Johnny Galecki as Dr Leonard Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory.
People of Faith are underrepresented on TV, but a new US comedy show about a man who tries to live in line with Bible values hopes to change that, according to its executive producer Johnny Galecki.
Mr Galecki, 42, who plays physicist Leonard Hofstadter on The Big Bang Theory, says Living Biblically, which premiered on CBS on February 26, is intended to “inspire a conversation around the watercooler” about the Bible.
Explaining that when he started his production company its top priority was to do a comedy about religion, he told journalists at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tours: “I recognised that these conversations weren’t being had despite the fact that … 80% of people in the world subscribe their lives to some sort of spiritual belief.”
Sarcastic
Comedy can be a great way to approach topics people feel uncomfortable discussing, said Mr Galecki, who has rejected suggestions that the show might be “scathing and sarcastic” in its portrayal of its lead character, who attempts to live his life in line with the Bible.
Describing how he’d been cheered by the enthusiasm for the show among from religious studio-audience members during live tapings, he said: “Our fear was that we might offend those people who we deeply, deeply respect and want to represent in a very sane, grounded, respectful manner. So the fact that we weren’t turning those people off, the fact that they were invested in the show just made us feel like ‘OK we’re on the right track at least.’”