{"id":4791,"date":"2018-02-01T12:08:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T20:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/?p=4791"},"modified":"2018-02-05T14:26:03","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T22:26:03","slug":"god-friends-atheist-facebook-cbs-berlanti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2018\/02\/god-friends-atheist-facebook-cbs-berlanti\/","title":{"rendered":"God Friends Atheist on Facebook in CBS Pilot (UPDATED)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Brandon Micheal Hall\/Greg Berlanti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Is God on Facebook? A new pilot for CBS says yes, and He\u2019s just friended an outspoken atheist.<\/p>\n

The executive producer for the project is Greg Berlanti, who was one of the E.P.s on The WB\u2019s excellent family drama \u201cEverwood\u201d (along with Mickey Liddell, whose company is behind such recent faith-based movies as \u201cRisen\u201d and \u201cForever My Girl,\u201d<\/a> and the upcoming documentary \u201cThe Devil and Father Amorth\u201d<\/a>). In the wake of \u201cEverwood,\u201d Berlanti has become a prolific TV producer, especially of such superhero\/comics dramas as \u201cThe Flash,\u201d \u201cRiverdale,\u201d \u201cArrow,\u201d \u201cLegends of Tomorrow,\u201d \u201cBlack Lightning\u201d and \u201cSupergirl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod Friended Me\u201d came to Berlanti Productions, based at Warner Bros. from writers Steven Lilien and Bryan Wyndbrant.<\/p>\n

UPDATE 2\/5: Per the Hollywood Reporter<\/em>, Brandon Micheal Hall, star of ABC\u2019s short-lived \u201cThe Mayor,\u201d has been tapped<\/a> to star as Miles, the atheist at the center of the story.<\/p>\n

I contacted Berlanti, and he sent me to Lilien and Wyndbrant, who feel that the initial release about the show says it all for the moment.<\/p>\n

From The Hollywood Reporter<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

The project explores questions of faith, existence and science in what the network is describing as a humorous, uplifting drama about an outspoken atheist whose life is turned upside down when he is \u201cfriended\u201d by God on Facebook. Unwittingly, he becomes an agent of change in the lives and destinies of others around him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Raised Catholic (and still, as he told me once, an occasional Mass attendee), Berlanti is openly gay. While his shows do deal with LGBT themes, he has also, since \u201cEverwood,\u201d shown a respect for traditional families as well and a willingness to deal with sensitive subjects in an evenhanded way.<\/p>\n

So, I wouldn\u2019t jump to any<\/em> conclusions over how faith will be handled in the pilot of \u201cGod Friended Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this marks the second time recently that CBS has been open to dealing with faith directly.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 26, CBS premieres \u201cLiving Biblically,\u201d loosely based on \u201cMy Year of Living Biblically,\u201d<\/a> Jewish writer A.J. Jacobs\u2019 nonfiction book about trying to live a year by the tenets of the Hebrew Bible.<\/p>\n

In the TV version, executive-produced by Johnny Galecki (\u201cBig Bang Theory\u201d) and showrunner Patrick Walsh, a self-described lapsed Catholic, the main character (Jay Ferguson) is a lapsed Catholic who, upon discovering his non-believing wife is pregnant, decides to spend the term of her gestation trying to clean up his life by following Bible precepts. Along the way, he has a rabbi (David Krumholtz) and a Catholic priest (Ian Gomez) helping him.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen the pilot, and it\u2019s got some good qualities \u2014 and is far kinder to faith than I expected. I did a one-on-one interview with the Galecki and Walsh, and that will appear closer to premiere.<\/p>\n

Image: Courtesy ABC\/Wikimedia Commons<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at\u00a0Family Theater Productions<\/a>; and check out FTP\u2019s\u00a0Faith & Family Media Blog<\/a>, and our\u00a0YouTube Channel<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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