The Gong Show (U.S. Syndicated Series)

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. In 2014, Lady Luck Productions, working in conjunction with Sony Pictures Television, announced that they was going to bring back The Gong Show, with David Faustino (Bud Bundy of Married... with Children) as host.

Format
Like the original version, each show presented a contest between amateur performers of often dubious talent, with a panel of three celebrity judges. If any judge considered an act to be particularly bad, he or she could force it to stop by striking a large gong, a trope adapted from the durable radio show Major Bowes Amateur Hour. Most of the performers took the gong with sheepish good grace, but there were exceptions.

Panelists have to wait 45 seconds before they could gong an act. When an act was on the verge of being gonged, the laughter and anticipation built as the judges patiently waited to deliver the strike. They would stand up slowly and heft their mallets deliberately, letting everyone know what was coming. Sometimes, pantomimed disputes would erupt between judges, as one would attempt to physically obstruct another from gonging the act. The camera would cut back and forth between the performers onstage, and the mock struggle over their fate. Some acts were so bad that they were "Gang-Gonged", with two or even all three judges striking the gong at once. On rare occasions, judges found an act so terrible that they would go onstage, hand a mallet to the performer, and lead him/her back to the table to gong him/herself out.

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. The contestant who achieved the highest combined score won the grand prize: a check for $1,000 and a "Golden Gong" trophy. In the event of a tie the studio audience determined the winner by applause.

When the host announce the final score, a midget in formal wear would run onstage, throwing confetti while balloons dropped from overhead. On rare occasions, two acts that tied for highest score would each receive the check and trophy. No prize was awarded if all of the acts on a particular episode were gonged.