Pray TV (1980 film)
1980 comedy film directed by Rick Friedberg
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Pray TV (also known as KGOD)[1] is a 1980 American comedy film spoofing televangelism, directed and co-written by Rick Friedberg.
- Dick Chudnow
- Rick Friedberg
- Nick Castle
- Rick Friedberg
- Tina Stern
| Pray TV | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Rick Friedberg |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Terry Clairmont |
| Edited by | Peter H. Verity |
| Music by |
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Production company | |
| Distributed by | Filmways Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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", an anagram of Devo). 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 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