Obscure new ‘Gong Show’ feels like it’s trolling us
From the moment the host of The Gong Show walks onto the stage, the point of view of ABC’s revival of the 1970s absurdist game show (Thursday, 10 ET/ PT) is immediately established. Clad in a tuxedo, Spanish-inspired hat and facial prosthetics, “British comedian Tommy Maitland” introduces himself to the studio audience and the episode’s celebrity judges, Will Arnett, Ken Jeong and Zach Galifianakis. Except his name is not Tommy Maitland. It’s Mike Myers.
Well, we have to assume it’s Mike Myers, because neither ABC nor anyone involved with the production of the new incarnation of The Gong Show will confirm — not officially, anyway — that it is indeed the Austin Powers star who’s behind the makeup and cheap jokes. From the host to the acts to the infamous gong signaling a bad act worthy of banishment, the revival is an exercise in trolling, leaving us unsure who’s in on the joke and who’s the butt of it.
The new version preserves the same essential format: A variety of weird acts — including a woman who plays the harmonica while she has a tarantula in her mouth and a bagpipe player riding a unicycle — gives it their all for the judges, hoping not to get “gonged,” which stops the performance in its tracks. Re- curring bits and characters fill the time between acts. The biggest change is the expanded hour-long format, but the fun had onscreen feels a little one-sided this time around.
The acts are performing in a different context in 2017, and most feel less like they’re zany for the fun of it than outrageous to provoke a response, much like a relentless Internet troll.
The series’ dated Hollywood aesthetic and current discussions of cultural appropriation come to a head in the premiere, when an Asian couple sings a song called Never Gong an Asian and are gonged by Asian judge Jeong. When they inquire about the historical accuracy of the gong, Jeong shrugs and replies, “Leave me out of this, I was Mr. Chow for three ( Hangover) movies.”
While a famous actor going full Method for a weird character is a reminder of the strange acts on the original show, Myers never fully connects with viewers, and doesn’t let us in on the Tommy Maitland joke. His prosthetics appear to be just a gimmick, making him even more unrelatable.
The original Gong was hosted with unbridled enthusiasm by Chuck Barris, who appeared to be having a genuinely good time no matter how bad the performances. Maybe that’s why the new version feels just a little more hollow and heartless.
Gong does manage to elicit laughs, depending on how much you buy into it. In the current summer reality-TV landscape, shows such as America’s Got Talent and the new World of Dance are sincere and sweet, even saccharine. For viewers who preferred the days of William Hung’s lambasted American Idol audition, Gong might be a breath of cynically fresh air.
That is, if you can stomach a tarantula in someone’s mouth.