(KRT) - ST. LOUIS - Across the country and around the world, millions of people talk regularly to their God - hands linked, at the dinner table ; en masse, in church ; alone, in silent meditation.

Now, after years in which television danced around the potentially sensitive subject of religion, characters in prime-time dramas are talking to God as well. And now, they’re getting answers.

In fact, God_or at least some higher power_may initiate the conversation. On the surprise hit of the new season, CBS’ "Joan of Arcadia," 16-year-old Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) learns that God (who appears in guises ranging from a cute guy to a cafeteria worker) has plans for her. On ABC’s "The Practice," Sharon Stone is currently playing a lawyer fired for contending that God speaks to her, and on Showtime’s "Jeremiah," Sean Astin plays a prophet who makes the same claim.

Coming soon are Fox’s "Tru Calling," in which a young woman gets messages that direct her to save lives, and "Wonderfalls," in which the heroine’s cryptic orders to do good are relayed by a plastic lion in a souvenir shop. These dramas will join a growing list of shows that turn on questions of what lies beyond, from Showtime’s "Dead Like Me" (in which a teenage girl dies and becomes a Grim Reaper) to HBO’s "Carnivale" (where God and Satan battle for the world’s soul) to "Crossing Over With John Edward," in which studio audience members hope to contact dead relatives.

Barbara Hall, who created "Joan of Arcadia," links the trend to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which "not only caused people to start thinking about things in their own lives but about the fact that we were engaged in this sort of battle of religions."

The 2003 TV season is the first that was fully developed after the attacks, when writers and networks had had time to mull over both their own feelings and what Hall calls "the national Zeitgeist." In other words, she says, "people are willing to take a look at or have a discussion about spiritual issues."

The tragedy of Sept. 11 left Americans "grappling with questions of death, mortality and their own destiny, what to do with their lives and how to go on," says Lynn Schofield Clark, an author and professor of mass communications at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "Many people emerged seeking a new sense of purpose, and a TV show like `Joan of Arcadia’ reflects that."

Popular culture’s burgeoning fascination with religion and spirituality extends beyond television. Ministers are preaching from Mark Pinsky’s book "The Gospel According to the Simpsons." Mel Gibson’s controversial movie "Passion" depicts the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus, Mitch Albom’s follow-up to "Tuesdays With Morrie" is set in heaven, and Jennifer Lopez reportedly consulted a practitioner of the Caribbean religion Santeria before deciding to call off her wedding to Ben Affleck.

"Everyone wants to know we’re not alone," says Todd Holland, executive producer of "Wonderfalls."

Brian Fuller created both "Wonderfalls" and "Dead Like Me." He talks about the shows as a reaction to the "horrible, frightening reality" of death and our need to believe "that something lies beyond and that there’s a guiding force in the universe."

Sept. 11 may have been a factor in raising TV’s consciousness about spirituality, "but `Six Feet Under’ opened a lot of doors, too," he says, referring to the HBO hit in which the dead talk to their morticians.

The broadcast networks also cast some of their caution about religion aside after "7th Heaven," in which a minister and his family struggle weekly to do the right thing, became one of the most-watched dramas on the WB network, and the most popular with teens.

But the new crop of series delving into spirituality are very different in tone from both "7th Heaven" and previous dramas dealing with the subject of God, particularly CBS’ "Touched by an Angel." In that long-running, feel-good hit, traveling angels used heavenly persuasion and common sense to help mortals turn their lives around.

By contrast, the new shows are far heavier on questions than answers.

"We have tiny little pea brains, and God is enormous," says "Joan of Arcadia" creator Hall. "So the show is really a lot about posing theological and philosophical questions and not answering them."

"Joan of Arcadia" echoes the ambiguous sentiments expressed in Joan Osborne’s 1995 song "One of Us" (written by Eric Bazilian and frequently referenced on both religious and atheist Web sites), which wonders, "What if God was one of us ? Just a slob like one of us ? Just a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home."

"These are questions I ask," says Hall, who used the song in her pilot. "It’s a subject I’m interested in, that I read about."

Hiring her writing staff, Hall assigned them books (including Julian Jaynes’ "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind") and presented then with her "Ten Commandments" for what God can and cannot do. (No. 7 : "God is NOT A PERSON and does not possess a human personality.")

Hall explains the rules not as putting limits on God but as dealing with unanswered questions. "Trying to write God, I obviously don’t know what he’s thinking," she says. (For a complete list of Hall’s rules, see the accompanying article.)

Matters of theology are handled seriously, but with irony and humor. In the first episode, Joan asks God (the one listed in the credits as "Cute Boy God") : "Why are you appearing to me ?" "I’m not appearing to you," he responds. "You’re seeing me." At another point, told to apply for a job at a bookstore, Joan tells the surly owner, "I was sent by God." Seeing his startled reaction, she quickly adds, "She said, revealing her acerbic wit."

"Ministers tell me they’re loving it," Hall says, talking by phone from her Los Angeles office last week during a blitz of media attention. "I got an e-mail from a priest who told me he appreciated the theology. That was good to hear ; people who study these matters have big brains, and I don’t want to get it wrong."

While tackling religion can be controversial, Hall believes that "anyone with an interest in the subject will be glad for the discussion." The online beliefnet.org has already weighed in with approval, calling "Joan of Arcadia" "the best of the new God shows."

In St. Louis, most of the ministers who were asked to comment were reluctant because they hadn’t seen any of the shows in question.

But the Rev. Robert Tabscott, a retired Presbyterian minister, says he’s irked in general by claims of two-way communication with God, whether from athletes, religious leaders or others.

Tabscott talks to God regularly, he says, but doesn’t expect a return. "Prayer is about finding the depth of the spirit within oneself. I want some sense of awe, not to have God brought down to such a maudlin level."

Still, Tabscott says it’s a provocative subject for television to be taking on.

But Linda Holtzman, a professor of journalism and communication at Webster University, thinks TV may be getting into "a little bit of a dangerous area" in featuring so many young people who hear otherworldly voices or even the voice of God.

"Kids can be so impressionable," she says. "These shows, being so specific about these messages, could be confusing to them," especially for those younger than teenage.

Some critics have even suggested that by making it seem normal to hear voices, the shows may actually mask or endorse real psychological problems, such as schizophrenia.

In "Joan of Arcadia," it’s a given that Joan actually does see and talk to God. ("She’s not insane. I didn’t want to take that out," Hall says.)

But Sharon’s Stone’s character on "The Practice"_created by David E. Kelley, who has delved into religion in both positive and negative ways in earlier shows, most notably "Picket Fences"_may or may not be receiving heavenly communications. Introduced in an episode called "The Chosen," she was labeled "a loon," "nuts" and "deeply deluded."

"Imagine being considered insane for endeavoring to communicate with God," Stone’s character says. "I’ve been so ostracized these days that only God will talk to me."

Colorado professor Clark, author of the book "From Angels to Aliens : Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural," believes media-savvy young people will understand that "it’s television, and they recognize the genre of fantasy. At the same time, there’s a worldview within `Joan of Arcadia’ in which it makes sense."

To Clark, TV’s interest in God only means that Hollywood is finally catching up with the real world_a world in which increasing numbers of people are searching for spiritual answers, in both traditional and nontraditional ways.

"Faith-based shows," says Clark, "reflect where a lot of Americans are coming from today."