The Gong Show (2017) - General Discussion

[iMonrey]

So the show's already in reruns? I hadn't seen the one that aired last night (8/24/17). Although I had seen another one with Will Arnett as a judge. I wondered why he's been a judge twice in one season then saw his name listed as executive producer in the credits.

This show has a freak-show type of appeal to it and there's usually at least one act I find fascinating. Last night's was the jump-roping guy. But I still find the judging and the gonging to be ridiculously arbitrary and sometimes infuriating. That guy who played the piano from behind with his hands in reverse had crazy mad skills but dumb-ass Arnett only gave him a 3. Then that gross couple bird-feeding chewed bananas into each other's mouths ended up winning the whole show. WTF? They should have been gonged, that was way gross. And the lady who put the tarantula in her mouth should have been gonged the second she started inching it in that direction. Ugh. 

[lambertman]

There's one more new episode this summer, Sep 7.  A second season is iffy given the ratings, but not impossible.

[Cowgirl]

Drat, I missed the episode mentioned by iMonrey twice now.  Sounds like it would have ticked me off as well though, so it's probably for the best. So Will Arnett was a judge on that one too?  I think that's at least three episodes he judged.  Like you, I noticed last time I watched that he was an executive producer. I was bummed when I saw that, because I never want to see him as judge again.  

[iMonrey]

I seem to have missed several of these because I hadn't seen last night's either. It was actually a really good one for the most part - two acts were really good, the tap-dancing duo (they looked like father and daughter but it was really just a teacher and his student) and the bagpipe player with the drummers. Both tied and it was a real toss-up for me who was better. Also the yo-yo guy was pretty darn good and so was the limbo girl, although I thought of both of those as being more "tricks" than acts. Also couldn't figure out how the magician did that thing with the chicken's head . . . and probably don't want to know.

[LoneHaranguer]

The one thing that gave me pause about the tap dancing duo was that the girl started when she was four, and I'm not sure the show should be encouraging any wannabe showbiz parents out there.

[iMonrey]

Apparently Will Arnett was a judge in almost every episode. Just saw the one with Courtney Cox. I can't believe these knuckle-headed judges gave the grand prize to Flash Pants. That was one of the dumbest acts the whole night, I thought they should have been gonged. They certainly weren't more "talented" than the girls with the whips or the guys who juggled while playing those bells. Jeez. What criteria does Arnett use in picking the winner?

[LoneHaranguer]

37 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

What criteria does Arnett use in picking the winner?

In this case, I think the song entertained even if the act itself didn't really stand out. And it would have been a waste for the show to pay for the rights to its use if someone else was declared the winner.

[Cowgirl]

Arnett was not so jerky and gong-happy this time. I enjoyed him more.  But, I heartily agree that they were morons to award the prize to Flash Pants.  Ugh.

[lambertman]

ABC announced this morning that there will indeed be a second season!

[Cowgirl]

Yay!  Thanks lambertman!

[lynxfx]

I think this show is great for what it is. Not a talent competition show like AGT, but more of a silly showcase or variety show. The competition aspect of it is just so they have some kind of format to follow. It's similar to Whose Line where the points don't matter. It just adds a bit of structure. 

I get a kick out of the reactions just as much as the acts themselves. I like the interactions between the judges and Meyers as well. It seems like they genuinely crack each other up. 

Season 2 just started and the first ep shows they changed things up a bit. No more sing-a-long (thank god) and they sprinkle in some backstage post interviews. I think they only gonged 1 or 2 acts. They loaded this one with some decent talent. Noticed at the end there were a couple people on stage which weren't shown during the episode. ???

For anyone that watches AGT and this, did the walrus guy look like the guy that was the caterpillar on AGT? Pretty sure they are the same.

[Mr. Sparkle]

When was it on? I didn't see it listed. ABC is really not promoting this very hard! 

[lynxfx]

3 hours ago, Superclam said:

When was it on? I didn't see it listed. ABC is really not promoting this very hard! 

8pm on Thursdays followed by Match Game.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Thanks, I'll try to catch it on demand. On a slightly related note, I wonder if they're continuing with Battle of the Network Stars? They were like a duo on ABC last year. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

7 hours ago, lynxfx said:

For anyone that watches AGT and this, did the walrus guy look like the guy that was the caterpillar on AGT? Pretty sure they are the same.

Watching right now, and yes. He's not any funnier as the walrus. 

[hatchetgirl]

That took me about 10 min of thinking "what is wrong with that makeup?" before i realized it was a disguise, then it took me about 10 more trying to figure out it was Mike. Great job for him but there were some mannerisms that just couldn't be ignored.

[lynxfx]

That was one tough panel with Jason Sudeikis. It is odd though that they seem to always start with one of the strongest acts, which in past shows tends to receive all 10's. Because of that they end up with ties at the end. 

[iMonrey]

I didn't care for this judging panel at all. I still don't understand why Sharon Osbourne is famous. They gonged the jump ropers but not the gross eating group? WTF?

[Mr. Sparkle]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I still don't understand why Sharon Osbourne is famous. 

I've asked this question many times, and I've yet to receive a good answer. I think she's currently less famous than she was. 

[Phishbulb]

23 hours ago, lynxfx said:

That was one tough panel with Jason Sudeikis. It is odd though that they seem to always start with one of the strongest acts, which in past shows tends to receive all 10's. Because of that they end up with ties at the end. 

Yes, Sudeikis was such a tough judge I think this was maybe the first time the winner wasn't someone who got all 10s?

He gave an 8 to the little dog and a 5 to a 12-year-old girl! That's cold. 

Edit: Oops, I forgot he eventually bumped up the cupid girl's score to a 7. But still.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Phishbulb

[mortonsalt]

On 7/6/2018 at 12:35 PM, lynxfx said:

That was one tough panel with Jason Sudeikis. It is odd though that they seem to always start with one of the strongest acts, which in past shows tends to receive all 10's. Because of that they end up with ties at the end. 

Tonight was a little tough too; although not as bad as Jason Sudeikis's episode. I'm pretty sure Anthony Anderson didn't give out one "10", and I don't think Jimmy Kimmel did either. 

[lynxfx]

Anthony nailing his head with the gong stick was pretty funny. Surprised they just ignored it on the show but it didn't look like anyone else saw it.

[iMonrey]

None of the acts in this week's show were very good IMO, or even 10-worthy. The acrobatic family with the kids dressed as cats seemed kind of weird and they weren't all that impressive. I'd probably have given it to the dog, although we've seen more impressive dog acts too. The little girl who was doing the hip-hop dancing (?) basically had the same act as the mother and son who got gonged. One could argue she had better moves but we never got to see all of the mother and son's moves so who knows.

I've always thought Jimmy Kimmel was kind of an asshole. I don't watch his show regularly but I've heard him in interviews and in a particular podcast and he comes off kind of assholish.

[Phishbulb]

I thought the "cheerful vampire" and her assistant ("Trevor who works at Hot Topic") were pretty funny. I mean, their act was a standard magic trick from 50 years ago, but their banter was funny and they seemed to be inhabiting their characters pretty well. Most of the acts are funny in an unintentional way, but they actually seemed like legitimate comedic performers. 

Edited July 14, 2018 by Phishbulb

[Mr. Sparkle]

I also thought they were pretty funny. And I know this show is for exposure and a chance to be on tv and not necessarily about "winning," but all 3 judges really scored everyone low. It's like they had to pay $10 a point! 

[Diana Berry]

Who won the episode being judged by Jimmy Kimmel?  I fell asleep ty

 

also, I was pretty grossed put by Kimmel sticking his hand in his mouth and shaking hands.  I would have trended and said no way! Celebrity or no celebrity.

[Mr. Sparkle]

The first act (tumbling family dressed like cats) won. 

[Cowgirl]

I'm with you on all the fact that the last two judging panels have been too tough and curmudgeonly.  I also hate how, this season, the judges will sometimes go up and try to do the act themselves.  It's not all about you, you attention-hogging judges!  What if you break a piece of equipment?  It's not like any of these performers look like millionaires with enough money to replace what you break. Sit down!  Be nice!  Gong only when necessary.  And gross food-eating acts make it necessary, NOT kids' jumprope competitors!  Most of the acts have more talent than Will Arnett, that's for sure.  I thought Jimmy Kimmel would be a fun, sympathetic judge, but he was just as jerky as Arnett and Anthony Anderson.  Yeesh.  I have gotten so mad at the judges during these past two episodes I yelled at my t.v.  (Yikes!  I need to get out more!) It's just that I watch this for some light-hearted entertainment and mean overly-critical judges spoil the fun. If these acts were stellar, they would already have successful shows somewhere.  Give them a break.  

I kind of liked the guy in the overalls who set the barbeque on fire and balanced it on his chin.  That's rather impressive in my book.  If Hee Haw were still in production he might have been great on that show.

I'm glad they nixed the sing-along this season.  While it was a cute idea, it was a bit much for each episode and tended take too much time and drag down the show's pacing. 

One final thing -- I hate despise and loathe the blatty Gong Show band.  That trombone player is the worst!!

Edited July 17, 2018 by Cowgirl

[LoneHaranguer]

On 7/17/2018 at 1:01 PM, Cowgirl said:

I also hate how, this season, the judges will sometimes go up and try to do the act themselves.

In the original version, the judges sat behind a counter, which probably helped discourage that. It also gave them a good writing surface and had their names on it, which was helpful for viewers since so many judges on this show are somewhat less than A-listers.

[iMonrey]

They really didn't have very good acts this week except for that martial arts kid. Even so, I hate how they always cut to "Tommy Maitland" in the middle of every single act to show him goofing around. It's annoying AF. And I still don't get the point of Mike Myers playing this stupid character. 

[Cowgirl]

I kind of liked the pogo stick guy.  I thought they short-changed him. 

[iMonrey]

Holy crap the chicken guy was nightmare inducing. He should have been escorted out of the building entirely. 

I thought both the Hula Hoop girl and the Mime were better than the dancing cows. 

[lynxfx]

That mime was pretty amazing. I've see the effect done with a balloon before, but the suitcase made it look unworldly. Especially when the judge tried it and showed that it did have some weight to it.

[iMonrey]

Good gravy, Ken Jeong has the most annoying laugh in the world. 

I wanted to see the whole act with the long-armed guys. Balloon guy and bad magician were the ones they should have gonged.

[Cowgirl]

On 7/27/2018 at 1:07 PM, iMonrey said:

Holy crap the chicken guy was nightmare inducing. He should have been escorted out of the building entirely. 

I thought both the Hula Hoop girl and the Mime were better than the dancing cows. 

Agreed on both counts.  I am so sick of seeing the chicken guy!  He was also on America's Got Talent, and on this show previously.  They actually said it's his third time on, so I wonder what the other creature was?  On AGT He was a caterpillar.  I saw him previously on the Gong Show as a walrus.  The chicken was actually his best character, which is not saying much. 

[iMonrey]

Holy crap. He must be friends with a producer or something. 

[Phishbulb]

It's getting kind of irritating the way that the first act that comes out is usually always the best act (getting all 10s or close to it) and then they end up being the winner. I don't know if they go into each episode and edit it that way after the fact, but it seems like they do. (Acts that didn't appear in the show also mysteriously often appear in the crowd of acts at the end). There just seems to be a lot of post-production weirdness going on with this show. 

[dvr devotee]

I think the episode where the cows won is the same one where the French dude had trained the rabbit to do tricks like a dog. The cows got a total of like 29, where the rabbit got something like 12. The judges all got up and moved closer to see the act, and then when they gave such crappy scores, I was legitimately angry! Will Arnett gave a 2!

I don't mind judges giving scores below 7, jeez even give a 1 if you want, but I don't know how you can give the very first act you see a 10 when you don't know what else is coming. I also don't like when they don't gong but then all give 1s and 2s. 

I will say that I started enjoying the show once I realized it was Mike Myers playing a character. I only started watching this season, and I watched part of the first episode before turning it off because it was just too out there for me. I'm 36 so I never watched the original. Once I realized about Myers I was able to enjoy the show for the absurdity it is. I'm really watching for him and the judges and their interactions, and the cajoling that goes on when one judge wants to gong and another is super-interested in seeing the act. All in all, it's a decent bit of summer fluff.

[Babalooie]

Sound problems were very irritating on an already irritating show, but yet I watch.

[Ray Adverb]

I've gotten annoyed at the tendency to give very high scores to the first act, so that you pretty much immediately know the winner 5 minutes in.  I wish they would open with some weak acts.  Those 70 year old dancers were not worth a 30.

On 8/6/2018 at 4:25 PM, Cowgirl said:

Agreed on both counts.  I am so sick of seeing the chicken guy!  He was also on America's Got Talent, and on this show previously.  They actually said it's his third time on, so I wonder what the other creature was?  On AGT He was a caterpillar.  I saw him previously on the Gong Show as a walrus.  The chicken was actually his best character, which is not saying much. 

Was the chicken the same guy as the walrus?

 

He's probably on because one of the trademarks of The Gong Show has always been acts that aren't good, but are really weird.

[iMonrey]

Quote

 Those 70 year old dancers were not worth a 30.

No, they really weren't. I mean, good for them for doing some impressive moves for their age but if they were just 10 years younger they might have gotten gonged. I actually thought the most impressive act was the contortionist magician. And the whole time that guy had that dog on his head I was nervous for the poor dog. 

Quote

He's probably on because one of the trademarks of The Gong Show has always been acts that aren't good, but are really weird.

Some of them have actually been quite good, but definitely weird.

Yikes last week I had to endure Ken Jeong's awful annoying laugh and this week it was Natasha Leggero's. The show is deliberately trying to drive me crazy.

Edited August 10, 2018 by iMonrey

[lynxfx]

70 year old dancer on AGT, gets golden buzzer. 70 year old dancers on Gong Show, get perfect score and win. Been a strong month for 70 year old dancers.

Not the biggest Mark Cuban fan but he seemed to legitimately be enjoying himself and was a good sport whenever he volunteered. 

We've seen those blow up characters so many times now, but last night was the first time I really noticed how huge they actually are. When Meyers was standing in front of them while they talked it just looked so surreal. 

[Phishbulb]

The panel really dropped the ball by not giving the skeleton comedian guy three 6's. 

[lambertman]

On 8/10/2018 at 12:47 PM, iMonrey said:

Yikes last week I had to endure Ken Jeong's awful annoying laugh and this week it was Natasha Leggero's. The show is deliberately trying to drive me crazy.

If they ever book Jimmy Carr, do not tune in :)

[Cowgirl]

On 8/9/2018 at 9:38 AM, Phishbulb said:

Acts that didn't appear in the show also mysteriously often appear in the crowd of acts at the end). There just seems to be a lot of post-production weirdness going on with this show. 

I have noticed that too.  I just wondered if they were acts that performed but got cut out in editing.  Often their costumes are so bizarre, it makes me wish I could see their act.  

On 8/10/2018 at 8:32 AM, Ray Adverb said:

Was the chicken the same guy as the walrus?

I'm pretty sure he was.

On 8/10/2018 at 11:29 AM, lynxfx said:

70 year old dancer on AGT, gets golden buzzer. 70 year old dancers on Gong Show, get perfect score and win. Been a strong month for 70 year old dancers.

I noticed that too! Go grannies!  

On 8/9/2018 at 8:01 PM, dvr devotee said:

I think the episode where the cows won is the same one where the French dude had trained the rabbit to do tricks like a dog. The cows got a total of like 29, where the rabbit got something like 12. The judges all got up and moved closer to see the act, and then when they gave such crappy scores, I was legitimately angry! Will Arnett gave a 2!

I probably care way too much, but this infuriated me too.  Because of this show, I am truly starting to hate Will Arnett.  I hate that he's a producer too.  Ugh.  I thought the bunny rabbit was amazing. I thought the cows were going to be another one of those obvioiusly planted ready-for-gonging acts, because a bunch of them do seem to incorporate blow-up costumes like those.

[LoneHaranguer]

On 8/10/2018 at 10:32 AM, Ray Adverb said:

I wish they would open with some weak acts. 

They're afraid viewers who haven't seen the show before will give up and tune out if they do that. A good act will make them stick around, at least for a while. I think they should have kept it a half-hour, so that they'd still have the "may as well watch the rest" effect you don't have with an hour show.

[iMonrey]

Good lord I can't believe the cow guy almost one. Is he the same weirdo that did the chicken a few episodes back? Yeesh.

[Mr. Sparkle]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Good lord I can't believe the cow guy almost won. Is he the same weirdo that did the chicken a few episodes back? Yeesh.

I'm pretty sure he is, and he was also on AGT this season. 

[Ray Adverb]

At least the first act didn't get a huge score and become the most likely winner.  That was a nice change of pace.  I was pissed off when they gave that idiotic cow act a better score than the amazing balancing act before it. Ed Helms knocked off three points from that act because of some silly thing about sleeveless shirts.  I know that The Gong Show is supposed to be all about silliness and I shouldn't take it so seriously, but I really wish the judges would take judging more seriously.  They are so capricious.  I was worried about the stupid cow act winning until that circus act came in and beat it. 

[Phishbulb]

On 8/25/2018 at 7:17 AM, Ray Adverb said:

 I was pissed off when they gave that idiotic cow act a better score than the amazing balancing act before it

Or indeed the shadow puppet guy, what he did took actual talent.