The Promised Land

Not rated • YouTube

Have you ever wondered what you would get if you mashed up the mockumentary style of The Office with the Biblical story of the prophet Moses? Enter The Promised Land, a new series on YouTube set during Israel’s exodus from Egypt amid the tents, tunics, and livestock herds. (Could this be TV’s first flockumentary?)

Nowadays it feels hard to find shows without sexual innuendo and misuses of God’s name, especially funny ones. Despite its humorous premise, The Promised Land stays surprisingly respectful.

Written and directed by The Chosen assistant director Mitch Hudson, The Promised Land mirrors The Office’s production methods (but without the inappropriate content): jerky camerawork, characters who give mini-interviews to the film crew, and quirky humor. It might sound like a strange way to tell a Bible story, but it works.

We see Moses’ proud apprentice Joshua (Artoun Nazareth) standing guard at the base of Mt. Sinai as the people consecrate themselves for the Lord’s appearance: “Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to touch the mountain on my watch.” Then a soccer ball goes rolling past him. Miriam (Sheeran Khan), a self-­described tambourine “prodigy,” rolls her eyes at the musically unrefined golden-calf revelers: “If you’re going to sin, at least do it on the beat.” That’s about as irreverent as the show gets.

The Promised Land isn’t all spoofery, though. When Moses (Wasim No’mani) envies the joke-­telling prowess of his brother Aaron (Majed Sayess), his wife Zipporah (Tryphena Wade) commends his leadership: “You care for what God wants for His people, even when it’s not what they want for themselves.”

Episode 3 ends dramatically with Moses furiously smashing the two stone tablets in front of his idol-­worshipping countrymen. “God gave us everything we need, and you spit in His face.” It’s a good reminder, even when deciding on TV shows to watch.