The Visual Guide to Chumash: Overview

This pioneering series is without parallel. Long after its initial run, the 53 episodes remain in syndication, broadcast on a weekly basis. Such is their following that widespread celebrations are held annually to mark the conclusion of the series and its re-commencement. The programs are so deep and detailed that they repay constant and repeated viewing and study. With the start of the new run, I have decided to begin a series celebrating this acclaimed work. In this series of postings, I attempt to bring out some of the visual impact of the episodes. Besides being a summary, the focus is on elaborating the images of the series, including some of the cinematographic effects in use.

These are very much a work in progress, and I will be unashamedly altering and modifying them as I see fit. In fairness, while their original posting dates will remain unchanged, I will indicate the update date both in the posting and in the table of contents.

I follow the following conventions. The 53 "episodes" are unevenly divided into five "seasons" and I will examine each episode individually. The postings in this series will have "VC:" at the start of their titles. The posting for each episode is divided by *** into the traditional seven "ascents". This allows for an appreciation of the dramatic tension introduced by the breaks in the episode. The dialogue has been freely adapted and is perhaps more colloquial than one might expect, but this is in keeping with my purpose in trying to heighten the impact in text of a visual medium. Comments are welcome.

Proceed now to The Index, or to the first episode.