''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' was a ministry radio and television program broadcast from

Thomas Road Baptist Church Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) is a Baptist megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia, located on the campus of Liberty University, which it founded and is closely affiliated with. In 2016, a church spokesperson stated they had an average weekly atten ...

hosted by minister

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch ...

featuring the church's Sunday

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

. Started in 1956 by

, ''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' gained a national following on radio and television. The series was a major revenue source for Falwell, bringing in more than $90 million during the early 1980s. The show's popularity continued through the 1990s, during which time it was still broadcast on hundreds of stations across the country. The television show ended after Falwell died in 2007. His son,

Jonathan Falwell Jonathan Pate Falwell (born September 7, 1966) is the senior pastor at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Chancellor at Liberty University. Education Falwell earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty University i ...

, became the primary minister featured in the Sunday services and eventually folded the show into the church's online video library and livestream website called ''Thomas Road On Demand''.

In popular culture

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by the nickname Bono ( ), is an Irish singer-songwriter and activist. He is a founding member, the lead vocalist, and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Bono is known for his impassioned voca ...

of the band U2 mentions ''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' in the 1988 live version of the song "

Bullet the Blue Sky "Bullet the Blue Sky" is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the fourth track from their 1987 album ''The Joshua Tree''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by a trip that lead vocalist Bono made to Nicaragua and El Salvador, where he saw firsthan ...

" on the album ''

Rattle and Hum ''Rattle and Hum'' is a hybrid live/studio album by Irish rock band U2, and a companion rockumentary film directed by Phil Joanou. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and was released on 10 October 1988, while the film was distributed by ...

''. Toward the end of the song, there is a spoken section where he says "...and I can't tell the difference between

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

'', and a preacher on the ''Old-Time Gospel Hour'' stealing money from the sick and the old. Well, the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister."

References

External links

* Television series about Christianity Jerry Falwell Conservative television in the United States {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub