It’s only natural for a TV actor to want to make a transition to the big screen, if fact it’s become something of a natural attempt.  While most actors make the leap with a thud so resounding it causes them to turn back to the tube, tail between legs (think David Caruso), some actually land on their feet.
The same can’t be said for TV personalities, however.  For the most part, talk and game show hosts have been relegated to tiny (if memorable) parts that mostly play on their fame, Richard Dawson in The Running Man, Dick Cavett in Beetlejuice or A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 or David Letterman in Cabin Boy being three prime examples.  Every once in a while, someone known for being himself decided to play himself.  For an hour and a half.
In 1980, Chuck Barris decided to go all the way.  The Gong Show itself has absolutely none of the ingredients of a workable film, and amazingly, writers Barris and Robert Downey (in whose Hugo Pool Barris appears) Barris allowed as little sense as possible into his feature project.  Barris is Barris, Jamie Farr is Jamie Farr, Jaye P. Morgan is Jaye P. Morgan, Murray Langston is the Unknown Comic, and Rip Taylor is a Matre d’(!?).  The “story” amounts to Barris wandering around, trying to quit the show because he hates his fans and isn’t spending enough time with his girlfriend (Altman).  Phil Hartman shows up as a nut with a gun at the airport.
After several talks with his producer (and a seemingly infinite number of clips from the show), Barris tries to leave town, but even there he’s accosted by rabid fans intent on becoming the next big thing.  Despite his hatred for the show, he still feels the need to defend it when someone points out how much it sucks.  Eventually he works his way to the Sahara desert, where the entire cast shows up and ends it all with a big musical number.
It’s all crap, of course, and Barris is about as charming a lead character as Myles “20 Dates” Berkowitz, but at least there’s a sense of randomness to the proceedings.  You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen, and you sort of keep watching, fully aware that while it’s not going to get any better, you at least won’t see what’s coming next.  It’s a piece of idiotic bawdiness (the film is filled with profanity, bad taste and flashes of Jaye P. Morgan) from a time before political correctness ruled.

Ringmaster is post-P.C., and while it tries so hard to be outrageous, it’s all too dull to be the least bit offensive.  Jerry Springer plays, er, Jerry, the host of the Jerry Show, which seems remarkably like the Jerry Springer Show with cheaper sets and less convincing actors.
Unlike The Gong Show Movie, Ringmaster has a coherent plot, or at least some attempt at one.  Molly Hagen plays a trailer trash woman whose sex-addicted daughter (Pressly) is sleeping with her husband (ex-action star Dudikoff), so she goes across the trailer park and blows Pressly’s boyfriend.  Meanwhile, two black female best friends fight over Michael Jai White.  All seven of ‘em end up on the Jerry Show, where more love triangles ensue.
It all continues along a rather predictable course, without a single interesting plot twist or really outrageous moments to be had.  William McNamara shows up as one of Jerry’s workers, but, curiously, none of the employees get involved with the romanticized plot.  In fact, the assistants are such bland characters that, as background to the forcibly energetic leads, just blend in with the panelling.
This is all made worse by the director’s sluggish pacing and the fact that the writer seems to want you to actually care about these people, something only Hagen seems to have any ability to accomplish.  They’re white trash talk show freaks!  Who cares?!
In a way it resembles a low-rent, weak-kneed version of Freeway, too afraid of repercussions to be over-the-top and not witty enough to be funny on its own.  A scene where Jerry sings at a country Karaoke bar just drives the point home—they didn’t even try to make a clever satire, they simply didn’t care.
Artisan's VHS release of Ringmaster is so filled with previews and a music video that the film doesn't begin until 20 minutes into the tape.
 
 

THE GONG SHOW MOVIE	RINGMASTER
Star plays a fictionalized version of self	Star plays a fictionionalized version of self
Waitress comes to him for advice while he tries to drink coffee	Waitress comes to him for advice while he tries to drink coffee
Breasts are flashed, but no full nudity	Breasts are flashed, but no full nudity
Star sings country number	Star sings country number
Star seen shirtless in bed with girl, is repulsive	Star seen shirtless in bed with girl, is repulsive
Cast includes large black woman Mabel King, of hit TV series "What's Happening"	Cast includes large black woman Thea Vidale, of non-hit TV series "Thea"
Dumb as hell	Dumb as hell
Scenes go wherever the hell they want to	Scenes go nowhere
Jamie Farr	Jaime Pressly
Vaguely entertaining timepiece	Teminally dull waste of time