The "Black Jesus" TV series has lorded over the Thursday ratings as the rest of broadcast offerings genuflected in supplication to the total viewership generated by the Adult Swim show. However, that doesn't stop the Christian groups to lobby for the network to pull off the controversial show from its roster.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the late-night comedy, co-created by "Boondocks" creator Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg, averaged 0.9 rating among adults in the 18-49 category on the 11 p.m. timeslot.
That number for the "Black Jesus" TV series, starring Gerald "Slink" Johnson, is good enough to rule all cable originals for that day, including ABC's "The Quest," Fox's "Gang Related" and "Welcome to Sweden" over at NBC.
"Among total viewers, Black Jesus' premiere brought in an equally strong haul: just north of 2 million viewers," the THR added. "Especially good for Adult Swim, the 11 p.m. airing took every adult and adult male demo, and the show topped the entire day of men 18 to 49 across basic cable.
Conservative Christian activists, led by the groups One Million Moms and the American Family Association, are pushing Cartoon Network's Adult Swim to cancel the new show "Black Jesus," which they call offensive and "full of lies."
Meanwhile, the Kansas City publication interviewed Monica Cole, director of One Million Moms, who said that the "Black Jesus" TV series is "blasphemous, irreverent and disrespectful," based on the trailer released on YouTube depicting the Messiah as a vice-loving gutter mouth.
"As a Christian ministry, we felt like we could not excuse this behavior for any television company," she said. "It's extremely sad when mocking someone's faith is someone's entertainment."
In a statement submitted to news outlets, Adult Swim channel said that the "Black Jesus" TV series "is a satire and one interpretation of the message of Jesus played out in modern-day morality tales; and despite what some may consider a controversial depiction of Jesus, it is not the intent to offend any race or people of faith."
