Line #21 Series/AmericanBandstand


1	[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/American_Bandstand_4240.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:298:Creator/DickClark during the series' early years.]]
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4	-> "''We're goin' hoppin' (Hop!)\
5	We're goin' hoppin' today where things are poppin' (Pop!)\
6	The Philadelphia Way!\
7	We're gonna drop-in (Drop!)\
8	On all the music they play on the Bandstand! (Bandstand!)''"
9	-->- The 1977 version of '''Bandstand Boogie''', sung by Music/BarryManilow
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11	As the host of this dance show on Creator/{{ABC\|US}}, Creator/DickClark became known as "America's oldest teenager". ''American Bandstand'' originated in UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, and went national in 1957. It was a weekday show until 1963, when it switched to Saturdays only. In 1987, the show left ABC for FirstRunSyndication, where it lasted only one year before moving to the Creator/USANetwork, where it ended in 1989.
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13	While working on ''American Bandstand'', Clark was host of a few other shows:
14	* ''The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beechnut Show'', another dance party show, 1958-60
15	* ''The $10,000 Series/{{Pyramid}}'' and successor series
16	* ''TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes'' with co-host Ed [=McMahon=]
17	* ''[[Series/NewYearsRockinEve New Year's Rockin' Eve]],'' an annual special where Clark would host the dropping of the ball at midnight in Times Square on New Year's Eve. It started in 1972 and has continued right up to this day; however, the 2012 edition was Clark's final TV appearance.
18	----
19	!!Tropes:
20	* TheAnnouncer: Charlie O'Donnell until 1968, who would later become famous as the announcer of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'', ''Series/TheJokersWild'' and ''Series/TicTacDough'', among others.
21	* BroadcastLive: The show was initially done this way. Starting in 1963, the five shows of a given week would be prerecorded the preceding Saturday. When the show switched to Saturdays only later that year, the taping schedule was changed to three shows on Saturday and three shows on Sundays every six weeks.
22	* DuelingShows: with ''Series/SoulTrain'' in the 1970s and 80s. Although neither Clark nor Don Cornelius really competed with each other, fans compared them all the time.
23	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The show first started out as simply ''Bandstand'' in 1950 and featured short musical films produced by Snader Telescriptions and Official Films, one of several "precursors" to music videos. The more familiar dance show format debuted in 1952; the films were still used for a while as filler while they switched dancers. Dick Clark didn't host until 1956[[labelnote:*]](Bob Horn was the original host; Lee Stewart was brought in as co-host when the show was retooled in 1952 and kept until 1955. Horn was fired following a DUI in 1956; producer Tony Mammarella filled in until Clark took over.)[[/labelnote]] and the ''American Bandstand'' name was only adopted when the show went national the following year.
24	* InvisibleBackupBand: Could be seen for many solo acts, since they were lip-synching.
25	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Music/TheBeatles' "She Loves You" was featured on the "Rate-a-Record" segment shortly after it was first released in the US in September 1963. It got a mediocre score.
26	* LongRunner: 37 years exactly, 10/7/1952 - 10/7/1989.
27	* {{Retool}}: While the show generally had changes as it pertains to sets and what have you, the show's most drastic retools occurred in 1969 (debuting the iconic "AB" logo, ditching "Bandstand Boogie" et al) and 1986 (dropping the show to thirty minutes).
28	* ReunionShow: The 25th, 30th, [[IncrediblyLamePun 33 1/3rd]], 40th and 50th anniversary specials, airing in their respective years from the Philadelphia show’s start in 1952.
29	* ShowWithinAShow: It actually served as one in ''Series/AmericanDreams'' (with contemporary artists playing the roles of classic acts from TheSixties); Clark was one of the show's executive producers.
30	** ''Film/{{Hairspray\|1988}}'''s ''Corny Collins Show'' is reminiscent of ''Bandstand'' (it's actually based on ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buddy_Deane_Show The Buddy Deane Show]]''), and the [[Film/Hairspray2007 2007 film]] confirms that yes, Creator/BrittanySnow may well have been there (being the lead dancer on both).
31	* TitleThemeTune: "Bandstand Boogie", originally by Les Elgart and his Orchestra. Re-recorded by Barry Manilow in 1977.
32	* TransAtlanticEquivalent: ''Series/TopOfThePops''. (''American Bandstand'' is likely part of the reason why an attempt to launch an American ''Top of the Pops'' didn't work.)

Context Series / AmericanBandstand