(no subject)

[cactuswatcher]

American Bandstand got off to a bad start with me from which it never really recovered. ABC always had trouble in the early years of TV competing. NBC and CBS got into most markets first and some smaller markets weren't really big enough to support three local TV stations, in a era when most of the advertising slots were filled locally. ABC stayed afloat by buying a show called Disneyland (which, as we now know, would eventually devour ABC) for a high price and was looking for something to fill an afternoon weekday slot, which many stations including my ABC station were filling with syndicated programing that the network didn't get a share of. Somebody got the bright idea to make a local Philadelphia dance program called "Bandstand" a network show. The program had already been popular in Philadelphia for several years, which may account for the fact that the theme music for the all-time classic Rock and Roll TV show was Big Band style not Rock and Roll. The syndicated program which American Bandstand replaced in St. Louis was one of my favorites, an anthology, announced by Alistair Cook, of programming from Britain, very much an early day version of Masterpiece Theatre. The last thing I wanted to see in the afternoon after coming home from grade school was a bunch of goofy teenagers dancing. I really wanted my old program back. Instead Bandstand ran for about thirty years. My only consolation is that Masterpiece Theatre lives on long after Alistair Cook.

I still half expect that after a hundred years or so when everyone has forgotten about American Bandstand and Rockin' New Year's Eve, Dick Clark, who obviously is a vampire, will resurface to entertain teens and aggravate younger boys again for another age or so.

Comments

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

You're clearly right about Dick Clark.

For me, an added problem was that the VHF channel was the only one that our antenna really liked, and the ABD channel was UHF--meant I saw vague shadows in the snow instead of kids dancing. And the music was mostly an irritating buzz.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

Dick Clark, who obviously is a vampire
LOL! That explains why he always looked so spray tanned...hiding his true nature!