Chuck Barris
Creator
Biography
Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host. He was best known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. He was also a songwriter who wrote "Palisades Park", recorded by Freddy Cannon and also recorded by Ramones. He also wrote or co-wrote some of the music that appeared on his game shows. He wrote an autobiography titled Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which was made into the film of the same title starring Sam Rockwell and directed by George Clooney. He formed his production company, Chuck Barris Productions, on June 14, 1965. His first success came in 1965 with The Dating Game, which aired on ABC. The show ran until 1980 and was twice revived, later in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1966, he began The Newlywed Game, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir, also for ABC. The show is the longest lasting of any developed by his company, broadcast until 1985, for a total of 19 full years on both "first run" network TV and syndication. He became a public figure in 1976 when he produced and served as the host of the talent show spoof The Gong Show, which he packaged in partnership with TV producer Chris Bearde. It ran only two seasons on NBC (1976–78) and four in syndication (1976–80). It has had four subsequent revivals, one under Barris' title (with Don Bleu) in 1988–1989, one on The Game Show Network in 2000 called Extreme Gong and another with current format owner Sony Pictures Television (with Dave Attell) in 2008. A fourth version, produced by Will Arnett and hosted by fictional British celebrity "Tommy Maitland" (Mike Myers), aired on ABC in 2017. In 1980, he starred in and directed The Gong Show Movie. The film was a major failure at the box office. In 1984, he wrote an autobiography, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. In the book, he states that he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as an assassin in the 1960s and 1970s in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. A 2002 feature film version depicts Barris killing 33 people. He wrote a sequel to the autobiography in 2004 called Bad Grass Never Dies. The CIA denied Barris ever worked for them in any capacity. After the release of the movie, CIA spokesman Paul Nowack said Barris' assertions that he worked for the CIA “[are] ridiculous. It's absolutely not true". In an interview on NBC's Today Show in 1984, Barris admitted to having made the story up. His first wife was Lyn Levy, the niece of one of the founders of CBS. Their marriage lasted from 1957 to 1976, ending in divorce. They had a daughter, Della, who frequently appeared on The Gong Show, usually introducing her father. Della died of an alcohol and cocaine overdose in 1998 at the age of 36. At the time of her death, she was HIV positive. He published Della: A Memoir of My Daughter in 2010 about the death of his only child and her struggle with drug addiction. In 1980, he married Robin Altman, 23 years his junior, and they divorced in 1999. The following year, he married Mary Clagett. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in the 1990s. After undergoing surgery to remove part of his lung, he contracted an infection and spent a month in intensive care. He died on March 21, 2017, of natural causes at the age of 87 at home in Palisades, NY, where he lived with his wife, Mary.
Known For
David Letterman uses mature humor to appeal to his audience in this weeknight series, which gets its music from a house band led by Paul Shaffer. Among the show's most-famous segments are the Top Ten List and Stupid Pet Tricks, the latter of which subsequently led to an additional recurring segment called Stupid Human Tricks.
Late Show with David Letterman
Stepping into the late-late slot vacated by David Letterman, Conan O'Brien stars in a show that far outdoes its competition in sheer strangeness. Along with the celebrity interviews and musical numbers typical of late-night talk shows, this program make frequent use of odd walk-on characters and frequent "visits" from celebrity guests.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.
Sanford and Son
The Newlywed Game is an American television dating game show that pits newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally created by Robert "Nick" Nicholson and E. Roger Muir and produced by Chuck Barris, has appeared in many different versions since its 1966 debut. The show became famous for some of the arguments that couples had over incorrect answers in the form of mistaken predictions, and it even led to some divorces. Many of The Newlywed Game's questions dealt with "making whoopee", the euphemism that producers used for sexual intercourse to circumvent network censorship. However, it became such a catchphrase of the show that its founding host, Bob Eubanks, continued to use the word throughout the show's many runs, even in the 1980s and 1990s episodes and beyond, when he could easily have said "make love" or "have sex" without censorship. GSN's version of The Newlywed Game airs reruns throughout the week. Network Bounce TV has acquired the reruns from GSN. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #10 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever.
The Newlywed Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it continued in syndication for another year as The New Dating Game. It was revived as follows: 1978–1980, 1986–1989 and 1996–1999. For years it was almost always aired in tandem with another Barris production, The Newlywed Game, which premiered on ABC the following year. The show was a forerunner of a number of other shows themed in the same style.
The Dating Game
Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. Television producer by day, CIA assassin by night, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA at the height of his TV career and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
The Gong Show with Dave Attell is a revival of the 1970s Chuck Barris comedy game show called The Gong Show, hosted by comedian Dave Attell. The show premiered on July 17, 2008. It was produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison Productions and Sony Pictures Television.
The Gong Show with Dave Attell
The Gong Show is an 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. The show was produced by Chuck Barris, who also served as host for the NBC run and from 1977 to 1980 in syndication. The show is best remembered for its absurdist humor and style, often awarding participants ridiculous and worthless prizes.
The Gong Show
Hugo Pool is a quirky tale of a Los Angeles pool cleaner who falls in love with a young man dying of Lou Gerhig's Disease.
Hugo Pool
A week in the life of "The Gong Show" host and creator Chuck Barris.
The Gong Show Movie
How's Your Mother-in-Law? was a comedy game show hosted by Wink Martindale that aired on ABC from December 4, 1967 to March 1, 1968. The series was produced and created by Chuck Barris during a period which, as he recounted in his autobiography Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, had him creating horrible formats due to the success of The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game.
How's Your Mother-in-Law?
The Chuck Barris Story: My Life on the Edge is a special documentary about the creator of The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game and creator and host of The Gong Show Chuck Barris. Chronicling the tragedies of his life including harsh criticisms from the press and his peers, a number of failed marriages, working for the C.I.A and the loss of his daughter due to a drug overdose.
The Chuck Barris Story: My Life On The Edge
"Mama" Cass Elliott of 1960s vocal group The Mamas and the Papas stars in this television variety special, performing comic sketches with Buddy Hackett and other Hollywood stars and singing solo versions of hit songs such as "California Dreamin'." Filmed in 1969 as a pilot for a series that never came to pass, this groovy, fun-filled show also features performances from other '60s music icons: Joni Mitchell, Mary Travers and John Sebastian.
The Mama Cass Television Program
The $1.98 Beauty Show is an American game show that aired in syndication from September 1978 to September 1980. Hosted by Rip Taylor, the series is a parody of beauty contests, and featured six female contestants competing for the title of "$1.98 Beauty Queen". Chuck Barris created the series and was executive producer while Johnny Jacobs announced.
The $1.98 Beauty Show
No description available.
The Chuck Barris Rah-Rah Show
Treasure Hunt is an American television game show that ran in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s. The show featured contestants selecting a treasure chest or box with surprises inside, in the hope of winning large prizes or a cash jackpot.
Treasure Hunt
No description available.
Cop Out
The incredible story of Chop Chop Chang, a world famous circus chimpanzee who is secretly trained by the CIA into a deadly assassin.
Chop Chop Chang: Operation C.H.I.M.P
The Game Game is a game show hosted by Jim McKrell. It was packaged by Chuck Barris and aired during the 1969-1970 season; the show was Barris' first syndicated program.
The Game Game
Three's a Crowd is an American game show originally packaged by Chuck Barris Productions. The first version aired in syndication from September 17, 1979 to February 1, 1980. The second version ran in 2000 on Game Show Network.