The Fox network is turning to the Bible for solace, and, more practically, TV show ideas: THR reports that the network—which earlier today went extremely cozy, with the announcement that it’s remaking British comedy series Doc Martin—has ordered a season of new Bible drama The Faithful.
Is this The Chosen‘s fault? We have to assume it played a part, as the crowdfunded life of Christ series continues to suck in both cash and attention. (Its fifth season, which debuted in a series of theatrical runs this spring, recently broke records for Fathom Events, bringing in just shy of $50 million at the box office in the last few months. Nothing huge for movies, but pretty major for independently produced TV.) The Faithful, for its part, will go back even further, telling the stories of several Old Testament women. Executive produced by CSI‘s Carol Mendelsohn, and written and showrun by The 4400 and Carnival Row‘s Rene Echevarria, the series is (switching into what feels like a very carefully crafted network logline) “told through the eyes of the courageous and passionate, yet flawed women whose descendants would shape three of the world’s great faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”
From the description, it sounds like the six-episode series will run in three weekly blocks, with the first focused on the story of Sarah and Hagar, then Rebekah, and then Leah and Rachel, all pulled from the Book Of Genesis. (They’re the wives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, respectively, in case it’s been a minute since Bible/Torah study.) The show will explore ideas around “discovering and losing love, the challenges of marriage, the joys and heartbreak of children, confronting temptation and finding faith.” And, again, if you aren’t fresh on your Genesis, some of these stories do get pretty screwed up: We’ve always been fans of the Jacob story, where he basically marries the older Leah as part of a contractual obligation so he can then marry and have sex with her sister Rachel, too. (That one got so messy God later had to issue a patch note in Leviticus, clarifying that He doesn’t actually like it when you marry and try to impregnate two sisters at the same time.)
So, yeah, there’s actually a ton of potential for drama here, although it’s not clear how far in that Biblical Jerry Springer direction the series (also executive produced by Julie Weitz) will go. (It’s airing on Passover and Easter in 2026, so… not very?) Personally, though, we’re still just holding out for Teenjus.
