History Series / TheGongShow

Barris was simultaneously the best and worst host possible. He was the worst because he had no comfort in front of the camera. But, given the nature of the show, his hosting skills were often on par with the contestants' talent. Besides, he was little more than the framing device. You ''really'' watched to see the awful talent, the risqué content, or both. (One recurring sketch had "[[Film/GoneWithTheWind Rhett Butler]]" replacing the word "damn" in his most famous line with even worse language. Censored, of course. Naturally, Webcomic/{{xkcd}} [[http://xkcd.com/110/ references this at one point.]])

** "It's MarvinGaye Day!"

** TheAnnouncer: Johnny Jacobs (who also announced fellow Barris series ''Series/TreasureHuntUS'', as well as the CBS years of ''Series/TheJokersWild'') on the original, Charlie O'Donnell (of multiple Barry-Enright series and from 1975 to 1981 and 1989 to 2011, ''Series/WheelOfFortune'') on the 1988-89 version. Jack Clark (''Wheel'''s 80s announcer, and hots of the 1975-80 version of ''Series/TheCrossWits'') filled-in for a time in 1977.

** TheAnnouncer: Johnny Jacobs on the original, Charlie O'Donnell on the 1988-89 version. Jack Clark filled-in for a time in 1977.

** GameShowHost: Gary Owens hosted the original pilot and first syndicated season. John Barbour taped the original debut week for NBC, but was replaced by Chuck Barris. Don Bleu hosted the 1988-89 revival, George Gray hosted the GSN version, and Dave Attell emceed the 2008 revival.

The show has had several {{revival}}s, each in ten-year intervals. The first was in 1988 with Don Bleu as host, a version which lasted for only one season. Game Show Network revived it as ''Extreme Gong'' in 1998 with George Gray at the helm, and kept it going for two seasons. The most recent revival was in 2008 on Creator/ComedyCentral, also lasting for only a season with Dave Attell as host.

* TimedMission: Initially, acts had a minimum of 15 seconds before they could be gonged. This was upped for the first Barris week to 20 seconds, then 30 by the third week and 45 a few months in. Since ''Gong'' was a legit competition, these timers were strictly enforced. Any performers who deliberately ended their acts before the minimum time had elapsed were immediately disqualified.

Barris was simultaneously the best and worst host possible. He was the worst because he had no comfort in front of the camera. But, given the nature of the show, his hosting skills were often on par with the contestants' talent. Besides, he was little more than the framing device. You ''really'' watched to see the awful talent, the risqué content, or both. (One recurring sketch had "[[GoneWithTheWind Rhett Butler]]" replacing the word "damn" in his most famous line with even worse language. Censored, of course. Naturally, Webcomic/{{xkcd}} [[http://xkcd.com/110/ references this at one point.]])

* ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow'': In a "Family" sketch, Eunice appeared on the show and got Gang-Gonged by Jamie Farr, Jaye P. Morgan, and '''[[Series/{{Password}} Allen Ludden]]'''.

* KillerGorilla: On occasion, a completely inept performer – almost always a drop-dead beautiful woman – would perform, and a giant gorilla hand would come on stage and yank her away. (These were comedy relief acts that were non-scoring.) Alternated with a giant cane that yanked other performers off-stage, with said performer sometimes also getting pelted by rotten vegetables.

* IncessantMusicMadness: In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcSOgkP0sPA a famous (or perhaps infamous) episode]], every single act that came out on stage sang Morris Albert's "Feelings", HilarityEnsued leading two of the judges to walk out on one act and actually attack another act with their chairs.

* AllOrNothing: Only the highest-scoring act won the cash prize.

Nominally a GameShow and talent search, the show gave amateur performers of all types a chance to show off their stuff and had one basic rule: Don't Suck. Even that was too much to ask of some contestants. If any of the three celebrity judges found an act to be particularly awful, they could hit a large gong hanging behind them and force the act to leave the stage. The contestants all got a minimum of 45 seconds (originally 15, then 20, then 30) to perform no matter what; the judges would sometimes watch the clock, mallet in hand, waiting for the time to pass. Those who weren't gonged received a 0-10 score from each judge, with the highest total (out of a possible 30) receiving a trophy and $516.32 ($712.05, then $716.32, on the concurrent nighttime version).

In truth, it was a ''parody'' of talent shows like ''Ted Mack's Amateur Hour'', with its anarchic rules, wildly-varying quality level, and random-number prize check (which was supposedly based on the minimum daily pay from the Screen Actors Guild). But none of the acts seemed to ''notice''.

* ProducePelting: People would always throw things at Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine.
* RunningGag: Whenever Barris nervously clapped his hands, so would the audience; Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine; The Unknown Comic; the signs hanging at the back of the stage area. In the 1989 version, "ventriloquist" Oscar and Bernie performed three times and got humiliatingly gonged each time.

* TimedMission: Initially, acts had a minimum of 15 seconds before they could be gonged. This was upped for the first Barris week to 20 seconds, then 30 by the third week and 45 a few months in. Since ''Gong'' was a legit competition, these timers were strictly enforced.

Nominally a GameShow and talent search, the idea was that an act was given one minute and had one rule: Don't Suck. Even that was too much to ask for most of the contestants, who would be gonged offstage if the judges found them particularly awful. The contestants all got a minimum of 45 seconds (originally 15, then 20, then 30) to perform no matter what; the judges would sometimes watch the clock, mallet in hand, waiting for the time to pass. Those who weren't gonged were scored by the panel from 0-10, with the highest score receiving a trophy and $516.32 ($712.05, then $716.32, on the concurrent nighttime version).

* ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow'': In a "Family" sketch, Eunice appeared on the show and got Gang-Gonged by Jamie Farr, Jaye P. Morgan, and '''[[{{Password}} Allen Ludden]]'''.

* ''SanfordAndSon'': The 1976 episode "Sanford & Gong" featured the show and Barris.
* ShowWithinAShow: Type 2.
** The aforementioned ''SanfordAndSon'' episode
** A "Family" sketch in an episode of ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow''

The show lasted two years on NBC and a further two in syndication, but in that time became something of a cultural phenomenon, even showing up in other programs (including, most famously, an episode of ''TheCarolBurnettShow''). Given the popularity of the ''Series/AmericanIdol'' "losers" shows, perhaps it was ahead of its time. Meanwhile, Barris wrote a dubious autobiography called ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'', whose title should tell you all you need to know about ''him''. The book, in which Barris claimed to have been a CIA agent, [[TheFilmOfTheBook was adapted into a movie]] with Creator/SamRockwell starring as Barris.

* ''TheCarolBurnettShow'': In a "Family" sketch, Eunice appeared on the show and got Gang-Gonged by Jamie Farr, Jaye P. Morgan, and '''[[{{Password}} Allen Ludden]]'''.

** A "Family" sketch in an episode of ''TheCarolBurnettShow''

The show lasted two years on NBC and a further two in syndication, but in that time became something of a cultural phenomenon, even showing up in other programs (including, most famously, an episode of ''TheCarolBurnettShow''). Given the popularity of the ''Series/AmericanIdol'' "losers" shows, perhaps it was ahead of its time. Meanwhile, Barris wrote a dubious autobiography called ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'', whose title should tell you all you need to know about ''him''. The book, in which Barris claimed to have been a CIA agent, [[TheFilmOfTheBook was adapted into a movie]] with SamRockwell starring as Barris.

The show lasted two years on NBC and a further two in syndication, but in that time became something of a cultural phenomenon, even showing up in other programs (including, most famously, an episode of ''TheCarolBurnettShow''). Given the popularity of the ''Series/AmericanIdol'' "losers" shows, perhaps it was ahead of its time. Meanwhile, Barris wrote a dubious biography called ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'', whose title should tell you all you need to know about ''him''. The book, in which Barris claimed to have been a CIA agent, [[TheFilmOfTheBook was adapted into a movie]] with SamRockwell starring as Barris.

In 1976, ChuckBarris and Creator/{{NBC}} introduced ''The Gong Show''. And it was good.

Barris was simultaneously the best and worst host possible. He was the worst because he had no comfort in front of the camera. But, given the nature of the show, his hosting skills were often on par with the contestants' talent. Besides, he was little more than the framing device. You ''really'' watched to see the awful talent, the risqué content, or both. (One recurring sketch had "Rhett Butler" replacing the word "damn" in his most famous line with even worse language. Censored, of course. Naturally, Webcomic/{{xkcd}} [[http://xkcd.com/110/ references this at one point.]])

The show lasted two years on NBC and a further two in syndication, but in that time became something of a cultural phenomenon, even showing up in other programs (including, most famously, an episode of ''TheCarolBurnettShow''). Given the popularity of the ''AmericanIdol'' "losers" shows, perhaps it was ahead of its time. Barris, meanwhile, became the subject of the movie ''Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'', whose title should tell you all you need to know about ''him''.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), a number of performers who would later have considerable success made their TV premieres on ''The Gong Show'', including an early incarnation of the band OingoBoingo and future Bozo the Clown Joey D'Auria.

The show has had several {{revival}}s, each in ten-year intervals. The first was in 1988 with Don Bleu as host, a version which lasted for only one season. Game Show Network revived it as ''ExtremeGong'' in 1998 with George Gray at the helm, and kept it going for two seasons. The most recent revival was in 2008 on ComedyCentral, also lasting for only a season with Dave Attell as host.

** Barris sang "Take This Job and Shove It" on the NBC finale — and flipped the bird to the camera.