General & Miscellaneous Games, Television Production & Direction - Biography, Television Personalities - Biography, Television Programs - General & Miscellaneous, Television & Radio - Biography
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
Chuck Barris reinvented television. And when he was through, he moved to the south of France. This memoir is about becoming king of the game show and why Peter Mayle got it all wrong. So how does a boy from south Philadelphia, the fellow who created the Dating Game, the Newlywed Game, and the Gong Show find happiness on the Cote d' Azur - especially if he fractures the language, is homesick for football, and knows in his heart of hearts that he's got at least one more prime-time hit in him struggling for air time? Painfully candid, remarkably informative, and alive with spark, wit, and intelligence, this chronicle may well be the funniest confession ever written. The end began a few years ago with the Popsicle Twins, an act performed by a pair of nubile Valley Girls on the Gong Show that almost shut down NBC. Chuck Barris was not only the creator and producer of the program, he was also its host, and therefore, the man responsible. He had, finally, gone too far. So, he sold Chuck Barris Productions and decamped with his beautiful wife to the hills above Saint-Tropez. He soon had a villa, a classic speedboat, lots of unwanted guests, and was being kicked toward the conclusion that the charm of the country would be considerably enhanced if one could only figure out how to get rid of the French people. The new beginning ended when Chuck Barris realized that having all your dreams come true isn't what it's cracked up to be. So, back to Los Angeles and the real dream-makers. Can't a guy who wrote a rock and roll standard, a guy who made himself into a champion boule player make the legend live again? The answer to that, and to why Bill Clinton would rather talk with Nicole Kidman (Mrs. Tom Cruise), can be found in these pages, a confession that would make St. Augustine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau envious. But before then, in 1972, Chuck Barris wrote a love story (You and Me Babe, which spent seven weeks on the New York Times best-seller list). At that time he was theEditorials
Publishers Weekly -
This autobiography may surprise some readers: while Barris covers his many successful television game shows in some detail, his primary emphasis is on his retirement years in St. Tropez. (He also describes one unhappy return trip to L.A., which convinced him that he didn't want to go home again.) Starting in 1965 with The Dating Game , Barris racked up hit after hit with shows like The Newlywed Game , Dream Girls , The Family Game , The Parent Game , The $1.98 Beauty Show and his most famous and controversial effort, The Gong Show , considered sadistic by many because it featured individuals with minimal talents or skills otherwise unmarketable. Barris ruled the field until 1986, when he moved to the Riviera. France and the French irritated him considerably, but they were real--which, he discovered on his return to La La Land, Hollywood was not. Enlivened by many amusing anecdotes, this is a good read. 40,000 first printing; $40,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Nov.)Library Journal
Chuck Barris is living proof of H. L. Mencken's assertion that no one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the masses. After all, this is the man who gave TV viewers The Dating Game , The Newlywed Game , and The Gong Show . These popular programs earned Mr. B a great fortune and, when he picked himself to host The Gong Show , enormous fame. At some point--the author suggests around 1980, when his one foray into motion pictures, The Gong Show Movie , laid an ostrich-sized egg--it started to go sour. By 1986 Barris was ready to sell his company , and the next year he and his wife moved to the south of France. End of story? Not quite, but, unfortunately, Barris spends an inordinate amount of time describing life in St. Tropez and not enough behind the scenes in TV to make this worthwhile for most collections.-- Thomas Wiener, formerly with ``American Film''Book Details
Published
November 1, 1993
Publisher
Carroll & Graf Pub
Pages
240
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780786700028