The Gong Show - Foreign Versions

Foreign Versions

• 'Sabse Badhkar Gong ("The Gong's The Boss") ran in India on Sony TV in the mid-1990s as an officially licensed format. Since its acquisition of the Chuck Barris game show library in 1989, Sony has owned the Gong Show format and has licensed it to India and Indonesia.

• Red Faces, a segment on the long running Australian variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday was also similar to The Gong Show.

• Trans TV in Indonesia and Sony Pictures Television commissioned an Indonesian version called Gong Show.

• A one-off British version of The Gong Show aired on Channel 4 at Christmas 1985. The compere was Frankie Howerd. The show was deemed a failure and a series was not commissioned; this was considered surprising, as the station had recently been airing episodes of the original American series and had been getting high audience ratings from them. In 2006, BBC Television aired Let Me Entertain You, a talent show with a similar format to The Gong Show.

• The Spanish language program Sábado Gigante regularly airs a similar segment, El Chacal de la Trompeta ("The Jackal of the Trumpet"). During this contest, six contestants are given the chance to sing a song, with the bad performers being eliminated mid-song by el chacal, a ghostlike character who blows an old trumpet to end such acts. Unlike The Gong Show, el chacal does not have to wait a specific amount of time before eliminating someone (on many occasions, players have been eliminated almost immediately after beginning). The "surviving" performers are voted on by the audience, with the one receiving the most applause winning a prize or some cash.

• In the world of NASCAR, Roush Racing's auditions for future drivers are called "The Gong Show". The process was aired as the Discovery Channel reality series Roush Racing: Driver X.