Document: /pub/resources/text/breakpoint: BPT.94.04.07.TXT
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This is an UNOFFICIAL transcript made from the radio broadcast.  Mistakes
in it are mine, not Mr Colson's nor Prison Fellowship's.  Comments,
corrections, questions are welcome; send to <mcmeans@dtedi.wpafb.af.mil>.

*

<<I'll send out the information regarding contacting CBS and the sponsors
later today.  DSM>>

Thursday, April 7, 1994

BREAKPOINT with Chuck Colson


Teaching school with pigs squealing in the school yard isn't a skill you
pick up a teacher's college.  But for Christy Huddleston it was part of
the job description when she began teaching at a mission school in the
Smoky Mountains.

Millions of people have read the story Christy in the classic novel by the
late Christian author Catherine Marshall.  Now, you can tune in for the
television version tonight on CBS.  The series was kicked off on Sunday
with a film based on the novel.  And tonight CBS begins a 6-part series.

Both the film and the series star Kelly Martin as Christy, a young woman
who at the turn of the century who heeds the call of a missionary to leave
her sheltered city life and teach school in the Appalachian mountains.  A
dozen bare-foot mountain children, the sons and daughters of moonshiners,
become Christy's pupils.

The plot is simple, but it was enough to attract millions of views for the
premier last Sunday.  Christy captured the fifth highest rating for the
week scooping up a hefty 29-percent share of the viewing audience.

Even jaded critics waxed enthusiastic.  The San Francisco Chronicle called
the movie "bedrock family drama."  USA Today described it as a "story that
warms the heart without turning the brain to mush."  Family values, it
seems, has taken prime time by storm.

The fact that such an overtly Christian series is hitting the airwaves
confirms what film critic Michael Medvid describes as an industry-wide
shift towards family entertainment.  As Medvid puts it, "Hollywood has
finally gotten the message Americans want television that reflects their
own traditional values"; values that have much more in common with Christy
than with the likes of Beavis and Butthead or Bart Simpson.

And traditional values are just what Christy specializes in.  The young
teacher engages the mountain people in serious discussions about sin and
God's grace.  She is shown praying for divine guidance.  In one touching
scene, after vandals have destroyed the school house, a ragged little boy
reminds Christy that God tells us to love even "them who done this."

This is what I call quality programming.

If you and I appreciate quality entertainment, we need to make our voices
heard.  Christy producer Ken Wales says the series is a test case of the
public's willingness to support prime time Christianity.  When the 6-part
series ends, CBS will decide whether Christy will be renewed in the fall,
or cancelled.

Well, Christians ought to be lining up to make sure the series stays on the
air.  Many of us have participated in boycotts of the sponsors of offensive
programming, but we ought to take this opportunity to exert a positive
influence in Hollywood as well.

Why not gather the whole family and settle down with some popcorn to watch
Christy tonight.  Then, take a minute to call or write CBS and the series
sponsors.  Tell them how much your family appreciates their support for
this inspirational, new series.  You can call us here at BreakPoint and
we'll tell you who to contact.

And then, enjoy what good TV can do.  Watch Christy walk the green
hillsides of the Appalachians, chase off the squealing pigs, and put her
faith into action.

BreakPoint is copyright (c) 1994 by Prison Fellowship.

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David S McMeans                                       amUous Mind Puzzles
<dmcmeans@iclnet93.iclnet.org> Dayton, OH    BreakPoint with Chuck Colson