Comedy Central is reviving The Gong Show. The original '70s variety show featured amateur acts who tried to impress the celebrity judges panel and avoid ... the gong. The new show, which is currently casting for tapings on both coasts in Los Angeles and New York, will be hosted by Dave Attell. Yeah, remember him? The former stand-up comic from New York had his own show on Comedy Central called Insomniac with Dave Attell. I used to love that show. Attell would walk around the streets of different cities (mostly here in the States, but he went aboard too) and talk to people who were completely inebriated. He also occasionally talked to people who worked night shifts. I think he'll be a great host for this new project.
I think that because this show is on Comedy Central, it's going to be way more interesting and entertaining than the train wreck that is America's Got Talent. What do you think? Will you watch the new Gong Show?
[via BuzzerBlog]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-06-2008 @ 10:28AM
Kim said...
I LOVED The Gong Show when I was a kid. I would definitely give this show a try as long as they keep it from being a true talent competition. There are already too many of them on tv. Keep it light and funny just like the original.
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5-06-2008 @ 10:32AM
drex said...
I'll give it a try, only because Dave is the host though..
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5-22-2008 @ 9:15PM
Mark "The Hobo" Watson said...
Three Sony Pictures Television game shows created by Chuck Barris are coming to two cable networks owned by
Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Entertainment and Viacom: The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game on Lifetime and Comedy Central's resurection of The Gong
Show, hosted by Dave Attel filling in Barris' shoes.
Sony is trading in Barris for Michael Davies and Andrew J.
Golder as they duel three-way over these retro game show formats of the 1960s and early to mid-1970s.
Please log on to http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com,
http://www.comedycentral.com, http://www.viacom.com,
http://www.mylifetime.com and http://www.lifetimetv.com
and audition for all three Chuck Barris-created SPT game show format cult favorites.
A Dating Game clip featuring contestant Bob Saget in his
electronic media debut pre-1 Vs. 100 broadcast in 1979 is posted for you here at http://www.tvsquad.com. Visit
http://www.youtube.com/tv.wmv and watch Saget win the vacation of his dreams.
Venerable electronics retailer/importer Sony has its overall world headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.
5-06-2008 @ 11:01AM
Karen said...
Yes! It has to be light, funny, campy and have some sophisticated humor mixed in with the other stuff. Done right, this could be great!
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5-06-2008 @ 11:11AM
alan said...
In 1977 when I was 16 I made me TV debut on the Gong Show doing my famous burping act.
http://www.funnyfarmentertainment.com/gong%20show.wmv
I won the worst act of the week award and won $516.32 and a dirty sock.
Now 30 years later I would love to reprise my act on the new gong show.
I think Dave Attell will be great
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5-06-2008 @ 11:14AM
Mathew said...
I will watch this because of Dave Attell. Insomniac with Dave Attell was a great show.
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5-06-2008 @ 11:26AM
Bob Mc said...
Loved Insomniac and loved The Gong Show. Not sure about the combination, but I'll check it out.
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5-06-2008 @ 11:41AM
patrick said...
Dave Attell isn't a former stand-up comedian- he continues to perform nearly every night in NYC. He's one of the best comedians we have and he'll make a great addition to this show.
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5-06-2008 @ 11:45AM
RC said...
It's comedy central so I'm assuming the judges will be: Greg Giraldo, Lisa Lampanelli, Nick DiPaolo and/or Jeffrey Ross.
http://bitsmack.com
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5-06-2008 @ 11:50AM
Unknown said...
Must concur with Patrick.
Attell is not a "former stand-up." He's a stand-up. He's practically THE stand-up.
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5-06-2008 @ 12:26PM
kevjohn said...
I have a hard time picturing the great Dave Attell doing clean, watered-down game show banter à la Howie Mandell.
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5-06-2008 @ 1:29PM
Elf said...
Kevjohn, it'll be on Comedy Central. It will not neither clean nor watered-down.
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5-06-2008 @ 1:32PM
Mike Doran said...
They never learn... you can't just take the old name, put in a new guy, and expect the same result. THE GONG SHOW and Chuck Barris were one and indivisible. Without Barris' attitude and anarchic nature, it's just not GONG. Best to leave it to memory (and by the way, when will we get GONG on DVD?).
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5-06-2008 @ 2:06PM
Pepper said...
I was on the original Gong Show when I was 14. It was a blast! I was a singing candy cane! I can't wait to see how the new one compares.
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5-06-2008 @ 2:12PM
Dave said...
Game Show Network did a Gong Show remake in its early days. It wasn't bad, but was shown to such a small audience at the time, it'll probably be tough to compare it.
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5-06-2008 @ 2:27PM
MERVE-THE-PERVE said...
I've been waiting for them to remake this show for 10 years. I hope they do like the original and use a variety of celebrity judges, as long as they are all funny. I wonder if they will bring back the unknown comic? He was my favorite, but I don't remember him being funny. I think he always got gonged and kept coming back.
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5-06-2008 @ 3:02PM
grumpyoldman said...
Sorry. This is only one Chuck Barris....only one Jaye P. Morgan..this is destined to be sad.
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