Even Geniuses Produce Crap:Chuck Barris' $1.98 Beauty Show

So, I've been going on lately about what a genius, not to mention one of my personal heroes and role models, Gong Show creator/host Chuck Barris was. Well, even Einstein, Newton, Picassso, and Stan Lee had bad days, and it was clearly a bad day for Barris when he created The $1.98 Beauty Show. Obviously an attempt to recreate the Gong Show formula, this parody of beauty pageants hosted by Rip Taylor tried, but never quite managed, to capture the manic spirit of its predecessor. That manic spirit, however, resided mainly within Barris himself, and he is the main reason that the Gong Show was such a success. Without him, $1.98 Beauty Show seemed like just a bunch of weird people pointlessly acting weird. (Which is what my sister, uncultured Philistine barbarian that she is, thinks of The Gong Show, but she thinks How I Met Your Mother is "Good TV" so her opinion doesn't count.)

Anyway, here's a peak at $1.98 Beauty Show...