The Gong Show Movie (1980)

The Gong Show Movie: Directed by Chuck Barris. With Robin Altman, Chuck Barris, Brian O’Mullin, Jack Bernardi. A week in the life of “The Gong Show” host and creator Chuck Barris who lives through a series of outrageous competitors, stressful situations, a nervous breakdown and other comical characters involved in his life and work on the TV show.

“If you werenu0026#39;t a fan of Chuck Barrisu0026#39; silly game show, you probably should steer clear of this movie. But if you WERE a fan (or are just curious to check out a particularly wacked-out part of television history), youu0026#39;ll probably derive some totally mindless enjoyment here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story, such as it is, revolves around a typical week in the life of Barris and the trials and tribulations he goes through to make sure the show goes on – dealing with guests, panelists, fans AND battling the network brass who want him to tone down the raunchiness BUT keep ratings up at the same time. This movie is definitely Chucku0026#39;s baby he co-wrote, directed, stars and even wrote a few toe-tapping ditties on the soundtrack. Some saw the movie as a shameless vanity project, but I think they missed the point Chuck Barris WAS u0026quot;The Gong Showu0026quot; and his trademark wackiness was a huge influence on TV game shows of the period (u0026quot;The Dating Game,u0026quot; u0026quot;The Newlywed Gameu0026quot; and u0026quot;The $1.98 Beauty Contestu0026quot; are others he created or helped create). As the story unspools, there are lots of very funny out-takes deemed u0026quot;too hot for TVu0026quot; laced into the proceedings and lots of familiar faces from the showu0026#39;s heyday can be spotted, adding to the fun.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie is an amusing tribute to an odd but essential piece of TV history.”