The Gong Show

The Gong Show was a television variety show/game show spoof that was broadcast on NBC and in first-run syndication in the United States from 1976 until 1980. The NBC incarnation was emceed by Chuck Barris who also hosted the later years of the syndicated version, which had been previously under the helm of Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens. The show was to have been hosted by John Barbour, but before the premiere date he was replaced by Barris as host.

Show format

Each show presented a contest between amateur performers of often questionable talent, with a panel of 3 celebrity guests serving as the judges (among the most frequent of which were Jaye P. Morgan, Arte Johnson and Jamie Farr). If the panel members considered an act to be particularly bad, they could hit a gong during its performance, which would end it immediately. Originally, the panel had to wait 20 seconds before they could gong an act; this was changed to 30, and then 45. If the act survived without being gonged, they were given a score by the judges, on a scale of 0-10, with a maximum score of 30. On the NBC run, the contestant with the highest combined score earned a prize of $516.32. On the subsequent syndicated run, the prize was $712.05 when Gary Owens hosted; when Barris took over, it became $716.32. (The $516 and $712 amounts represented the minimum scale payment for a speaking television appearance.) Should more than one act have the highest score at the end of the score, there were three different tiebreakers used in the show's run; at first, the studio audience decided the winner by their applause; later, the producers chose the winner; later still, the celebrities chose the winner. It is possible that the switch was made to having the celebrities choose when movie critic and semi-regular panelist Rex Reed would not give any act that appeared early in a show a score of 10 as he wanted the option of giving a higher score to an act that appeared later, but giving the early act a 10 would have taken the choice of winner out of his hands. On two occasions, every act was either gonged or interrupted, in which case there was no winner that day.

Originally, the show was advertised as having each day's winning contestants come back after a few weeks (this is also mentioned in the pilot episode) to compete in a "tournament of champions", with the winner being given the chance to appear in an unspecified nightclub act. However, only one of these tournaments was ever held, although winners on the NBC version appeared on the syndicated version for a chance to earn that show's prize.

Chuck Barris, an established game show producer (The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game) but not a polished game show host, had a nervous habit of sometimes clapping his hands together while talking. This developed into a running gag during the show, as the audience members clapped their hands in unison with Barris whenever they saw him doing it. He also wore a variety of different hats, changing frequently during the show. A hat rack could be seen at stage right, next to the band (Milton deLugg and His Band With a Thug).

The show had many recurring bits, and characters who appeared as regular performers, such as the Unknown Comic (Murray Langston) who told bad jokes while wearing a paper bag over his head. Also appearing was Gene Gene the Dancing Machine, a portly middle-aged black man with a green warm-up suit who came onstage to dance while members of the crew threw random – usually not harmful – items at him. In reality, "Gene Gene" Patton was one of the Gong Show stage crew, as were many of the more extreme "performers", used to fill airtime before going to a commercial break. Gene Gene's arrival, however, was always treated as though it were a surprise to everyone on the show, especially Barris, who would then commence to frolic on the set. At times, Gene Gene also acted as one of the mallet wielding judges. Writer Larry Spencer appeared as himself, and the audience was encouraged to hiss him as if he were a villain from an old melodrama. Matt Idol was also a recurring act. His singing would always be drowned out by overjoyed women in the audience, and he would always be quickly ushered off stage since he couldn't be heard above the screaming in the audience. There was also the act Scarlett And Rhett, two people dressed as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler (Scarlett was a man in drag). The entire act was Rhett saying bleeped out obscenities while Scarlett feigned horror. Like Matt Idol, this act was also always quickly ushered off stage. The show also had its own "dance craze", The Worm, which consisted of three men who pretty much wriggled on the ground to their song. At the end of each of their performances, Barris would come out and say, "One - More - Time!"

There are a number of moments for which The Gong Show is famous. Most memorable was an act called "The Popsicle Twins", which consisted of two women, made up to look like teenaged girls, sitting on stage and provocatively sucking Popsicles while the song "I'm in the Mood for Love" played. According to Barris in an interview years later, the censors would regularly nix acts that he thought were safe enough to air. So, he made it a point to submit acts to the censors that were totally over the line so that some of the questionable ones would slip through. The Popsicle Twins was, in Chuck's mind, totally over the line and he submitted it as cannon fodder. However, the censors missed the metaphoric significance of the act, and let it air. Supposedly, the Popsicle Twins were only seen on the East Coast because the switchboards were flooded with complaints as soon as it aired, and the act was taken out before broadcasts in other time zones. Some ten seconds of this act may be seen in The Gong Show Movie.

Another watershed moment was when Jaye P. Morgan ripped off her top and exposed her breasts while Gene Gene was dancing. Supposedly, that act resulted in Ms. Morgan's firing from the show. Like the Popsicle Twins, this can also be seen in The Gong Show Movie.

The show celebrated many holidays such as Christmas, July 4th, and Thanksgiving, but invariably did so by singing the Irving Berlin standard, "Easter Parade." (When Easter was noted, of course, the cast and crew would sing "White Christmas.")

Among the many talents that appeared on the show was an unknown Paul Reubens, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo the musical theater group that would evolve into the new wave band Oingo Boingo, Joey D'Auria (Professor Flamo) (who would go on to be WGN's 2nd Bozo the Clown from 1984 to 2001), RuPaul, and Mare Winningham (under the pseudonym "Sharon Shamus"). The biggest Gong Show-related show biz success was singer Cheryl Lynn, who was signed to a record contract as a result of her appearance and recorded the top 20 disco hit "Got To Be Real."

The Gong Show is largely remembered as somewhat of an inspiration for the reigning modern-day genre of reality television, while critics believe it is one of the worst shows in TV history, despite its success in the late 1970s.

Later incarnations

In 1980, The Gong Show Movie was produced; while many critics gave it scathing reviews, it is hailed as a cult classic by others.
A syndicated revival of The Gong Show, hosted by Don Bleu, was produced in 1989 and lasted only one season. Each winner was paid $701.
A later show, 30 Seconds To Fame, had many similarities to this show. Red Faces, a segment on the long running Australian variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday was also similar to The Gong Show.
The Spanish language program Sábado gigante regularly airs a similar segment, El chacal de la trompeta ("The Jackal of the Trumpet"). During this contest, six contestants are given the chance to sing a song, with the bad performers being eliminated mid-song by el chacal, a ghostlike character who blows an old trumpet to end such acts. Unlike The Gong Show, el chacal does not have to wait a specific amount of time before eliminating someone (on many occasions, players have been eliminated almost immediately after beginning). The "surviving" performers are voted on by the audience, with the one receiving the most applause winning a prize or some cash.
The Gong Show was later revived on the Game Show Network as Extreme Gong, in which viewers could call in and vote on whether or not the act was bad. It was hosted by George Gray, best known as the host of the syndicated version of The Weakest Link. Today, America's Got Talent shares many features with The Gong Show.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a film directed by George Clooney and based on the autobiography of Chuck Barris. Part of the film chronicles the making of The Gong Show and features several clips from the original series.
Saturday Night Live had a parody called The Congo Show.

Modern Vernacular Usage

The term 'gong show' has also now been popularized in Canadian English and American English vernacular, meaning that an event or an evening out was a disaster, often in a way that is fun or memorable. For example - "Last night, we all went drinking, and the whole thing turned into a total gong show."

It has also been used by NASCAR writers and broadcasters as a way of Roush Racing's auditions for future drivers, which became the Discovery Channel reality series " Driver X".

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Show format

Later incarnations

Modern Vernacular Usage