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American Morning

Interview with Chuck Barris

Aired December 27, 2002 - 08:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chuck Barris created TV classics such as "The Dating Game" and "The Gong Show," and in his autobiography, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," he also claims, get this, he was a CIA agent.
Today, nearly two decades after his publication, a movie version of his book is opening, and our Bill Hemmer talked with Barris about his unusual life story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The plot of your transfer to film is what?

CHUCK BARRIS, AUTHOR, "CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND": It's the premise take a guy who has been crucified by the television critics for trying to entertain people, and meanwhile, getting covert medals and citations from the president for killing enemies of the United States.

HEMMER: How real to life is this to your life?

BARRIS: Well, I can't really deny it or confirm it. It's just -- it's a thing that I wrote. I wrote the book 20 years ago. And it was at a bad time. All of these programs of mine were canceled. I did a movie that came and went on a weekend. So I holed up in a Wyndham Hotel for about two years, wrote this, it came and went, and that was it -- boom.

HEMMER: And here we are 21 years later?

BARRIS: George Clooney directs the movie and it's out in the open again.

HEMMER: Back to the CIA issue, and I know you're not going to go there, but the speculation is that you were an agent working overseas at the same time as a game show host, and you're saying you won't confirm or deny that?

BARRIS: No.

HEMMER: So it is possible it's all true? You just wasn't talk about it?

BARRIS: That's exactly right.

HEMMER: How did Clooney do in the debut of the movie? BARRIS: George is remarkable. This is his first directing thing, and I think he's one of the best directors. It's a -- I think he's a better director than he is an actor, and I think he is a great actor.

HEMMER: What did you see in him that you thought that?

BARRIS: I mean, I'm a movie buff, and I just watched this movie, and I can't believe what he did, but he, too, is a major movie buff.

HEMMER: And on top of that, you've got Julia Roberts in the film, Brad Pitt makes an appearance.

BARRIS: Brad and Matt Damon come in, Drew Barrymore, and Sam Rockwell plays me, and George insisted that he do it, or he wouldn't make the movie, and Sam is great.

HEMMER: Heck of a list. I want to talk about "The Gong Show" here, go back to the '70s. At one time, I think you were quoted as saying that "The Gong Show" was the biggest scam ever. Scam how?

BARRIS: Well, scam in that you are getting paid for doing this stuff and you can't believe it. To me, "The Gong Show" was a rip. I mean, here we had -- we went out looking for great talent, and we couldn't find any. What we found was bad talent. So rather than...

HEMMER: But entertaining bad talent, would you not agree?

BARRIS: Sure. So we switched it, and, to me, that was one of the great scams of all time.

HEMMER: Why hasn't "The Gong Show" been recreated? I would think an audience in 2002, 2003 is right for something like that.

BARRIS: I think "American Idol" is sort of "Gong Show" redux only in epic proportions, and that's what happened today. Reality programming, I think, has just grown and grown and grown.

HEMMER: And you were the man who started it, quite possibly?

BARRIS: Yes, basically, was "The Newlywed Game," four couples and eight questions and a refrigerator. I mean, that was our show. But now, you have these huge things, "Survivor" and all of that stuff, "Fear Factor." I couldn't create those shows if you put a gun to my head.

HEMMER: You mentioned "The Newlywed Game," "The Dating Game" is also one of your creations, "The Gong Show." What were you tapping into, in terms of the human side of America that attracted people to watch those shows?

BARRIS: It was just identification. That was the whole -- my whole key was spontaneous, no answers, and identification. I mean, we all can identify with dating and...

HEMMER: And marriage. BARRIS: "Newlywed," I even had a game called "How's Your Mother- in-Law." I mean, I would try anything where people could relate, and I figured that was the answer.

HEMMER: Why did you not think of "The Bachelor" in the 1970s? You probably haven't seen that show either?

BARRIS: No, I haven't, but it's a good show.

HEMMER: Thanks, Chuck Barris, good to see you. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind."

BARRIS: Appreciate it.

HEMMER: And we did not give the confession about the CIA, but we're still working on it.

Good luck to you and your wife, OK.

BARRIS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 27, 2002 - 08:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chuck Barris created TV classics such as "The Dating Game" and "The Gong Show," and in his autobiography, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," he also claims, get this, he was a CIA agent.
Today, nearly two decades after his publication, a movie version of his book is opening, and our Bill Hemmer talked with Barris about his unusual life story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The plot of your transfer to film is what?

CHUCK BARRIS, AUTHOR, "CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND": It's the premise take a guy who has been crucified by the television critics for trying to entertain people, and meanwhile, getting covert medals and citations from the president for killing enemies of the United States.

HEMMER: How real to life is this to your life?

BARRIS: Well, I can't really deny it or confirm it. It's just -- it's a thing that I wrote. I wrote the book 20 years ago. And it was at a bad time. All of these programs of mine were canceled. I did a movie that came and went on a weekend. So I holed up in a Wyndham Hotel for about two years, wrote this, it came and went, and that was it -- boom.

HEMMER: And here we are 21 years later?

BARRIS: George Clooney directs the movie and it's out in the open again.

HEMMER: Back to the CIA issue, and I know you're not going to go there, but the speculation is that you were an agent working overseas at the same time as a game show host, and you're saying you won't confirm or deny that?

BARRIS: No.

HEMMER: So it is possible it's all true? You just wasn't talk about it?

BARRIS: That's exactly right.

HEMMER: How did Clooney do in the debut of the movie? BARRIS: George is remarkable. This is his first directing thing, and I think he's one of the best directors. It's a -- I think he's a better director than he is an actor, and I think he is a great actor.

HEMMER: What did you see in him that you thought that?

BARRIS: I mean, I'm a movie buff, and I just watched this movie, and I can't believe what he did, but he, too, is a major movie buff.

HEMMER: And on top of that, you've got Julia Roberts in the film, Brad Pitt makes an appearance.

BARRIS: Brad and Matt Damon come in, Drew Barrymore, and Sam Rockwell plays me, and George insisted that he do it, or he wouldn't make the movie, and Sam is great.

HEMMER: Heck of a list. I want to talk about "The Gong Show" here, go back to the '70s. At one time, I think you were quoted as saying that "The Gong Show" was the biggest scam ever. Scam how?

BARRIS: Well, scam in that you are getting paid for doing this stuff and you can't believe it. To me, "The Gong Show" was a rip. I mean, here we had -- we went out looking for great talent, and we couldn't find any. What we found was bad talent. So rather than...

HEMMER: But entertaining bad talent, would you not agree?

BARRIS: Sure. So we switched it, and, to me, that was one of the great scams of all time.

HEMMER: Why hasn't "The Gong Show" been recreated? I would think an audience in 2002, 2003 is right for something like that.

BARRIS: I think "American Idol" is sort of "Gong Show" redux only in epic proportions, and that's what happened today. Reality programming, I think, has just grown and grown and grown.

HEMMER: And you were the man who started it, quite possibly?

BARRIS: Yes, basically, was "The Newlywed Game," four couples and eight questions and a refrigerator. I mean, that was our show. But now, you have these huge things, "Survivor" and all of that stuff, "Fear Factor." I couldn't create those shows if you put a gun to my head.

HEMMER: You mentioned "The Newlywed Game," "The Dating Game" is also one of your creations, "The Gong Show." What were you tapping into, in terms of the human side of America that attracted people to watch those shows?

BARRIS: It was just identification. That was the whole -- my whole key was spontaneous, no answers, and identification. I mean, we all can identify with dating and...

HEMMER: And marriage. BARRIS: "Newlywed," I even had a game called "How's Your Mother- in-Law." I mean, I would try anything where people could relate, and I figured that was the answer.

HEMMER: Why did you not think of "The Bachelor" in the 1970s? You probably haven't seen that show either?

BARRIS: No, I haven't, but it's a good show.

HEMMER: Thanks, Chuck Barris, good to see you. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind."

BARRIS: Appreciate it.

HEMMER: And we did not give the confession about the CIA, but we're still working on it.

Good luck to you and your wife, OK.

BARRIS: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com