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Article: The man with the golden gong.(believeability of text in 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' autobiography of Chuck Barris)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- January 13, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When his beloved Gong Show got canned in 1980, frizzy-haired host Chuck Barris checked into a New York hotel in a "dark, despondent mood" and took to translating his agony onto paper. No, really--that much is true. What's harder to believe is that Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, his 1982 book, is the "unauthorized autobiography" it purports to be. In it, Barris recounts how he invented reality television by cooking up low-brow '60s fare like the Dating Game and the Newlywed Game--while doubling as a CIA assassin. "Here's a guy getting crucified by TV critics," says Barris, now 73, whose shows were pilloried for dumbing-down the tube. "And on the other hand, he's getting ...