The Gong Show
| The Gong Show | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Chris Bearde |
| Directed by | John Dorsey Terry Kyne |
| Presented by | Chuck Barris John Barbour Gary Owens Don Bleu Dave Attell Mike Myers as Tommy Maitland |
| Announcer | Johnny Jacobs Jack Clark Charlie O'Donnell Will Arnett |
| Composer | Milton DeLugg (musical director) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 500 (NBC) 156 (Syndicated 1976-80) 20 (ABC) |
| Production | |
| Producers | Gene Banks Diane Fell Linda Howard |
| Production locations | NBC Studios Burbank, California (1976–78) Golden West Broadcasting Hollywood, California (1978–80) CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1988–89) Sony Pictures Studios Culver City, California (2017–18) |
| Running time | 18 minutes (early NBC episodes) 23 minutes 42 minutes |
| Production companies | Chuck Barris Productions (1976–80) Chris Bearde Productions (1976–78, 1988–89) Barris Productions (1988–89) Barris Industries (1988–89) Den of Thieves (2017–2018) Sony Pictures Television (2017–2018) |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | June 14, 1976 – July 21, 1978 |
| Network | Syndicated |
| Release | September 1976 – September 1980 |
| Release | September 12, 1988 – May 26, 1989 |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | June 22, 2017 – August 30, 2018 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Gong Show is an American amateur talent contest created by Chuck Barris in 1976 and franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. Each performer was evaluated by a panel of three celebrity judges who could strike a gong to end a performance they disliked. A small cash prize has typically been awarded to each episode's winner. The Gong Show is known for its absurdist humor, and often features amateurish, racy or questionable performers interspersed with more legitimate acts. The actual competition was typically secondary to the outlandish acts, and the series is also known for its free-form style which featured various interruptions, digressions and running jokes.
The Gong Show was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1980 and 1988 to 1989, briefly revived in 2008 hosted by Dave Attell, and was revived in 2017 for broadcast on ABC. The show was created and originally produced by Barris, who also served as host for the NBC run and from 1977 to 1980 in syndication. Its most recent version was executive-produced by Will Arnett and hosted by Tommy Maitland, a fictional character performed by Mike Myers (uncredited in Season 1).