ReligionDispatches.org

Two articles on religion on television? Hmm—must be a trend. First, Variety reports that the Eppes men are going to synagogue. Dorky but cute, Numb3rs' crime-fighting father and sons give new meaning to the term mensch. After five seasons of studiously avoiding the J-word, they're now into mitzvas, matzahs and meaning. Not so at Kings, NBC's pop culture take on the biblical story of David and Saul. Featuring a family more conniving than kvelling, Kings pleased neither critics nor viewers. But Biblical scholars found merit in the show's dark and melodramatic characters.

I flagged these pieces because of my own interest in religion on television. Maybe I watch too much, but TV, that most intimate of electronic media (no not my computer, too much writing and reading), is my solace and refuge. I want to know what happens to Sarah Connor and I've grown fond of Echo. And lest you think I am a sci-fi geek, I confess—I cried when the Chief apologized to Meredith and I wish Jack Bauer would get cured already. (Those shakes aren't helping his love life.)Happily, I found a way to channel my addiction into a socially acceptable outlet. I've complexified, problematized and operationalized my passion. You can judge the results yourself. This week "Small Screen, Big Picture: Television and Lived Religion" is out –and its 15 essays, from a wide range of scholars and academic perspectives, explore how religion, spirituality and ethics are embedded, emplotted and embodied in popular television programs. Yes there's some fancy footwork in the book ("watching television is a link in the chain of sacred storytelling") and some Big Ideas (reading post 9/11 TV as a window into America's troubled psyche). But if you want to know why we need heroes, how abortion fares on primetime, whether Lost skews Buddhist or Christian, and what a lawless Western town says about community—then this is the book to read. Academics focus on TV's negative effects while journalists fixate on the ratings' "horse race," but  SSBP treats television as a virtual meeting place where citizens across racial, religious, and regional divides find instruction and inspiration. TV's storylines—addressing terror and torture, lust and love, murder and mortality—explore who we are and would like to be, the building blocks of religious speculation.But don't take my word for it. Check out the struggle between Silas and David when Kings comes back this summer or tune in Friday night to see what those Eppes boys are up to. Diane Winston