RIP Dick Clark

Younger than Bandstand Gen.

When I think of Dick Clark, I think of him openly second-guessing Nipsy Russell and Larry from Three's Company after their poor clues would doom another hopeful of winning the big cash on $25,000 Pyramid.

 

But I'm the asshole.

 

It wasn't a show that he'll be remembered for, by no means,, but I'll always remember when he hosted a brief morning show called "The Other Half" for a couple of years with Mario Lopez, Danny Bonaduce and Dr. Jan Adams (I had to look his name up).

It was kinda like a male version of The View. It was a good show to watch while taking care of a toddler after coming home after working half the night. And Dick always lent an air of dignity to the show, even with Bonaduce sometimes acting like a nut.

 

Amazing to realize that, for a period of time in the '80s, he was simultaneously hosting and sometimes also producing shows on all three networks: "American Bandstand" on ABC, "Pyramid" on CBS and "Bloopers and Practical Jokes" on NBC.

Combined with all the other stuff he did through the years - "The Saturday Night Beechnut Show," "Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars," "Where the Action Is," "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," his tireless radio work, as well as the American Music Awards and other stuff he produced but didn't necessarily host - it's safe to say no one will ever again have the same kind of cultural impact.

Ryan Seacrest might be ubiquitous, but he'll never be Dick Clark. RIP.

 

Not for a man.

 

For a while it was. Then it got crappy.

 

Oops. Seems news aggregator TheByline tweeted that Dick Cheney had died, not Dick Clark.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/regret-the-error/170898/reminder-dick-clark-not-dick-cheney-died-wednesday/#.T5AydaRKSTQ.facebook

 

Working on Bobby Petrino's PR team, are you?

As someone who only dates back with Dick Clark to the 1980s, one of the more impressive things is how hard he worked to keep American Bandstand relevant during music eras like punk and new wave that were miles away from what you would consider his normal "comfort zone." The fact that he even considered to have PIL on the show speaks volumes about that. And for the most part, he could have a good interview with any act. For example, here's an interview with X where, in the course of three minutes, he:

- Convinces Billy Zoom to perform tricks with his ears
- Discusses German heavy metal producers
- Talks about the relative value of good and bad reviews

 

Damn. I loved AB on Saturdays. Only real video for kids in 70s even if was lipsynching stuff. The Bay City Rollers, EWF, Shaun Cassidy, awesome. Thanks Mr. Clark may you RIP.

 

That smarmy prick Ryan Seacrest just called Dick Clark a mentor. I'm pretty sure Seacrest couldn't spell Dick Clark until he managed to weasel his way into Rockin' Eve a few years ago.

The previous generations had Dick Clark, this one has Ryan Seacrest. We have it worse.

 

When I went to high school in the early 1970s, American Bandstand really didn't seem like the best place for music - I would argue that Midnight Special might have had better rock acts. I would also argue that the Ed Sullivan show might have had a bigger influence as far as selling Motown artists to a wider audience - but on Dick Clark you never had to sit through circus acts and comedians who were past their primes.

I remember watching Dick Clark more on the $10,000 (later $25,000 and higher) Pyramid. He set exactly the right tone and seemed to have a calming effect on the contestants. I was always a big fan of quiz shows and I tried out a couple of times - welll, actually I took the tesst but the only point of the test was to eliminate people who were really inept.

 

Nipsey Russell, along with Betty White and Carol Burnett, was one to the greatest celebrity guests. They were really sharp and were very competitive. Dick Clark didn't really second-guess them but he would make other suggestions for clues to see if the person would get the answer. He did it in a nice way and wasn't critical.