The Gong Show Movie
{{short description|1980 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Gong Show Movie
| image = Poster of the movie The Gong Show Movie.jpg
| caption =
| director = Chuck Barris
| writer = {{plainlist|
- Chuck Barris
- Robert Downey
}}
| based_on = {{based_on|The Gong Show|Chris Bearde}}
| producer = Budd Granoff
| starring = {{plainlist|
- Chuck Barris
- Robin Altman
- James B. Douglas
- Mabel King
- Jaye P. Morgan
- Rip Taylor
}}
| cinematography = Richard C. Glouner
| editing = {{plainlist|
- Jacqueline Cambas
- James Mitchell
- Sam Vitale
}}
| music = Milton DeLugg
| distributor = Universal Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1980|5|23}}
| runtime = 89 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $6.6 million{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gongshowmovie.htm|title=The Gong Show Movie|work=Box Office Mojo|access-date=2014-09-20|archive-date=2014-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041649/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gongshowmovie.htm|url-status=live}}
}}
The Gong Show Movie is a 1980 American slapstick film starring, co-written and directed by Chuck Barris, host of the game show of the same name.{{cite web|title=The Gong Show Movie|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/93553/The-Gong-Show-Movie/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134128/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/93553/The-Gong-Show-Movie/overview|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|publisher=Baseline & All Movie Guide|author=Sandra Brennan|date=2015|archive-date=2015-04-02}}
Plot
The film shows a fictional week in the life of Chuck Barris as the host and creator of The Gong Show, through a series of outrageous competitors, stressful situations, a nervous breakdown (which compels him to run away and hide in the Moroccan desert) and other comic hijinks in his life and work on the TV show. Among the highlights included a group of men dressed as a Roman Catholic priest and three nuns lip-synching Tom Lehrer's song "The Vatican Rag", a man blowing out a candle with flatulence, and the uncensored version of Jaye P. Morgan's infamous breast-baring incident.
Reception
The film premiered in May 1980 alongside The Empire Strikes Back and The Shining, beating the latter at the box office in its opening weekend but losing to the former. The film received uniformly negative reviews and was withdrawn from most theaters just days after its release.
Among the many bad reviews at the time was one from George Burns, who, after seeing the movie, went on the record and said, "For the first time in 65 years, I wanted to get out of show business."{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/1999/06/11/gong-show-debuts/|work=Entertainment Weekly|date=June 11, 1999|title=The Gong Show debuts|authorlink=A. J. Jacobs|first=A. J.|last=Jacobs|access-date=July 14, 2024|archive-date=January 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127102359/https://ew.com/article/1999/06/11/gong-show-debuts/|url-status=live}}
Home media
The movie was occasionally seen on cable television during the 1980s but was long out of print until it achieved cult status; it was released on Blu Ray in 2016.{{cite web |last1=Tasho |first1=Ken |title=The Gong Show Movie |url=https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/194255 |website=EDGE Media Network |access-date=11 September 2024 |language=en |archive-date=11 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911164735/https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/194255 |url-status=live }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0080808}}
- {{TCMDb title|76685|The Gong Show Movie}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|gong_show_movie}}
{{The Gong Show}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gong Show Movie, The}}
Category:American comedy films
Category:Films about television
Category:Films about quizzes and game shows
Category:Films based on television series
Category:Films with screenplays by Robert Downey Sr.
Category:Universal Pictures films
Category:1980 directorial debut films
Category:1980s English-language films
Category:English-language comedy films
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