The Gong Show facts for kids
The Gong Show was a fun American television game show. It aired in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Chuck Barris created and hosted the show. The show's name came from a big gong. If judges didn't like a performance, they would hit the gong. This meant the act had to stop. Famous people were the judges, and they scored the performers.
How the Show Started
In the mid-1970s, Chuck Barris wanted to create a new kind of game show. He got the idea from old "amateur hour" contests. These shows featured everyday people performing their talents.
Barris held auditions to find acts for his new show. Most people who auditioned were ordinary folks. They had a few special skills or thought they were very talented. Many acts were "party pieces" that people did to make others laugh. Some performers were serious and tried their best.
Barris and his team found many acts funny. They first thought the show might not work because the performances were so strange. But Barris then realized that audiences would enjoy watching these funny acts. So, he and his team started looking for even more unusual and amusing acts. The Gong Show first aired in 1976 and quickly became very popular.
Two Versions of the Show
At first, there were two versions of The Gong Show. One aired at night and was hosted by radio announcer Gary Owens. The other aired during the day and was hosted by Chuck Barris himself. Later, Barris also became the host of the nighttime show.
Both versions worked the same way. They had different judges and performers. A live band played music for the acts. A live audience watched each show. They cheered for the acts they liked. If they didn't like an act, they would shout for the judges to "Gong 'em!" If a judge hit the gong, the act had to stop. That performer then lost their chance to win a prize. The performer who got the highest score from the judges won a cash prize. (All performers were paid the same, whether they won or not.)
Famous Judges and Performers
Many well-known people were judges on The Gong Show. These included Jaye P. Morgan and Jamie Farr.
One famous comedian, Murray Langston, performed on the show with a paper bag over his head. He called himself the "Unknown Comic." He told simple jokes when he was onstage. Langston won his round and was invited back many times. People wondered who the Unknown Comic really was. Langston later shared that he appeared on the show to keep his identity a secret. This way, his performance wouldn't affect his comedy career, as he was already well-known.
No one became a huge star just from being on The Gong Show. But thousands of people got to perform on national television. Millions of others got to watch. One popular person on the show was "Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine." He would dance in front of the band between acts.
Chuck Barris himself was also very popular with the audience. He was kind to all the performers. He hosted the show as if it were a big party.
Some acts that auditioned for The Gong Show were not right for television. Especially not for times when children or families might be watching. Some of these acts were shown in a movie that came out in 1980.
The Show Ends
Over time, it became hard to find new and unusual acts for The Gong Show. Also, the television audience started to lose interest. Chuck Barris was also tired from working on the show. The Gong Show was cancelled by 1982. Later, old episodes were shown again, but they also stopped airing after a while.
Today, people who watched The Gong Show remember it fondly. Sometimes, amateur talent contests still use a gong. This is for when an act isn't going well. (But gongs are rarely used now.)
Barris wrote a memoir called Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It talked about his time on the show.
