The Very Reverend Deacon b. Peachy: Episode One, March 1982, excerpt

from the Communications Update, Spring 1982, series

Cast Iron TV: Programs

"Cast Iron TV (which airs Wednesdays at 7:30 on Manhattan Cable and Group W’s channel D) has a broad range of styles and concerns, from documentary to abstract narrative. The series has featured an interview with a Polisario representative from the Sahara, explored the implications of world satellite regulation, raised questions about police responsibility for the death of artist Michael Stewart, and parodied religious fund-raising shows.

The Reverend Peachy has appeared in five segments ... Among other things, the Reverend has tackled the topic of artists’ housing, pointing out little-known architectural features such as aerobic stairs and multipurpose sinks (good for washing paint brushes, dishes and faces). Appropriately, producers Millie Iatrou and Ron Morgan shoot the Peachy segments on Beta equipment in their own apartment. ... The series, now coordinated by Iatrou, has run over the years on a shoestring budget of $200 per show, and the individual producers generally recruit their own volunteer crews.

Like several of the New York artist-run series, Cast Iron occasionally airs alternative programming from abroad. Last summer it picked up a BBC “access” show which indicted racism on English TV. ... Another program, by documentarians David Pentecost and Lyn Tiefenbacher, explored the relationship of deforestation and the cultural survival of Mayan Indians."

Source: “Artists Gain Access to Cable”, Kathleen Hulser, Videography, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 1985

For more schedules see PAGES.

Artists: The Very Reverend Deacon b. Peachy

In 1982 Liza Béar invited me and Ronald Morgan, to make a 28 minute TV program for the cable TV series, Communications Update. At that time, Morgan and I were fascinated and amused by late night televangelists. THE VERY REVEREND DEACON B. PEACHY’S 1/4 HOUR PLUS 13 MINUTES was born.

THE VERY REVEREND DEACON B. PEACHY series became a eight sermon satire which chronicled the Reverend’s efforts to establish an electronic pulpit on New York TV.

The PEACHY series was subsequently shown at MOMA, The Whitney, The American Museum of the Moving Image, international video festivals and written about in Artforum, The New York Times and The Soho News.

Milly Iatrou

Los Angeles

The Reverend's press release, circa 1983