Televangelism

Not the Billy Graham kind, though--from NBC, of all places.

Setting aside the uproar around The Book of Daniel, which is going to be a flop anyway, I have to mention my new favorite show--well, I've only watched one episode, so I'm going out on a limb--My Name Is Earl. Despite the fact that this sitcom is hardly politically correct, it's feature character is a man who has decided to make amends for his poorly executed life, with hilarious consequences, of course.

The gospel message last week? After trying to take his son and his son's half-brother to a roadside carnival (to make up for promising to do so and then skipping out on them for an ACDC concert), Earl discovers the carnival's closed up shop. At a loss for how to "fix" this one, he explains his dilemma to Earl Jr.

Jr.'s response: "We could just forgive you."

Earl: "What do you mean."

Jr.: "Well, they taught us at bad kids camp that if you love someone and they're honest and say they're sorry, you forgive them." Jr., with the approval of his half-brother, then crosses the carnival off Earl's list of amends to make.

All together now: "Aaaaaawwwwww..."

Betcha a hundred bucks those two TV minutes beat the hell out of most 15-minutes Sunday homilies.