As the Megawatt Turns

Energy scandals have made the industry the target of CBS prime-time morality soap operas and a movie.

One can only guess which energy company CBS-TV's "Touched by an Angel" was thinking of when it featured the character David Satterfield, an executive at "Dyna Energy." And the CBS movie, "The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth about Enron," left no doubt about which company was being thought of.

Intrigued by the use of the energy industry as a backdrop for morality tales, Fortnightly shares one fictional energy executive's walk with an angel.

Scene Setup

A recent episode of CBS-TV's "Touched by an Angel" depicted Monica, Tess, and the whole gang of TV angels reaching out to Dyna Energy exec David Satterfield, first seen gabbing on his cell phone during a family visit to the zoo, too wrapped up in his company's imminent merger to spend time with his wife and daughter.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Tess: That man's overdue for a priority check. … David can tell you the current market price on natural gas, on crude oil, on water-but he cannot tell you the name of his daughter's favorite book. He doesn't know who her best friend is. He can't tell you how many goals she made in her last soccer game.

Monica: It's easy to see what he needs.

Tess: No, baby. It's not as easy as you think. You can lose the most precious things in the world, and not even know they're gone.

David (on the phone): There's a lot going on right now. We have Arizona, right?