Help me remember a weirdo TV minister?

August 10, 2024 12:59 PM

OK, it goes back probably to late 70's -- local channels in the Northeast, there was a very strange TV minister who would yell at the audience if they weren't calling in pledges. He wore a hat a lot, I think he was drinking, and he either bred or raced horses (which your donations supported) I cannot for the life of me remember his name, but hopefully someone else watched him late at night and remembers the weirdness?
posted by mmf to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

Best answer: Dr. Gene Scott.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:06 PM on August 10 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: Oh my god.
YES, such a weird memory of sort of being amazed and bored, while being yelled at for money!! Thanks, TMNL!!
posted by mmf at 1:16 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Werner Herzog made a great documentary about him: God's Angry Man.
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:24 PM on August 10 [11 favorites]

I don't remember him being a yeller. Nor in the NE.

I remember all the weird angle cuts of him smoking his cigar and such.
posted by Windopaene at 1:41 PM on August 10

Well, he was a stream-of-consciousness broadcaster toward the end, but if you happened to tune in when he wasn’t haranguing the viewer or showing equine clips, you would get a remarkably astute and learned lesson in Christian theology. Some of his lectures are available through Melissa Scott’s website.

His ministry in the 90s was headquartered in the Art Deco United Artist’s building in downtown L.A., later to become the Ace Hotel.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 3:20 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]

I'm from DC and I never heard of him then but in my early months when I first moved to LA I'd frequently tune in this weird show where the camera was always on this old bearded fellow who was often silent, not saying anything - yes, it was Gene Scott, and I'm not sure who or what put me onto him.
posted by Rash at 3:20 PM on August 10

I can vouch for the fact that he was definitely on TV in Connecticut in the 80s.
posted by gingerbeer at 4:00 PM on August 10

Out of curiosity I asked my husband and he yelped “yes! I used to watch him when I was high!” He remembers him playing a saxophone too.
posted by PussKillian at 4:24 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]

I saw him on TV in LA when I had some late-night work sessions. I remember one time when he was lecturing about how the gospels had been mis-translated. He held that Jesus was saying "believe as me" not "believe in me," and that the Kingdom of Heaven was a condition that could be brought about in this world by people loving their neighbors and helping the vulnerable and downtrodden.

I have no idea whether he had the knowledge to understand the ancient texts and what they really said (he sure seemed to have some expertise in his extended talk on the subject, but ?). But I thought the message was pretty great, and it made me wish that Christianity had based itself on his interpretation.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 6:47 AM on August 11 [1 favorite]