He is, beneathĪn accent and a prosthetic mask, Mike Myers-though nowhere in the show’s “Who’s a cheeky monkey?” and “You’ve got no proof.” Though the audienceĪppears familiar with him, Maitland is not a real person. Montera (a bullfighter’s cap), and tosses out such catchphrases as Maitland, who bounds onstage on the first show wearing a tuxedo and a The show’s host, a rakish late-middle-aged British comedian named Tommy Yet there is a reason to watch, if only to attempt to make some sense of The world neither askedįor nor needs another “Gong Show,” the venues for watching ourįellow-citizens make brazen fools of themselves now being countless. All of this, I suppose, is fine, though,īased on the first episode, not reliably funny. Is named the winner and given a check for two thousand dollars and seventeenĬents, upgraded marginally from the five hundred or so bucks that people The scores don’t matter:Īt the end of the show, all the performers are brought back out, and one Most wretched and boring acts, such as a large white man wearing a giĪnd striking martial-arts poses to dance music. Thursday, the panel uses the gong sparingly, saving it only for the Reëvaluating their life choices.) In the first episode, which airs on (The first episode features Will Arnett, anĮxecutive producer of the show, along with the actors Zach GalifianakisĪnd Ken Jeong, both of whom, from the beginning, have the look of men Dotty performers sing, dance, or otherwise for a panel of The conceit of the show is the same as the The latest iteration, arriving this summer, is part of what ABC calls Several different points, have insisted on trying to reboot it. Regardless, it was singular, which means that folks in Hollywood, at
With itsĬrass gags and broad sexual innuendo, it was either a giddy antidote toĬarter-era malaise, or else acute evidence of that very thing. Variety shows that had dominated TV’s earlier decades, and it seemed toĭo so by channelling an eleven-year-old boy high on Pixy Stix. The show was set on nuking the straitlaced If not, one of the celebrities would put an end to things by If the performers were good, they were allowed toįinish. Introduce each act, which performed in front of a panel of threeĬelebrity judges. With a mix of sarcasm and genuine affection, he would Spoke in a digressive, choked rasp-often while the audience was stillĬlapping or hooting, so as if to himself-with various hats pulled low Master of ceremonies, brought an impish charm to the odd proceedings. Host and creator, Chuck Barris, who died in March, and who, as the It is an impossibly,Īlmost magically, weird television program. Then in syndication from 1976 to 1980, on YouTube. The original “Gong Show,” the amateur un-talent show that ran on NBC and If you weren’t around for it at the time, as I was not, you can watch
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