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"God" R.I.P.
God, the Devil and Bob, that is.
Bedeviled by station defections--22 of NBC's 214 affiliate networks refused to air the controversial animated comedy--and wary advertisers, the Peacock Network decided Wednesday to pull the plug on God and company. "[They] created a wonderfully entertaining project that we were all proud of," Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, heads of the God-producing Carsey-Werner, eulogized in a statement. "The affiliate drop-out was unfortunate because it didn't allow the audience to decide for themselves."
The toon, starring James Garner as the voice of the Almighty, Broadway vet Alan Cumming as Lucifer and 3rd Rock's French Stewart as Bob, the mere mortal who must save all of mankind, never really had a prayer.
About 5 percent of the country, most notably in Bible Belt states, didn't have access to the series because affiliates objected to the irreverent humor (e.g., God drinks lite beer and makes bets with the devil). In comparison, NYPD Blue was at first boycotted by some ABC stations, but not as many that ultimately joined the anti-God bandwagon.
Additionally, several religious groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Rev. Donald Wildmon's conservative American Family Association, decried the show. And advertisers, threatened with potential boycotts, were wary of buying time on such a low-rated show. During God's final broadcast Tuesday night, an unusually large number of NBC promos aired, signaling the network's difficulty selling ad space.
Heck, even the estate of the late Jerry Garcia threatened to sue God last week on the grounds that the animated Almighty bore too striking a resemblance to the head Deadhead.
Unfortunately for NBC and God, all the fire and brimstone over the show didn't translate into celestial numbers. God averaged a very un-saintly 4.4 rating in the Nielsens. Critics gave the show good marks, but God delivered its lowest ratings yet (4.2) Tuesday night.
An NBC spokeswoman said the network was "very proud of the work that Carsey-Warner did on this show and disappointed that it wasn't able to garner a larger audience."
NBC plans to fill God's time slot with repeats of Just Shoot Me and Frasier.
Amen.
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