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Dick Clark

Producer / Entertainer

"The key ingredient is giving the audience what they expected to get. If I’m there to escape, let me escape. If I’m there to be taught, teach me. But, don’t suck me in, thinking I’m going to escape and then teach me. You’ve caught me off guard. You’d say, 'I’ve been had,' and you’d leave."

About This Interview

Dick Clark was interviewed for one-and-a-half hours in Burbank, CA. Clark shares how he first got into television hosting, and outlines the rise of American Bandstand from a local Philadelphia show to a national phenomenon. He explains his involvement with the payola scandals of the 1950s, the origins of New Year's Rockin' Eve, and his hosting duties on the game show $10,000 Pyramid.  Clark recalls working with Johnny Carson to produce Bloopers and Practical Jokes, discusses forming Dick Clark Productions, and details the role of a producer. He also describes the challenges of producing live awards shows, and speaks of what he believes to be the secret to live TV. James Moll conducted the interview on July 29, 1999.

Related To This Video

  • Shows
  • People
  • Topics
  • Genres

Shows

  • 10,000 Pyramid aka 25,000 Pyramid aka 100,000 Pyramid
  • American Bandstand
  • American Music Awards
  • Bloopers and Practical Jokes
  • Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
  • Emmy Awards, The (primetime and daytime)

People

  • Tom Freston
  • Leonard H. Goldenson
  • Bob Stewart

Topics

  • Emmy Awards
  • Historic Events and Social Change
  • Pop Culture
  • Television Industry

Genres

  • Music Shows & Variety Shows/Specials

Featured Content

Embeddable interview clip: Dick Clark on Dick Clark's Rockin New Year's Eve 

Resources

from the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television

With a career spanning fifty years, Dick Clark is one of television's most successful entrepreneurs of program production. Often acknowledged more for his youthful appearance than for his business acumen, Clark nevertheless has built an impressive production record since the 1950s with teen dance shows, prime-time programming, television specials, daytime game shows, made-for-television movies, and feature films.

As a teenager, Clark began his career in broadcasting in 1945 in the mailroom of station WRUN in Utica, New York, working his way up to weatherman and then newsman. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1951, Clark moved from radio into television broadcasting at station WKTV in Utica. Here, Clark hosted Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country music program which became the training ground for his later television hosting persona. In 1952, Clark moved to Philadelphia and radio station WFIL as a disc jockey for Dick Clark's Caravan of Music. At that time, WFIL was affiliated with a television station which carried Bandstand, an afternoon teen dance show. Clark often substituted for Bob Horn, the show's regular host. When Horn was jailed for drunken driving in 1956, Clark took over as permanent host, boosting Bandstand into Philadelphia's best-known afternoon show. From that point on, he became a fixture in the American television broadcasting arena.

In 1957, the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) picked up the program for its daytime schedule, changing the name to American Bandstand. As a cornerstone of the afternoon lineup through 1963, the program was a boon for ABC, an inexpensively produced success for the network's target audience of youthful demographics. From 1963 through 1987, American Bandstand ran on a weekly basis to become one of the longest running shows in broadcast television.

In addition to Clark's hosting and producing duties for American Bandstand, he began to diversify in the 1950s by moving into the music publishing and recording industries. However, by the end of 1959, the federal government began to scrutinize Clark for a possible conflict between his broadcasting interests and his publishing and recording interests. At that time, payola, the practice of music industry companies paying radio personalities to play new records, was widespread throughout radio broadcasting. Clark, with the cultural scope of his network television program, became the prime target of the Congressional investigation into this illegal activity. Pressured by ABC to make a choice between broadcast and music industry interests, Clark opted for the former, divesting himself of his publishing and recording companies. Even though Clark was cleared of any illegal behavior, he had to testify before the Congressional Committee on payola practices in 1960.

Given the present state of cross-corporate links among the recording, broadcasting, cable and film industries, Clark's persecution would be highly unlikely now. Indeed, even at the time of the payola scandals, the networks and film studios, such as ABC and Disney, were already inextricably connected with program production, broadcasting and profits. In retrospect, Clark's problems stemmed as much from his embrace of a somewhat raucous, interracial youth culture and his involvement in the conflict between ASCAP, representing the old guard of the music publishing business, and BMI, representing the new breed of rock and roll songwriters.

A somewhat tarnished reputation did not hinder Clark's further success in the area of broadcast programming and film production with Dick Clark Productions. DCP produced Where the Action Is, another daily teenage music show, during the late 1960s, as well as feature exploitation films such Psych-Out, The Savage Seven and Killers Three. At this time, Clark also moved into the game show arena with Missing Links and The Object Is, culminating in the late 1970s with The $25,000 Pyramid.

In addition, DCP produced Elvis, Murder in Texas, and The Woman Who Willed a Miracle, made-for-television movies which garnered impressive audience ratings. The latter won an Emmy Award. On a more low-brow level, DCP also introduced Bloopers and Practical Jokes, another inexpensive, but extremely popular recurring television special to American audiences. Clark also produces award shows, the American Awards and The Golden Globe Awards.

Often criticized for the lack of quality in DCP programs, Clark points to the networks and the audiences as the index of that quality. He gives them what they want. In an interview in Newsweek magazine in 1986, Clark points out, "If I were given the assignment of doing a classical-music hour for PBS, it would be exquisite and beautifully done." Despite the boyish good looks and charm that are the identifying characteristics of this American icon, it is Clark's economically efficient business savvy and his uncanny ability to measure the American public's cultural mood that have been his most important assets in television broadcasting.

-Rodney Buxton

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  • Highlights
  • Chapters
  • Shows
  • People
  • Topics
  • Genres

Highlights

  • Dick Clark on the origins of <i>American Bandstand</i> <br/> (00m 36s)Dick Clark on the origins of American Bandstand
    (00m 36s)
  • Dick Clark on the genesis of <i>New Years Rockin' Eve</i> (03m 01s)Dick Clark on the genesis of New Years Rockin' Eve (03m 01s)
  • Dick Clark on similarities between <i>American Bandstand</i> and MTV (01m 11s)Dick Clark on similarities between American Bandstand and MTV (01m 11s)
  • Dick Clark on being targeted in the music "payola" investigation (03m 22s)Dick Clark on being targeted in the music "payola" investigation (03m 22s)
  • Dick Clark on forming Dick Clark Productions <br/> (01m 22s)Dick Clark on forming Dick Clark Productions
    (01m 22s)
  • Dick Clark on his legacy (00m 44s)Dick Clark on his legacy (00m 44s)

Chapters

  • Chapter 1
  • On his childhood interest in radio; on his first job in the mailroom of a radio station in New York; on working as a DJ in college at Syracuse University; on being a news anchor; on getting a job in radio in Philadelphia and the state of television in 1952; on his first time seeing television - at the 1939 World's Fair; on comparisons between television and the Internet as forms of once-new media; on his one professional regret
  • On his first television job in Utica, NY; on salvaging old films of American Bandstand; on Dick Clark's Caravan of Music, later renamed American Bandstand; on the origins of American Bandstand; on moving from doing the radio to television version of Bandstand, which had already been on air with a different host; on the music on the show; on the diversity of American Bandstand; on touring with musicians
  • On taking over the televised version of American Bandstand; on taking the show from a local Philadelphia show to a national program on ABC; on first realizing he was famous
  • Chapter 2
  • On the success of American Bandstand and being targeted in the music "payola" investigation; on the many decades of American Bandstand; on Dick Clark Productions; on the lessons about staying "young, not old" from Leonard Goldenson; on connecting with teenagers over the many decades of American Bandstand; on learning from mistakes
  • On his entrepreneurship; on his path in life; on working on the Pyramid game show with producer Bob Stewart; on producing Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Johnny Carson; on Merv Griffin; on producing television movies; on dealing with critics
  • On the challenges of being Dick Clark; on the genesis of New Years Rockin' Eve; on simplicity; on still getting stage fright
  • Chapter 3
  • On producing awards shows; on getting fired for overshadowing MTV Awards Shows when he was the producer; on producing the American Music Awards; on producing The Emmys; on the secret of producing live television shows
  • On game shows; on how he selects projects and seems to be in multiple places at one time; on being a producer; on doing stand-up comedy; on acting; on similarities between American Bandstand and MTV; on the ingredients for a successful TV show
  • On the future of television; on television distribution methods today; on historical moments for which he was present; on producing features; on his legacy; on the projects of which he's proudest

Shows

  • 10,000 Pyramid aka 25,000 Pyramid aka 100,000 Pyramid
    • Dick Clark on working on the Pyramid game shows (03m 04s)
  • American Bandstand
    • Dick Clark on Dick Clark's Caravan of Music, later renamed Bandstand, and on moving from doing the radio to television version of Bandstand (13m 33s)
    • Dick Clark on the diversity of American Bandstand (02m 29s)
    • Dick Clark on the origins of American Bandstand (00m 36s)
    • Dick Clark on being targeted in the music "payola" investigation (03m 36s)
    • Dick Clark on the many decades of American Bandstand (01m 37s)
    • Dick Clark on connecting with teenagers over the many decades of American Bandstand (01m 36s)
    • Dick Clark on similarities between American Bandstand and MTV (01m 11s)
  • American Music Awards
    • Dick Clark on producing The American Music Awards (02m 12s)
  • Bloopers and Practical Jokes
    • Dick Clark on producing Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Johnny Carson
      (01m 08s)
  • Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
    • Dick Clark on the genesis of New Years Rockin' Eve (03m 06s)
  • Emmy Awards, The (primetime and daytime)
    • Dick Clark on producing The Emmys (01m 19s)

People

  • Jack Benny
    • Dick Clark  on radio personalities he enjoyed (00m 15s)
  • Edgar Bergen
    • Dick Clark  on radio personalities he enjoyed
      (00m 15s)
  • Johnny Carson
    • Dick Clark on producing Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Johnny Carson, and his early years working with Carson
      (01m 57s)
  • Bill Cosby
    • Dick Clark on doing stand-up comedy in Las Vegas (02m 02s)
  • Tom Freston
    • Dick Clark on getting fired for overshadowing the MTV Awards Shows when he was the producer (00m 51s)
  • Arthur Godfrey
    • Dick Clark on emulating Arthur Godfrey (00m 37s)
  • Merv Griffin
    • Dick Clark on Merv Griffin (00m 40s)
  • Leonard H. Goldenson
    • Dick Clark on the lessons about staying "young, not old" from Leonard Goldenson (01m 10s)
  • Cloris Leachman
    • Dick Clark on producing the TV Movie, "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" (02m 21s)
  • Bob Stewart
    • Dick Clark on working on the Pyramid game show; on producer Bob Stewart (03m 04s)

Topics

  • Emmy Awards
    • Dick Clark on producing The Emmys (01m 19s)
  • Historic Events and Social Change > Diversity in Television > Minorities
    • Dick Clark on the diversity of American Bandstand (02m 29s)
  • Pop Culture > Rock ‘n’ Roll on TV (1950s & ‘60s)
    • Dick Clark on being targeted in the music -payola- investigation (03m 36s)
  • Television Industry > Criticism of TV
    • Dick Clark on producing the TV Movie, "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" (02m 21s)
  • Television Industry > Fame & Celebrity
    • Dick Clark on first realizing he was famous
      (01m 32s)

Genres

  • Awards Shows
    • Dick Clark on producing The American Music Awards (02m 12s)
    • Dick Clark on producing The Emmys (01m 19s)
  • Music Shows & Variety Shows/Specials
    • Dick Clark on Dick Clark's Caravan of Music, later renamed American Bandstand, and on moving from doing the radio to television version of Bandstand (28m 49s)
    • Dick Clark on the many decades of American Bandstand (01m 37s)
  • TV Movies/Miniseries/Dramatic Specials
    • Dick Clark on producing the TV Movie, "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" (02m 21s)
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Submitted by 143AC on Tue, 2010-11-09 21:51.

His Full name is Richard Wagstaff Clark.

Submitted by Pinman1000 on Sun, 2010-10-17 12:30.

This was 6 years before Ken Jennings' run on Jeopardy.

Submitted by jazzzco on Sat, 2010-08-14 10:55.

I wish he would have said something about Soul Train,maybe he did,they just deleted it.

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