Living in the Past

Living in the Past

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Living in the Past
Living in the Past
The Gong Show and Other 70s Game Shows — I Have Questions (Part 1)

The Gong Show and Other 70s Game Shows — I Have Questions (Part 1)

Was ‘Whoopee’ really a word?

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Samantha Kemp-Jackson
May 12, 2025
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Living in the Past
Living in the Past
The Gong Show and Other 70s Game Shows — I Have Questions (Part 1)
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Chuck Barris, host of the popular 1970s TV show, ‘The Gong Show’ (NBC Via Getty Images)

So few TV channels, so much time

The 1970s brought us many things in the entertainment category, which is no surprise. Remember: there was no 24/7 cable, digital streaming services, downloads and the idea of watching whatever, whenever on demand was unimaginable. Yes, it’s true: YouTube was non-existent and cat videos hadn’t made their debuts. As a result, we were awfully bored back in the day, and watched whatever we were given in the form of TV shows.

Let’s just say that we were a captive audience with lots of time to spare.

That being said, it was a generally a prime era for TV programming if you liked a particular type of show. If you were into family-friendly programming, the type that you would watch all together with Mom, Dad and Kids after dinner, you were in luck. If you were looking for something more edgy, well…this wasn’t really an possibility. There appeared to only be a certain genre of…

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