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Jesus takes over the family business

Think Odd Couple, with prophets!
  (+15, -2)(+15, -2)
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This sitcom features Jesus, his Dad and the Holy Ghost as a Three's company- like roommates in an apartment on Earth. They are obviously who they are but their identities are (somehow) not suspected by the people with whom they interact.

The idea is that of a family business. God as the founder and still in charge. Jesus a man of peace and love, but getting impatient for his chance to run things (after 2000 years!) and frustrated by what he perceives as the roughness and sometimes hamhandedness of his Dad.

Jesus is the main attraction as he tries to gently and patiently persuade / co-opt / work around God. God is invariably proud of Jesus and likes what he does, but then goes ahead and does his own thing. The Holy Spirit is laid back, neutral and mostly acts as a foil for Jesus. God is the God of the Old Testament - an energetic and bellicose Old Man, with rough edges and a temper, but still flashes of the Creative genius he had in his Youth. There would be occasional appearances by Moses and Abraham, also depicted as energetic and a little bit scary old men in their 70s, who show up in the apartment to pick up God and go rowding around. Abraham musses up Jesus' hair like he is a little kid.

I envision Jerry Seinfeld as a laconic Holy Ghost, mostly on the sofa. Adam Sandler is Jesus. Larry David is Abraham. I can picture God but I am not sure who could play Him.

bungston, Aug 28 2010

The Christs of Valbonne The_20Christs_20of_20Valbonne
[calum, Aug 28 2010]

of course this could be based on Del Boy, Rodney & Grandad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Boy
[po, Aug 29 2010]

Third Rock from the Sun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rock
[DrBob, Sep 01 2010]

Old Harry's Game http://en.wikipedia.../Old_Harry%27s_Game
[DrBob, Sep 01 2010]

[link]






       Morgan Freeman.
DrWorm, Aug 28 2010
  

       Seinfeld, Sandler and David? Jews for Jesus?
Cedar Park, Aug 28 2010
  

       {does best Seinfeld impersonation}
"Sandler as Jesus?...What's the deal with an Adam as Christ? Is he happy guiltmore now? Is he walk on waterboy?"
"I don't think so."
{dbSi}
  

       No vote for whom should play God.
<is that right?...whom? or who?>
<or what?>
  

       Bruce Willis for God.   

       no women at all?
po, Aug 28 2010
  

       This is great, but it's a bit limited. I think we should be more egalitarian about this, and see if we can't work in some ways to offend some other religions while we're about it.   

       Also, Breathairians should appear. Ideally, the main breatharian character should be inexplicably replaced by a different actor every couple of episodes.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 28 2010
  

       Bill Shatner could play God. He's had enough practice ...   

       Shiva, in his/her many-armed form, could be the local handyman.   

       [+]
8th of 7, Aug 28 2010
  

       [po] There you go. Or if Shiva doesn't suit you, how about Gaia as the landlady?
mouseposture, Aug 28 2010
  

       definitely needs a pothead buddah, a half crazed mohammed, and one or two from the old greek set.
Voice, Aug 28 2010
  

       How can we offend the shintoists without a haunted house?
Voice, Aug 28 2010
  

       gaia will do nicely.
po, Aug 28 2010
  

       We like this more and more. We think it work best as a South Park style cartoon.   

       Odin and Freya are the nice Scandinavian couple next door, but they do have noisy paries when Thor, the local blacksmith, calls round. They have a large, fierce dog called Fenris.   

       Zeus and Hera run the local taverna and kebab restaraunt.   

       Philosophy and environmental concern are dispensed by the Native American Great Spirit, who lives in a teepee in the local park...   

       Ovwer the back fence, backing on to the gardens of God, Allah and Odin, is Satan, who no-one likes and seems to spend all his time is profligacy and disspiation at the taxpayer's expense. He is resented by the Residen't Association, but some of them do sneak round now and again for a reefer and to listen to some Heavy Metal music.
8th of 7, Aug 28 2010
  

       Can I suggest that we drop Mr. Seinfeld like a hot brick? Or am I the only person who is sick to the back teeth of his perpetually pappy perky preppiness?   

       I humbly submit that far more suitable actor for the role of Jesus would be Dylan Moran.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 28 2010
  

       That would mean casting Frank Kelly (in his Father Jack persona) as God, which might well work ...   

       Of course, the family business would be carpentry, but JC would want to diversify ...   

       In order to extract the last drop of irony from the situation, Allah (not Mohammed) is gentle, friendly peace-loving .... and female.
8th of 7, Aug 28 2010
  

       //That would mean casting Frank Kelly (in his Father Jack persona) as God//   

       Or perhaps Bill Bailey.   

       //Allah (not Mohammed) is gentle, friendly peace-loving .... and female.//   

       And bi.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 28 2010
  

       Have we covered Jews? You say Hassidic, and I say Sephardic..that kinda thing?
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 28 2010
  

       A slimmer Orson Welles could play the local egomaniac/braggart Author L. Ron Hubbard, who is constantly pretending to perform miraculous acts/deeds, but is constantly freaked-out by his neighbors, whom he can't figure out how they are doing their "tricks".
Wily Peyote, Aug 29 2010
  

       What Would Jesus Do?   

       What would the Holy Spirit Do?   

       I'm sorry.   

       I lost my sense of humor on things like this (Acts - Chapter 4).   

       May be the price of admission in the land I live, who knows?
Zimmy, Aug 29 2010
  

       How would this show work, when Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are the same entity?
DIYMatt, Aug 29 2010
  

       Multiple personality disorder?   

       Wholly Bone [-].
Grogster, Aug 29 2010
  

       Can one of them run a cheese shop?   

       Also, we're lacking a wider conflict here, to give the family story context. I'm thinking we need a good old fashioned Beelzebub. Obviously Jack Nicholson would work for this, but an alternative might be Rodney Bewes.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 29 2010
  

       I always pictured David Letterman as ol' Mephisto for some reason.   

       The demise of Methuselah could have been greatly exagerated. He lives a perpetual witness relocation program existence and does the odd cameo appearence in disguise.   

       [2_fries_shy_of_a_happy_meal] No, that's the Wandering Jew. Who should certainly be an occasional character in this sitcom -- just happens to be passing through, any time the writers find it convenient. Suitable role for a guest star.
mouseposture, Aug 29 2010
  

       Bea Arthur as God
dentworth, Aug 29 2010
  

       No doubt I'd watch this if it made it to TV, but I fear the writers would be forever tripping over copyright/plagiarism (assuming they didn't mind forever tripping over religious zealots of all persuasions).   

       Check out "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett, both stories taking the rise out of established and proposed religions' characters for literary effect.
Tulaine, Aug 29 2010
  

       Or indeed "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett ....
8th of 7, Aug 29 2010
  

       One benefit of this sitcom is that there could be new characters each episode who need no intrudction: angels, Lucifer, Adam, Samson, disciples etc. This alone should provide the energy for a season.
bungston, Aug 29 2010
  

       Just quirky enough for me, bungie. +
blissmiss, Aug 29 2010
  

       <smacks forehead> Of course [mouseposture].
Methuselah would only appear in flashbacks.
  

       Richard Riehle as God.
nomocrow, Aug 30 2010
  

       I don't think we've offended Druids yet. That's discrimination, that is.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 30 2010
  

       samson would test the dodgy sets to the limit.
po, Aug 30 2010
  

       Are you sure you didn't mis-read "Druid" as "Irishman"?   

       Come to that, are you sure you didn't mis-spell "shillelagh" as "shalleleigh"?   

       (No matter. Any nation that claims a clubbish stick as an invention and then gives it a name deserves to have it mis- spelled.)
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 30 2010
  

       Everyone pretends to be out ?
8th of 7, Aug 30 2010
  

       Can we also have an alien abductee? Not strictly a religion, but still delusional.
MaxwellBuchanan, Aug 30 2010
  

       What names would the neighbors know them as? Big Daddy, Junior, and "The Spook" probably wouldn't do... When the mail comes, what is their surname? I don't think "Christ" will fly...   

       [bungston], what did you have in mind?
Wily Peyote, Aug 30 2010
  

       //I don't think we've offended Druids yet. That's discrimination, that is.// So, what you're saying is: We've offended them by leaving them out? Next on the list of people to offend: Spanish barbers.
mouseposture, Aug 31 2010
  

       Setting aside the fun but somewhat distracting question of casting, it is necessary to think of the comedy fundamentals. Will it work? I think that there is comic potential in Jesus. He must be human in his failings and foibles, for both the sake of ensuring his essential Jesus-nosity and providing the comic impetus: delusions of grandeur, visions of a better world, feelings of inadquacy all folded into the motivational mix. The Holy Ghost, too, can, as the least well understood part of Trinity, conform to the sitcom archetype of idiot savant (e.g. Kramer or Manuel). God, though, he is a complication. By definition he is perfect and infallible and therefore not funny. Perhaps within the sitcom set up God should be removed from the immediate action - he's let Jesus run the branch office but there's continual threats that he'll cut short his vacation to come and inspect the premises, causing Jesus and the Holy Ghost (who, in my head, is increasingly acting like Brad Pitt's character in True Romance) to flap about in a panic. Either that or we place God where he should be placed - everywhere at once - and watch Jesus fall apart, struggling to cope with the fact that his every slip-up and manifestation of his humanity is already known to his auld da.
calum, Aug 31 2010
  

       At the risk of taking the idea too seriously (and setting aside casting distractions; good advice), I think it is sound. Jewish humor has enjoyed a lot of popularity in the US. Jewish humor has a long tradition of jokes and situations that involve God and His relationship with man: the character of God in Jewish humor is well laid out. The idea of a family dynamic involving God would be a new one but family is also bread and butter for jewish humor and Jesus as archetypal Jewish son would not be so tough. Where better to do family comedy that the 1/2 hour sitcom format?   

       Pondering the lack of women, and the lack of a mother (integral to Jewish family comedy!), is there any reason the Holy Ghost couldn't be a lady? To avoid any questions about the exact relationship between God and Ghost the ghost could be a very old lady: maybe a great grandma figure. This would be in accord with how I envision the Ghost role: always on stage, maybe in a chair, not doing much, but making with the witty retorts and acerbic observations.
bungston, Aug 31 2010
  

       Everybody would be taking it too literally, much like life [+]
xxobot, Aug 31 2010
  

       //God, though, he is a complication. By definition he is perfect and infallible and therefore not funny.//   

       So straight deadpan humor.
John Cleese it is then.
  

       Sounds a bit like 'Third Rock...' but with God etc substituted for aliens. Also, the characterisation of God is straight out of 'Old Harry's Game'. Links provided.
DrBob, Sep 01 2010
  

       Betty White as the Holy Ghost. Essentially the same role as in the Golden Girls
RayfordSteele, Sep 01 2010
  

       Heh. Now my brane hertz.   

       Well Jesus had a biz way back when: he was a carpenter, yes? So what does he yell when he hits his finger with a hammer?
Steamboat, Sep 06 2010
  

       // advanced physics .... string theory,... knot for prophet //   

       Quantum entanglement ?   

       Nothing personal [IT], but now we shall hunt you down and kill you. Or at least try to, depending on if we can work out where you are and/or how fast you're moving.
8th of 7, Sep 06 2010
  
      
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