Prophetic Eli Stone Seeks to Save Us from TV Strike Doldrums
by Lael
The Daily Mantra awaits with interest the Thursday, January 31st premiere of the new ABC series Eli Stone. From The Flying Nun to HBO’s recent, ill-fated John from Cincinnati, supernatural offerings of one sort of another have rarely been absent from any TV season’s line up. The supernatural is a capacious genre. Even the presentation of just angelic phenomena encompasses everything from the wildly popular and equally treacly Touched by an Angel to the refreshingly gritty Holly Hunter vehicle Saving Grace.
Likewise, the prophetic territory staked out by Eli Stone’s creators has been explored before in shows like Joan of Arcadia. But while the new show’s content may be familiar, its promos suggest that its form is anything but. For instance, as fans of all things dance-related, Daily Mantra is pleased to see that this story of a high-powered attorney turned unlikely prophet contains some high stepping, toe tapping, straight-off-Broadway production numbers. And, having a high tolerance for kitsch when it is presented with a knowing wink, we refuse to be put off by the decision to dust off and resurrect 80's pop star George Michael, also featured in the promo.
Writers of TV shows often revel in the sly and not-so-sly naming of their characters. The makers of Eli Stone are no exception. “Eli,” after all, is a shortened form of a name shared with famed biblical prophet Elijah, and “Stone” recalls the substance on which the God of the Hebrew Bible etched the Ten Commandments before passing them along to another prophet, Moses. Will twenty-first century Eli Stone receive text messages from The Big Guy instead? More importantly, will this show spark our imagination rather than just pander to our most wishful and idle beliefs? In this strike hobbled era of slim TV show pickings, we’ve “gotta have faith, faith, faith” that it will.
