For the record, I have no issue with Dick Clark as host of a show. In fact, few people could do what he did for as long as he did.
My issues with Mr. Clark are with his production company short-changing me on multiple occasions. When others on a production failed to do their jobs and money was lost, those responsible never suffered; it was always those of us working in the trenches who lost out. In one instance, we had our production schedule cut short by a week and a half (though we still had to produce the same number of episodes). In another instance, I was working on two shows for DCPI at the same time and -- at the last minute -- it was decided I'd only be paid for one of them. In multiple instances, I'd be placed in charge of a department (usually either talent or security) and my team would get their stuff done on or ahead of schedule, then we'd be forced to stay late because another department lacked the manpower to do their jobs. And my all-time favorite Dick Clark Productions Inc. moment of cheapness came at the conclusion of an awards show -- as we were packing up the production office (which consisted mostly of rental furniture and computers), one of Dick's production managers asked me to take the light bulbs we'd used throughout the office over the course of several weeks, put them back in their original packaging, then return them to the store for a full refund. I refused, and took a $20 out of my wallet and gave it to him saying that was beneath the dignity of any human being. He pocketed my $20 and then ordered another production assistant to do it. I coincidentally drove through Burbank this afternoon and past what was once the offices of Dick Clark Productions Inc. (after Dick sold his company, they moved to office space near the Miracle Mile). Most of my memories of the people I worked with are positive. And I doubt Dick Clark would even know my name. But I did once add up all the money that was promised but never paid to me from that company, and the total came to roughly $3,000, not counting the $20 I gave Dick's producer. On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 2:21 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 9:13 AM, Joe Hass <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> (SNIP) I firmly believe that the Winner's Circle is the greatest part of >> any >> game show in the genre's history. There's tension, the teamwork, the >> sense that you're playing along, and that relentless series of 60 >> chirps that only seem to get louder and louder as the time shrinks. >> >> When the Osmond-era Pyramids came along, I never liked them. The game >> format was virtually identical (6 in 20 instead of 7 in 30 in the >> front end). But I immediately knew why it didn't work for me. >> >> There was no Winner's Circle postmortem >> >> This happened when someone didn't win. The buzzer would sound, there'd >> be that brief "awwww" from the audience followed by the clap. >> Depending on how much time they had, Clark would come in and dissect >> what went wrong. There'd be thinking of clues, yelling from offstage >> or the other players. If someone had given an illegal clue, he'd >> usually explain what happened and why (this, of course, led to Vicki >> Lawrence once calling a judge an asshole). In any case, it was the >> cherry on the top for me. >> >> Yesterday, over at Grantland.com, Bill Simmons did a brief write up on >> his remembrances of the program: in particular, the postmortem. He >> linked to a 1979 episode of the $20K edition featuring David >> Letterman. Suffice to say, Mr Simmons comments would align more with >> Mr Marousek's attitude toward Mr Clark than mine. >> >> http://goo.gl/I9gp9 > > I agree 100% with Joe here, and not at all with Simmons (though, while I do > think the Winner's Circle is the best end game, with the Lightning Round a > close second, I have never been a big fan of TPIR). It would be really > interesting to have someone play this clip on Dave's show and have him talk > a little bit about it - I don't see Clark as being a Dick here at all. The > effect of this post-mortem is to make both players, both giver and receiver, > celebrity and ordinary contestant, just another 2 game players. This is the > kind of thing you would at home after playing any game like this - sit > around a bit and talk about why it was so hard, or what else you could have > done. And I am no defender of Clark - unlike Simmons, I detested the > Bloopers show, never liked Bandstand (though I was just a wee tot then) and > hated just about anything else Dick Clark ever did. > > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
