Faithful to the classic format, each show presented a contest between amateur performers of often dubious talent, with a panel of three celebrity judges.

If any judge considered an act to be particularly bad, he or she could strike a large gong, thus forcing the performer to stop and eliminating that contestant from the competition.

The contestant who achieved the highest combined score won the grand prize of $600 and a "Gong Show Championship Belt" trophy.

The last act of each show (which was interrupted by a siren and the doors closing) was usually performed by David Juskow.

Among the new show's celebrity judges were J.B. Smoove, Dave Navarro, Andy Dick, Steve Schirripa, Brian Posehn, Ron White, Jim Norton, Adam Carolla, Kate Walsh, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and Greg Giraldo.