Chuck Barris

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Chuck Barris (1929-2017) chronicles his career from NBC page to novelist. Barris tells how he bluffed his way into the NBC management training program (thanks to some creative and fabricated recommendations from RCA board members), as well as how he started down the path of game show innovator during his tenure at ABC Daytime. He describes his slow start with programs like People Poker, and then finding his stride, first with the popular show The Dating Game, and subsequently with hits The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show - the latter of which Barris himself hosted. He discusses why he believes he was an awful television host, recounts the creation of his production company, Chuck Barris Productions, and shares his recollections of a Newlywed Game contestant's infamous answer to the question, "Where is the weirdest place you've ever gotten the urge to make whoopee?" Also an accomplished author and songwriter, Barris comments on several well-known claims included in his book, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: An Unauthorized Autobiography, and describes his process for penning the work of which he's proudest -- the song "Palisades Park." Jim Colucci conducted the interview on June 10, 2010 in New York, NY.