National Geographic Channel’s premiere of “The Story of God” with Morgan Freeman reportedly set record ratings for the network. With ratings revealing that as many as 3.5 million viewers tuned into watch the premiere of the six-part miniseries, The Story of God with Morgan Freeman has been marked as the fourth most-watched telecast ever for the NGC US network. The premiere of the show aired on April 3.
In the first episode, “Beyond Death”, Freeman attempts to explore the afterlife—how the belief in an afterlife advanced, how our understanding of the afterlife has changed the way in which we live our lives and the quick progress that science is making towards a digital resurrection. The next five episodes are titled “Apocalypse”, “Who is God”, “Creation”, “Why Does Evil Exist” and “The Power of Miracle” respectively. Garnering a 3.0 HH rating and 1.1 P25-54 on Live +3, “The Story of God” with Morgan Freeman happened to generate as many as 800,000 page views right before its premiere, making it the network’s best-performing digital show extension to date.
The miniseries tracks Freeman as he journeys to 20 cities across seven countries in a mission to answer the many mysteries of faith. In total, the miniseries—which concluded on May 8—has six episodes starring Freeman as one influential person trying to discover faith as he journeys around the world.
In a recent interview, the Academy Award-winning actor said he hopes that the show would unite people of different religious faiths.
“In this situation, we're hoping that the public at large gets the lesson of the sameness of the human condition,” he said. “We're not as different as we might think we are, we're all seeking the same thing and asking the same questions, and basically coming up with the same ideas about who we are, what we are, and where we are going.”
Having travelled across the world with hope of better understanding different religions and the concepts of good and evil, Freeman told the media that his journey did not really move him enough to practice any one religion or change his existing view about God. However, he did admit having learned a lot about how different cultures around the world practice their personal beliefs.
“I didn't change anything at all about how I think of God or my belief in God. It just enlightened me to how other cultures do it," he said.
Even though for centuries people have waged war after war because of their religious beliefs, Freeman said little do they realize how similar each religion is to another.
“What we came away with at the end of the series is the fact that all religions and beliefs share remarkable similarities, these commonalities. There they are, so we should celebrate them rather them let them cause rifts between us,” he said.
Before starting his shooting for the show, Freeman admitted that he is not particularly religious and has never felt a connection with the Church.
“I went to churches and synagogues, only it never caught hold. At 13, I stopped,” he said. “My basis for right and wrong was simply grandma's big slap on my head, which always pointed out when I'd done wrong.”
Photo Credits: Something to Stream
