The Gong Show Host Was a CIA Assassin?

The Clarksvillian ^ | October 19, 2021 | Valerie D'Orazio

[dmam2011]

There’s a lot happening in the world right now, so let’s get the most pressing stuff out of the way and sorted: was the late Gong Show creator/host Chuck Barris really an assassin for the CIA?

Barris claimed in his 1982 memoir Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind to have been secretly working for the intelligence organization during the sixties and seventies—around the same time he was developing kitschy and iconic television shows like The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and The Gong Show. Is it possible that the unassuming and at-times silly Barris could be telling the truth here—or was this all an attention-seeking hoax by an expert performer?

[Gay State Conservative]

I always wondered about Alex Trebek...and Gene Rayburn...myself.

[Red Badger]

It made a good movie with Sam Rockwell............................

[Ken H]

Given the heroic deeds of Brian Williams, I find it totally believable that Barris was a cia assassin.

[rfp1234]

Was Merv Griffin the Elevator Killer?

[Luke21]

Bill Cullen always looked like a criminal mastermind. So did Bob Barker.

[Veggie Todd]

Gene Gene the Dancing Machine!!

[Quilla]

The Unknown Comic!

[Salamander]

Trebek was definitely one of the Men In Black

[Salamander]

LOL

[MayflowerMadam]

The movie about this was pretty interesting.

[JBW1949]

We call a neighbors dog “Bob Barker”...Can you guess why???LOL

[Salamander]

Bob Barker gave me the creeps.

[JBW1949]

there is a rumor that Pee Wee Herman was a “for hire” assassin...

[freedumb2003]

>>I always wondered about Alex Trebek<<

I cannot imagine a more frightening sight than coming home to find Alex Trebek (when he was alive of course) sitting in your armchair with a Luger pointed at you.

[Chode]

[Bob434]

because he bobs for apples?

[SunkenCiv]

In an interview on NBC’s Today Show in 1984, Barris admitted to having made the story up. “No, I was never a CIA hit man. I never did those things. I once applied for the CIA, and while I was going through the process I got a job and went on television. But I had always wondered what would have happened if I had done both.”[13][14] In an interview in 2010 with the Television Academy Foundation, he was asked if he had ever disclosed the truth to anyone, including his wife. “No, never,” Barris said. “I’ll never say, one way or the other”.[15][16]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Barris#CIA_career_claims

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

The Gong Show was epic.

[Dr. Sivana]

I always wondered about Alex Trebek

I have no idea why everyone forgets Alex Trebek's show "High Roller" (TV game show version of Craps).

He came across as a bit bubble-headed on that show. Ruta Lee always kicked up her leg when he kissed her at the beginning of the show. She was five years older, and was already in her mid-40s when the show came on, try to glam things up.