THE GONG SHOW

Comedy Central revives classic Chuck Barris game show with scruffy comic Dave Attell

Why do a new Gong Show?
I always wanted to do a variety show bringing out edgier, dirty acts. The American Idol/Dancing With the Stars movement — it's so tame. People come from other lands where you can ride an elephant to behead something, and they see us dancing with Marie Osmond. They're like, "That's what you guys call entertainment?"

Seen anything good in the auditions so far?
The hardest part of doing this show is YouTube. Everybody has a video of themselves pushing a friend into a baby pool full of cowshit. I'd like to get that in front of a live audience with some cool judges.

Were you much of a fan of the original series?
I was really a fan of Chuck Barris. But I have to do it my own way. There will be a gong, but it will be a solar-powered gong.

Are you, as Chuck claimed to be, a CIA assassin?
I like to think that that's true. Though if Chuck doesn't like the show, that's a bad thing, because he'd kill me. But if he likes it, we'll have no problems.

JASON GAY

Photo: Comedy Central

COREYS À DEUX

A dark detour in the '80s heartthrob drama

Blind item of the summer: who molested Corey Haim? In the second season of The Two Coreys — the A&E reality series (June 22nd, 10 p.m.) starring former teen idols Coreys Haim and Feldman — Haim says during therapy that he was sexually assaulted. Who could it be? Feldman promises a shocker: "It'll be riveting and captivating."

KEVIN O'DONNELL

Photo: Andrew Eccles