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Goodbye Jesus

'touched By An Angel' Could Have Been An Awesome Show


SilentLoner

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The Show You Know:

 

In 1994, CBS rolled out their supernatural drama series Touched by an Angel, which centered on how much God totally loves you -- which, as it turns out, is a lot. Apparently, God loves you so much that if it wasn't against some internal bureaucracy bullshit, he would make bacon appear in your mouth every time you saw a puppy. But for now, the best he can do is send angels like Tess and Monica down to Earth to help us humans deal with all sorts of problems, like a terminal illness or the loss of a loved one.

 

What We Almost Got Instead:

 

Unlike the heartwarming series that eventually aired, the original pilot of Touched by an Angel, produced by John Masius, more resembled a PR smear campaign against Jesus' dad. The pilot reportedly opened with Monica (the younger, less-experienced angel) flying over the Pacific Ocean, and then suddenly crashing violently into it after God momentarily switched off her flying powers. Why? Because Masius wanted the show's God to be a bit of a "practical joker" who enjoyed tossing his servants into the ocean for shits and giggles.

 

The entire series was meant to focus exclusively on human suffering, and how it exists in our world because God gets bored easily and needs something to amuse him. So according to Masius, the reason why people get hit by hot-dog-shaped trucks, fall down wells, etc., is to help God get through another long day at the office. And the worst part is that in Masius' universe, not even death frees you from God's tyrannical grasp, because as his pilot explains, angels like Monica and Tess are humans who had died and gotten a life sentence of taking orders/wedgies directly from the great clown in the sky.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-family-movies-tv-shows-that-were-almost-insanely-dark/

 

I so would have watched this GONZ9729CustomImage1539775.gif

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I'd let her 'touch' me.

 

 

MI-Roma.jpg

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I think I saw the pilot, or at least part of it. I don't recall much other than a flying angel scene that was extremely corny.

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Given the descriptions of angels as mind-shattering, reality-warping things worthy of H. P. Lovecraft's worst night terrors, I'd want to see it too:

 

"Fear not, mortal!"   *boom!*  (Troubled Person of the Week retreats into the mental safety of gibbering madness.) "Touched" by an angel, indeed...

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My ex-mother in-law used to watch that show religiously.

 

*snicker*

 

I would make fun of just how corny it was and I was a believer back then, too!

 

 

I used to call it, 'Touched By The French Fry People' cuz during some parts, the angels would be shown with a light shining on their head and it reminded me of fries under a heat lamp.

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I'd let her 'touch' me.

 

 

MI-Roma.jpg

Oh, yes! I had a crush on her back then.

 

Beautiful woman -- for a time.

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I'd let her 'touch' me.

 

 MI-Roma.jpg

Oh, yes! I had a crush on her back then.

Beautiful woman -- for a time.

She still looks good IMO. But I'm disappointed that she died her hair blonde and had her lips puffed up. It's a shame that even somebody as beautiful as her still feels the pressure to 'standardize'.

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I remember my parents watching this. In 94 I would have been 5. I remember thinking it was a silly show even then.

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My mom watched this show too. She was also a big fan of Dr. Quinn medicine woman. 

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We weren't allowed to watch this growing up because (and I quote) "it was blasphemous to God and incorrect since angels are only men and don't have wings"

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We weren't allowed to watch this growing up because (and I quote) "it was blasphemous to God and incorrect since angels are only men and don't have wings"

 

Well your parents didn't read the bible very well:

 

http://www.cracked.com/article_18757_5-things-you-wont-believe-arent-in-bible.html

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We weren't allowed to watch this growing up because (and I quote) "it was blasphemous to God and incorrect since angels are only men and don't have wings"

Well your parents didn't read the bible very well:

 

http://www.cracked.com/article_18757_5-things-you-wont-believe-arent-in-bible.html

Well that's not surprising. They love to misquote verses and take random verses out of context to bash you with.

It was just another way to control every aspect of our lives by putting yet another TV show off limits.

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As for "Touched by an Angel", I think it was puff and fluff of the worst type.

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Ah yes I remember that series. I was around 6-8 when it normally came on and would watch it then. Don't remember a full episode, just bits and pieces. This one would be a childhood show to me and I would only watch it out of nostalgia, nothing more. Funny enough I don't really recall ever thinking of Christianity or God as I watched this, but I also didn't fully understand the concepts of Christianity then.

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I remember this show-- it used to pi$$ me off royally, even at age 10.

There was one episode where a woman (who was a busy physician) ended up forgiving her professor husband for knocking up a student, and subsequently raised the child as her own after the mistress died in a plane crash or whatever. Blegh... The plot ending pissed me off so badly that I wrote a goofy rant to the television station that ran it via their internet site. If I recall, there were a lot of stupid story lines where people forgave for things that should never be forgiven.

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The entire series was meant to focus exclusively on human suffering, and how it exists in our world because God gets bored easily and needs something to amuse him.

 

Damn... hearing this perspective as a kid would have answered a lot of questions about the bible, and spared me a lot of mental gymnastics trying to find the goodness, justice, and love in a god who has not any of those things.

 

And just think how our childhood prayers would have changed. "Dear God, I promise to try to be devious, interesting and entertaining for you today, so please direct your boredom-induced shenanigans to someone else or not at all. Thank you."

 

("You can't punish me, mom. I'm keeping God entertained so he doesn't go off on anyone.")

 

wink.png

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I still hatewatch this show from time to time. TBAA was one of the things that made me let go of the last strings of my former faith. Not that my old church believed in any of the things that they taught on this show.

 

Sometimes I hear this little song from the show. I have to say, Mandy Patinkin was an awesome Satan/Lucifer.

 

It is taken from my favorite episode of the show, where Monica has a crisis of faith and almost decides to become human.

 

Part 1 HERE // Part 2 HERE (Note: These may be triggering for some.)

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