Christmas column

This column first appeared in the Age on December 24, 2004

The spirit moves us all differently. In recognition that Christmas day can be a tough and lonely time for some - certainly for those interested in good television - the crew from The Panel are doing a Christmas Wrap (Channel 10, 8.30 pm, Saturday) which is a live edition with special guests, quizzes and, of course, a Christmas pantomime. Expect irreverent, unsentimental fun. Bob Geldof, another inspired by Christmas, is a compassionate man who can think big. Songs That Changed the World - 'Do They know It's Christmas' (SBS, 7.30 pm, Saturday) is a brief, badly made, but moving, documentary on Band Aid, the movement, that was begun with Geldof's history making single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' The resulting charity raised hundreds of millions of dollars, Geldof received a knighthood and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

God is all around TV at the moment, in many different guises. His word rules, not so subtly, in Summerland (Monday, 7.30, Channel 10), a series in which a Californian fashion designer acquires a sudden family after the death of her sister and brother-in-law. President Bartlett invokes God in most of his speeches on West Wing (Monday, Channel 9, 10. 30 pm) and last week when his daughter Zoe was found alive after her kidnapping his speech began, 'The Lord Giveth and the lord taketh away'. This theme is repeated in Carnivale (ABC, Sunday, 8.30 pm), a show on which the creator is more abstract, a force of nature. Tomorrow night on that show Ben meets a woman who knows that he has "the gift" and explains to Ben that there are rules; "You give life, you gotta take it from somewhere else".

Meanwhile, in Joan of Arcadia, (Wednesday, Channel 9, 7.30 pm) he/she's gender-bending and crossing race lines. In this series a teenager finds she can talk directly to God, much as her namesake, Joan of Arc could. This Joan says 'dude' a lot and is no martyr - but she is up for the adventures that come when you are open to possibility. The idea of the series springs from the Joan Osborne hit, 'One of Us': 'What if God were one of us? . . . just a slob like one of us.' Which has been re- recorded as the title song. This week God springs up variously as a little girl on the swing and a spunky teenage boy. Some weeks she's a black woman. It is not clear why Joan has been chosen, but it might have something to do with the fact that her brother - played by the late John Ritter's son, Jason - has been paralyzed in a car crash. Their mother (Mary Steenburgen) is trying not to hold out hope for the miracle that he might walk again. Her father (Joe Mantegna), a Chief of Police, is only interested in facts. Both parents are oblivious to the fact that miracles are occurring before their very eyes.

Spirituality has always been a theme in television but increasing fundamentalism means the context in which we watch such shows has changed. Even though Joan of Arcadia attempts to embrace multiple spiritual possibilities - the pyramids, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the moon landing, Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, Nelson Mandela and Buddha all get a gig in the credits - it is hard to enjoy it as much as one might in more liberal times. But, today, like Joan, I'd like to imagine a world in which God has not been reduced to a brand name. Have a really wonderful Christmas - whatever this day means to you.

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