The Gong Show Movie

Back in the late 70's, The Gong Show was a huge hit on tv's all across America. It's often naughty, sometimes vulgar, and always hilarious take on the worst acts found in talent shows found it's niche with audiences. It helped that the host, and creator, of the show, Chuck Barris, was just as, and sometimes more, entertaining than the acts that he was introducing. The Gong Show was such a success that it spawned a feature film, 1980's The Gong Show Movie.

This is a film that I've spent decades trying to find. It came and went from theaters really quick because it flopped hard. Not only did it never have a dvd release, but it wasn't even available on vhs. I was able to catch it once back in the early 80's on a local tv station that was airing a very heavily edited version of it on a Saturday afternoon. Luckily, the great dvd/blu ray distribution company Shout Factory has released it on blu ray, and all of these decades later I'm finally catching up to seeing it.

Barris stars as himself, the host of The Gong Show, who is burnout on the series and the barrage of fans who constantly stop him on the street and try to audition their horrible acts to him. He is also tired of the sensors constantly waving their FCC guidelines in his face. He desperately wants out so he can have a normal life with his girlfriend, Barris' real life girlfriend at the time Robin Altman. But, as they say in The Godfather Part III, they keep pulling him back in.

This really isn't so much of a movie. It's a lot of Gong Show outtakes and behind the scenes auditions that were to racy to air on broadcast tv at the time. The actual story, which was cowritten by Barris and Robert Downey, Sr. not Jr., almost seems like a cry for help from Barris. Of course if you believe everything from the Barris novel Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind than he had a fuller plate than just being a game show host. I also had the feeling that Barris and Downey might have spoofing All That Jazz as well. I've never read that anybody else saw this connection. There were a lot of similarities to me.

Barris is a very watchable performer. He shows a more human side in this that is definitely more low key than his Chucky Baby persona from the show. Barris also directs, and here he isn't quite as skilled. The editing was kind of sloppy as was some of the staging. He should have handed the reigns over to Downey, a skilled director. Although rumor has it that Downey did assist in some of the directing duties.

The Gong Show Movie isn't great, but if you're a fan of the series you will most likely get a kick out of the outtakes.