wife and the Good Book says that adulterers should be stoned. When his boss Ms. Meadows (Camryn Manheim) gets wind of Chip’s quest, she asks him to write a three-times-per-week column about it because “I just want to sell newspapers.” (Another joke that came from 1997.)
Our Take: We’re not sure how A.J. Jacobs’ funny book The Year of Living Biblically got transmorgified into this mess of a sitcom, but considering the credit for it says it’s “inspired by” the book, it’s safe to say that not much of the source material made it to the screen. Creator Patrick Walsh even changed the religion of the main character from Jewish to Catholic, citing that Catholicism is more familiar to him. He makes up for it by having Chip confer with Father Gene and his drinking buddy, Rabbi Gil (David Krumholtz) at a local bar.
But there is nothing about this sitcom that’s new, or even funny. Despite all of the talented names in the cast — we didn’t even mention Tony Rock as Chip’s work buddy Vince, or Sara Gilbert who shows up in the pilot, likely as a favor to her friend Johnny Galecki, who is one of the executive producers — there is not one funny line in the pilot. The laugh track cackles, for instance, while Chip and Vince do a routine of “If Gary were a shoe, he’d be a Croc,” that’s so dumb even Jeff Foxworthy wouldn’t touch it.
We’re not even sure why Chip has the job he does. Jacobs is a writer for Esquire; why change Chip’s job to one that doesn’t really exist anymore? It just makes the show seem more out of touch than it already does. And the Bible element has a limited shelf life before the characters need to take over so we can get laughs from their personalities. The way things are going, it’ll just be gags about the Bible and that’s about it.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Chip goes back to the church and lights a candle for his buddy, finally saying goodbye.
Sleeper Star: Gomez is always funny, as is Krumholtz. Why not make a show about the rabbi and the priest.
Most Pilot-y Line: It’s all bad; hard to pinpoint one line that’s worse than the rest.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Go read Jacobs’ book instead. You’ll get a lot more laughs and have a better view of what it’s like to live a biblical life.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.
