It finally did really grab me. In no small part to Aidan Quinn's emotionally accessible work (and he's going the Diane Keaton route in terms of keeping his face his own -- and he looks damned good. The lines and coupla extra pounds -- hey, he was always too skinny -- really work!) Bravo, Jesus. If you listen to His advice, by the way, it's what's sorley lacking in "Christian" dogma today.
Too bad the show took a while to find its rhythm, though. I fear the first hour wasn't ultimately its finest. Pilots are notoriously hard to get right, and too many i's get dotted. The first chuncks was so exposition laden in the first 45 minutes -- if only they'd trust an audience to listen, and pick up pieces of backstory as the scenes fly. Ellen Burstyn baldly announcing her curriculum vitae to Aidan was particularly ham-fisted and wince-worthy.
Then, it just took off, and the family scenes, part AMERICAN BEAUTY, and a lot of SIX FEET UNDER (both Alan Ball) with a soupcon of AMERICAN DREAMS, are terrific.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling