The worldâs best-selling book has made it to the small screen in what is thought to be the first religiously themed game show on a secular network.
âThe American Bible Challengeâ tests teamsâ knowledge of the Old and New Testaments in a quiz show interspersed with stories of the competitors and the charities they play for.
The show represents a bid to tap the religious market by the secular GSN (formerly Game Show Network). The base audience is evangelicals, said consulting producer Maura Dunbar, but she hopes it will appeal to a broader audience, including nonbelievers.
âI think people of faith will have a very good comfort level, and I think this is an opportunity for all of us to hopefully open up the Bible to new audiences and engagement,â Dunbar said.
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy, of Foxâs quiz show âAre You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?â will host the Bible challenge. Foxworthy describes himself as a Christian and details attending Bible study with friends on the American Bible Challenge website.
The show tests biblical knowledge in culture, history, literature, and current events. In one segment, players try to differentiate âthe Word of the Lordâ from âthe Lord of the Ringsâ and identify whether a character comes from the Bible or Star Wars.
âWe find ways to open up the biblical word to references that I think make it easy to relate to,â Dunbar said. âWe had fun with the content, never poking fun at the content.â
Dunbar is chief content officer of Odyssey Networks, which co-produces the show and has produced Hallmark Channel films based on Christian novels, including Angela Huntâs âThe Noteâ and Beverly Lewisâs âThe Shunning.â
The show brings together the religious message of the multifaith Odyssey Networks, the storytelling of âExtreme Makeover: Home Editionâ producer Tom Forman, and the technical expertise of Embassy Row, which produced âThe Glee Projectâ and âThe Newlywed Game.â
Religion-themed television can be a gamble for networks.
ABC canceled âGCB,â after its unpopular inaugural season. Based on the novel âGood Christian Bitchesâ by Kim Gatlin, the show garnered controversy for its title and raunchy depictions of Christian women.
National Geographic Channelâs âAmerican Colony: Meet the Hutterites,â was accused of exploiting the Montana Anabaptist faith community, first by Hutterites outside the colony, and later by colony leaders.
But some shows with religious themes have staying power. Episodes of â7th Heaven,â a show about a family with a minister father, spanned a decade.
Producers face an interesting challenge in creating a Christian game show for an American audience.
A 2010 Pew survey found that atheists and agnostics, along with Jews and Mormons, showed the highest levels of overall religious knowledge in the United States.
Mormons scored highest on specific biblical knowledge, followed by white evangelical Protestants, atheists and agnostics, black Protestants, and Jews. White mainline Protestants and Catholics scored the lowest.
A poll by the American Bible Society, which sponsors the show, found that 85 percent of Americans own a Bible. About one-quarter read the Bible several times a week or every day. However, the same percentage never reads it. The majority reads the Bible less than once a month.
Readers of the New International Version (NIV) translation might want to play alongâitâs the official Bible of the show.
Viewers can catch âThe American Bible Challengeâ Thursdays at 8 p.m. on GSN.
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