The Gong Show with Dave Attell

Out of morbid curiosity, I watched this, and it was as painful as I thought it was going to be. I liked Dave Atell's Insomniac Theater in small doses, and I hoped this would be at least as good as that, but it wasn't.

It's depressing, boring, tedious, and deeply embarrassing. Atell himself seems deeply distressed and embarrassed (similar to Louie Anderson and his horrible stint on Family Feud) to be hosting such a mediocre show. The celebrity judges seem to feel the same way as well. You actually feel sorry for them trying (in vain) to make this show worth watching. While it has better production values than the original Gong Show, it's actually worse than the original, because the original Gong Show had terrible production values and was cheesy as anything on TV before or since, but Chuck Barris (the original host) knew that. That was part of the fun, watching a televised freak show. That quality is what has endeared it to many. The remake doesn't have that quality.

I doubt this will last more than one season.