Gospel Bill

The Gospel Bill Show
Title card for the show.
Created by	Willie George
Starring	Willie George Ken Blount Jeff Merrill (1986–1993) Lana Osborn Daine Demaree (until 1989) John Witty (1989–1993)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	65
Production
Executive producer(s)	Willie George
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	syndicated
Original release	1981 – 1993

The Gospel Bill Show is a Christian-values based television show that was produced by Willie George Ministries from 1981 to 1993. (Later episodes were titled as Adventures in Dry Gulch but featured the same characters and premise.)

During its main run it was broadcast on the CBN and TBN networks. It is currently seen in syndication on the Daystar and Smile of a Child networks, and on other small independent Christian television stations. A revival of the series is set for a 2017 launch.

Before the Elmer Barnes character was introduced, Jeff Merrill appeared on early episodes of the show as a geological surveyor, who advised Luther Bedlow of gold deposits to be found underneath Dry Gulch.

John Witty and Rodney Lynch also appeared as the town doctor in several episodes.

The Gospel Bill Show was set in the fictional town of Dry Gulch, portrayed as being in the Old West. However, there were many anachronistic references to the present day, such as television and answering machine, which did not exist back when the show was supposed to be set. Dry Gulch was so named because the citizens voted it as a "dry" city (i.e., one which prohibited alcohol sales).

The show would center around a topic, where Gospel Bill would be heavily involved in providing moral guidance to one of the citizens (usually Nicodemus or Elmer Barnes) and/or preventing catastrophe (mainly stopping Luther Bedlow's criminal activities).

A typical episode would be interrupted several times by puppet segments depicting Biblical stories as well as the adventures of Oogene, a young boy who squabbles with his sister Jeannie Mae (but the fights are always resolved by a moral lesson) and narrates "Oogene at the Zoo", in which Oogene studies an animal and relates its role to a lesson from the Bible ("Oogene at the Farm" replaced the "Oogene at the Zoo" segment in some later episodes). Segments with Oogene and Jeannie tend to be unique, but the zoo and farm field pieces are repeated frequently throughout the series as filler for the show. Willie George voiced the majority of the various puppet skits, most notably Oogene and his sister Jeannie Mae.

The episode would also feature a Christian song and music video (usually by Ken Blount) towards the end of the show. Sometimes he would appear in character as Nicodemus, but often he will appear as himself, singing about a dramatic story which is acted out by others. Some of the music videos not contributed by Blount included the songs, "We've Got the Power" by long-time KCM worship leader Len Mink and "It's God" by Kellie Copeland Swisher (daughter of Kenneth Copeland), as well as "A Merry Heart" where Blount is joined by unnamed puppets wearing blue and orange-striped shirts. An unknown band was occasionally seen opposite Blount in some later videos.

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