Paul Reubens remembers Chuck Barris, ‘The Gong Show’
In the late 1970s, Chuck Barris was a patron of the arts to starving artists like Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman.
Reubens expressed his affection for the producer, who died on Tuesday at 87, as he recalled his 14 appearances on Barris’ late 1970s hit “The Gong Show.” Before that, he appeared three times as a contestant — in his nerdy Herman persona — on Barris’ “The Dating Game.”
Reubens received AFTRA sc ale payments, $500 in prize money if he won on “G o n g S h ow, ” a n d e ve n residuals for reruns. The money helped him focus on his craft as an actor and comedian with the Groundlings improv group.
“I’ve told people for years that Chuck Barris supported a lot of struggling artists,” Reubens t ol d Vari e t y. “I didn’t have to have a second job because of ‘The Gong Show’ for a couple of years.”
I n t r u t h , c o n t e s t a n t s weren’t supposed to make repeat visits to “Gong Show.” Reubens had to di sgui se himself in his various acts lest the show run afoul of the FCC rules that govern game shows following the quiz show scandals of the early 1960s. But a number of actors, comedians, and fellow Groundlings members were semi-regulars on “Gong Show,” because Barris knew they would deliver, even if they didn’t win.
Reubens didn’t spend much time w i t h B a r - r i s b e h i n d t h e s c e n e s b e c a u s e F C C r u l e s b a r off-camera fraternization between producers and contestants. “You couldn’t talk to the judges and you had to be escorted if you had to go to the bathroom,” Reubens recalled.
But over time he became acquainted with Barris, and the two saw each other occasionally after Reubens’ career took off in the 1980s.
“He was always friendly and funny with me,” Reubens said.
In addition to the c ash prizes from “Gong Show,” the “booby prizes” for losing were also memorable. One was a shrimp burger cooker, which came with a gift certificate to buy shrimp burgers. Another was a set of bowling balls. Reubens also received multiple cans of green paint, which were used to paint the green room at the Groundlings’ Melrose Avenue theater.
“Gong Show” taped at the NBC studio complex in Burbank. The show would plow through five episodes in a day. Reubens still remembers the chaotic atmosphere backstage.
“You were there with five shows’ worth of contestants — it was like a zoo,” Reubens said. “You’d be there with all these insane people who had driven across the country or taken a bus across the country for their shot at fame.”
For his first “Gong Show” outing in 1977, Reubens delivered a comedy routine about radio show sound effects with another actor-comedian, Charlotte McGinnis, a friend from his days studying theater at Boston University. They billed themselves as Betty and Eddie. After they won, Reubens and McGinnis took out a fullpage ad in Variety.
“I sat by the phone and waited for it to ring. I fully expected my life was going to change and my career would take off,” Reubens said. “I think we got one phone call and we had a meeting with a manager.”
Having “Gong Show” on his résumé didn’t land him much in the way of paying gigs. But the “Dating Game” appearances (Reubens thinks it was 1976) helped him hone the Herman character that would be his springboard to fame. He knew from his first “Dating Game” audition that Herman was destined for greatness.
“It helped me in terms of understanding the power of the character and how the outside world reacted to it,” Reubens said. “It made me realize that I was really going to be this person on stage.”
ographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge, a virtual guarantee that the frequently revived show will brim with staging originality. For starters, she keeps this musical about itinerant performers – told in 17 scenes and as many locales – on the move with a central revolving stage. And as she did with “Fiddler on the Roof ” two seasons ago, Dodge almost perversely refuses to settle for iconic steps and stage pictures.
S uppor t i ng L e wi s i s a first-rate cast, most notably Emma Stratton as the grown Louise/Gypsy, who makes the tricky transition from awkward duckling to self-assured swan look easy. Rose’s romantic interest Herbie, her doormat of a booking agent, is usually a thankless assignment, but John Scherer demonstrates that it need not be as he develops a backbone and stands up to her.
And in one of the musical theater’s true can’t-miss comic scene-stealers, three misshapen, over-the-hill strippers – Kirsten Wyatt, Katie Thompson and Jeanne Bennett, all terrific – enter at the 11th hour to educate Louise in the art of striptease gimmickry.
Picking up on the theme of touring, scenic designer Michael Schweikardt fills the stage periphery with artful towers of steamer trunks. Costumer Leon Wiebers plants his tongue firmly in his cheek to come up with cheesy vaudeville garb and an adorable two-part cow outfit, as well as Louise/Gypsy’s fast-change and breakaway gowns.
Paul Miller’s lighting is also very versatile, switching back and forth between onstage and off. And the estimable Helen Gregory leads a 12-piece orchestra from the brassy, mood-setting overture to the histrionic finale, two-and-a-halfhours later.
You will not be staring at your watch at any point in the evening, however. For with “Gypsy,” you are in the hands of a virtuoso team of writers and a Maltz cast and crew at the top of their game. Go ahead, let them entertain you.