Huge success of 'The Bible' somewhat suprising, producer says

Huge success of 'The Bible' somewhat suprising, producer says


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SALT LAKE CITY — The overwhelming success of the cable TV miniseries "The Bible" is somewhat surprising and very gratifying for the show's producers, who say it has ignited a "movement" of sorts.

More than 100 million viewers watched the miniseries, which wrapped up on Easter weekend on the History Channel.

Co-executive Producer Roma Downey told KSL, "It's gratifying. We worked so very hard on this. To have more than 100 million people tune in is madly encouraging."

At a time when a growing number of people say they do not associate themselves with a particular religion, the miniseries' success was heartening for Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, who also produced the miniseries.

"We, on the one hand, wanted to reach people of faith — the Bible is a book that changes lives, we know that. We also were hoping to reach people that perhaps for whatever reason have not read the Bible or have not been to church, but might have turned the television set on," she said.

"These kinds of numbers speak to the fact that we reached all of those," she added.

Downey and Burnett told CBS that four weeks after the series ended, people were still talking to them about it.

"The most encouraging thing is that it has begun a discussion," Downey said. "People are engaged in a conversation about faith, about God. It's like it's given people permission to speak on it, perhaps."


"The most encouraging thing is that it has begun a discussion. People are engaged in a conversation about faith, about God.' - Roma Downey

They call "The Bible" a movement.

"It's like people are hungry for purpose in their life. They're hungry for God," Downey said.

The TV shows also made a big splash internationally.

"We just got the numbers in from Spain, where it was huge. It aired in Portugal to a 37 share, basically 37 percent of the whole country watched the series over Easter, and that's incredible," Downey said.

The novel

The book "A Story of God and All of Us" is a novel based on the miniseries.

"I think if anybody had a criticism, it was, ‘Where was the story of Joseph? Where was the story of Job?' We had only 10 hours. What we created was more like an introduction to the Bible," Downey said.

A Story of God and All of Us, a novel and companion book to "The Bible" miniseries.
A Story of God and All of Us, a novel and companion book to "The Bible" miniseries.

As they sent their scripts out to scholars, "the feedback came in saying, ‘These scripts are amazing. I think you've really brought these characters to life off the page in ways I hadn't considered. Would you not think about publishing these scripts?' " Downey said.

"We knew if we did that, it would look like a phone book. So we decided to novelize the scripts we had. It's a really wonderful, easy read," she said. "It tells the stories that appeared on the screen."

"A Story of God and All of Us" made the New York Times Best Seller List.

"We know it's one story. We know from the time Adam and Eve bit that fruit and humanity fell from God, we all have been looking to get home to God. God never abandons us. He loves us. He loves us so much He sent Jesus for us. That's our story. It's a story of love and hope and redemption," Downey explained.

She said the History Channel will replay the series in the future, and DVDs are available.

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Linda Williams

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