Pray TV (1980 film)

Pray TV (also known as KGOD)[1] is a 1980 American comedy film spoofing televangelism directed by Rick Friedberg.

This article is about a 1980 comedy film also known as KGOD. For the actual radio station with these call letters, see KGOD-LP.
Pray TV
DVD cover
Directed byRick Friedberg
Produced by
  • Rick Friedberg
  • Tina Stern
Written by
Starring
Music byGeorge S. Clinton
Production
company
ABC Circle Films
Distributed byFilmways Pictures
Release date
  • 1980 (1980)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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.

The film is very similar in both plot and style to the 1989 film UHF.[2][3]

Production

Pray TV stars Dabney Coleman, Paul Cooper, Rosemary Alexander, and Lewis Arquette, with cameos by Paul Reubens and the band Devo (who play a Christian rock band named "Dove"). It was directed by Rick Friedberg.

Release

Pray TV was picked up by Filmways Pictures in 1980 (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]

References
  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. David Nusair, "Six Comedy Cult Classics from MGM", reelfilm.com, November 2005
  3. Scott Weinberg, "Pray TV", DVD Talk, November 15, 2005
  4. "Acquisitions (p. 26); No title available (p. 41)". Film Bulletin. Vol. 49. Wax Publications. 1980. 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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