“The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Modern Family,” and “Abbott Elementary.” Each of these runaway hit TV series features a “mockumentary” style (as it’s called in Hollywood–a mock take on a documentary) with hilarious scenes and flawed characters. Fans love them. Critics praise them. But could Christians make them?
(Find out at the end of this article…)
Now, American viewers have their chance to find out as “The Promised Land” has parted the Red Sea of curiosity and found a home as a real TV series. Yes, the Children of Israel’s 40-year plight through the desert is now written with a more lighthearted take.
Fortunately, the only “mock” is the fake documentary style for “The Promised Land.” Mitch Hudson, an assistant director for the global sensation “The Chosen,” writes and directs Moses’ journey.
“The Promised Land is filmed in a comical documentary style—a mockumentary, if you will,” Hudson says in a news release provided to Beliefnet. “The characters are aware that they are being filmed and will often make comments to the camera. Talking-head style interviews with the characters help us connect to these biblical characters like never before.”
The hesitant to the cynical in the Church may be thinking, “Of all the things to make funny…Moses’ journey to the Promised Land?!” If those same people trust the massive appeal Dallas Jenkins’ created with “The Chosen,” these are his words.
“A mockumentary portraying Moses and the Israelites? And it’s actually good and faithful?” he said about the pilot’s release. “The world needs a show like this. Seriously.”
Let the journey begin.
What’s Funny About a Journey to The Promised Land?
The answer to that question lies within each person who watches the pilot episode, which is offered below in its entirety and provided by Studio 523, Lek Productions, and Collide Media Group.
However, if you have ever been lost or caught without your GPS, once you find your way back home, a little joke is welcomed. According to Deuteronomy 1:2, this was an 11-day journey that took 40 years. From Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, but instead, the children of Israel took us through most of the Pentateuch and into the Book of Joshua.
This was a time of serious faith and grueling life lessons. Christians worldwide continue to learn from their plight and apply those teachings to their own lives. This is the majesty of that journey, but Hudson believes there are also many reasons to smile as we rejoice in what has been learned.
In one month after the pilot episode’s release, “The Promised Land” has racked up these inspirational numbers of followers:
- Instagram @ThePromisedLandSeries — 148K followers
- YouTube @ThePromisedLandSeries — 65K subscribers
- Facebook @ThePromisedLandSeries — 7K followers
- TikTok @ThePromisedLandSeries — 2K followers
- IMDb rates the pilot episode 8.9 out of 10
Hudson shares other impressive metrics as the popularity of the episode grows.
- 1.4 million content interactions
- 4.6 million organic reach across social media
- 17 million views on all content
“The Promised Land” series’ summary offers what could be appealing about this mockumentary concept.
The Exodus … but as a comedy!?
After leading his people out of Egypt and slavery, Moses and the nation of Israel are headed straight toward the land God has promised to them. What could go wrong?!
With twists, turns, and roadblocks as numerous as the stars in the sky, Moses—with the help of Aaron, Miriam, Joshua, and a host of other unforgettable characters—guides his people through the wilderness toward their ultimate destination, THE PROMISED LAND. This new episodic series, which launched as a viral online hit, is preparing to film its first season. Where the Exodus meets The Office, THE PROMISED LAND is a comedy series of biblical proportions.
Inside The Promised Land
With impressive numbers and substantial interest in a little over a month, would this project be something the Church and the rest of the nation are ready to see?
The pilot episode of “The Promised Land” hit the Web by faith, in hopes of drumming up grassroots support to fund the entire first season. The campaign, which lasted 40 days and 40 nights (see, that’s funny), worked.
View this post on Instagram
As of the first week of August, “Season One of ‘The Promised Land’ has been fully funded and ready to shoot this October.”
“The goal is to make 39 more episodes and then a feature-length film,” Hudson said. “The episodes for the show will take us throughout the rest of the story of Moses. So the next episode would start where we left off, with Jethro telling Moses, “Hey, if you want to lead, you need to trust others to help you lead.”
And then from there we carry over until we get to Joshua taking over. In terms of when are the next episodes coming, if it all works out for us to film this fall, we will hopefully have more episodes by next summer.”
The show stars Wasim No’mani as Moses, Shereen Khan as Miriam, Majed Sayess as Aaron, Brad Culver as Korah, Dav Coretti as Chisisi, Tryphena Wade as Zipporah, Artoun Nazareth as Joshua, and Tucker Smallwood as Jethro. The full first episode is set for Summer 2025.
For more information, visit ThePromisedLandSeries.tv.
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