Age: 91
Occupation: former televangelist
Last Seen: Virginia Beach, VA
Bee-otched For: being on the air for too long
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End of an era? More like end of an error.
After 55 years, 91-year-old Pat Robertson has retired as the main host of the daily hour-long preach-fest The 700 Club. He made the official announcement on the 60th anniversary of the founding of his non-profit, the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Robertson's son Gordon is now co-hosting the show with Miss America 1973, Terry Meeusen.
The roots of the program go back to 1961 when Robertson, the son of a wealthy Senator purchased a silent TV station in Virginia. The station was rebranded as WYAH, for Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God. Since the station was at channel 27 during a time when most TV sets didn't go up past channel 13, WYAH had trouble staying on the air. So in 1966, Robertson told his audience that if 700 people could chip in $10 per month, it would keep the station afloat. He got his wish, and soon, Pat was building and buying stations in Boston, Atlanta and Dallas.
However in 1977, Robertson started up what would be his bread and butter: the CBN Channel. Years later, it would become The Family Channel. Robertson sold off his TV stations to help finance his cable network. Also in 1977, Robertson started CBN University which became Regent University in 1990.
However, Robertson got wealthy thanks to a barely legal deal with John Malone, the wealthy cable TV magnate who damn near killed the career of Guns 'N Roses. Not only that, he owns the Atlanta Braves, which is why I'm rooting for the Houston Astros to win the World Series. Anyway, they created International Family Entertainment, whose assets included The Family Channel, the Ice Capades and MTM Enterprises. Yes, dare I say it, Pat Robertson once owned The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
In 1998, Robertson sold IFE to News Corporation for $1.5 billion. The deal included The Family Channel, which became Fox Family. After only three years, Fox sold it to Disney for $2.9 billion, including $2.3 billion in debt. The channel was rebranded as ABC Family and was rebranded again as Freeform in 2016. The channel is aimed at young adults 14-34. However, it's not their focus 24 hours per day because of an edict Robertson whipped up when he sold The Family Channel in 1998.
That stipulation? No matter what name it is, that channel formerly CBN MUST air The 700 Club and other CBN-produced programs against their will. When Freeform was forced to air one of Patty's beg-a-thons several years ago, they posted on Facebook that they wished they'd looked at the contract before signing it. The network airs humorous bumpers before and after the show with phrases like "Freeform is not responsible for what's about to appear on your screen. We're very sorry anyway" and "Soooo, that happened. Welcome back to Freeform" afterward.
The sad truth is that The 700 Club doesn't just air on Freeform, but many TV stations around the globe. Here in Michigan, two secular TV stations - northern Michigan Fox outlet WFQX and Detroit's WMYD - air the show. Up north, WGTU ABC 29 & 8 once aired it until about 15 years ago. As a matter of fact, one former owner of WGTU was Tim Robertson, Pat's son. For years, the Traverse City ABC affiliate was forced to pre-empt everything from NBA games to golf to air the yearly 700 Club begathon every January. While packing boxes, I found an old newspaper article from the Traverse City Record-Eagle where a reporter talked to a manager at WGTU about them pre-empting a golf tournament for a 700 Club begathon. His response was that they had a tough contract with Robertson and there would be major consequences if they went with the rest of the ABC network and aired golf instead. Since northern Michigan is a haven for golfers, many complained to both the Record-Eagle and the station in disgust.
WGTU started airing The 700 Club in 1988, replacing another fraudulent religious gabfest: The PTL Club, which the station started airing in the 1970s. When the Bakkers were embroiled in scandal, the station flipped to The 700 Club, especially since Robertson was running for president at the time. Over the years, Robertson's practices have come into question, especially the fact that his - and other religious shows - rely on preaching the prosperity gospel. His show is noted for its stories of people who felt godless until they gave their last penny to CBN, then BOOM! They're wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.
Folks, I once knew a family that lived in a shitty trailer on a backwoods dirt road in rural northern Michigan. Their property was an eyesore because they had another trailer in their backyard with its roof caved in. One reason I couldn't stand them was because they were Pentecostal and went to a shitty little church loaded with poor, white trash tongue talkers. And guess what I saw on their kitchen table one day? An envelope from The 700 Club. You know, if they were smart (which they weren't, especially since the man of the house couldn't drive due to having too many DUIs), they would have set that money they were giving to Pat aside and use it to clean up their property and buy a real house!! DUH!
Sadly, white trash make up a giant bulk of Robertson's audience. I have an uncle who also lives in a trailer and wastes his life watching crooked televangelists. One time, he gave me a cheap-ass statue of Jesus that he got from giving $25 to TBN. I tried to tell him about TBN and their scandals, everything from the fact that one male employee was fired for not having sex with founder Paul Crouch and that Crouch paid him $400,000 after he threatened to sue. Or the fact that the Crouches lived in luxurious mansions, flew in $60 million jets and even had a house for their dogs. Or even the worst of all, the Crouches refused to have the asshole who raped their 13-year-old granddaughter charged because they didn't want to sit in a courtroom. After Paul and Jan Crouch died several years ago, a court ordered TBN to pay the granddaughter, Carra Crouch $2 million.
It's no secret that the world is LOADED with stupid people and televangelists love to brainwash them for a few dollars. It's the oldest trick in the book: spew out Bible verses and watch the money roll in. It's always the sign of a feeble mind: give money to a televangelist who thinks that Jebus will bless you if you give more and more.
For more than six decades, that was Pat Robertson. He was a monster who preyed on the meek by claiming that if you're not white, straight or male, you're going to hell. Years ago during a break on Larry King Live, he referred to gays as "homos". He made a bullshit claim on his show that those with HIV in San Francisco spread the disease by wearing a special needle on their fingers to shake hands with one another. Just after 9/11, he and fellow bullshitter Jerry Falwell decided to be insensitive and blamed the attacks on everybody from the LGBTQ community, feminists, liberals and so on.
Of course, we can go on and on. Simply put, Pat Robertson won't be missed, and The 700 Club will keep going on to entertain the morons who actually watch that garbage and think that it's gospel. At the end of the day, I highly doubt that because one gives up their fortune - big or small - to CBN that they'll get into heaven quickly. Honestly, there's atheists who are better humans than Pat. It's too bad he's still alive, $100 million fortune, diamond mines and all.
As one once put it, "COME ON, GRIM REAPER!"
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