Шоу Гонгов: Американский конкурс талантов

American television series
the 2008 version of the show

The Gong Show is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It 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, and was revived in 2017 for broadcast on ABC. The show was created and originally produced by Chuck 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). The Gong Show is known for its absurdist humor and style, with the actual competition secondary to the often outlandish acts presented; a small cash prize has typically been awarded to each show's winner.

Each show presented a competition of amateur performers of often dubious talent, with a panel of three celebrity judges. The original program's regular judges included Jamie Farr, Jaye P. Morgan, Arte Johnson, Patty Andrews, Phyllis Diller, Pat McCormick, Wayland Flowers, Anson Williams, Steve Garvey, Rex Reed and Rip Taylor. Throughout the program's run, several other celebrities occasionally appeared as judges including David Letterman, Steve Martin, Mort Sahl, Pat Paulsen, Chuck Woolery, Allen Ludden and Sandy Duncan. If any judge considered an act to be particularly bad, they could force it to stop by striking a large gong, a trope adapted from the durable radio show Major Bowes Amateur Hour. Barris would then ask the judge(s) in question why they had gonged the act, usually receiving a facetious response. Any act that survived without being gonged was given a score by each of the three judges on a scale of 0 to 10, for a maximum possible score of 30. On the NBC series, the contestant who achieved the highest combined score won the grand prize: a check for $516.32 (a "highly unusual amount", in Barris's words; reportedly the Screen Actors Guild's minimum pay for a day's work at the time) and a "Golden Gong" trophy. In the show's opening monologue, Barris would describe the amount as "five hundred and sixteen big ones, and thirty two little ones". The syndicated series' top prize was originally $712.05 (the first episode was $996.83) and later increased to $716.32. In the event of a tie, three different tiebreakers were used at various times during the show's run. Originally the studio audience determined the winner by applause, but this was later changed to a decision by the producers, and later by the celebrity judges. On a few, rare occasions, both winning acts each received a check and a trophy. No prize was awarded if all of the acts on a particular episode were gonged, which occurred at least twice. Runners up received various prizes; Maureen Orth, on her February 24, 1977, appearance, reported receiving a clothes iron valued at $33.95 for her second place finish. When Barris announced the final score, little person actor Jerry Maren (a former Munchkin) ran onstage in top hat and tails, throwing confetti while balloons dropped from overhead. The daily Gong Show also gave out a "Worst Act of the Week" award (later changed to the "Most Outrageous Act of the Week"), selected by the producers and each week's judges. The winner of this award was announced following the trophy presentation on the Friday show, and the performer received a dirty tube sock and a check for $516.32.

The two biggest Gong Show related showbiz successes were Andrea McArdle and Cheryl Lynn. Twelve year old McArdle appeared on an early episode in 1976, shortly before she won the leading role in the hit Broadway musical Annie. Following Lynn's Gong Show appearance in 1976, she received a recording contract with Columbia Records and recorded the Top 40 disco hit "Got To Be Real", released in 1978. Among the other true talents that appeared on the show were country singer Boxcar Willie; actor Kevin Peter Hall who later appeared as the original Predator in the 1987 film and as Harry in Harry and the Hendersons; comics and actors Paul Reubens and John Paragon (best known as Pee Wee Herman and Jambi the Genie); Joey D'Auria ("Dr. Flameo", later WGN's second Bozo the Clown); impressionist/comic Michael Winslow; novelty rock band Green Jellÿ; and an unknown band called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo which evolved into Oingo Boingo, led by future film and television score composer Danny Elfman. In 1979, Crips founder and executed murderer Stanley Tookie Williams appeared on the show as a bodybuilder. Future Academy Award nominated actress Mare Winningham sang the Beatles song "Here, There, and Everywhere" on the program in 1976. Future Super Bowl XXXV winning head coach Brian Billick also made an appearance, performing a routine known as the "spider monkey". Dancer Danny Lockin, who had played Barnaby in the film Hello Dolly!, was murdered hours after winning the show taped August 21, 1977. Television personality, actress and entrepreneur, Rhonda Shear appeared on the program in 1979. Journalist Maureen Orth, then writing for Newsweek, won second place on a 1977 show, appearing as "The World's Oldest Cheerleader." Producer Chris Bearde, formerly of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, clashed with Barris over the program's content, favoring more scripted comedy over chaotic nonsense. (Bearde's "new talent" segments on Laugh In had featured oddball performers, the most celebrated being Tiny Tim.) After a violent argument between Barris and Bearde over the future direction of the show came to blows and resulted the throwing of chairs and other objects, Bearde resigned, leaving Barris fully in charge of The Gong Show.

Milton DeLugg was a popular musician and bandleader during the 1940s and 1950s. He got the Gong Show job by default; as the longtime music director of NBC, he was responsible for any network project that required special music (like the annual telecasts of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade). Although DeLugg had previously arranged the theme for The Newlywed Game, Barris initially regarded him as "an anachronism"; however, Barris was soon pleased to discover that DeLugg was very much attuned to the facetious tone of the show and he appeared alongside Barris in recurring comedy skits as various characters including bad joke teller, "Naso Literatus" and the aged philosopher, "Old Drool". Veteran composer Joey Carbone provided musical arrangements for the late 1980s revival with his own lineup of studio musicians, known as "The Gong Show Guys".

Johnny Jacobs, who had worked for Barris for many years, was the main announcer from 1976 to 1980. When Jacobs was sidelined with an extended illness, Jack Clark substituted from October 3 through December 23, 1977. Charlie O'Donnell served as announcer for the late 1980s revival.

Hostesses included Siv Åberg (a Swedish born model and actress who appeared on Barris's syndicated New Treasure Hunt), actress Marlena Clark, porn star Carol Connors and Barris's teenage daughter, Della.

NBC first broadcast the show at 12:30 p. m. (11:30 a. m. Central). This was the network's least important time slot, as programs running at that time had to share the half hour with a five minute NBC newscast anchored by Edwin Newman. As a result, the first six plus months of The Gong Show featured approximately twenty minutes of program content in a twenty five minute episode. Many NBC affiliates in some larger markets opted not to run network programming during the noon hour at all, preferring to broadcast local news and talk shows instead. Thus Gong made its debut mainly on medium market and smaller stations or on large market rival stations that had picked up the program from the NBC affiliate that had rejected it. For example, in Boston, then NBC affiliate WBZ TV did not run the series, allowing local UHF independent outlet WSBK TV to broadcast it. Gong's time slot was given to a new soap opera, Lovers and Friends, on January 3, 1977, and the show replaced the cancelled Another World spinoff Somerset at 4:00 p. m. The time change allowed Gong to expand to a full half hour. NBC broadcast a one hour prime time Gong Show special on April 26, 1977, featuring in studio special guests Tony Randall, Alice Cooper and Harry James and His Orchestra. The winning act on this special was The Bait Brothers, and the panelists were Jaye P. Morgan, Jamie Farr and Arte Johnson.