I’d be even more nervous about Hulu’s new project if it weren’t for the involvement of Jason Katims, whom I’ve known since his days at NBC’s “Friday Night Lights,” one of my all-time favorite shows.
Through his work on NBC’s “Parenthood” and “About a Boy,” Katims has continued to produce shows that are warm, funny, heartfelt and thoughtful (which is pretty much Katims himself — as you can see in this interview I did with him for CatholicVote about the unplanned pregnancy on “Parenthood”).
On Monday, March 23, streaming service Hulu announced a straight-to-series order for “The Way,” a new drama from Katims and his “Parenthood” colleague, writer/producer/playwright Jessica Goldberg. The Hulu blog said the 10-part series will “examine a family at the center of a controversial faith-based movement struggling with relationships, marriage and power.”
Hulu also explains:
The Way comes to Hulu from Universal Television and is Katims’ first non-network television series and also the first to premiere on a streaming service.
Katims will executive produce and showrun The Way through his production company True Jack Productions, alongside Michelle Lee and Jessica Goldberg who will also executive produce the series.
The Way will go into production this summer …
From Deadline.com:
Each hourlong episode takes an in-depth look at what it means to choose between the life we live and the life we want. “Jason Katims and Jessica Goldberg have delivered a provocative take on a controversial, dangerous and thrilling world,” said Hulu head of content Craig Erwich.
“The Way” is said to be a “passion project” for Goldberg, a native of Woodstock, N.Y., who studied dramatic writing at NYU and Juilliard.
Speaking to Variety, Goldberg said:
“I love films where the political meets the personal in people’s lives — really intense portraits of human beings,” she says.
None of these early stories about “The Way” mention exactly which “faith” is at the center of the drama, but “The Way” was a term used by very early Christians to describe their nascent movement.
The Way International is also the name for a nontrinitarian, interdenominational ministry — which some critics have described as a cult — based in Ohio. Describing itself as being dedicated to “Biblical research, teaching and fellowship,” it was founded by Victor Paul Wierwille, a former Evangelical and Reformed Church minister educated at the Presbyterian Princeton Theological Seminary.
In 2000, The Way president Craig Martindale reportedly resigned in response to a lawsuit from former staff members alleging, among other things, sexual improprieties. In the end, The Way International reached an out-of-court settlement with the plaintiffs.
We’ll have to wait and see whether Katims and Goldberg are drawing on any of these real-world sources or are coming from a place of pure imagination — or if the “faith” in question is Christian at all.
Image: GUS RUELAS/Reuters/Corbis
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