Osteen vs Bakker

Thoroughly modern minister Jay Bakker (subject of World of Wonder's documentary One Punk, Under God) is always trying to get motivational Christian huckster Joel Osteen to get with the gays. Last week, Bakker flew to Houston to celebrate the memory of his mother, Tammy Faye Messner, and to meet with the Lakewood Church pastor. Although Osteen was gracious, agreeing to seat Bakker and his posse of gay activists at his sermon and making time to meet with Bakker afterward, he remains steadfastly anti-gay. "I don’t think homosexuality is a sin, and they do," Bakker said of the Lakewood Church crowd, "but it was very nice of Joel to introduce me to his family. I met Joel’s wife and mother, and they were just great. I’m really grateful." But he'll keep trying. (Queerty)

The Revolution Will Be Digitized

Son of a preacherman, Jay Bakker, and his Revolutionary Church ("a church for people who have given up on church"), were the subject of World of Wonder's popular 2007 Sundance docuseries, One Punk, Under God. Now Jay & co have a new, full-service website, three years in the making. "As Christians," says the home page, "we're sorry for being self-righteous judgmental bastards." Godda love that.

Tammy Forever

World of Wonder got some righteous props in the Tammy Faye post yesterday on GetReligion.org:

No obituary does her as much justice as the films The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000) and Tammy Faye: Death Defying (2005) and the Sundance Channel series One Punk Under God (2006). In One Punk Under God, Tammy Faye’s ex-husband speaks of her with quiet wonder and compares her to the Unsinkable Molly Brown.

A Program Note

It seems like only yesterday that the WOW docuseries One Punk, Under God began airing to popular and critical acclaim on the Sundance Channel, yet it's already being released on DVD. Tomorrow, in fact. A miracle? You can order the six-parter right now at Amazon.

A Program Note

Jay Bakker, star of WOW's One Punk, Under God, will be the guest speaker this Sunday at the WeHo Church at 916 N Formosa Avenue in LA, says this colorful bookmark-shaped invite we've cut in half and laid side-to-side. Forgive us.

GLAAD Tidings

We got a phone call from Sundance with the news that WOW's wonderful Jay Bakker series One Punk, Under God has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Documentary category, up against some worthy contenders:

All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise (HBO)
Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer (HBO)
My Mums Used to Be Men (BBC America)
This Film Is Not Yet Rated (IFC Films)

(Complete list of nominations here)

Onward, Christian Soldier

Don't forget to watch the sixth episode of One Punk, Under God tonight at 9PM on the Sundance Channel – preacher Jay's father, Jim Bakker, finally drops in on his son in New York, praise the Lord. As a kind of electronic hors d'oeuvre before the show, listen to the phone conversation between One Punk producer Thairin Smothers and Jay's mom, Tammy Faye, who's in Charlotte, North Carolina. As if life hasn't been tough enough for the always upbeat cancer sufferer, now weighing a mere 68 pounds (really, how much lemonade does one woman need to make?), one of her beloved dogs ran away at Christmas in 21-degree weather. That's cold. (Listen here)

The Call

The sixth episode of One Punk, Under God, WOW's seven-part docuseries on Jim and Tammy Faye's son Jay Bakker and his Revolution ministry, airs tomorrow night at 9PM on the Sundance Channel. Don't forget to watch. On the eve of the show, One Punk's producer Thairin Smothers dials up Jay's wife Amanda and they have a little chit-chat. Interesting tidbit: Whoopie Goldberg is the show's #1 fan. (Listen to the conversation here)

One-Cent Post/Shameless Plug

Don't forget to watch episode 5 of the WOW's six-part docuseries One Punk, Under God tonight at 9PM on Sundance.

Preacher Feature

Jack E Jett, the host of Q TV's QueerEdge show who also has his own wacky channel on WOW TV, interviewed maverick preacher Jay Bakker, the subject of WOW's One Punk, Under God Sundance series (Wednesdays at 9PM) for the website Jews on First. Here's an excerpt:

How did you meet the World of Wonder guys?

They interviewed me for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

Do you think, from what you have seen that the show is a fair assessment of your life at this moment?
Yes.

In my mind, all evangelicals do is sit around and figure out ways to harass gays. It is like they think that by diminishing us, they are going to get a better crib in heaven. I wish they would just get the fuck out of our face. What is up with that?
There are probably a lot of Christian evangelicals who would probably agree with me and are supportive of the gay community. But unfortunately it's the mean ones who yell the loudest.

My hope is that this series will bring light to the fact that one can have an evangelical belief system that is not so homo obsessed. What was it that changed your views on homosexuality, or have you just always been a cool, hip dude?
For most of my life I wasn't sure. But I've had a lot of gay and lesbian friends over the years and my mom was always supportive of the gay community. Having gay friends made me want to look into it deeper and my conclusion is that it's not a sin. But the major catalyst was when I was invited to speak at Open Door Church, a gay affirming church with a gay pastor. My heart went out to these Christians who felt disenfranchised by the church. That's when I decided I couldn't be silent and needed to take a stand on the issue.

Is there anyway you can save the world from George W. Bush?
Invent a time machine?

A Program Note

Our WOW Report disseminator Kiana Moore reminds us that she's not shirking her responsibilities and is in fact a hard-working and delightful WOW ambassador. She sends us this blogspot site, which is one of the fruits of her labors. (And, btw, Kiana's the melodious "World of Wonder, how may I help you?" voice you hear when you dial up our offices.)

5ive Questions with Jeremy Simmons

Jeremy Simmons is the very busy supervising producer and director of WOW's Sundance series One Punk, Under God (Wednesdays at 9PM). It would be easier to get us to tithe than it was to get him motionless enough to answer these few questions.

1. Now that you're a director, what is it you really want to be?
I want to be a photographer for National Geographic. Or a pirate.

2. What's the title of the Sundance documentary series on Jeremy Simmons?
All I know is that it has to be punchy, sexy, and short enough to fit in the TV grid.

3. Who plays you in the feature film based on the documentary series?
Matthew Broderick. That's my boyfriends answer – because he thinks I am moderately humorous with a boyish charm.

4. If you had your own church, how would you attract a congregation?
I would just be sure to call it something punchy, sexy, and short enough to fit in the TV grid.

5. What do you drive and what's in the CD player?
I drive a Jeep, and this morning I treated myself to "How Soon Is Now?" as performed by t.A.T.u., off their groundbreaking 2002 debut album 200 KMH In the Wrong Lane – an album that is still in Finland's top 100, and has been certified 5X platinum in Japan (for those who are interested).

Shameless Plug

Thairin Smothers found this on Live Journal:

Is anyone else watching "One Punk Under God"? It's pretty fantastic and it's really cool to see someone who shares your beliefs looking like a sane person on national television. I love his tag: "Jesus is the Savior, not Christianity." It's the first time in several years that I've seen someone on TV that I can really identify with, not since Freaks and Geeks (both the Weir kids) or Real World: New Orleans (Matt, not Julie). But that's another post for another day...when I'm not paying for a one-hour connection. (thelpslayer)

Greetings

TO CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH OF WOW TV, HERES OUR CHRISTMAS CAROL. (Props to Steven Corfe)

BUT WAIT! THERES MORE! You can download episode one of One Punk, Under God, our series about Jay Bakker, the son of Jim and Tammy Faye, via iTunes for FREE here. The series debuted this week on Sundance Channel. (Props to Jeremy Simmons and Thairin Smothers)

Happy holidays.
xxx
Fenton and Randy and everyone at World of Wonder

Pretty in Punk

What the punks are saying about punk preacher Jay Bakker.

What I want to know is, since his "church" takes place in a bar, can you drink at church? If so, where's the local chapter for Chicago?

(t/y Moye)

One Punk, Under Deluge

All these One Punk, Under God reviews are getting to be kind of hilarious, because you WOW Report readers keep sending them to us, which we like, and we feel we should share them with the others. An old friend of the Report, Quartknee from SF, whom we haven't heard from for ages, sent us an interesting One Punk read from Slate just now. We met Jay Bakker when he was hanging at the office a while back and he gives good vibe, and God knows we love the Tammy, so we're pretty psyched to see the show tonight too. Oh, and before you fire up your email mechanism, here's pretty much everything there is.

Shameless Plug

Punk preacher Jay Bakker almost got hit by a bus Jaywalking in New York recently. Not really, but we want you to hit up the Sundance Channel tonight at 9 for the premiere of the WOW series One Punk, Under God. And if you like, you can read the reviews in the New York Times , the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Post, and watch a report on MTV.

One Punk Price

Don't have Sundance? Not to worry – you can purchase the entire One Punk, Under God series on iTunes for only $9.99 by clicking here. And if you act now, you can download the first episode for FREE! That's right. Click the link before the clock strikes midnight tonight and be the first on your block to preview the show. Hurry, downloads are limited (not really).

One's Press, Under God

The first episode of WOW's six-part docuseries One Punk, Under God airs tomorrow night on the Sundance channel. The show's had a great deal of press lately, including lots of can't-miss billboards everywhere, magazine and TV interviews with preacher Jay Bakker, and blog reviews. Today we were alerted to a short and sweet mention on the Very Short List. (t/y Alexander)

The Behind the Music–style drama here (Dad won’t speak to him, Mom’s fighting cancer, and their Disneyland-esque Heritage USA theme park is a ghost town) makes for great television. But what makes this show unexpectedly compelling is that Jay is a deeply thoughtful rebel, a guy who markets his ministry with flyers that read, As Christians, WE’RE SORRY for being self-righteous judgmental bastards. —REVOLUTION.

The Web Works in Mysterious Ways

After he watched John Norris report on the Revolution church on MTV News, the blogger at Tall Thought mentioned today that the church's Jay Bakker must win the award for best-dressed pastor so far. Earlier today, Queerty quoted from a passage about Jay Bakker's church welcoming homosexuals into the congregation which Frank, Dan, or Bradford found in an in-depth story about the pastor on Radar Online. Combine all that, add in the billboards, and all we have to do is tell you that the WOW series One Punk, Under God starts airing December 13 on the Sundance Channel.

Two Parties, Under Gotham

Thairin Smothers shoots and reports later:

Last night, Vanity Fair and the Sundance Channel had a celebration at the Angel Orensanz Foundation in New York for World of Wonder's six-part series One Punk, Under God. There was a panel discussion and lots of photo-taking and partaking of weenies and wine. The space where Party Monster's Limelight scenes were shot was a perfect venue; it almost seemed like we were in church. (Watch the OPUG promo clip here)

Photos, from left to right from top left: Punk director Jeremy Simmons, Punk's wife Amanda Bakker, producer Thairin Smothers, and Punk Jay Bakker; Sundance's Lynn Kirby and Jay; the panel; "rent boy" Damien Breen, Les "Linda" Simpson, Charlie Dibe, and Zoe; Fenton Bailey fiddling with his camera. Pics from Susanne Bartsch's after-party after the jump.

Shameless Plug

Here's the 30-second spot for WOW's One Punk, Under God series that begins on Sundance Channel in December. (Watch)

Snap!

Hallelujah! It's a glorious sight. The One Punk, Under God billboard shines like a beacon over Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. (Photo: Thairin Smothers)

Shameless Plug

Variety reports that, beginning today, the Sundance Channel will be offering some of its documentary series on iTunes for purchase and download at $1.99 each. They include The Hill, The First Amendment, and the excellent The Staircase series. We mention this because, from December 5 to 12, the first episode of One Punk, Under God, WOW's stunning six-parter on alternative Christian preacher Jay Bakker, will be available as a free download. That's zero dollars and zero cents.

Quote Unquote

"Saying something isn't ‘godly' really makes me sick, because I feel like if you think that God created this world and gave us our brains.... I know there are things that are bad and some things are sin, but I don't think God's up at night, pacin' back and forth, worrying about rock ‘n' roll. Well, maybe nü metal." – Revolution Church preacher Jay Bakker on his supposed reputation as a gay-affirming heretic. (Source)

Snap!

Jay Bakker and his wife Amanda steal a kiss in the office of legendary CBS head William S Paley. The office is located at the Museum of Radio and Television, where the Jeremy Simmons-directed One Punk, Under God screened Wednesday night. The series, produced by Thairin Smothers, premieres December 13 on the Sundance Network.

Get Punk'd

The World Premiere of the first two episodes of the WOW doc One Punk, Under God is Wednesday, October 18, at 7PM at the Museum of Television & Radio, 25 West 52 Street, New York NY 10019. 212 621-6800

Christian maverick minister Jay Bakker, the only son of PTL leader Jim and Tammy Faye, wants to remake religion, affirming radical tolerance for alternative lifestyles. This observational documentary series follows the behind-the-scenes professional and emotional struggles of the tattooed preacher who attempts to fuse punk and Christian values in creating an inclusive, hip church in Atlanta. (2006; 60 min., 2 episodes)

Q&A with Jeremy Simmons, filmmaker; Fenton Bailey, exec. prod.; Jay Bakker, subject; Randy Barbato, exec. prod.; Laura Michalchyshyn, exec. VP, programming and marketing, Sundance Channel.

For ticket info, call 212 621-6600. Tickets are limited.

Snap!

Thairin lies the truth? One Punk, Under God producer Thairin Smothers caught red-handed doing research for WOW's Sundance series on hipster preacher Jay Bakker. (Photo: R Barbato)

Hipsterevangelist

Last month, Jay Bakker, the preacher son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, moved his non-trad ministry from Atlanta to Williamsburg and has begun holding services at Pete’s Candy Store bar. New York magazine's Shana Liebman was one of the 15 people who showed up the first week, and she asked him 13 questions – a Bakker's dozen. Here are three.

Are there lots of Christian hipsters?
Yes, but I don’t really consider myself a hipster.

You look like a hipster.
I don’t feel like I’m a slave to fashion. I don’t want to wear a bandanna around my neck.

Why is Jesus cool?
He seemed to want everybody to hang out with everybody, and it seemed like the only people who got under his skin were religious people.

WOW's six-part documentary series One Punk, Under God, a behind-the-pulpit look at young Bakker's ministry (directed by Jeremy Simmons and produced by Thairin Smothers, the same dynamiuc duo behind TransGeneration) begins airing on the Sundance Channel in December.

Preacher Man

Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye, found life hard to live after his parents' very public scandals – the fraud, the affair, the fall of the PTL ministry. "Lots of booze got me through it for a little while," he says. "But I really survived through seeking out what the truth was." Like his parents, he found the truth in the Bible, and now heads up the Revolution Church, his non-denominational parish in Atlanta, designed to show that churches today can be hip and welcoming. Bakker himself is hip and welcoming, with his tattoos, piercings, and upbeat down-to-earth personality.One Punk Under God is WOW's 6-part candid, behind-the-pulpit look at the preacher's scene airing on the Sundance Channel beginning December 13. Jim Bakker, who has a ministry in North Carolina, and Tammy Faye, who's dealing with inoperable lung cancer, appear in the series. (USA Today)
(See also) (And also)

Bakkery Fresh

Just about everyone had his or her picture taken with Dita Von Teese at that Dream Girls party the other night. Hope she was charging (she's quite the businesswoman). Yesterday we ran a pic of her and punk rock preacher Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy, at the same party. Now here she is with Jeremy Simmons, director of One Punk Under God, WOW's six-part doc on Jay Bakker airing on the Sundance Channel at the end of the year. We hear there was an item about it in the LA Times today but we cancelled our weekday subscription (too much paper). Von Teese does not appear in the series.

A Program Note

The Sundance Channel has given a green light to World of Wonder to produce the documentary series, One Punk, Under God, a behind-the-pulpit look at non-traditional Christian minister, Jay Bakker, Tammy Faye's son. The six-parter is will begin airing at the end of the year.

“In the hands of World of Wonder, this series on Jay Bakker and his church – with a focus on his alternative approach to the ministry and open questioning of what it means to be Christian – will make for provocative programming that will engage and entertain the current Sundance Channel audience while potentially bringing in new viewers,” said Laura Michalchyshyn, executive VP, programming and marketing, Sundance Channel.