I've had a few of my Facebook friends message me and tell me I could be handling Dick's death with greater civility. About half a dozen of my Facebook friends are also survivors of dcpi (now dcp, still lowercase spelling). Over the years we have bonded over the experience, and over the years their memories have clearly softened.
I've written about this here before, but I find it disingenuous when people are more reverential towards the dead. I freely concede all the points made about Dick Clark by those who did not work with him. He was a pioneer in the industry. He was the go-to guy for musicology for decades. He was an affable host of game shows, talk shows, and more. But the ones who worked with the man knew he was a cheap bastard. The joke was that he'd cut donuts into fourths before setting them on the craft service table. He once had someone fired because they dared to make microwave popcorn in the kitchenette next door to his office (Dick objected to the aroma of any strong food, you see). The story of how his wife Kari (who should be nominated for sainthood, by the way) managed to remain married to him when his other marriages ended with affairs is the most telling of his character, but isn't worth mentioning here. In other words, if all you knew of Dick was his public persona, you don't know Dick -- but I could understand how someone under those conditions would feel sad at his parting. Make no mistake, I'm not rejoicing in his death. I'm largely indifferent towards it -- he was alive and now he's not. Living or dead, I'm still short money I could have used then AND now. And that's the thing: He died as one of the richest entertainers of his generation. And where is the prize in that? All the pennies he pinched, all the nickel and diming he did, and for what? So his body can rot away in a slightly more expensive casket? That's the part of his character I can't reconcile, even after his death. PGage needn't have apologized for being critical of the shows I worked on. As stated, they were well produced crap. We did the best with what we were given. One of the shows I worked on for Dick featured the director of the Elvis comeback special, the coproducer of Live Aid, the wardrobe designer behind many of Cher's and Elvis' designs, etc... but it was still crap. If Dick had given the show the budget mitigated purely because of the names backing it, it would have been more popular than American Idol. So he died a rich old bastard. And it would be disingenuous for me to say otherwise. On Thursday, April 19, 2012, PGage wrote: > On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Kevin M. > <[email protected]<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', > '[email protected]');> > > wrote: > >> My former boss, Dick Clark, passed away. Guessing he didn't leave the >> $3,000 he owed me in his will. >> >> >> http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dick-clark-entertainment-icon-nicknamed-americas-oldest-teenager/story?id=16076252#.T48an0gccQ8 >> > > I flipped to Good Morning America when I woke up specifically to see their > coverage of DC's death. I was surprised by how unimpressive it was - little > more than a standard video obit they probably put together most of 5 years > ago. Aside from Seacrest's comments (which were just from what looked like > a pres conference after his show last night) I don't think there was > anything in the way of really personal reflections from friends or close > associates. Maybe the most insightful comment came from George, who noted > that Clark had been voted "Most Likely To Sell You the Brooklyn Bridge" in > his high school yearbook. > > I have not seen any other coverage, I wonder if most of it has been > similar, and with a similar under-emphasis (to my mind) of The Pyramid. GMA > gave it only the most passing of references, focusing mostly on AB and the > Rockin New Year's Eve (and even talking more about Bloopers than about the > game show). I was not born and then too young for probably the most > influential period of Bandstand, but it was pretty popular when I was a > teenager still, and I hardly ever watched it and never liked it. To me and > my friends at least it always seemed corny and square and late, though my > older girl cousin used to try to tell us how cool it was, or at least had > been, when she was young. Her theory was that it stopped being cool when it > went to color (she had an older friend who said it stopped being cool when > it left Philadelphia, so I guess it is all relative). We always preferred > Soul Train. > > I always found the Bloopers show to be obnoxious and unwatchable, as well > as made up awards shows like the American Music Awards (apologies to Kevin > if he worked on these, I am not referring to the production values, just > the concepts of the shows). But Pyramid was a really good game show - I > mean really good, probably one of the best ever, at least top 5, maybe > higher. The game itself was good (I am talking about the original, morning > version), the mix of game play and celebrity chit chat and hi jinx just > about right most days, and most of the celebs really seemed to care about > how they did, and getting the contestants to win. And a hell of a lot of > the success was Clark, who was never, ever more likable than when he hosted > that show. I guess most people have forgotten the era of morning broadcast > game shows (aside from Price is Right, which is a horse of a different > color to me), and how important they were, especially for those of us who > had prolonged illnesses as children, or had to watch a lot of tv in the > summer for various reasons. If it had been up to me I would have made at > least half of DC's TV obit focus on the Pyramid, which showed him at his > most urbane, and represents in my mind easily his most important and classy > contribution to American pop culture. > > -- > 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]<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', > '[email protected]');> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', > '[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
