Missing Gospel Bill
Posted by Adam Graham on August 28, 2005
I’ve got to tell you something. I’m a fan of a TV show most of you have never heard of. Back in the 1980s, there was a TV show called, “Gospel Bill”, it aired on Saturday Mornings on TBN and starred Willie George as Gospel Bill and Ken Cloud Blount as Nicodemus, his sidekick.
It was a cute kid’s show that tried to teach kids about Jesus and morals. You sat and you watched the show as kid, I was really impressed. Gospel Bill was a reasonable nice guy who was the Sheriff of the town of Dry Gulch. (One guess whether they had prohibition.) It deal with redemption, faith, mercy, love, and so many issues.
I have to admit that the show was really revolutionary in Christian Children’s television. It introduced the unheard idea of plot. Its true that Circle Square (a show that dates back to the ’70s) tried to introduce plot, but it mostly had sketch comedy designed to teach morals.
More than that, it had a real impact on my decision as a child to follow Christ. Its hard to put that into words. I was raised in a Christian household, but really it made a difference. In a world where media communicates, it showed how a Christian was supposed to be.
My frustration is not so much that I can’t watch the episodes (which are kinda cheesy) but that they’re almost nowhere to be found. TBN has stopped airing the show. ANd the only distributor I found for the videos was in Australia.
I think that its really one of those shows that I’d love to have on DVD for my kids, when I have them one of these days.
UPDATE-03/20/2007:
I remain amazed that 1 1/2 years later, this post is so popular. A lot of people are looking for Gospel Bill videos. I’d urge everyone who is curious to e-mail Willie George Ministries. Click here to go to their contact page, you can order most episodes, they just aren’t listed online.
Adam's Blog 
Steltek [Visitor] said
If you were a REAL Gospel Bill fan, you’d know that Gospel bill was in fact Sheriff of the city AND COUNTY of Dry Gulch. :p
Dry Gulch Deputy [Visitor] said
Yeah, I grew up on Gospel Bill too. It was the thing my brothers, sister and I looked forward to doing everyday, sitting down for 30 minutes and being captivated by skits, shows and the lesson for the day. My youngest brother and sister received Jesus into their hearts when Gospel Bill led the sinner’s prayer. You can get most of those videos at Willie George Ministries. Price is about 19 buck a pop including s/h, unless you join their club or buy them all at the same time. I’m still trying to find episodes from the very early days, when Faith Dog and Barkimaeus roamed the town and Fast Freddie’s Scripture Scramble went to the tune of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.”
Adam Graham [Member] said
I actually got an e-mail from then. I’d never seen the video list on the site or anywhere online though.
Autumn said
Did you finally get your hands on the dvds? If not, here is the url to order them: https://churchonthemove.com/store/view_product.html?products_id=721
Autumn said
Also, Daystar Television still airs the show at 11 AM CST on Saturdays. Here is the url for their program: http://www.daystar.com/shows/kids-shows/463-gospel-bill-childrens-programming
Laumonte [Visitor] said
I, too, miss Gospel Bill…..desparately. Nicodemus became a great childhood friend of mine, and I really connected with him. Gospel Bill himself was tenderhearted hero. He showed compassion and never used violent resources (though he walked around with a gun). I miss the show. YES, at 22 years old I would still purchase and watch episodes. I have nephews and God-children that could really benefit from Gospel Bill. Especially in a world like this one.
God Bless You All.
Jay [Visitor] said
hey, I actually go to church on the move (willie George’s church) and work at dry gulch ( for the last 6 years), if you go to http://www.churchonthemove.com to the bookstore you can get the gospel bill shows and movies there…ps- Ken Blount (not cloud) played Nicodemus
Adam Graham [Member] said
I stand corrected regarding Ken Blount. Thanks. Regarding the tapes, I got an e-mail from someone with a list of them but all I found on the bookstore’s website is a list of sermons.
MMMMmmm [Visitor] said
I just got about five Gospel Bill shows given to my little girls. I hadn’t seen them since I was 9 yrs. old! It was refreshing to hear the striaght Word in all these situations. It reminded me how much the Word simplifies issues in life; fear, lack, wisdom, love, etc. I realized anew that the Word of God has an answer for every situation in life, whether your young or old, and when you live right, you have “back-up” for when things in life come against you. Yeah, they are kinda cheesy now, but when you watch you kid soaking up a good show that teaches them the Word of God in a fun and loving way, you actually enjoy the show yourself. Thank-God for Gospel Bill when I was a kid. My parents were nominal christians and divorced, during the time I watched that show, but I got good doses of Scripture when I needed it. Today my husband and I are counsellors and preachers of the Gospel, with amazing testimonies of hoe God rescued us brought us to where we are today, and we are looking forward to our future.
Adam Graham [Member] said
Thank so much for sharing. Wow! That’s quite a testimony. Praise God!
Charleseta [Visitor] said
I’d like to know about the Circle Square Children. What are they doing today?
Does anyone know?
Adam Graham [Member] said
I saw them doing a special back in the ’90s, but I don’t know currently. It’d be interesting to find out. Maybe, when I get some publishing credits under my belt, I could do a book on it. :)
TBN [Visitor] said
Gospel Bill will Return on TBN’s new Children’s Network… Launching December 24th on the Internet! (www.tbn.org) Since there isn’t a whole lot of Christian children’s programming around, you’ll see some new stuff along with some old favorites… like Joy Junction, Circle Square, and Davey and Goliath!!
Charleseta [Visitor] said
Can you check on Colby’s Clubhouse kids from the 90’s also. I’ve tried to no avail.
Kim L. [Visitor] said
Awwww man!! I remember Colby’s Clubhouse! I had a tape of his songs when I was like 7, and played it until squeaked beyond any recognition of lyrics. Much thanks to whoever gave the info about the old favorites being launched on TBN.org–I am so there on December 24. It will be great to see those shows that founded my walk with the Lord. I have a Davey and Goliath shirt that I wear with pride to this day!
Penny Hudson [Visitor] said
My daughters watched them faithfully. I too am hoping they will put them on DVD so we don’t have to wonder if the tape will break or get eaten by our machine.
Adam Graham [Member] said
I heard back from Willie George Ministries and they’re thinking about it.
Melissa Krell [Visitor] said
I have been trying to find them as well. Maybe contacting TBN to start airing them again. As you know most tV shows for children are jsut plain awful. I would love to have every single one of those videos on DVD. I know it used to be made in Broken arrow, Ok. Im sure gospel Bill would mind selling these hmmm can we contact the makers?
Deborah [Visitor] said
http://www.williegeorgeministries.com/?sn=11
shaquana farrell [Visitor] said
i wil like to see colby club house
Elizabeth [Visitor] said
Ha…what do you know! I just finished watching “Covenant Rider” with Willy George & Kenneth Copeland starring. And I just thought I’d search the web for any more updates on what Will George is doing with his ministry etc (since I haven’t heard about him for ages) and I came across you. Its great, i used to watch Wichita Slim and Bill Gunter etc movies (distributed by KCM Kenneth Copeland Ministries) when I was little over and over again, I could never get bored with them, and any chance I had I would show them to friends who came over etc and rarely one went away with out being able to have a good laugh and loving it totally. I hadn’t watched it for ages but just last week some friends came up and we got talking about the Gospel Bill shows that I found out they watch on a christian channel and I had this sudden urge to watch “Covenant Rider” again, since I hadn’t watched it for yonks (I still love it)…. so yeah….its interesting to hear more recent things about his ministry etc. By the way I’m from Australia
Cheers and God bless you greatly!
Elizabeth F.S
Adam Graham [Member] said
Wow, thanks for the stories everyone. I continue to be amazed by how much reaction this post gets. There’s a lot of fans out there whose lives were touched by these shows.
April [Visitor] said
My dad was actually in the Gospel Bill shows a few times. We have all of the episodes on tape. He is the Children’s Pastor as our church here in Minnesota and all of the kids love watching gospel Bill. We even have our own “Old Western town” built in the children’s church.
April [Visitor] said
My dad was actually in the Gospel Bill shows a few times. We have all of the episodes on tape. He is the Children’s Pastor at our church here in Minnesota and all of the kids love watching gospel Bill. We even have our own “Old Western town” built in the children’s church.
Charleseta [Visitor] said
The Colby Clubhouse Cast website is back up
sam [Visitor] said
HAHA well me too me my brother and sisters were all on gosple bill and growing up in scotland watching gosple bill was amazing .. my dad bout about pretty much every episode … so weed be so excited when a new one came over from the states.. which we still have and now my sister is using them for her son and seeing all the episodes agian is really quite funny and i love how he puts the message across so simply ( may not have realised it when i was a kid ) , also pretty much know them word for word .. which is a good laugh !!
sam scotland
jdavidbakr [Member] said
Gospel Bill is the best, I spent about 5 years working for Willie George and one of my jobs was to get the videos to the various TV stations around the country (this was still well after they stopped making the show but were heavily involved in the Bill Gunter show still.) It’s too bad that they aren’t making any video programming, I got moved out of the TV department into another department about 3 years ago when they officially closed the TV department.
Not to put in a shameless plug but there is another movie that I worked on that has the same spirit of the Gospel Bill show called Reserve Spy Training Corps. The website is http://www.rstc-movie.com/ It is for the same target audience as Gospel Bill and has the same Word-based story line. I hope you’ll check it out because if it does well then there will be more to follow.
Adam Graham [Member] said
Looks interesting. Check it out.
Martha Moss [Visitor] said
We also enjoyed Gospel Bill. We are
missing fire by night. I have tried to find copies to buy for years. If anyone can help us find these I would be eternally greatful.
Dawn [Visitor] said
My son, who is 15 now, used to dress every day like Gospel Bill and rode his horse, Sonny. I am desperately searching for more videos for my younger son now and not finding many. Our church used to really focus on this and we have had all the cast in at one time or another and they are wonderful. In fact, our Pastor, Thomas Peetz, played Reno in 2 of the movies, one being Covenant Rider. Very cool.
God bless and PLEASE contact me with any info on the videos, as they are out of publication now.
Dawn
Adam Graham [Member] said
E-mail Willie George ministries at the link I’ll put above.
Theresa [Visitor] said
I’ve emailed them and hope to hear from them soon.
We just had Ken and Trudi at our church in MN for a Childrens workers conference and it was great! I was able to find 2 videos on ebay but I would prefer them on dvd and not vhs.
Theresa
Dawn [Visitor] said
As far as I know, they do not have any on dvd.
Keep searching ebay….
Adam Graham [Member] said
I don’t doubt that. VHS is probably the only way to get it.
charity [Visitor] said
Hello. this is an incredibl find. Some of the thingsI have found reading some of the posts have kept me grinning for a bit now.I too loved Gospel Bill and am still loving it mon-friday and occasionally on weekends. Although I have found I can order the shows, and we have some of them, there is also a special satellite program that offers almost entirely christian/faith based tv. And it airs Gospel Bill and many many other shows old and new. Check out Sky Angel if you haven’t already. It’s very very cheap and the programming is definately worth it. In fact, it has repaced our cable and we only have sky angel now. Amazing at what a difference it makes when the kids (and us too) are just watching and getting fed the good stuff. I don’t work for the company, but I can definately recommend it. I was thrilled to find it. The kids weren’t, at first, but now it’s as normal to them as most kids turning on mtv. :)http://www.skyangel.com/
jacqueline said
My husband who is 50 years old claims that he watchted the gospel bill show when he was a child. I told him I believe it was with our children who are now 21 and 17. Who is right?
Adam Graham said
Jacqueline, you are correct. The show began airing in 1981 when your husband was 24. Perhaps, he’s just young at heart. :)
Bel said
Oh, how I miss Gospel Bill. My kids were raised in church using Willie George materials. We recently ordered the Pre School materials for our Sunday School class in which my grandchildren participate. We left our tapes of Gospel Bill at our old church and I wish my grandkids could see them. I don’t understand why they quit making them. They would be welcomed by many today.
Jonelle said
Has anyone found any where to buy Gospel Bill on dvd? I’m married now and I want my husband, and eventually our kids, to see the olds show I LOVED and learned from as a child!
Pau said
I’m new to the whole Gospel Bill thing. My boyfriend talks about it ALL the time. I see that a lot of you are all in agreement that they should put them on DVD. Any recent developments on that? Is that still a negative?
jt said
Don’t know if this is still a relevant post or not, but here is the DVD set:
http://www.churchonthemove.com/store/show_products.html?categories_id=101
Mike said
Hey y’all,
I loved Gospel Bill too. In case anyone misses Jay’s link way further up the page, you can buy the whole series on DVD for $80 at: http://www.churchonthemove.com/store/view_product.html?products_id=721
I haven’t yet, but I think I’ll put it on my wish list :)
If anyone involved in the show ever reads this, thank you for what you gave us, now twenty-somethings, when we were growing up. The Gospel Bill Show was a true gift that helped us see how to follow and trust our God.
Casey said
Hello
I have like the best collection of Gospel Bill VHS’s.
Not all of them have survived but I have most of them.
Great Teaching material!
You can get the DVD’s from Willie George Ministries or like Amazon.
Thanks
Casey
Peggy said
I had Gospel Bill VHS tapes for my kids when they were growing up. We belonged to a club and received a tape once a month. I loaned the tapes out but can’t remember to whom. I wish I had them back.
I bought the Bible curriculum and used it for our homeschool. Since I believe the real purpose of education is to be able to read and understand God’s Word and know his character and will for your life, I was delighted. It is stored now, I’m afraid to see the aging on it. Loved Professor Scruddles.
I came here today as no co-incidence. My daughter is now raising 5 children, 2 are step children who have been through real drama. The 10 year old caused her some drama last night. I suggested she start having her write scriptures and start a gratitude journal. Always worked for her and her brother.
I’m going to start searching now for the DVD’s for my grands.
Aislyn said
I FOUND THEM!
I have been looking for Gospel Bill videos ever since I was pregnant with my son in 2006. I wanted to be able to share with him – and my other children when they come along- some of the same things that I held so dear from my childhood. Well – It has finally happened! Willie George Ministries has finally converted all of the old episodes to DVD and they are available for purchase at http://www.churchonthemove.com Mine just arrived yesterday and I am THRILLED!!!!
Aislyn
Alicia said
Gospel Bill was one of my faves as well. It aired on Saturday mornings at 5 in the morning. I used to get up at 4:30 so that I would be awake for it when it came on. I wish I had taped more…
Rebecca McCormick said
Add my name to the list of folks looking for the DVDs. My son, now 26, received Christ at a Gospel Bill crusade in Minden, La., in 1987. In a few weeks, my husband and I (now grandparents) are hosting Cousins’ Camp at our house. I would give anything to have Gospel Bill videos or CDs to play while the grandchildren are here. And I plan to play Nicodemus’ music, too, to teach the kids Scripture. Those were great years.
Gary Arctic said
Your next article should be a top 10 list with the benefits and cons of every one
Jon Baker said
Gospel Bill on DVD: https://www.churchonthemove.com/store/view_product.html?products_id=721