Twenty-two years ago, Chuck Barris sat down at his typewriter
with dreams of writing the great American novel. For a man dubbed
the “˜King of Shlock,’ it was admittedly a very big
dream.
His effort resulted in 1983’s “Confessions of a
Dangerous Mind,” in which Barris recounts his years as the
television producer of hit programs such as “The Dating
Game” and “The Gong Show,” along with that now
famous twist ““ his television career was a cover for his
other job as an assassin for the CIA.
Critics reviewed Barris’ book about as marginally as his
shows. They dismissed it out of hand as the work of a man whom they
felt had staked his career on representing the lowest common
denominator. Unlike “The Gong Show,” however ““
which earned huge ratings shares despite overwhelming criticism
““ “Confessions” failed to captivate a large
audience.
“We were left with about 95,000 copies, and I think we
printed about 100,000,” Barris said. “The critics said,
“˜What kind of book do you expect from the guy who gave us
“˜The Dating Game’ and “˜The Newlywed Game?’
So that ended the literary career.”
Twenty years later, however, Hollywood came knocking. The book
has been turned into a film directed by George Clooney and starring
Sam Rockwell. The book is back on shelves and is available in an
audio version read by Barris himself. The book’s newfound
popularity is a remarkable turn of events for Barris, now 73, who
plans to capitalize on the latent success of
“Confessions” by writing a sequel.
Considering the current popularity of reality-based television
shows like “American Idol,” it only seems natural that
“The Gong Show” ““ featuring amateur acts that
were terminated by hitting of a gong ““ would be resurrected
along with the book. According to Barris, there are no plans to
bring “The Gong Show” back on television, and there
shouldn’t be.
“When we went on the air it was like the act and me
against the world. There was a rapport between us, and that is hard
to reproduce,” Barris said. “These new shows like
“˜American Idol’ are so epic and huge, where we were
just kinda small. It was just a certain time, there weren’t
any other shows like (“˜The Gong Show’).”
Not only is Barris not a fan of today’s reality shows, he
says he never really liked game shows in the first place. At the
time that he was trying to launch a producing career, ABC was
looking for game shows to fill up its daytime schedule, so those
are the kinds of shows he started developing.
As a viewer, he prefers dramas like the “West Wing”
and “The Sopranos.” He is also a longtime
“Masterpiece Theater” aficionado. He says that despite
his initial reservations, he thinks the film version of his book
stands on its own.
“I had read the script and there were (screenwriter
Charlie) Kaufman-esque things sprinkled throughout which
didn’t sit right, but when I came out of George’s film
I just felt good about it. So that, to me, was the bottom
line,” Barris said.
For many critics, it is the facts presented in Barris’
book that still don’t sit right. But despite the enormous
pressure to come clean about whether he actually killed 33 people
as an assassin for the CIA, Barris still isn’t talking.
“It’s possible that everything I say I did, I
did,” Barris said. “I did send dates to Europe and I
did accompany them as a chaperone, but I’m not going to take
that aspect of it away by saying, “˜Yes, I did’ or
“˜No, I didn’t (kill people for the
CIA).'”
Barris seems to have a lot of stories that rely on elusive
facts. According to Barris, he wrote a song the UCLA marching band
once performed, but the details of that event are a bit of a
mystery.
“That was one of the better nights of my life when I went
to Pauley Pavilion and listened to them play this march. It might
have been called “˜The Gong Show March,’ but I doubt it.
I can’t remember, but I was so excited.”
Chuck Barris will discuss and sign his book, “Confessions
of a Dangerous Mind” tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.
at Barnes & Noble, 1201 Third Street in Santa
Monica, and Tuesday from 8 to 10 p.m. at Book Soup, 8818
Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood.