Pray TV (1980 film)
{{short description|1981 comedy film directed by Rick Friedberg}}
{{About|a 1981 comedy film also known as KGOD|the actual radio station with these call letters|KGOD-LP}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Pray TV
| image = Pray TV.jpg
| caption = DVD cover
| director = Rick Friedberg
| producer = {{Unbulleted list |Rick Friedberg|Tina Stern}}
| writer = {{Unbulleted list |Dick Chudnow|Rick Friedberg|Nick Castle}}
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| music = {{Plainlist|
- Nick Castle
- Dick Chudnow
- Adapted and supervised by George S. Clinton
}}
| cinematography = Terry Clairmont
| editing = Peter H. Verity
| studio = ABC Circle Films
| distributor = Filmways Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1981}}
| runtime = 86 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Pray TV (also known as KGOD){{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7dFHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i38MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1958,1207809&dq=pray-tv+coleman&hl=en|author=Associated Press (AP)|title=Being Nice Didn't Get Coleman Where He Is|date=June 5, 1983|access-date=November 14, 2011|work=The Victoria Advocate|page=9TV}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.reelfilm.com/mgmcult.htm |last=Nusair |first=David |title=Six Comedy Cult Classics from MGM |website=Reel Film |date=November 29, 2005}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/18817/pray-tv |last=Weinberg |first=Scott |title=Pray TV |website=DVD Talk |date=November 20, 2005}}
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
{{Cast list |
- 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).{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iasqAQAAIAAJ&q=KGOD|title=Acquisitions (p. 26); No title available (p. 41)|year=1981|access-date=November 14, 2011|magazine=Film Bulletin|publisher=Wax Publications|volume=49|pages=26, 41}} The film premiered on television instead of theatrically,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RacqQu0B3IC&q=KGOD+-+%22Pray+TV%22|title=VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 1997|chapter=Pray TV|page=xiii|isbn=0-7876-0780-0|year=1996|access-date=November 14, 2011|publisher=Visible Ink Press/Gale/Cengage Learning}} and aired on Showtime in 1983 under its present title.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=y8dFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4-cMAAAAIBAJ&dq=pray-tv%20coleman&pg=5761%2C2318983 |title=Television movies|date=March 18, 1983|access-date=November 14, 2011|work=The Telegraph-Herald|page=19 (Entertainment Section)}} It was issued on DVD on November 15, 2005.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0081368}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes|pray_tv_aka_k_god}}
{{Rick Friedberg}}
Category:American parody films
Category:Parodies of televangelism
Category:Films about evangelicalism
Category:Films scored by George S. Clinton
Category:American religious comedy films
Category:Films directed by Rick Friedberg
Category:Films about television
Category:Films about television people
Category:1980s English-language films