It's often pointed out that while a huge majority of Americans professes some religious faith, no one on television ever prays or goes to Church. Unless it's to visit a sexual predator priest or a money-grubbing and stupid fundamentalist preacher. There have been occasional shows about religious themes, but you don't see people on sitcoms go to Church. I may have found an exception.
Last night was laundry night, which coincides for me with wallow-in-dumb-tv-shows-as-you-fold night, and I stumbled on this ABC sitcom, "Rodney." It's "Everybody Loves Raymond" -like in conception --based on the family life of actual comedian Rodney Carrington. Except the wife isn't a shrew, the couple enjoy each other's company, and they go to Church.
I've seen the show only 2-3 times, so if it's all sleaze and potty jokes when you see it, don't blame me, but last night's episode was kind of amazing. Rodney comes home from a long spell on the road and discovers his wife and kids have begun attending Church regularly (an episode last season was about attending Christmas services, after a long time away from Church). Rodney is less than enthusiastic, but when his eldest son says, "If Dad's not going, I'm not going," his die is cast. "Thanks a lot, you just ruined Sunday for all of us" Rodney says. His wife gently jests that they will miss him when he's in hell.
Seeking affirmation from his best friend about what a pain in the neck it is to go to Church, he is shocked to find that his friend goes every Sunday too. And prays regularly, and does regular service work, and tithes (yes, the word "tithe" appeared on ABC). "Are you really afraid of going to hell," Rodney asks? "Well, I think of it more as having a plan for getting to heaven," his friend replies.
In Church, the fire-and-brimstone style preacher seems to be talking straight to Rodney, and he finds himself unsettled. He throws out a box of naughty videos he's been hiding under his bed unbeknownst to his wife ("that's what you get for never vacuuming under there.") I 'bout fainted right there. In a light-hearted way, someone said on national television that pornography is a bad thing and won't get you into heaven.
The rest of the show dealt with complications brought on by Rodney's overzealous reparation for his sins and his pastor's willingness to exploit this zeal to get all the Church's odd jobs done, but the resolution comes without making the pastor a villain, and without mocking the seriousness of the issue of salvation. At one point Rodney asks his pastor if preachers worry about going to hell. "Every day, Son, every day." The episode was "To Hell & back."
UPDATE: I asked a friend if he'd seen the show and what he thought of it, and he said he saw it once and hated it because it was tacky and sleazy. Too bad. Maybe they're tacky one week, righteous the next, I suggested. "Exactly like country music," he replied.
