A few television shows aren't known by their title at all, but are known instead by a phrase that sums up the weirdest thing about it.

For example, NBC's new mid-season replacement drama, The Book of Daniel, has the dubious distinction of being "that show with Jesus Christ." Which, of course, turned into a conservative commentator witch-hunt a few weeks ago.

On the wave of all this negative publicity, I watched the two-hour premiere of this limited-run series and had to laugh. By far, the Christ-character scenes are the tamest in this otherwise snarl of insane and implausible issues.

The show revolves around Daniel, a pill-popping Episcopalian minister. Aidan Quinn plays Daniel in an average performance that has its moments but is never quite what the scene needs.

Daniel deals with his large and troubled family, including his alcoholic wife, gay eldest son (whose twin has died), adopted son with raging hormones and a daughter who sells drugs to pay for her Japanese anime. If there's not enough trouble at home, Daniel's church is embroiled in an embezzling scandal and is connected to the Mafia.

Notice I didn't mention Jesus yet. That may be because the character appears to Daniel, chastises him a little, exchanges some really unfunny one-liners and flees from this mess of a show.

All around, the acting is decent. Several characters, especially the alcoholic wife, are written as one-dimensional plot devices, which is a big flaw. There is a lot of offensive material, but ironically enough, it has nothing to do with the Jesus character.

I personally was a little thrown by the Italian Catholic priest who's a Mafia boss.

What was initially funny in the premiere has turned into a one-note joke.

Book of Daniel has its innovative points, but needs to slow down and play out the quiet moments that make it worth watching.

-- Reviewed by Kathryn Stevens