Recently I caught a commercial for
America's Got Talent - the NBC show that allows people to get their fifteen seconds (let's be honest, the pace of life has sped up a whole lot since the 70's)of fame. Some of them have some really impressive talents, but others are just plain awful. Honestly, though, it's the latter group that is so much fun to watch. Today I offer you some of the more entertaining videos from YouTube.com, and they're totally
moppet-free.
But let's be honest,
America's Got Talent is just a rip off of a concept that
Chuck Barris did a whole lot better on the
The Gong Show. To give you an idea of the joy that was
The Gong Show here are a few clips collected from (surprise) YouTube.com. Sadly, though, there are no clips of The Popsicle Twins.
The true star of the show wasn't the acts, however, it was Chuck Barris himself. He was such an awful host (and he admitted it) that he was amazingly enjoyable to watch. Chuck was the difference between
America's Got Talent and
The Gong Show. It's one thing to see people make fools of themselves, but it's another to have a charistmatic host let us know that it's okay to laugh at and with these folks. Regis, you're no Chucky Baby.
After
The Gong Show went off the air, Chuck's professional fates headed southward as a nation that had embraced him simply moved on. And then Chuck wrote a little book (later made into a
movie) telling the world the story of his time - during the
Gong Show-era - as a CIA hitman, killing people in exotic locales around the world. There were, of course, questions about the
veracity of the tale, but Chuck has never publicly recanted the story. Chuck really is a fascinating man whose career spans some of the great, wacky days of television, and if you'd like to know more, check out one of these interviews:
Recently I caught a commercial for America's Got Talent - the NBC show that allows people to get their fifteen seconds (let's be honest, the pace of life has sped up a whole lot since the 70's)of fame. Some of them have some really impressive talents, but others are just plain awful. Honestly, though, it's the latter group that is so much fun to watch. Today I offer you some of the more entertaining videos from YouTube.com, and they're totally moppet-free.
The true star of the show wasn't the acts, however, it was Chuck Barris himself. He was such an awful host (and he admitted it) that he was amazingly enjoyable to watch. Chuck was the difference between America's Got Talent and The Gong Show. It's one thing to see people make fools of themselves, but it's another to have a charistmatic host let us know that it's okay to laugh at and with these folks. Regis, you're no Chucky Baby.
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