The Gong Show

In discussing how mean American Idol has gotten lately, a lot of people point back to the Gong Show as the initiator of public TV humiliation. Anybody who thinks that never saw this show.

The show basically had two kinds of acts: the really ridiculous, and the really good. People with genuine talent were usually given high marks and compliments by the judges, who were all show-biz veterans and who knew talent when they saw it (I recall after one such act, Arte Johnson exclaimed, "I'm gonna get you a job!").

The other acts were supposed to be either wildly bizarre or just plain dumb. This gave everyone a chance to enjoy it for a few moments, knowing that the gong was soon in the offing. When the gong sounded, everyone laughed, including the people in the act itself. And Chuck Barris would shake his head in mock indignation and say "Gee, I don't know why they did that..." and as he escorted the act offstage, he cooed "Be of good cheer."

It was all played for laughs. Nobody was told they were horrible, nobody was told they had no talent, nobody was told they were too fat.

Add to this the great music, the amazing creativity of the contestants, and the one-line jokes between acts, and you had a great half-hour of comedy.

I remember this show from my youth. Every once in a while there'd be a performer with some talent but most of the time this show belonged to some pretty weird contestants. They would be painfully bad but would still get upset when they were gonged. Of course "Chuckie baby" and his clapping would keep the show going. Then "Gene Gene the Dancing machine" would dance his classic dance. The judges were minor celebrities that didn't take their jobs too seriously. Like I said this was a pretty weird show that couldn't be taken at face value as a "talent" show but just a crazy show that eventually became stale. It made "Chuckie baby" a household name (and a ton of money), and it was a fun way to waste a half hour.

People may not realize it, but you really DID have to audition to get on the show. No Talet Bums would be lined up around the block waiting for their chance to try to get on the show. An episode of Sanford and Son and Carol Burnett were framed around getting on the Gong Show. How can you not pee your pants laughing when every singe act sang "Feelings". The $516.32 was the union scale and everyone got it, regardless if they got gonged or not, and yes they still get residuals to this day! Gene Gene the Dancing Machine (Gene Patton) was a stage hand who was sent out one day to dance and it took off. The house band, Miton DeLugg and his Band with a Thug were real people. And of course, Chuck seemed the most surprised when a bad act got gonged while being booed by the audience, "I can't believe they did that, you were doing so good" was classy in a classless show. Its too bad they couldn't keep their drug use under control, it really could have gone on a lot longer than it did!

I was on the gong show 1978 I won with a guitar/ vocal for Loretta Lynns You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man

my parents passed away and could not find their VHS tape of it any info will help I am willing to pay for a copy if someone thinks they my have one I still have the paperwork and the trophy but not a copy of my performance

Thank you

Mary Lyn Dias.

Critics basically said this was the end of civilization when the Gong Show came out. Gary Owens was supposed to be the host, but Chuck Barris, the hand clapping, head-scratching creator of both The Gong Show AND The Dating Game, usurped that position at the last moment, as I understand it.

It was a simple premise. Basically, let anyone who thought they might have talent come out and do their thing, whatever it happened to be and have a panel of judges either give them the gong or rate their act. Some folks knew they were going to hear the tintinabulation of the gong because they went on just to get their mug on T.V. Others were serious about their "craft" and were hurt when they were the one for whom the gong tolled. I remember thinking, "Lardo the Clown," a kazoo-playing clown with horrible make-up was one of the most wretched.

Others were pretty darned good and I always wondered if any of them went on to have a career in the entertainment field. Jaye P. Morgan once cattily remarked regarding a sweet young lady with a beautiful voice, "I would have given her a higher score if her neckline would have been lower." Such was the tenor of the show. My favorite guest critics included Steve Martin, who usually just looked puzzled when a bad act was on, Artie Johnson, Jamie Farr and of course, Jaye P. Morgan. I understand, Ms. Morgan was asked to leave the show after flashing her bra to the camera. It is said the shot never aired, although, there are those who swear they saw it.

There were the usual gang of idiots who would show up without warning - Gene Gene, the Dancing Machine was my favorite interruption in the show. But, there were so many others - the Unknown Comic - a guy named Larry (?) who would come out and sing a song about, "I'm gonna play my tuba" (what are you going to do?). He usually ended up blowing a long sour note on whatever instrument he had walked out with, with Chuck saying, "Aw Larry, why did you DO that?" The Gong show was just plain fun, although some days were fairly dismal, with the acts all being bad and not much action from the guest critics.

All in all, I liked it. It was a fun party every time it aired... and, you could tell, even the the Dwarf enjoyed himself.