NBC to air show on End of Days

When it comes to high dramatic stakes, it’s tough to beat the plot of NBC’s upcoming drama “Revelations.”

Inspired by the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, the show is about a Harvard professor, played by Bill Pullman, who teams with a nun to try to stop what they believe is the beginning of Armageddon. That’s not a premise commonly tackled on “The West Wing” or “ER,” but NBC executives are praying that “Revelations,” which will run for six episodes starting April 13, can connect with the same audience that turned Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ apocalyptic “Left Behind” series into bestsellers, and Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” into a box office smash.

Why is NBC -- historically a network focused on snagging affluent young professionals in big cities, often with randy comedies such as “Friends” and “Will & Grace” -- getting religion? Simply put, it needs a programming miracle. The network’s ratings have fallen 14% this season -- more than any competitor -- among the young adults whom advertisers pay premium rates to reach.

Ranked No. 1 among young adults last season, NBC is trailing in fourth place now. That could have a big effect on the network’s bottom line later this spring, when it starts selling advance advertising spots for the 2005-06 season. On Thursday NBC executives will give advertisers a sneak peek at some potential new fall shows.

But NBC is taking a big risk by bringing explicit and often controversial biblical themes into prime time, when past hits in the genre -- such as “Highway to Heaven,” “Touched by an Angel” and “7th Heaven” -- remained upbeat and ecumenical. The fear of offending some viewers has made networks leery of approaching religious subjects, except for tradition-minded biblical epics, such as CBS’ high-rated “Jesus” miniseries in 2000.

“Highway to Heaven,” which ran on NBC from 1984-89, starred the late Michael Landon as an angel who returned to earth to help people in trouble, but the series took pains to keep its spirituality broad-based and uplifting. And even shows with general spiritual themes are hardly a sure thing: witness CBS’ “Joan of Arcadia,” about a girl who talks with God; the show’s ratings have plummeted 20% in this, its second season.

“Revelations’ ” approach to religion is much more specific -- and therefore dicier. That may help explain why NBC executives aren’t exactly thumping Bibles in their marketing of the show. For instance, the first episode includes an intense scene in which a hospitalized girl speaks in tongues, traditionally a touchstone for charismatic Christians.

“Ultimately, this is a fictional thriller,” NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly explained in an interview, and made it clear that he welcomed the comparison to “The Da Vinci Code.”

Although the network, borrowing a page from “Passion’s” guerrilla marketing campaign, is screening the first episode to build word of mouth, the outreach isn’t aimed at the evangelical Christians and other red-state churchgoers one might expect.

Tuesday night NBC screened the first episode of the series for about 3,000 people in nine cities, paying special attention to “students attending major universities and colleges who are studying philosophy, political science, religion, film and television,” according to a news release. Reilly says the series is for everyone, not just observant Christians: “If we target to specific groups, we’re crossing over [to become] something we don’t want to be.”

As it happens, the writer of “Revelations” has irked churchgoers before with his flamboyant interpretations of biblical prophecy. David Seltzer wrote “The Omen,” the 1976 hit thriller about a couple who unwittingly adopt the spawn of Satan; the plot, not to mention the movie’s allusions to the Bible and its often-gory visuals (including graphic hanging and decapitation scenes) made “The Omen” the subject of intense debate in religious circles.

“I am no scholar, but I am a fascinated student” of Revelation and apocalyptic religion, said Seltzer, who returned last weekend from Europe -- where “Revelations” is being filmed -- to help promote the series.

Seltzer began mapping out “Revelations” after receiving a phone call from veteran producer Gavin Polone (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), whose company Pariah is producing the program. Polone had a vague idea for a series about Armageddon, and Seltzer grew intrigued.

“I think it’s clear the world is on a bubble,” the writer said, referring to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Mideast conflict and ecological disasters. “Particularly as you look at the news of the day, I think we see there is such a thing possible as the end of days.”

Seltzer sees the age-old conflict between faith and doubt as driving the show, although he added: “It’s an entertainment, for sure.”

The Book of Revelation’s grim end-of-the-world prophecies are coursing through pop culture largely thanks to the LaHaye-Jenkins books, and NBC is hardly the first to invoke the Bible on behalf of a popcorn thriller.

A similar approach won “Da Vinci Code” legions of ardent fans -- and more than a few intractable critics. Characters in the book, which has sold an estimated 20 million copies worldwide and has a film version starring Tom Hanks currently in pre-production, assert that the Catholic Church has engaged in a centuries-long cover-up to conceal the truth that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children.

On Monday an Italian newspaper published an interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a high-ranking church official, who blasted Brown’s novel for “gross and absurd manipulations.” (Seltzer said he hasn’t read “Da Vinci Code,” although he added: “I don’t think that’s a bad thing to be compared to.”)

In a similar vein, some are already attacking “Revelations” for what they believe is a distortion of Scripture. Fred Schmidt, a religious scholar at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, says the series offers a “minority view” that treats cataclysmic present-day events as evidence of the coming apocalypse foretold in Revelation. Schmidt, who hasn’t screened the series but is relying on plot summaries that have appeared in the media, worries viewers “will take what they see on a fictionalized TV show and see that as the truth about the book.”

Schmidt believes that many fundamentalist Christians, in particular, will be offended by the show because the main characters are trying to ward off Armageddon; many fundamentalists, Schmidt said, welcome Armageddon because it will mean Christ has returned to earth.

Seltzer scoffed at such criticism. “He hasn’t seen the show and he’s mistaken [on] practically every aspect of this,” he said.

“There’s nothing that renders the Book of Revelation in the way that he describes.”

NBC is expecting some sort of backlash -- which of course might conceivably even help ratings. “Some people who are religious are willing to go with a liberal interpretation of something for entertainment’s sake,” Reilly said. “Other fundamentalist interpreters are not as forgiving.”

Of course, the ultimate fate of “Revelations” will depend on acceptance by millions of viewers.

NBC is programming the show in the 9 p.m. Wednesday spot, partly as a way to avoid running repeats of “The West Wing” (encores of the White House drama draw disappointing ratings, Reilly said). If “Revelations” delivers strong numbers as a limited “event series,” NBC says it is likely to pick up more episodes next season.

“People want their theology in small doses,” said Robert J. Thompson, director for the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. A series about Armageddon may be “hard to watch week after week.”

On the other hand, the creators of “Revelations” are willing to give NBC points just for tackling the subject matter. When asked about his relations with the network, Seltzer sounded a note of gratitude.

“I have to say, they were very courageous in picking it up,” he said.