Cancellation, and the final episode
When NBC cenceled the Gong Show, they allowed Barris to continue the show for the rest of the contract, and Barris made no perceptible change in preparation for the finale.
On the final episode, staff member Larry Gotterer appeared as "Fenwick Gotterer" to host the show, after Chuck started the show doing a "Chuck's Fables" sketch. The rest of the show was done in sort of a way to explain the life of the show, and its cancellation. Barris managed to have the last word on the cancellation: he appeared as a contestant himself. Playing in a country music band called "The Hollywood Cowboys" with the house band's rhythm section, Barris sang Johnny Paycheck's Take This Job and Shove It, and even gave the camera a "middle finger salute" to accentuate his point.
