What is this "Untitled Biblical Comedy" being shot in May?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Comedy is hard, but biblical comedy is really hard.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is this "Untitled Biblical Comedy" being shot in May?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Comedy is hard, but biblical comedy is really hard.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-15T04:47:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2016\/04\/lifeofbrian-a.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter T. Chattaway\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html\",\"name\":\"What is this \\\"Untitled Biblical Comedy\\\" being shot in May?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-15T04:47:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-15T04:47:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\"},\"description\":\"Comedy is hard, but biblical comedy is really hard.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is this “Untitled Biblical Comedy” being shot in May?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/\",\"name\":\"FilmChat\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde\",\"name\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peter T. Chattaway\"},\"description\":\"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is this \"Untitled Biblical Comedy\" being shot in May?","description":"Comedy is hard, but biblical comedy is really hard.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is this \"Untitled Biblical Comedy\" being shot in May?","og_description":"Comedy is hard, but biblical comedy is really hard.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html","og_site_name":"FilmChat","article_published_time":"2016-04-15T04:47:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/files\/2016\/04\/lifeofbrian-a.jpg"}],"author":"Peter T. Chattaway","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter T. Chattaway","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html","name":"What is this \"Untitled Biblical Comedy\" being shot in May?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-04-15T04:47:22+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-15T04:47:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde"},"description":"Comedy is hard, but biblical comedy is really hard.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is this “Untitled Biblical Comedy” being shot in May?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/","name":"FilmChat","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/5759ddf28b81af08b29eb15b4e071fde","name":"Peter T. Chattaway","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9c4b809df092b410d749a6995bcf4f3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter T. Chattaway"},"description":"Peter T. Chattaway was the regular film critic for BC Christian News from 1992 to 2011. In addition to his award-winning film column for that paper, his news and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Bible Review and the Vancouver Sun. He has also contributed essays to the books Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson\u2019s Film and Its Critics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), Scandalizing Jesus?: Kazantzakis\u2019s The Last Temptation of Christ Fifty Years on (Continuum, 2005) and The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film (De Gruyter, 2016).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/author\/peterchattaway"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":44334,"date":"2016-04-14T21:47:22","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T04:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=44334"},"modified":"2016-04-14T21:47:22","modified_gmt":"2016-04-15T04:47:22","slug":"what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2016\/04\/what-is-this-untitled-biblical-comedy-being-shot-in-may.html","title":{"rendered":"What is this “Untitled Biblical Comedy” being shot in May?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"lifeofbrian-a\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t subscribe to Production Weekly<\/i> \u2014 it costs $60 per month, and that\u2019s in American currency \u2014 but I do skim their list of contents every now and then, and I see that today\u2019s installment<\/a> has an entry for an \u201cUntitled Biblical Comedy\u201d.<\/p>\n

I have no idea what that\u2019s all about, but a quick bit of Googling turns up this page<\/a> at MyEntertainmentWorld.com, which says that \u201cUntitled Biblical Comedy\u201d is a TV pilot that is going to be shot next month, i.e. in May 2016.<\/p>\n

So after the ratings hurdles faced by now-cancelled dramas like A.D. The Bible Continues<\/a><\/i> and Of Kings and Prophets<\/a><\/i>, it seems that someone, somewhere, is plotting a series that would take a look at the funny<\/i> side of the Bible.<\/p>\n

I have no idea at this point who is actually producing this pilot (is it for mainstream television or one of the religious networks?), or whether it has even a remote chance of becoming a full series. So it\u2019s obviously too early to comment<\/i> on the pilot yet.<\/p>\n

All I will say for now is that comedy is hard, and biblical<\/i> comedy is really<\/i> hard. There is a strong element of subversive humour within the Bible, but people don\u2019t acknowledge it as often as they should, and the comedies that do get made tend to be really preachy if they\u2019re made by religious people or really dumb if they\u2019re not.<\/p>\n

Monty Python\u2019s Life of Brian<\/a><\/i> is an all-time classic partly because the Pythons did their research and knew what they were talking about. (It is also, as the Pythons have pointed out, the only film of theirs that makes a moral point \u2014 but you hardly notice, because the film is so funny and it doesn\u2019t treat humour as a means to an end.)<\/p>\n

But what other decent biblical comedies have there been? On the big screen, Wholly Moses!<\/a><\/i> and Year One<\/a><\/i> were different kinds of lame. Has TV had any better luck?<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s possible that this \u201cuntitled\u201d comedy is actually the adaptation of A.J. Jacobs\u2019 book The Year of Living Biblically<\/i> that was announced in October<\/a>. (The powers that be originally wanted to turn Jacobs\u2019 book into a movie over a decade ago<\/a>, but they have since decided to turn it into a half-hour comedy TV series.)<\/p>\n

At any rate, I am curious to see just what the makers of this pilot have in store for us.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"