There have been a lot of television series that featured God as a main character. Sure, none of them ever show Him but he is there albeit behind the scenes. Okay, the one possible exception I can think of is ‘Joan of Acardia’ but with shows like ‘Highway to Heaven’ and ‘Touched by an Angel’ the networks have determined that there is a place for such a religious theme to network dramas. Typically these series are extremely family friendly with a nice little morality play underlying the story line of the week. Well, throw out all your preconceived ideas about a God oriented drama; here comes something completely new; ‘Saving Grace’. This is most definitely not a show for the whole family. Actually, a lot of adults may be shocked by the smoking, drinking, casual sex and nudity it contains. Still, there is God in the background. The saving grace of the series, pun intended, is the smart efficient writing, excellent acting and sharp direction. This is not always an easy series to watch. It has more than its share of uncomfortable scenes and plot lines but this is to be expected if a show is trying to blaze new territory. A series like this would have a difficult time being aired on the regular broadcast stations. If it had been shown by HBO or Showtime instead of TNT, they would have had the tendency to go too far with the adult material. This would have obscured the underlying message completely instead of reinforcing it. As it turns out this series found the right time and place to flourish and grow.

This series is the brainchild of Nancy Miller. Hailing from Oklahoma it was no surprise that she set the show’s location there. Previously Miller has worked in production and writing for series like ‘CSI: Miami’ and such strong female lead oriented series as ‘Profiler’ and ‘Grace’s sister show on TNT, ‘The Closer’. All of this has provided her with the experience necessary to paint a realistic picture of the characters here. These are not the usual stereotypical characters almost every television crime drama contains. These are people who are seriously flawed and each of them must face the consequences of their actions and decisions in one form or another. The major departure from the other angelic series is this is not one with a different person that has to be saved in the forty four minutes allotted to the individual episode. The titular character of Grace, brilliantly portrayed by Holly Hunter, is a constant work in progress. Sometimes she takes the advice of the angel, Earl (Leon Rippy) but most times she tries her best to ignore or even defy him and his sage advice. There is always a crime to solve and that is nicely wrapped up by the time the closing credits role but there are no easy solutions for Grace. The central theme presented here is redemption. We each have done things that we are not particularly proud of and in order to move forward in your lives we have to make some sort of amends and most importantly learn to live with ourselves. ‘Saving Grace’ touches this common bond between all people in an honest, often gritty way.

Grace Hanadarko is a police officer on the Oklahoma City force. She is not your usual woman shown on television. She is a chain smoker, hard drinking woman who enjoys a romp in bed particularly with her married partner, Ham Dewey (Kenny Johnson). They are not exclusive by any means; Grace has a number of different partners over the course of the first season. She also enjoys flashing the elderly man living across from her; something that he has never complained about. Grace also possesses what we used to call a potty mouth. The dreaded ‘S’ word flows out of her lips as natural as air. Her best friend is Rhetta Rodriguez (Laura San Giacomo) who works as the police forensic investigator. The two have been best friends for their whole lives and fully understand and accept each other and their respective flaws. Rhetta is the complete opposite of Grace; she is timid, studious and married to a man with a small ranch. Working in the same squad as Grace is Butch Ada (Bailey Chase) a proud, good old boy who is quick to brag to anyone around. His partner is Bobby Stillwater (Gregory Cruz), a Native American with a quieter, more sensitive man. When Grace is on the trail of a murder or other crime she is unrelenting. Her determination and drive to always get the criminal makes her one of the most successful detectives on the force.

One night while driving home drunk, something of a common state for Grace, she hits a man in the dark, deserted road. She exclaims asking God for help. She turns around to see a man standing there who asks her what see needs. The man is Earl and he is an angel. This is not the well coffered angles like Michael Landon or Roma Downey played. Earl looks like he just stepped out of a red neck bar. He is dressed in denim and is not above spiting his chaw out on the side of the road. At first she doesn’t believe him but he spreads his huge wings and Grace is caught in ecstasy. The man she hit was a convicted murderer, Leon Cooley (Bokeem Woodbine). Earl seems to revive him and Grace is confused by happy she will not have to face vehicular manslaughter charges. What makes this encounter even stranger is Cooley is currently on death row and it would be impossible for him to have been on that road. It turns out that Earl is the heavenly case worker for both Grace and Cooley and over the course of the first season some connection is disclosed. Grace tries to deal with the direct angelic intersession in her life and attempts too gather proof such as a wing feather. She turns these objects and the full story over to Rhetta who is excited by the chance to scientifically prove the existences of angels. The thing here is Rhetta is already a believer. Earl pops into Grace’s life, frequently at very embarrassing and inopportune times such as when she is getting out of bed after her latest one night stand. Earl doesn’t support any one religion just as long as you seek God. He is even okay when Cooley turns to become a Muslim. Earl is always there with some sage advice that Grace typically tries to ignore but the message slowly begins to sink in. He wants her to face what is wrong in her life and seek God’s help to correct it. Grace constantly tries to convince herself that nothing in her life is all that wrong.

This is a story of not only redemption but self discovery. The character of Grace has many obvious flaws that most writers would think that was enough, No so here. Grace underneath it all is a scared little girl acting tough to cover her own sense of self doubt and disappointment. The one stable force in her life is Rhetta. They frequently fight but the two women love each other in a fashion that is could not be stronger if they were actually sisters. Hunter is incredible in this role. She is an actress of considerable accomplishments. She not only won an Oscar but they year she won Best Actress she also was nominated for Best Supporting Actress; an extremely rare occurrence. Rippy is well known to fans of the late HBO series ‘Deadwood’. He plays Earl with flair and shows him to be an angel that is devoted to God but frustrated over humans, especially Grace. San Giacomo is another incredible actress who gives her all to this role.

Fox Home Entertainment goes all out with the DVD release of this series. It features a perfect anamorphic 1.78:1 video and a full, rich Dolby 5.1 audio. There are also enough extras to keep the legion of fans out there happy. There is a behind the scenes look hosted by Holly Hunter. The set is highlighted as well as a recap of the first season and an overview. San Giacomo gets a chance to help explain the ins and outs of her character. Also contained here is a featurette on creating drama and an interview with Gary Randall, the executive producer. Rounding things off is a music video of the theme song. This is an adult television series of uncompromised depth and a must get.