The Game Show Mastermind Behind The Dating Game and The Gong Show Has Died
In Depth
Chuck Barris, the character who created The Dating Game, The Gong Show, and a pile of other game shows from which our current contest-heavy TV lineup is directly descended, has died at 87.
The Washington Post recaps the beginning of his fairly madcap career:
Barris began his career as a songwriter — his biggest hit was “Palisades Park” for Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon in 1962 — but he truly burst into show business in 1965 with the debut of his brainchild “The Dating Game,” an updated, televised version of a World War II radio show titled “Blind Date,” The Washington Post reported in 1965.
You’ve probably seen clips from the racy-for-its-time “Dating Game,” often featuring celebrities just getting their start.
A 2002 LA Times article throws it back to the atmosphere in the offices at the time: