The Promised Land Season 1 Trailer & Premiere Date
- Kevin Keating
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
October 1 is the premiere for Season 1 of The Promised Land, a show that follows the family of Moses on their way out of Egypt, using the mockumentary sitcom style of The Office or Abbott Elementary. If you're counting, that means there will be three solid Bible shows released in October as well as a much more dubious Bible film. And while The Promised Land may not have a chart-topping following like The Chosen (which is spinning-off The Chosen Adventures on October 17) or the House of David series (which releases Season 2 on October 5), I believe it has the potential to grow into staple for fans of Bible shows and films. Below I'll recap my thoughts on The Promised Land Pilot before looking at the trailer for Season 1 and offering my thoughts on what we can expect.
The Promised Land Pilot
The Pilot for The Promised Land was released last summer, and, going into my first watch, I was a little skeptical. There are many ways for a comedy based on the Bible to wrong. It could be cringy and unfunny. Or it could be blasphemous and disrespectful to God. Or it could just feel like an unnatural fusion of two stories that don't really fit together. The genius of The Promised Land Pilot is that it finds genuine human comedy through a close reading of the biblical story itself (it's remarkably faithful to Exodus 18)- and always aims its humor at the foibles and limitations of its human characters and not at God himself. The Promised Land does add characters and stories that are not in the Bible itself (just like The Chosen or House of David), but these characters and stories serve to uphold the thematic messaging of the underlying biblical text - without coming across as preachy or didactic. If you haven't checked out the TPL Pilot yet, it's worth a watch. For more of my thoughts, check out my review and my interviews with The Promised Land Director Mitch Hudson and actor Dav Coretti.
The Promised Land Season 1 Trailer
The trailer for Season 1 of The Promised Land doesn't demand same he level of analysis as those for The Chosen or House of David, but it's interesting to get a peek at what lies ahead.
Moses Struggles to Lead the Stubborn Israelites
The trailer opens with a mockumentary-style interview with Moses about his relationship with a small but eager group of elders and judges, recently appointed on the advice of Jethro in the Pilot. Moses' delight in the eagerness of these disciples only serves to highlight his disappointment at the stubbornness of the Israelites. The difficulty Moses is grappling with here will almost certainly function as one of the primary sources of dramatic conflict and humor throughout the series.
In order to flesh out the difficulty of leading the stubborn Israelites, the trailer turns our attention to the Israelites grumbling and fighting over their limited water. We then see the famous moment of Moses striking the rock and God delivering water (Exodus 17).
Trouble in the Camp: Korah & Chisisi
The trailer then turns our attention to two other sources of dramatic conflict and humor. We get brief clips of Chisisi (an Egyptian in disguise) delighting over his ability to continue to live undetected among the Israelites. His efforts to fit in will butt up against the efforts of Korah, a zealous Israelite who suspects Chisisi is out of place. Chisisi's bumbling efforts to fit in are demonstrated when he praises Korah after a (failed) trust fall.
Korah will also drive conflict related to the authority of Moses' family. As he is interviewed, he bitterly accuses Moses of nepotism for appointing Aaron as High Priest. This apparently takes place after the Tabernacle is constructed, as we can see it in the background.
The Promised Land Season 1 Episode List
We can gain a little more information about Season 1 just by looking at the names of the upcoming episodes:
Episode 2: Sinai
Episode 3: Pitfalls
Episode 4: Offering
Episode 5: Bones
Episode 6: Presence
Episode 2 will probably cover grumbling over water and Moses striking the rock (Exodus 17) as well as the arrival at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). I suspect the "Pitfalls" of Episode 2 are related to the Ten Commandments and/or other laws (Exodus 20-24). The "Offering" of Episode 3 is probably related to the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25-31). The "Bones" in Episode 4 may be from God's wrath breaking out due to the Golden Calf (Exodus 32), which includes one of the funniest moments in Scripture, when Aaron claims he put the Israelite gold in the fire and the golden calf came out. The bones may also be Joseph's bones brought out of Egypt (Exodus 13:19). Episode 6 will probably see the coming of God's presence into the Tabernacle after its completion (Exodus 40).
What moment are you most eager to see in The Promised Land Season 1? Let me know in the comments below.
