episode 66 - Chuck Barris - part 01

Part 1: In this interview, which features video clips from selected Barris TV shows, game show producer and author Chuck Barris reveals how he got his start in television and created the classic American games shows, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and The Gong Show. Barris explains that his shows introduced spontaneity on TV, says that he learned much about human nature from his contestants, and states that he always treated his contestants with respect. Producing and hosting The Gong Show five days a week from 1976-1980 forced Barris to come up with ever more outlandish ways to maintain the show's energy; this eventually took its toll. Barris reveals that he is no longer involved with television nor has he been involved with revivals of his shows.

Part 2: In this episode, game show producer and author Chuck Barris focuses on his career as a novelist, which he undertook after concluding his 20-year career in television. Barris talks about his 1982 book, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but demurs when host Paula Marantz Cohen asks him point blank if he really was a hit man for the CIA as he maintains in the book. Barris discusses the 2003 hit movie version of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, directed by and starring George Clooney. Barris also chats about his other novels, among them Bad Grass Never Dies and The Big Question. He says that writing his hit pop song, "Palisades Park," was one of his greatest joys and that he wants to be remembered more as a writer than a TV producer.