&c1=usa&c2=(none)&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Media,Television+industry+(Media),BBC,UK+news&c5=&c6=Matt+Wells,+media+correspondent&c7=2000_10_19){kind=small}
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday October 19 2000 09.55 BST
The Lord may work in mysterious ways, but he does not usually wear sunglasses and eat Pop Tarts. Yet the BBC has put its faith in an animated sitcom that proved too controversial for US audiences, in the hope that it will attract the sort of cult following enjoyed by The Simpsons and South Park.
God, the Devil and Bob was taken off the air by NBC in the US after protests from moral majority campaigners, who claimed its depiction of God as a Jerry Garcia lookalike was blasphemous.
The show is based on a pact between God and the devil over the future of mankind. The Almighty, disillusioned with how the world has turned out, decides to destroy it unless one soul can persuade him that all the others are worth saving. To "play fair", he allows the devil to choose earth's new saviour. He picks out Bob Alman (geddit?) in a bar.
In each episode Bob, a factory worker, must demonstrate the goodness of man. He is exposed to trials and temptations - including God appearing as a beggar and the devil dressed as a prostitute - and must prove his worth.
The BBC has already canvassed opinions. Reactions are said to have been favourable - the corporation's head of religious programmes, Ernie Rae, likened it to a "modern morality tale".
God, the Devil and Bob will be shown on BBC2 next year, probably in a slot between 9pm and 10.30pm.
NBC launched the show in a prime-time slot earlier this year, but many of the network's affiliated stations refused to carry it.
The show's creator, Matthew Carlson, defended the opening, in which God and the devil are drinking in a bar. He told the Washington Post: "The Bible is full of that. Christ drank wine and hung out with prostitutes and sinners. And, by the way, God's drinking a light beer."
