The Gong Show ran on TV in both an NBC network version and syndicated TV version in the late 1970's, with the NBC version running from 1976-1978, and, the syndicated TV version running from 1976-1980.
I used to watch The Gong Show a lot when I was a child. I loved this show and always looked forward to watching this every day when it came on. I watched mostly the syndicated version as I was usually in school for the NBC daytime version, although I did watch that when Summer came and that particular version was in reruns.
When this movie was released into movie cinemas in 1980, the R rating meant that I couldn't see it at the age of 10 that I was at the time, which made me sad as I loved this show a lot. It always made me chuckle whenever the gong was hit by a giant mallet by one, or, all of the celebrity panelists as a response to a really bad performance. I always watched the show mainly because of Jaye P. Morgan, as she was always very straight-forward and blunt as when she gonged an act and Chuck would always ask Jaye P. Or whoever gonged the act, "Why did you do that?"
Fortunately, when I was 14 years old, and I was on a Summer break from school, I managed to catch this film at 2:00am on "The WPIX Late-Late Movie" while spending overnight during a Summer week at my sister's house. Admittedly, I actually liked the movie and thought that it was pretty entertaining in a campy sort of way.
I saw that this is a loose semi-autobiographical look at the life of the show's host, Chuck Barris, as he goes through his life daily being inundated by those giving him impromptu auditions wherever he is always recognized when he wants to forget about the show itself for a while, either with dinner in a restaurant, or is faced by those who come up out of nowhere on the streets, or, at the studio where the show is taped live five or more times a day to see if they can get on the show to get the exposure that they crave to get their entertainment careers going. Throughout the movie, Chuck tries to get away from the seemingly endless barrage of entertaining wanna-be's, but only gets frustrated along the way, which only adds to the stress he feels as the host and also, by the increasing demands of those he knows and works with behind the scenes. He tries to escape, but fails as those who work with him and those he knows personally, alongside those who have performed on the show try to convince him, via the music number in the desert, that he is very important and also, much appreciated for everything he does to make the show the success that it was at the time.
Barris co-writes this film with established filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. (the father of actor Robert Downey, Jr.) and takes on the directorial reigns himself, which is his own ego working overtime.
Although he does command some pretty undemanding fun, and I actually really did and still do, enjoy this movie, it might've been better if he had Robert Downey, Sr. Take on the directorial reigns, but then, we wouldn't have this strangely entertaining camp styled film, which is very entertaining and very watchable, IMHO. The film has some very amusing and laughable moments, but also, THE unforgettable moment when Jaye P. Morgan bares her chest for the camera smiling very wickedly, which was a first for me when I bought a bootleg DVD of this a long time ago, which I loaned to a friend, but never got back, but I am still hoping to find another bootleg DVD version of it pretty soon.
Upon seeing this on WPIX, something always told me that there were some missing elements from the movie and made it look seemingly incomplete. However, when I saw the complete film on the bootleg DVD, I enjoyed it more as I now saw the complete uncut version with the amusing moments of when a few guys dressed up as a priest and a group of nuns lip-syncing and dancing to the Tom Lehrer novelty classic "The Vatican Rag" and where a guy blows out a candle with his own flatulence, as well as, the aforementioned unforgettable Jaye P. Morgan baring her chest for the camera moment, alongside the famous, or infamous, depending on your point of view, "Have You got a Nickel?" act. Not only that, the musical number done in the desert for Chuck, called "Don't Get Up For Me" with it's catchy tune and can't help but sing-along with lyrics, also add to the campy entertainment fun that this movie has. IMHO, I feel that if this song was released as a single at the time, it probably would have sold well enough to become a hit and maybe, just maybe, help the movie sell more tickets while it was in theaters. Chuck Barris wrote all of the songs for this movie and they are actually very good.
IMHO, a fun and very entertaining movie that can be watched over and over again without getting tired of watching it and is still entertaining regardless of how many times it is watched, especially for those who really enjoyed watching this show when it was first on TV and also, the wonderful memories of watching this. It is also a must have in your DVD/Blu-Ray library for that reason so it can be watched over and over again. Again, a very campy and entertaining film.
I used to watch The Gong Show a lot when I was a child. I loved this show and always looked forward to watching this every day when it came on. I watched mostly the syndicated version as I was usually in school for the NBC daytime version, although I did watch that when Summer came and that particular version was in reruns.
When this movie was released into movie cinemas in 1980, the R rating meant that I couldn't see it at the age of 10 that I was at the time, which made me sad as I loved this show a lot. It always made me chuckle whenever the gong was hit by a giant mallet by one, or, all of the celebrity panelists as a response to a really bad performance. I always watched the show mainly because of Jaye P. Morgan, as she was always very straight-forward and blunt as when she gonged an act and Chuck would always ask Jaye P. Or whoever gonged the act, "Why did you do that?"
Fortunately, when I was 14 years old, and I was on a Summer break from school, I managed to catch this film at 2:00am on "The WPIX Late-Late Movie" while spending overnight during a Summer week at my sister's house. Admittedly, I actually liked the movie and thought that it was pretty entertaining in a campy sort of way.
I saw that this is a loose semi-autobiographical look at the life of the show's host, Chuck Barris, as he goes through his life daily being inundated by those giving him impromptu auditions wherever he is always recognized when he wants to forget about the show itself for a while, either with dinner in a restaurant, or is faced by those who come up out of nowhere on the streets, or, at the studio where the show is taped live five or more times a day to see if they can get on the show to get the exposure that they crave to get their entertainment careers going. Throughout the movie, Chuck tries to get away from the seemingly endless barrage of entertaining wanna-be's, but only gets frustrated along the way, which only adds to the stress he feels as the host and also, by the increasing demands of those he knows and works with behind the scenes. He tries to escape, but fails as those who work with him and those he knows personally, alongside those who have performed on the show try to convince him, via the music number in the desert, that he is very important and also, much appreciated for everything he does to make the show the success that it was at the time.
Barris co-writes this film with established filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. (the father of actor Robert Downey, Jr.) and takes on the directorial reigns himself, which is his own ego working overtime.
Although he does command some pretty undemanding fun, and I actually really did and still do, enjoy this movie, it might've been better if he had Robert Downey, Sr. Take on the directorial reigns, but then, we wouldn't have this strangely entertaining camp styled film, which is very entertaining and very watchable, IMHO. The film has some very amusing and laughable moments, but also, THE unforgettable moment when Jaye P. Morgan bares her chest for the camera smiling very wickedly, which was a first for me when I bought a bootleg DVD of this a long time ago, which I loaned to a friend, but never got back, but I am still hoping to find another bootleg DVD version of it pretty soon.
Upon seeing this on WPIX, something always told me that there were some missing elements from the movie and made it look seemingly incomplete. However, when I saw the complete film on the bootleg DVD, I enjoyed it more as I now saw the complete uncut version with the amusing moments of when a few guys dressed up as a priest and a group of nuns lip-syncing and dancing to the Tom Lehrer novelty classic "The Vatican Rag" and where a guy blows out a candle with his own flatulence, as well as, the aforementioned unforgettable Jaye P. Morgan baring her chest for the camera moment, alongside the famous, or infamous, depending on your point of view, "Have You got a Nickel?" act. Not only that, the musical number done in the desert for Chuck, called "Don't Get Up For Me" with it's catchy tune and can't help but sing-along with lyrics, also add to the campy entertainment fun that this movie has. IMHO, I feel that if this song was released as a single at the time, it probably would have sold well enough to become a hit and maybe, just maybe, help the movie sell more tickets while it was in theaters. Chuck Barris wrote all of the songs for this movie and they are actually very good.
IMHO, a fun and very entertaining movie that can be watched over and over again without getting tired of watching it and is still entertaining regardless of how many times it is watched, especially for those who really enjoyed watching this show when it was first on TV and also, the wonderful memories of watching this. It is also a must have in your DVD/Blu-Ray library for that reason so it can be watched over and over again. Again, a very campy and entertaining film.