'The Gong Show' Is Returning to TV
Will Arnett is executive producer of the new ABC show.
— -- ABC’s had good luck bringing back old-school game shows like "Match Game" and "$100,000 Pyramid."
Now the network is reviving the "The Gong Show."
“ABC has tapped into the nostalgia and excitement of prime-time game shows,” said Rob Mills, senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials & Late-Night Programming for the network. “We are thrilled to add ‘The Gong Show’ to ABC’s schedule spearheaded by the incomparable Will Arnett.”
"LEGO Movie" and former "Arrested Development" star Arnett is producing the update. The series, which ran from 1976-78 on NBC, and in syndication from 1976 to 1980, had performers of various levels of talent doing their thing for a panel of judges, who could bang a gong to give them the hook if things got too bad.
Unlike in the show's previous iteration, the internet will the source from which producers will find talent.
"The comedy culture we are living in has finally caught up to ‘The Gong Show,’ so the timing is perfect," said Holly Jacobs, executive vice president, Reality and Syndication Programming for Sony Pictures Television. "We've found just the right partners to bring back this iconic original."
An earlier attempt to bring the show back in 1988 was short-lived.