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The Gong Show: Difference between revisions
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In truth, it was a ''parody'' of talent shows like ''Ted Mack's Amateur Hour'', with its anarchic rules, wildly-varying quality level, and random-number prize check (which was supposedly based on the minimum daily pay from the Screen Actors Guild). But none of the acts seemed to ''notice''.
Barris was simultaneously the best and worst host possible. He was the worst because he had no comfort in front of the camera. But, given the nature of the show, his hosting skills were often on par with the contestants' talent. Besides, he was little more than the framing device. You ''really'' watched to see the awful talent, the risqué content or both. (One recurring sketch had "Rhett Butler" replacing the word "damn" in his most famous line with even worse language. Censored, of course. Naturally, [[
The risqué stuff was all intentional; in fact, Barris often [[Censor Decoy|threw in acts he knew would be cut]] in order to [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|get the borderline stuff past the censors]]. Of course it [[Springtime for Hitler|backfired]] — one memorable sketch featured a pair of 17-year-old girls [[Erotic Eating|sucking on Popsicles]] with no accompaniment. Phyllis Diller gave it a zero, Jamie Farr gave it a two, and Jaye P. Morgan not only gave it a ten, but physically prevented the other two from gonging it. Why? [[Casting Couch|"That's how I got my start in show business!"]]
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