Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith and media:

Continuing my list of the 25 Most Inspiring/Feel-Good TV series in the history of broadcast television…

The rules: Each show chosen has to have aired for free (the way TV should be), feature ongoing characters, have a positive theme and, especially, be liked by me. Entries are presented in alphabetical order.

1. All in the Family (CBS/9 seasons: 1971-79)

2. Ben 10 (Cartoon Network/12 seasons: 2005-14)

3. The Big Bang Theory (CBS/12 Seasons: 2007-2019)

4. Bob ❤️ Abishola(CBS/Entering Season 2: 2019-?)
Wikipedia Premise: Bob Wheeler (Billy Gardell) runs his family’s successful, highly competitive sock company in Detroit with his mother Dottie (Christine Ebersole) and his younger twin siblings Christina (Maribeth Monroe) and Douglas (Matt Jones). When the stress of the job lands him in Woodward Memorial Hospital due to a mild heart attack, he is immediately drawn to Abishola (Folake Olowfoyeku), his kind, hardworking nurse. Now all Bob needs to do is convince her to give him a chance, which will take some doing since they couldn’t be more different. After coming to America from Nigeria to find a better life for herself and her son Dele (Travis Wolfe Jr.), Abishola lives in a small apartment with her super-protective relatives, Auntie Olu (Shola Adewusi) and Uncle Tunde (Barry Shabaka Henley). Undaunted by Abishola’s lack of initial interest or the vast differences in their backgrounds, Bob is determined to win Abishola’s heart.
Show History: A solid audience hit in its first season, the cross-cultural romantic comedy has been renewed for a second season beginning who known when?
Positive Theme: When you get right down to it, no matter what color we are or where we come from, we’re all just people.
Why I like it: A gently sweet show featuring flawed but goodhearted characters that also happens to be very, very funny. What’s not to like?
Nitpicking: So far, so good.  I am a bit concerned that the current angry media narrative regarding interracial relations will infect this kind little show. Given the premise (and the fact that Abishola is a front-line healthcare worker), the show does need to address the events of 2020. I just hope the producers and the writers have the guts to maintain the tone they have set for the series and, perhaps, even push back a bit on the negative CNN view of the world.
Best Episodes: I suspect (and hope) the show’s best episodes are yet to come but these two clips are good examples of a top-notch cast working with very fine material. In the first, Bob goes to bat for Abishola’s son whose dreams for himself conflict with the dreams his mother’s dreams for him. In the second, Abishola confronts Bob’s manipulative ex-wife (Nicole Sullivan).