In the beginning, Mark Burnett made a name as the most prominent producer of reality television. Now he's moving from Omarosa to Moses.
In what Burnett is calling the "most important project I have ever undertaken," he has made a deal with the History Channel to mount a 10-hour series based on the stories of the Bible. The project is expected to be on a similar scale as its most ambitious previous work, "America: The Story of Us."
That 12-part series, covering the 400-year history of America and broadcast last year, was closer to the fare typically seen on the History Channel. But Nancy Dubuc, the president of History, said the historical importance of the Bible is beyond dispute.
"This is the most discussed, debated book in the history of mankind," said Dubuc, whose channel has tackled other religious projects, such as "Jesus: The Lost 40 Days" and "The Real Face of Jesus?"
She added, "What the book has come to represent, and the power of it and the importance of it is itself history."
"The Bible" will not be a documentary representation; it will be a scripted, acted drama. That represents a departure for Burnett, the man behind hit shows such as "Survivor," "The Apprentice" and "The Voice."
"This is definitely a new area for Mark," Dubuc said. "But he is such a powerful visual storyteller. This is a producer you can put any editorial or visual challenge in front of and he rises to it."
The series will consist of five two-hour parts, Burnett said, and each will most likely contain two or three separate biblical stories. He and his team are selecting the stories for the series, he said, which will be in production through next year and shown sometime in 2013.
"Some of the stories are obvious," Burnett said, such as Noah's ark, Exodus and accounts of the birth and death of Jesus. But the project will also cover stories that Burnett said he was unfamiliar with.
Burnett, who conceived the project with his wife, actress Roma Downey ("Touched by an Angel"), said he had been inspired by rewatching, for the first time since childhood, the classic Cecil B. DeMille version of "The Ten Commandments."
He said that sort of epic production, backed by location shoots and special effects, "used to be the purview of major motion pictures." Now, he said, "that kind of quality is within the parameters of television."
Neither Burnett nor Dubuc would disclose the budget, although Burnett said it wasn't his most expensive series. He cited History's experience with "The Story of Us" and its coming Gettysburg project.
History's most recent experience with a scripted drama based on fact was "The Kennedys," which it dropped in January, saying the miniseries did not live up to its standards of accuracy.
The Bible has its own layers of interpretation, of course, but Dubuc said the series would not try to impose any kind of historical context to events such as the great flood.
"It is just the magnitude of the book itself," she said. "We're not stepping back to examine anything that could be called a controversy. We are just telling the stories that are in it."
Dubuc said that researchers are already at work and that theologians will be consulted.
With four reality series on network schedules next season, Burnett has an impressive track record in the reality genre. As with most producers, he has had his share of misses. His previous effort for History, "Expedition Africa" (2009), which traced the journey of Henry Morton Stanley's search for Dr. David Livingstone, was not a ratings hit. He also produced "Sarah Palin's Alaska" for TLC, which was canceled after one season.
He did have a prediction for "The Bible," however: "I think this will have the biggest audience History has ever had.
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