A sweet, surprisingly watchable series that essentially gives "Joan of Arcadia" a Silicon Valley tuneup.

God has historically been good to CBS, in the form of faith-oriented series like "Touched by an Angel" and "Joan of Arcadia." The network returns to those roots with God Friended Me, an appealing show that weaves religion into its premise, while owing at least as much to the since-departed "Person of Interest" as those aforementioned dramas.

Setting aside a glib and emotionally manipulative launch, of all the "This Is Us" wannabes ("Manifest," "A Million Little Things," "New Amsterdam") in the 2018 fall lineup, "God Friended Me" may stand the best chance of success.

Yes, it’s all hokey, and yet the premiere holds some promise as a thoughtful feel-good drama.

Like the show’s interludes of theological discourse, its moments of regret and redemption are made to be easy to grasp and digest in the context of a Sunday night, broadcast network, mostly-family-friendly comic drama. For those less invested in the God question, or less attracted to sentiment, the show will run mostly on the substantial charm and chemistry of its young stars and the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew sleuthing they do together.

Yes, the premise is ridiculous, but some of the best moments happen when the show leans fully into its own cheesiness and embraces the awesome storytelling power of pushing a person to be more decent. And thanks in large part to Hall, a charismatic actor who can make even “The Millennial Prophet” sound halfway convincing, rooting the show in Miles’ journey of having and losing his faith makes for some truly meaningful moments.

The construction of the God Friended Me pilot is simply an ungodly mess. ... Every beat is so rushed that the pilot feels like a series finale in which all the stories have to be tied up neatly and it reaches an end that doesn't set up a series at all.

My hubby and I LOVE this show. We are actually quite disappointed that it isn’t on tonight. Looking forward to the next two episodes in December, and I know we will look forward to season 2. I hope this show does well. It’s a nice change to some of the horrible shows that have been on TV. I’d rather see a show about good deeds rather than evil. Great job with the script!!!

Interesting premise, but settled into formula scripts pretty quickly. We can already see the main character struggling with his agnostic/atheist slant. We already see the romantic subplot heating up. Predictable and fairly shallow. Predict a fairly short run for this show. Maybe 2 or 3 seasons. Normally I’d be saying this show only deserves a single season, but considering all the duds CBS has this year, plus losing TBBT, this one just might get renewed.

Show is definitely a stretch. There is a constant theme in TV and Film that continues a fraud. Minorities work together everyday without falling in love with each other. This show couldn't make it past the first season without including this bull crap. This is the direction the show is going in for the main characters. Word of mouth is still the best advertisement in the world. Will spread the word about this sham. Very disappointing.

Cowardly avoidance of major backlash by having the main character start off as atheist rather than, oh I don’t know, being part of a different religion. Seriously, can you imagine this premise if it was slightly different? Think about it: The main character is Jewish and God decides to show him the error of his belief system. I bet that would be received well. Why pick on the atheists instead? Oh, because they’re all wrong. And all religious people know they’re wrong and we outnumber them so there’s less risk. I was willing to, like most other shows that I have no interest in, let this one slide happily by while I get on watching things I like. But I foolishly assumed the main character was having some kind of existential crisis or something. Not that he’s an atheist who needed to be corrected via social media. Do your stupid God shows if you have to. But could it not be done without wagging a finger in someone’s face and telling them you know better? Screw you, whoever’s baby this is as well as the person/people who green-lit it. What’s the 1 point for? The performances. They deserve at least some recognition.

Horrible acting and an already been done premise (see the far superior Joan of Arcadia, also from CBS) make this show, the pilot episode anyway, a chore to watch. Divine intervention is about the only thing that'll keep God Friended Me on the air. Skip it! Amen.