As a child, the way I knew that it was Passover had nothing to do with stocking up on matzah or getting rid of chametz (leavened bread). It had to do with watching Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments, which has aired this time of year, every year, ever since I can remember. My parents let me stay up until 11:30pm (even on a school night) so that I could catch the ever-thrilling splitting-of-the-sea scene. So what makes this year different from all other years?

Well, at first glance, nothing. The Ten Commandments will still air during Passover, on Saturday, April 15th. But it’s no longer the only Passover-themed motion picture entertainment — there is some serious Passover proliferation out there! One example is the new movie that opens today called When Do We Eat, which caricatures a dysfunctional Jewish family at their annual Passover seder.

But the monumental addition is the creation of a new version of The Ten Commandments. Yes, like Freaky Friday and The Manchurian Candidate, The Ten Commandments got a makeover. The remake, a production by RHI Entertainment, premieres on ABC this Monday and Tuesday evening, April 10th and 11th from 9 to 11pm. Though I haven’t seen it, there’s apparently a gory scene at the golden calf site, so parents might want to preview it first. Click here to preview the sea-splitting scene…it will be interesting to see how the rest of the new version compares to the classic.