Published at 1:12 PM on July 23, 2008

By Sara Miller

Gong Show and Match Game to return, bring funny back

Gas prices and unemployment rates are skyrocketing, America's trust in its ostensible leader is faltering, and all anybody wants to do is dance. Meanwhile, televisions across the country glow with the perfect panacea for the ills of a troubled nation—comedy! + money!—on programs like Match Game and The Gong Show... wait, what's that? It's not the late '70s? Then why am I wearing these bellbottoms?

After the recent premiere of Comedy Central's remake of The Gong Show, hosted by Insomniac Dave Attell, and last month's taping of a new Match Game pilot, perhaps one could be forgiven for forgetting that it's 2008, not 1979. 

Both shows featured ordinary Americans alongside colorful celebrities, albeit playing rather different roles. On The Gong Show, a trio of judges wielding mallets (including Steve Martin, Dave Letterman, Jaye P. Morgan and Rip Taylor) would rate acts based on their "talent"—if, after 20 seconds, the dancer/juggler/singer/popsicle licker wasn't passing muster, the judges would gong them back into obscurity. It was less about winning the money than gaining exposure, as Gong Show contestants like Paul Reubens and Oingo Boingo could testify. Match Game was more focused on contestants gettin' that cash, but the real point was to showcase the zingy one-liners and double entendres spouted by panelists Richard Dawson, Fannie Flagg, Betty White, Brett Somers and good ol' Charles Nelson Reilly. 

Now that we're back in economic crunch times, not to mention the throes of a seemingly never-ending love affair with reality TV, network executives have heeded the siren call of retreading the popular programming of yesteryear. The new Gong Show—executive-produced by Adam Sandler (who probably would've slayed on the old Gong Show with "Red Hooded Sweatshirt")—kicked off last week, with Attell attempting to fill the many-hatted role of host Chuck Barris and judges nearly as random as those on the '70s edition of the show (a rogue's gallery featuring Dave Navarro, Andy Dick, Triumph the Comic Insult Dog and Brian Posehn). Oh, and the new talent? Two words: Queen Laqueefah. 

Match Game '08 (or possibly '09) sounds even more tantalizing, with panelists including Sarah Silverman, Norm McDonald, Bob "Super Dave Osborne" Einstein (a comedy legend who may be most familiar to Paste readers as "The Surrogate" on Arrested Development), Niecy Nash (Reno 911!), Kids in the Hall's Scott Thompson, and The Office's Rashida Jones. Although TBS ordered the pilot in March, no word has emerged on whether the network will pick it up. However, the pilot did tape in L.A. in mid-June, and favorable reports say the new Match Game has a set "just like the original one" and the skinny microphone favored by longtime host Gene Rayburn. With medical marijuana scrips on the rise, how could TBS afford to not pick this show up?

In the meantime, take a moment to forget your pinched nerves and wallets with the soothing sounds of the "Water Symphony," from last week's Gong Show premiere:



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