Back in 1976, when I was 15 years old and girls were nothing but a fantasy, I spent my afternoons glued to the tube watching Chuck Barris' GONG Show. The amateur "talent" show was harmless and silly, but just like with today's reality TV fare, an admission of being an actual fan was comparable to telling your friends that you also liked to drool and wet your bed.
Well, guess what, boys and girls? The Gong Show is making a comeback! More from Variety:
Comedy Central is reviving Chuck Barris' "The Gong Show," with comedian Dave Attell as host.
Cable net has ordered eight half-hour segs of the skein, which is set to premiere July 17. "The Gong Show" will air weekly at 10:30 p.m. in tandem with new reality TV spoof "Reality Bites Back" at 10.
Gameshow vet Andrew Golder will exec produce "The Gong Show" for Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Prods. and Sony Pictures TV, which owns the Barris canon.
Like the original, the new-model "Gong Show" will feature a revolving panel of celebrity judges weighing in on eight to 10 offbeat amateur acts in each episode.
Original skein, which aired from 1976-78 on NBC's daytime lineup and in primetime syndication from 1976-80, was hosted by producer Barris and featured such regulars as Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine (aka one of the show's stagehands) and the Unknown Comic (aka a guy with a paper bag on his head). A syndie revival had a short run in the 1988-89 season.
Attell is known to Comedy Central auds for hosting the series "Insomniac With Dave Attell." Late last year he toplined an HBO spesh, "Captain Miserable."
I'll be interested to see what a 21st century Gong show will look like, but there's no way it'll match the wackiness of the original... Here's a clip of my favorite recurring segment - Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine...
Well, guess what, boys and girls? The Gong Show is making a comeback! More from Variety:
Comedy Central is reviving Chuck Barris' "The Gong Show," with comedian Dave Attell as host.
Cable net has ordered eight half-hour segs of the skein, which is set to premiere July 17. "The Gong Show" will air weekly at 10:30 p.m. in tandem with new reality TV spoof "Reality Bites Back" at 10.
Gameshow vet Andrew Golder will exec produce "The Gong Show" for Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Prods. and Sony Pictures TV, which owns the Barris canon.
Like the original, the new-model "Gong Show" will feature a revolving panel of celebrity judges weighing in on eight to 10 offbeat amateur acts in each episode.
Original skein, which aired from 1976-78 on NBC's daytime lineup and in primetime syndication from 1976-80, was hosted by producer Barris and featured such regulars as Gene-Gene the Dancing Machine (aka one of the show's stagehands) and the Unknown Comic (aka a guy with a paper bag on his head). A syndie revival had a short run in the 1988-89 season.
Attell is known to Comedy Central auds for hosting the series "Insomniac With Dave Attell." Late last year he toplined an HBO spesh, "Captain Miserable."
I'll be interested to see what a 21st century Gong show will look like, but there's no way it'll match the wackiness of the original... Here's a clip of my favorite recurring segment - Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine...
1 comment:
thanks for the fun memory of gene gene the dancin machine it brought a big smile to my face this gloomy morning although when i watched it i was in elementary school why are you so cruel to the nats ???
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