Seventh-day Adventism in Popular Culture - Representations in Television

Representations in Television

In the American series Gilmore Girls, one of the recurring characters, Mrs. Kim is a very strict, caricatured Seventh-day Adventist.

In the House episode "Here Kitty", Dr. Gregory House refers to the events surrounding William Miller and the "Great Disappointment" of 1844. He remarks about Miller, "every time he was irrefutably proved wrong, it redoubled everyone's belief." Towards the end of the episode the patient rebuts House by saying "his followers never faded out, they became the Seventh-day Adventists – a major religion".

All in the Family, a very popular American situational comedy which ran during the 1970s and early 80s, alludes briefly to Adventists. In the sixth season episode "The Little Atheist", the comical bigoted main character Archie Bunker says, speaking of his unborn grandson, "Raise him a Luferan if you want, raise him a Norman with seven wives, a holy roller, a Seventh-day Adventurer". (These refer to Lutherans, Mormons – more accurately only fundamentalist Mormons; "Holy Roller" was a critical name used of Pentecostals; and Seventh-day Adventists).

The Simpsons makes several indirect allusions to Adventism. The sixteenth season episode "Thank God, It's Doomsday" contains a number of eery similarities to the story of William Miller's Great Disappointment: although, whereas Miller came up with dates in 1843-44 via specific time periods mentioned in Biblical prophecy, Homer predicts the rapture by calculating random numbers in the Bible. Later on Homer's followers are seen to suffer financial hardship after giving away all their belongings in anticipation of Judgment Day, and Homer, like Miller, eventually concludes he miscalculated and announces a new date for the rapture. A couple episodes also refer to the Little Debbie snacks produced by McKee Foods, a company owned by Seventh-day Adventist businessmen. The eighteenth season episode "Marge Gamer" makes light of Little Debbie's religious connections when Homer says, "Marge, you have to get on the Net. It's where all the best conspiracy theories are. Did you know Hezbollah owns Little Debbie Food Snacks? This stuff will rock your world."

The Family Guy tenth season episode "Livin' on a Prayer" makes light of some people's skepticism towards Adventists. The fictional character Lois Griffin, the mother from the main family in the series, states,

"I don't know who's crazier, these people or those Seventh-day Adventists."

(In context, this statement follows a conversation with a Christian Science family who resist modern medical treatment for their son with cancer.) The view cuts to a scene with two ordinary-looking men:

Man 1: "I'm a Methodist. We believe that the Lord is our Saviour, and we remember Him by going to church and praising him every Sunday."

Man 2: "I'm a Seventh-day Adventist. We believe all the same things that you believe, but we go to church on Saturdays."

Man 1: "What!!??..." (with a greatly exaggerated or hyperbolic, comical reaction).