WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Imagine winning a nationally televised beauty 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:05.919 pageant. The orchestral music swells to this 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.820 dramatic crescendo. The host approaches you with 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:11.460 tears in his eyes. And instead of a sparkling 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:14.060 crystal tiara and a dozen pristine red roses, 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:16.739 you are handed a bouquet of rotting vegetables. 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.710 Right, just actual compost. And then, to top 00:00:19.710 --> 00:00:22.210 it all off, the host reaches down to his belt 00:00:22.210 --> 00:00:26.410 and dispenses exactly $1 .98 in loose change 00:00:26.410 --> 00:00:28.910 right into your hands. I mean, it is the ultimate 00:00:28.910 --> 00:00:31.570 visual gag. You take this incredibly revered 00:00:31.570 --> 00:00:34.369 cultural institution, the beauty pageant, and 00:00:34.369 --> 00:00:37.229 you completely strip it of all its manufactured 00:00:37.229 --> 00:00:40.299 dignity. Welcome to today's Deep Dive. If you're 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:42.240 joining us right now, we are so glad you are 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.359 here. Today, you, me, and our resident expert 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.579 are cracking open a Wikipedia article about one 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:50.399 of the most bizarre, seemingly inexplicable pieces 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:53.119 of 1970s television history. Yeah, we're looking 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:55.299 at a show called The $1 .98 Beauty Show. Which 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:57.960 is just such a wild concept. It really is. And 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.380 it's such a rich subject for us to dig into. 00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:03.340 Sometimes the absolute best way to understand 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:06.620 the underlying values and anxieties of a specific 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:10.000 era is to look at exactly what that era chooses 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.159 to ruthlessly parody. Absolutely. And in the 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:15.640 late 70s, the traditional beauty pageant was 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.359 this monolithic television event. It was treated 00:01:18.359 --> 00:01:21.099 with the utmost sincerity. So if you're someone 00:01:21.099 --> 00:01:22.959 who loves pulling back the curtain on media, 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:25.939 if you like figuring out how the things you watch 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:27.700 are constructed and the hidden messages they 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:30.599 carry, this deep dive is an absolute gold mine. 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:33.700 That's for sure. Because on its surface, the 00:01:33.700 --> 00:01:36.620 $1 .98 beauty show just looks like chaotic, low 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:39.599 budget trash. But as we come through our sources 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:41.980 today, we're going to see how it actually functions. 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:45.540 as a brilliant, highly calculated, multi -layered 00:01:45.540 --> 00:01:48.040 satire. It was a very deliberate deconstruction 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:49.939 of television tropes. Well, let's start at the 00:01:49.939 --> 00:01:51.640 beginning, because I'm looking at the basic facts 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:53.379 of this production, and it just sounds impossible. 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.579 This aired in syndication between September 1978 00:01:56.579 --> 00:01:59.579 and September 1980, and the creator and executive 00:01:59.579 --> 00:02:03.000 producer was Chuck Baris, the mastermind behind 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.219 The Gong Show, operating through Chuck Baris 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:08.449 Productions. The host... was a comedian, Rip 00:02:08.449 --> 00:02:11.050 Taylor, and the announcer was Johnny Jacobs. 00:02:11.210 --> 00:02:14.590 Yeah, that was the core. But the actual contestants 00:02:14.590 --> 00:02:16.889 they put on the stage are what immediately catches 00:02:16.889 --> 00:02:19.990 my eye. Oh, it was a wildly eclectic mix, especially 00:02:19.990 --> 00:02:23.449 for 1978. To say the least. OK, let's unpack 00:02:23.449 --> 00:02:24.870 this, because it sounds like a beauty pageant 00:02:24.870 --> 00:02:27.710 held in a funhouse mirror. They had six female 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:30.289 contestants per episode, but they threw out the 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:32.370 entire casting rule book. They really did. They 00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:34.669 brought in everyday people, housewives. They 00:02:34.669 --> 00:02:36.530 occasionally featured overweight contestants. 00:02:36.750 --> 00:02:39.050 And on at least one occasion, they had a male 00:02:39.050 --> 00:02:41.349 contestant dressed in drag competing for the 00:02:41.349 --> 00:02:43.409 title. alongside women who would actually go 00:02:43.409 --> 00:02:45.629 on to become massive figures in the entertainment 00:02:45.629 --> 00:02:48.169 industry. Right. You have early appearances by 00:02:48.169 --> 00:02:51.469 Sandra Bernhardt, Rhonda Shear, Kitna Tividad, 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:54.289 and actress Teresa Kensell. Such an interesting 00:02:54.289 --> 00:02:57.810 group. So you have aspiring Hollywood stars standing 00:02:57.810 --> 00:03:00.849 shoulder to shoulder with everyday people and 00:03:00.849 --> 00:03:03.069 drag queens. It's like going to a five -star 00:03:03.069 --> 00:03:05.930 restaurant being served by a waiter in a tuxedo. 00:03:06.169 --> 00:03:09.030 And when he lifts the silver cloche, it's a single 00:03:09.030 --> 00:03:11.629 cold french fry. That's a great way to put it. 00:03:11.849 --> 00:03:13.550 The joke isn't just the French fry, the joke 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:16.270 is the tuxedo. But wait, I have to ask about 00:03:16.270 --> 00:03:18.770 this casting strategy. Was throwing a drag queen 00:03:18.770 --> 00:03:21.590 and a future comedian like Sandra Bernhard into 00:03:21.590 --> 00:03:23.990 a beauty pageant just a cheap grab for shock 00:03:23.990 --> 00:03:26.250 value? Well, shock value was definitely a byproduct, 00:03:26.389 --> 00:03:28.729 but the underlying mechanism of the comedy was 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:30.870 much smarter than that. Think about the cultural 00:03:30.870 --> 00:03:33.710 weight of the Miss America pageant in 1978. Oh, 00:03:33.770 --> 00:03:36.879 yeah. Burt Park singing, There She Is. Exactly. 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.599 The contestants fit a very narrow, very strict, 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:44.620 highly policed physical and social mold. I mean, 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.879 they were presented as an unattainable standard 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:48.819 of perfection. They were practically royalty 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:50.740 in the eyes of the viewing public. Right. So 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:52.719 by taking this incredibly diverse, completely 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.060 unstandardized group of people and presenting 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:57.580 them all on equal footing. Having them compete 00:03:57.580 --> 00:04:01.629 for the exact same ridiculous title. The creators 00:04:01.629 --> 00:04:05.169 are dismantling that pedestal. They are leveling 00:04:05.169 --> 00:04:07.530 the playing field in a way that feels almost 00:04:07.530 --> 00:04:10.550 anarchic. When Sandra Bernhardt is competing 00:04:10.550 --> 00:04:14.330 against a man in drag for $1 .98, the very concept 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:17.230 of a standardized beauty queen becomes the punchline 00:04:17.230 --> 00:04:20.029 before anyone even speaks. OK, that makes sense. 00:04:20.350 --> 00:04:22.870 The casting itself is the first layer of the 00:04:22.870 --> 00:04:25.430 joke. But looking at the cast list here, the 00:04:25.430 --> 00:04:28.129 way they handle their own staff and guests feels 00:04:28.129 --> 00:04:30.709 completely backwards. Hell, so. Well, it says 00:04:30.709 --> 00:04:32.810 Rip Taylor was the host, but he played it totally 00:04:32.810 --> 00:04:35.269 straight, while the announcer, Johnny Jacobs, 00:04:35.829 --> 00:04:37.269 cracked all the gyms. Yeah, they swapped the 00:04:37.269 --> 00:04:39.209 roles. Which is wild, because if you know anything 00:04:39.209 --> 00:04:41.230 about Rip Taylor, he was known as the Prince 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:43.949 of Pandemonium. He was this wild prop -heavy 00:04:43.949 --> 00:04:46.870 comedian who threw confetti everywhere. What 00:04:46.870 --> 00:04:49.269 was the strategic goal behind putting a famously 00:04:49.269 --> 00:04:52.040 chaotic comedian in a suit? and telling him to 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:54.740 act serious. Disorientation. Pure and simple. 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:56.759 When you watch a standard game show or pageant, 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:59.199 there is a very comfortable, predictable rhythm. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:01.680 Right. The host is the charismatic center. The 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.120 announcer is the booming, authoritative voice 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:07.779 of God off camera. Exactly. So by taking the 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:10.360 expected functions of those personnel and entirely 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:13.879 swapping them, Baris created a subtle underlying 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:17.160 sense of unease for the viewer. Like, something's 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:19.420 just slightly off. You're watching it, and your 00:05:19.420 --> 00:05:22.079 brain is subconsciously registering that the 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.759 format is broken. They are actively messing with 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:26.839 the plumbing of a television show. They are. 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:29.300 And the absolute masterstroke of messing with 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:31.360 that format has to be the celebrity judges. Oh, 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:33.990 the judges. This is the part of the source material 00:05:33.990 --> 00:05:36.410 that absolutely blew my mind. They pulled in 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:39.370 a massive roster of real, legitimate stars. Actual 00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:41.709 Hollywood royalty. We are talking about legends 00:05:41.709 --> 00:05:45.810 like Peter Lawford and Dorothy Lamour, huge athletes 00:05:45.810 --> 00:05:49.410 like MVP baseball player Steve Garvey, and football 00:05:49.410 --> 00:05:52.870 star Rosie Greier. They had JPMorgan, Jamie Farr 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:55.449 from M. Ash, Patty Andrews, Louis Nye, Marty 00:05:55.449 --> 00:05:58.329 Allen, Trini Lopez, and the unknown comic. A 00:05:58.329 --> 00:06:00.889 lot of whom were frequent panelists on Barris's 00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:03.490 other hit, The Gong Show. But wait, I'm stuck 00:06:03.490 --> 00:06:07.089 on this. You book massive celebrities. You fly 00:06:07.089 --> 00:06:09.730 out Dorothy Lamour or Steve Garvey. You put them 00:06:09.730 --> 00:06:12.209 behind a panel. And the source material explicitly 00:06:12.209 --> 00:06:14.430 states they never spoke a single word during 00:06:14.430 --> 00:06:17.629 the entire proceedings. Not one word. Not even 00:06:17.629 --> 00:06:20.230 to announce the winner. From a production standpoint, 00:06:20.509 --> 00:06:22.149 that sounds like a massive waste of money and 00:06:22.149 --> 00:06:25.050 honestly, kind of boring TV. Why not just write 00:06:25.050 --> 00:06:26.930 them a few jokes and get your money's worth out 00:06:26.930 --> 00:06:29.149 of having Peter Lawford in the studio? What's 00:06:29.149 --> 00:06:31.870 fascinating here is that the silence is the entire 00:06:31.870 --> 00:06:35.290 point of the exercise. In every pageant, in every 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:38.009 reality talent show, the judges are presented 00:06:38.009 --> 00:06:41.329 as these supreme arbiters of taste and value. 00:06:41.490 --> 00:06:43.350 Right, we are conditioned to hang on their every 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:45.860 word. As if a celebrity's opinion on a ball gown 00:06:45.860 --> 00:06:48.379 is somehow empirically true. We treat them like 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:51.459 Supreme Court justices of glamour. Exactly. So 00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:53.480 Barris brings out these massive celebrities. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:55.579 They are introduced with tremendous pomp and 00:06:55.579 --> 00:06:58.199 circumstance. The audience applauds. And then 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:01.649 they said they're unblinking. completely useless. 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:05.189 It is a brilliant deconstruction of the expert 00:07:05.189 --> 00:07:09.009 panel trope. By silencing people whose voices 00:07:09.009 --> 00:07:11.970 and opinions are usually highly valued, the show 00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:14.730 is mocking the inherent absurdity of celebrity 00:07:14.730 --> 00:07:17.089 judging. So what does this all mean? Were they 00:07:17.089 --> 00:07:19.970 just being lazy with the format or was Baris 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:22.329 making a deliberate point to the viewer at home 00:07:22.329 --> 00:07:25.269 about how much we blindly worship celebrity opinions? 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:27.639 It was definitely a deliberate point. It's asking 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:29.959 the viewer, why do we care what a baseball player 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:31.740 thinks of a beauty queen in the first place? 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:34.420 OK, so if the judges are entirely useless and 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:37.759 completely silent, how on earth is a winner actually 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.720 chosen? What are the actual mechanics of a competition 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.519 where the score doesn't matter and the judges 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.220 don't speak? Well, the mechanics were designed 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:48.129 to meticulously mimic a real pageant. It was 00:07:48.129 --> 00:07:50.250 broken down into three highly structured rounds. 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:52.569 You had round one, which was basic introductions. 00:07:53.009 --> 00:07:54.970 Round two was a showcase of their abilities. 00:07:55.269 --> 00:07:57.110 I love that the source specifies it was called 00:07:57.110 --> 00:08:00.089 an abilities showcase rather than a talent competition. 00:08:00.529 --> 00:08:02.370 That feels like a very legally careful choice 00:08:02.370 --> 00:08:05.250 of words, given the chaotic nature of the contestants. 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:07.750 It definitely lowers the bar of expectation. 00:08:08.129 --> 00:08:10.750 And then inevitably you had round three, which 00:08:10.750 --> 00:08:13.759 was the swimsuit competition. But even the swimsuit 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:15.959 competition is a complete parody of the real 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:18.300 thing. Oh, completely. Instead of the reverent 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:20.779 hush tones you hear at the Miss America pageant, 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:23.500 where an announcer is whispering about a contestant's 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:25.959 poise and commitment to world peace, you have 00:08:25.959 --> 00:08:29.660 the announcer on this show, Johnny Jacobs, actively 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:31.939 roasting the women. He just tears into them. 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:34.379 Yeah, as Rip Taylor ushers them on stage in their 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:37.659 swimsuits, the announcer is just... hurling comedic 00:08:37.659 --> 00:08:40.120 insults at their vital statistics and their hobbies. 00:08:40.299 --> 00:08:43.559 Which completely undercuts the traditional objectification 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:46.419 of the swimsuit round. It turns a moment that 00:08:46.419 --> 00:08:49.419 is historically supposed to be about silent visual 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:52.919 judgment into a loud, abrasive stand -up comedy 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:54.659 roast. And we really have to look at how the 00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:57.360 music elevated this specific cognitive dissonance. 00:08:57.500 --> 00:08:59.980 The music is so important here. The bandleader 00:08:59.980 --> 00:09:02.799 was Milton DeLugge. And they used the exact same 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.240 musicians from the Gone Show Band, just adding 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:07.360 two extra saxophones for the first season to 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:10.659 give it that big, brassy pageant feel. And the 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:13.519 song choices were so deeply ironic. Rip Keeler's 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.639 theme was, happy days are here again. And as 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:19.159 the contestants are being roasted, the band is 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:21.700 playing Oh You Beautiful Doll and Inchy Sweet. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:23.799 Think about the psychological effect of that 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:26.139 on the viewer. Playing a sincere, nostalgic, 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:29.600 almost overly earnest song like Ain't She Sweet 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.980 while an announcer is actively insulting a contestant 00:09:32.980 --> 00:09:35.519 creates this incredible friction. It's so jarring. 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:39.080 It forces the audience to realize how manipulative 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.700 typical television music usually is. When you 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:43.919 watch a real pageant and the soft piano music 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:46.399 plays to make you feel emotional, it's a parlor 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.230 trick. Barris was exposing the trick by pairing 00:09:49.230 --> 00:09:51.769 the soft music with the harsh reality of a roast. 00:09:52.049 --> 00:09:53.830 He is showing us the strings on the puppets. 00:09:54.429 --> 00:09:56.529 And speaking of strings, the ultimate parlor 00:09:56.529 --> 00:09:58.950 trick of any pageant is the suspense of who will 00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:01.210 win. The hushed silence, the envelope opening. 00:10:01.490 --> 00:10:03.370 But the source material reveals that the outcome 00:10:03.370 --> 00:10:06.629 of the $1 .98 beauty show was entirely pre -arranged. 00:10:06.710 --> 00:10:09.370 It was completely rigged. From the very beginning, 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:12.269 the silent judge sitting nearest to Rip Taylor 00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:14.570 would simply hold up an envelope containing the 00:10:14.570 --> 00:10:17.110 preselected winner's name and Taylor would take 00:10:17.110 --> 00:10:20.190 it. No deliberation, no scoring system, just 00:10:20.190 --> 00:10:23.190 a prop envelope handed over in silence. And it 00:10:23.190 --> 00:10:25.129 wasn't even a secret. Right. It's not like there 00:10:25.129 --> 00:10:28.049 was some massive backstage scandal that got leaked 00:10:28.049 --> 00:10:30.470 years later. If you were watching, the announcer 00:10:30.470 --> 00:10:33.769 literally told you it was rigged right in the 00:10:33.769 --> 00:10:35.950 opening monologue. And if you somehow missed 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:39.320 that, It was printed explicitly in the fine print 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:41.799 of the closing credits. Why broadcast your own 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:44.259 lack of integrity, though? Because that transparency 00:10:44.259 --> 00:10:47.759 is the ultimate weapon of the satire. Put yourself 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.519 in the shoes of a viewer in 1978. OK. You're 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:53.139 watching this show tell you, to your face, that 00:10:53.139 --> 00:10:55.379 the winner is predetermined and the tension is 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:57.980 fake. The next night, you turn into a highly 00:10:57.980 --> 00:11:00.259 polished, multi -million dollar pageant. Oh, 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.019 wow. It forces you to ask, how authentic are 00:11:03.019 --> 00:11:05.080 the tears and the tension on those real shows? 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:07.639 If Chuck Barris can manufacture a winner and 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:09.860 tell me about it, what are the big networks doing 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:12.220 behind closed doors? Here's where it gets really 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:15.500 interesting. It makes the viewer complicit in 00:11:15.500 --> 00:11:18.700 the joke. Which brings us to the grand finale, 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:21.779 the crowning moment. Where Rip Taylor does his 00:11:21.779 --> 00:11:24.379 best Burt Parks impression and serenades the 00:11:24.379 --> 00:11:27.039 winner. It's like they were giving away the magician's 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.879 secrets on live television. Because instead of 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:32.019 that crystal tiara and a college scholarship, 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:35.340 the $1 .98 beauty of the week gets a tacky plastic 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:38.440 crown. And that infamous bouquet of rotten vegetables, 00:11:38.899 --> 00:11:42.200 cabbage, wilted carrots, just absolute compost. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.379 Giving the winner rotten vegetables instead of 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.000 roses is the ultimate punctuation mark on the 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.240 joke. And the titular prize, $1 .98 in cash, 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.500 dispensed directly from a metal coin holder attached 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:56.600 to Rip Taylor's belt. He just clicks out the 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:58.500 quarters and dimes into her hand. It is such 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:00.700 a profound statement. It's saying, look at the 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:03.059 absolute indignity of what you just put yourself 00:12:03.059 --> 00:12:04.759 through for the camera. Look at this whole song 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:07.240 and dance and realize that this is what your 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:09.139 dignity is actually worth to the people making 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:12.250 the show. It is a devastatingly accurate critique 00:12:12.250 --> 00:12:15.169 of the transactional nature of game shows, and 00:12:15.169 --> 00:12:18.690 it predates modern reality television by decades. 00:12:18.850 --> 00:12:21.629 Yeah, way ahead of its time. It exposed the core 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:24.649 truth that television networks use everyday people 00:12:24.649 --> 00:12:26.769 for cheap entertainment and offer them pennies 00:12:26.769 --> 00:12:29.190 in return compared to the ad revenue generated. 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:33.279 So you have this show. It is incredibly subversive. 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:36.820 It is handing out literal trash as a prize. It 00:12:36.820 --> 00:12:39.580 is actively mocking the very medium it exists 00:12:39.580 --> 00:12:42.000 on and the people watching it. You would assume 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.700 a show that hostile, handing out rotten vegetables 00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:47.419 would bomb in the ratings and get canceled by 00:12:47.419 --> 00:12:49.580 angry network executives after three weeks. You 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:51.620 would certainly think so, but the reality is 00:12:51.620 --> 00:12:54.159 the exact opposite. It was a massive hit. Yeah. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.220 RipTailer reported that the show was highly successful 00:12:56.220 --> 00:12:58.279 in syndication. It actually became the number 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:00.320 three syndicated show in the entire country. 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.799 Number three, we really need to pause and contextualize 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:07.120 that. In the late 1970s, before cable television 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:09.419 fragmented the audience into thousands of tiny 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.360 niches, network and syndicated television reached 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:15.019 tens of millions of people a night. That is a 00:13:15.019 --> 00:13:17.919 huge audience. For a low budget, deeply cynical 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.500 satire to capture the number three spot nationwide 00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:23.539 is staggering. It proves that a massive segment 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:25.799 of the audience was incredibly hungry for something 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:28.240 that broke the rules. They were tired of the 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:30.919 plastic perfection of the era and wanted a show 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:32.980 that let them in on the joke. They wanted the 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:37.299 funhouse mirror. But then, it just ends. September 00:13:37.299 --> 00:13:41.889 1980, it is over. and the cancellation was incredibly 00:13:41.889 --> 00:13:44.590 abrupt. Extremely abrupt. But here's the craziest 00:13:44.590 --> 00:13:46.809 part of the whole thing. It wasn't the network 00:13:46.809 --> 00:13:49.009 that pulled the plug. It wasn't declining ratings. 00:13:49.509 --> 00:13:52.129 The cancellation was ordered by Chuck Baris himself. 00:13:52.330 --> 00:13:54.330 If we connect this to the bigger picture, this 00:13:54.330 --> 00:13:57.110 is where the story of the $1 .98 beauty show 00:13:57.110 --> 00:13:59.970 transitions from a master class in media satire 00:13:59.970 --> 00:14:03.929 into a very human, almost tragicomic study of 00:14:03.929 --> 00:14:06.070 creator psychology. It's the party anecdote. 00:14:06.590 --> 00:14:08.769 According to Rip Taylor, The end came because 00:14:08.769 --> 00:14:11.009 Chuck Barris was at a social gathering one night. 00:14:11.549 --> 00:14:14.730 At the time, Barris had an unbelievable 17 hours 00:14:14.730 --> 00:14:17.450 of programming airing every single week on television 00:14:17.450 --> 00:14:19.230 between all his different game shows. And an 00:14:19.230 --> 00:14:21.409 insane amount of output. And someone at this 00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:24.190 party casually walked up to him and remarked, 00:14:24.210 --> 00:14:26.789 gee, he has a lot of trash on the air. Referring, 00:14:26.789 --> 00:14:28.909 of course, to shows like The Gong Show and The 00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:32.350 $1 .98 Beauty Show. Right. And Barris, upon hearing 00:14:32.350 --> 00:14:36.029 his work called trash, became furious. He declared 00:14:36.029 --> 00:14:38.679 right then and there, I'll take it all off the 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:41.259 air. And he did. He literally pulled the plug 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:45.500 on his own hit show. Just like that. over one 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:48.759 comment at a party. It speaks volumes about the 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:51.100 extreme vulnerability of creators to criticism, 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:54.279 even when they are wildly financially successful. 00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:56.919 It really does. Barris was a complex figure. 00:14:57.240 --> 00:14:59.500 He orchestrated this commercially successful, 00:14:59.779 --> 00:15:02.519 deeply subversive hit. He intentionally designed 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:04.460 a show that was supposed to look like trash in 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:07.559 order to mock the very concept of trash television. 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:09.679 Right, the cheap aesthetic was the medium for 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.519 his message. But when a single offhand comment 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.379 at a party took the aesthetic literally, essentially 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:18.220 completely missing the satire, it devastated 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:20.779 him. Think about the irony of that for a second. 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:23.940 You create a show that actively makes fun of 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:27.240 trash TV. You hand out rotten cabbages. You dispense 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:30.200 $1 .98 from a belt. Your audience loves it so 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.179 much it becomes the third most popular show in 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:34.460 the country. Yeah. And you kill it because someone 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:36.399 calls it exactly what you designed it to look 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:40.220 like. Who really gets to define what has value 00:15:40.220 --> 00:15:44.230 in media? Is it the creator who embeds the hidden 00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:46.610 meaning, the millions of audience members who 00:15:46.610 --> 00:15:49.690 enjoy it, or the one snobby critic at a cocktail 00:15:49.690 --> 00:15:52.230 party? It is a textbook clash between creator 00:15:52.230 --> 00:15:55.009 intent and public perception. Barris built a 00:15:55.009 --> 00:15:57.669 funhouse mirror to show society its own ridiculous 00:15:57.669 --> 00:15:59.990 reflection. But when society looked into that 00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:02.210 mirror and simply called the mirror itself ugly, 00:16:02.529 --> 00:16:04.110 Barris couldn't handle it. He just couldn't take 00:16:04.110 --> 00:16:06.429 it. So he smashed the glass. Wow. He smashed 00:16:06.429 --> 00:16:08.190 the glass. He literally took his ball and went 00:16:08.190 --> 00:16:10.629 home. It's wild to think about an era of television 00:16:10.629 --> 00:16:14.669 where a single executive producer had the unilateral 00:16:14.669 --> 00:16:18.429 unchecked power to just erase a top rated nationally 00:16:18.429 --> 00:16:21.649 syndicated show on a whim because his feelings 00:16:21.649 --> 00:16:24.149 got hurt. No focus groups, no massive corporate 00:16:24.149 --> 00:16:26.870 committees to stop him. Just one angry guy at 00:16:26.870 --> 00:16:29.429 a party. It certainly highlights the chaotic 00:16:29.429 --> 00:16:32.690 personality driven nature of television production 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:35.230 in the 70s. So as we wrap up this deep dive, 00:16:35.389 --> 00:16:37.169 I want to make sure we really synthesize the 00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:39.710 journey we've just been on. The $1 .98 beauty 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:44.539 show was so much more than low budget. late night 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:46.980 filler. Absolutely. From the deliberate casting 00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:50.100 of diverse contestants that shattered the era's 00:16:50.100 --> 00:16:52.919 narrow beauty standards to the silencing of massive 00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:56.059 Hollywood celebrities to mock the idea of expert 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:59.039 opinions to the transparently rigged outcomes 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:01.899 and the literal rotten prizes. This wasn't just 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.960 a game show. It was a highly orchestrated, cynical, 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:08.079 and frankly brilliant piece of performance art. 00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:10.250 And it leaves us with an incredibly relevant 00:17:10.250 --> 00:17:12.670 lens for consuming media today. When you turn 00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:15.230 on your TV tonight and flip through modern reality 00:17:15.230 --> 00:17:17.630 television, you know, the glamorous dating shows. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.099 the intense cooking competitions, heavily edited 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:24.039 lifestyle programs. You really have to ask yourself 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:26.480 a critical question. Which of these shows are 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.519 secretly laughing at their audience and which 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.440 ones are laughing with them? The $1 .98 beauty 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:33.599 show is unique because it winked at the viewer 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.299 the entire time, inviting them to sit on the 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:38.640 couch and laugh at the absurdity of the television 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.059 machine together. It makes you evaluate every 00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:45.579 shiny, polished competition show through a totally 00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:47.869 different filter. And I want to leave you with 00:17:47.869 --> 00:17:50.789 one final thought to mull over, building on the 00:17:50.789 --> 00:17:53.089 cast list we discussed earlier. OK. Think back 00:17:53.089 --> 00:17:55.869 to that incredibly eclectic contestant lineup, 00:17:56.690 --> 00:17:58.930 specifically the inclusion of people who would 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:02.130 go on to be highly respected influential entertainers 00:18:02.130 --> 00:18:05.390 like Sandra Bernhardt. We are culturally conditioned 00:18:05.390 --> 00:18:08.190 to view early, embarrassing appearances on bizarre 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:11.410 game shows as desperate stepping stones for struggling 00:18:11.410 --> 00:18:13.970 actors. Right. We pity them for having to endure 00:18:13.970 --> 00:18:17.150 it. But considering how layered How intelligent 00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:19.549 and how deeply self -aware the satire of the 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:22.789 $1 .98 beauty show actually was. Could it be 00:18:22.789 --> 00:18:24.890 that we have it all wrong? Oh, I see. What if 00:18:24.890 --> 00:18:27.809 participating in intentional, televised trash 00:18:27.809 --> 00:18:30.940 wasn't a mark of desperation at all? What if 00:18:30.940 --> 00:18:33.400 it was actually a savvy, calculated move for 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:35.859 performers who were smart enough to realize that 00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:39.059 sometimes the quickest way to the top of an absurd 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:41.880 industry is to be the one holding the bouquet 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:45.240 of rotting vegetables, fully in on the joke? 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:47.839 That's a great point. If the fairy tale of television 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:50.079 is a lie anyway, you might as well take the $1 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:51.259 .98 and have a good laugh.