On Wednesdays, I take a look at shows that lasted one season or less. This week, I am looking at 1997's Nothing Sacred!
NOTHING SACRED
September 18, 1997 - March 14, 1998
15 episodes
ABC
Starring: Kevin Anderson, Ann Dowd, Bruce Altman, Scott Michael Campbell, Jose Zuniga, Tamara Mello and Brad Sullivan
Created by: Bill Cain & David Manson
Plot: Father Ray (Anderson) is a Jesuit priest with a liberal streak and a tendency to go against the grain when it comes to expectations. He works in a church with the young Father Eric (Campbell), feminist Sister Mo (Dowd), young secretary Rachel (Mello) and atheist business manager, Sidney (Altman). Rounding out the cast is another priest, Father Leo (Sullivan).
This was a pretty gutsy show to put on TV in 1997. I think a lot of shows that once generated controversy (like NYPD Blue) would probably seem pretty tame by today's standards. However, if Nothing Sacred launched today, there would probably still be a fair amount of controversy considering the pilot includes a priest not only being supportive of abortion but also contemplating starting a romantic relationship with an ex from before entering the priesthood and questioning God's existence and whether Hell exists. Those are some topics that haven't gotten any less controversial in the 25+ years since the pilot originally aired. It's pretty impressive that a show was willing to "go there" on Broadcast TV in the 1990s, an era that saw most shows playing it safe when it came to content.
It also is a darn good show, or at least the pilot was. Maybe this felt extra relevant because of how much abortion has been in the news in the last year, but this show was questioning norms and prodding things long before most any TV show dared to touch the subject. And they don't handle things with a heavy hand. They do it with introspective, thoughtful writing and character development. Nothing everything works (the story about the troubled kid at school does not work nearly as well as everything else), but it really had a very specific voice and tone that was hard to come by in 90s TV dramas, especially ones like this. Kevin Anderson was really captivating and the rest of the cast, while not given a ton to do in the pilot, showed promise including a younger Ann Dowd.
There was a lot of attention given to Nothing Sacred before it premiered. Religious groups, especially Catholic ones, were coming after ABC months after they raised a similar fuss over Ellen coming out of the closet. There were protests and boycotts that led to advertisers pulling their ads for the show. The last time ABC had been in this situation before Ellen was NYPD Blue and that proved to actually help the show as it premiered to strong ratings and the controversy died down quickly. This was a different situation as the show was airing at 8pm on Thursdays against NBC's mega-hit Friends so while the controversy may not have hurt the show, it also didn't help it in the way it sometimes can.
Reviews were generally positive though some hedged their bets a bit. Rolling Stone called it the best show of the fall while Variety said it was "gutsy but a bit too enamored of its envelope-pushing sense of rebellion." The show premiered to dismal ratings in the same slot where My So-Called Life had failed for ABC a few years before. And the controversy didn't totally die down as religious groups continued to make their voices heard. ABC ultimately pulled an episode about a priest who contracted HIV. The series was pulled from Thursdays in November and resurfaced on Saturdays for a short time before being cancelled for good. It's too bad the controversy and poor ratings overshadowed the show. It could have been a good conversation starter. If only it aired on a streamer in the peak TV era.
Tomorrow: Very Very Blackouts!
Next Wednesday: A One Season Wonder look at The Gregory Hines Show!
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