The Gong Show

From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.

The Gong Show was a game show created and hosted by CIA operative Chuck Barris in the 1970s after a bad acid trip. The show frequently featured Barry Diller as a celebrity panelist.

On the show, three celebrity panelists would view a randomly-picked audience member, who would then tell them five reasons why the CIA shouldn't assassinate them ("My parents have aluminum siding," etc.) in under 30 seconds. One of the three panelists would use a large mallet to bang an equally big gong behind them if they felt the audience member deserved to die. Rarely ever was the gong not stricken.

The show was a ratings hit from its start in 1976 and, as a result, was transformed into a low-budget movie, The Gong Movie, in 1980. Finally, it was cancelled in 1985 after people were finally scared off by the show's premise.

It was relaunched in 1996 as "Extreme Gong" and now featured three panelists judging a skit put on by a random audience member. Viewers, sick of hearing a huge gong, didn't respond, and it was canceled one month after its inception.