Pray TV (1980 film)

Pray TV
Pray TV
	DVD cover
Directed by	Rick Friedberg
Written by	Dick Chudnow; Rick Friedberg; Nick Castle;
Produced by	Rick Friedberg; Tina Stern;
Starring	Dabney Coleman; Devo; Archie Hahn; Joyce Jameson; Dr. John; Nancy Morgan; Roger E. Mosley; Marcia Wallace;
Cinematography	Terry Clairmont
Edited by	Peter H. Verity
Music by	Nick Castle; Dick Chudnow; Adapted and supervised by George S. Clinton;
Production; company	ABC Circle Films
Distributed by	Filmways Pictures
Release date	1981;
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Pray TV (also known as KGOD)^[1] is a 1981 American comedy film spoofing televangelism, directed and co-written by Rick Friedberg.

The film stars Dabney Coleman, Archie Hahn, Nancy Morgan, Joyce Jameson, Lewis Arquette, Marcia Wallace and Roger E. Mosley, with cameos by Dr. John and the band Devo (who play a Christian rock band named "Dove"). Film critics David Nusair and Scott Weinberg note that the 1989 film UHF is very similar in both plot and style to Pray TV.^[2]^[3]

Plot

Failing UHF TV station KRUD, Channel 17, is "reborn" as Christian television station KGOD. The new format is a big success but attracts an incompatible mix of fringe ministries and broadcasters wanting time on the station. A series of humorous vignettes show the different religious shows the station broadcasts: a faith healer, a radical black nationalist preacher, a preacher with a drive-in church, a Christian game show, etc.

Cast

Lewis Arquette as Fred Wilson
Jaime Lyn Bauer as Mary of Nazareth
Stymie Beard as Willie Washington usher
Charlie Brill as Dr. Ramirez
Dick Chudnow as newsboy / Mexican / wino / Hassidic Jew / possessed boy / legally-dead Harold / Bruce the orderly
Dabney Coleman as Marvin Fleece
Devo as "Dove"
Archie Hahn (actor) as Fletcher Peebles
Charles Haid as Buck Sunday
Deidre Hall as Sarah of Nazareth
Bobby Herbeck as Scooter Hayes
Joyce Jameson as Millie Peebles
Dr. John as self
Bill Kirchenbauer as Elvin
Biff Manard as Billie Bob Joe Brown
Anna Mathias as Freedom Sunshine
Nancy Morgan as Peggy Williams
Roger E. Mosley as Willie Washington / Leroy Washington
Paul Reubens as Jack
Marcia Wallace as Alice Kidd

Release

Pray TV was picked up by Filmways Pictures in 1981 (under its original name, KGOD).^[4] The film premiered on television instead of theatrically,^[5] and aired on Showtime in 1983 under its present title.^[6] It was issued on DVD on November 15, 2005.^[3]

References

^ Associated Press (AP) (June 5, 1983). "Being Nice Didn't Get Coleman Where He Is". The Victoria Advocate. p. 9TV. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
^ Nusair, David (November 29, 2005). "Six Comedy Cult Classics from MGM". Reel Film.
^ ^a ^b Weinberg, Scott (November 20, 2005). "Pray TV". DVD Talk.
^ "Acquisitions (p. 26); No title available (p. 41)". Film Bulletin. Vol. 49. Wax Publications. 1981. pp. 26, 41. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
^ "Pray TV". VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1997. Visible Ink Press/Gale/Cengage Learning. 1996. p. xiii. ISBN 0-7876-0780-0. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
^ "Television movies". The Telegraph-Herald. March 18, 1983. p. 19 (Entertainment Section). Retrieved November 14, 2011.

External links

Pray TV at IMDb
Pray TV at Rotten Tomatoes

[1] Associated Press (AP) (June 5, 1983). "Being Nice Didn't Get Coleman Where He Is". The Victoria Advocate. p. 9TV. Retrieved November 14, 2011.

[2] Nusair, David (November 29, 2005). "Six Comedy Cult Classics from MGM". Reel Film.

[DVDTalk-3] Weinberg, Scott (November 20, 2005). "Pray TV". DVD Talk.

[4] "Acquisitions (p. 26); No title available (p. 41)". Film Bulletin. Vol. 49. Wax Publications. 1981. pp. 26, 41. Retrieved November 14, 2011.

[5] "Pray TV". VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1997. Visible Ink Press/Gale/Cengage Learning. 1996. p. xiii. ISBN 0-7876-0780-0. Retrieved November 14, 2011.

[6] "Television movies". The Telegraph-Herald. March 18, 1983. p. 19 (Entertainment Section). Retrieved November 14, 2011.

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