The recent death of Eugene
Patton more famously known as Gene Gene the Dancing Machine one of the most
surreal and beloved denizens that existed on the Gong Show reminded me of how
truly insane this show was even by today’s standards.
Watching the host, game show pioneer
Chuck Barris, creator of the Dating Game and the Newlywed Game, mock the very
genre he was part of through his put-on persona, enthusiastic and sarcastic at
the same time, always ridiculous, was monumentally satisfying.
You see The Gong Show’s
contestants may been mostly talentless but they were never boring and occasionally
you’d see someone with talent – albeit an unpolished living room sort of
talent, unglamorous and real. The sense
of humor which Barris and the three celebrity panellists/judges wielded never
seemed excessively cruel (although I did love it when Barris would say “I liked
you but then again I liked” and then would mention something bad like paper
cuts or mold or jockitch). Rather, it
was part of the show’s unrelenting tone of crazed hilarity.
In addition to contestants
such as two girls who sucked popsicles suggestively and a group called The Worms
who wriggled on the ground as if having a seizure, The Gong Show also had regulars
such as Gene and the Unknown Comic whose shtick wasn’t just wearing a paper bag
but also insulting Barris (“Chuck, do you have any nude pictures of your wife? “No”
“Would you like to see some?”).
One interesting thing is that
David Letterman was a panellist early on in his career. Reflecting on the how
The Gong Show viewed itself, it’s deliberate skewering of showbiz it was part
of and its lack of restraint and totally nutty surreal humor must have influenced David Letterman at some
level....Would we have Late Night with David Letterman and The Late Show with
David Letterman without The Gong Show?
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