American Bandstand

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American Bandstand ranks 4,447 out of the 23 shows on TV.com.

The 68 users who count themselves as American Bandstand fans have written a total of 8 reviews.

Status

Premiered

Ended

Genre

Theme

Related Shows

• Soul Train
• Solid Gold
• Dance Fever
• Fame
• Making the Band 2

American Bandstand brought rock 'n' roll music into millions of households and showed Americans how to do the latest dance steps. Dick Clark, "America's Oldest Teenager" hosted the series for most of its run.

Regular Bandstand segments were "The Spotlight Dance," "Rate-A-Record" and The "American... more »

American Bandstand brought rock 'n' roll music into millions of households and showed Americans how to do the latest dance steps. Dick Clark, "America's Oldest Teenager" hosted the series for most of its run.

Regular Bandstand segments were "The Spotlight Dance," "Rate-A-Record" and The "American Bandstand" Top 10 Countdown. "The Spotlight Dance" featured 2 or more couples dancing to a softer tune. "Rate-A-Record" had teenage contestants rate and comment on a record played on the show. The "American Bandstand Top Ten" was a countdown of the Top 10 hits of the day.

American Bandstand began as a local Philadelphia show called Bandstand, which made its debut October 13, 1952 on WFIL-TV Channel 6.
The series was retitled American Bandstand on August 5, 1957 when ABC began broadcasting it nationwide. For its first 6 seasons, American Bandstand aired Mondays through Fridays.
Two major changes took place during the 1963-64 season. On September 7, 1963, it became a once-a-week series airing Saturday afternoons. A few months later on February 8, 1964, production of the show moved from Philadelphia, PA to its new home in Los Angeles, CA.
Despite the changes, American Bandstand's fans remained loyal to the series, as it continued to present the latest music and dances. It even inspired another long-running dance show, Soul Train.
American Bandstand's long association with ABC ended on September 5, 1987. The series returned 2 weeks later on September 19, 1987 in first-run syndication. On April 8, 1989, American Bandstand made another move, this time to the USA cable network. It also featured a new host, David Hirsch. This version lasted only 6 months with the final show airing on October 7, 1989. In 1995, VH-1 began showing classic episodes of American Bandstand. These edited 30-minute reruns featured many of the stars that the show helped make famous.


Bandstand Air Dates (local Philadelphia show)
(1) "Bob Horn's Bandstand" (hosted by Bob Horn) October 13, 1952 - July 6, 1956
(2) "Bandstand" (hosted by Dick Clark) July 9, 1956 - August 2, 1957
American Bandstand Air Dates
Weekday Afternoon shows (ABC-TV network, Monday-Friday)
August 5, 1957 - August 30, 1963
Broadcast times:
August 5-November 15, 1957 - AB aired from 3:00 to 4:30pm.
November 18, 1957-October 10, 1958 - AB was split into 2 shows airing from 3:00 to 3:30pm and from 4:00 to 5:00pm. AB was split up by the game show Who Do You Trust?
October 13, 1958-September 29, 1961 - one show airing from 4:00pm to 5:30pm.
October 2, 1961-September 28, 1962 - from 4:00 to 4:50pm*
October 1, 1962-August 30, 1963 - from 4:00 to 4:55pm.*
Note: *From October 2, 1961 through August 30, 1963, AB was followed by "American Newsstand," a current affairs program produced by ABC News.


Nighttime shows (ABC network, Monday nights 7:30-8:00pm) In addition to the weekday shows, American Bandstand had a 13-week (October 7 - December 30, 1957) Prime-time run. (Note: This shouldn't be confused with The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beechnut Show, which ran from February 15, 1958 to September 10, 1960.)

Saturday Afternoon shows (abc-TV network) September 7, 1963 - September 6, 1986
During these 23 years, the air times varied anywhere between 12:30 and 2:30pm on Saturdays (sometimes earlier on the West Coast). Most of these shows were an hour long. (Some episodes were shortened for sporting events.)
On AB's Last Season on ABC-TV, it aired from 12:30 to 1:00pm (from September 13, 1986 through September 5, 1987).

Syndicated American Bandstand episodes ran from September 19, 1987 to August 27, 1988 (times varied by city). This version was syndicated by LBS Communications. (According to some sources the syndicated series ran through April 1, 1989. But we haven't been able to find any listings past August 27, 1988.)

USA Cable Network (Saturday afternoons) From April 8 to October 7, 1989, AB aired from 12noon to 1:00pm. David Hirsch was the host of this final version.less «

• Obtain archival Broadcasts from abc's American Bandstand

  Is there anyway to obtain archival T.V. Broadcasts from abc's American Bandstand? My father's band "The Chancellor...more »

  Is there anyway to obtain archival T.V. Broadcasts from abc's American Bandstand? My father's band "The Chancellors" was in two episodes in Season 1: Ep.147 and Ep.180? He is 80 years old and I would love to see the look on his face if he could see himself in 1958 on American Bandstand. Ep. 147 Aired 2/6/1958 Ep. 180 Aired 3/25/1958 I know this might be impossible, but I have to try. Thank you for any advice, David Girvan less «

  davidgirvan Last online Nov 11, 2008
  1 comments, last one Nov 11, 2008 + Add Comment

• wanted: FALCO

  Hi! I`m Austrian and desperatly seeking for the show #2687 (Season 29) including FALCO/Ingram on the 6/14/1986. FALCO, the...more »

  Hi! I`m Austrian and desperatly seeking for the show #2687 (Season 29) including FALCO/Ingram on the 6/14/1986. FALCO, the guy with the #1 smash "ROCK ME AMADEUS". Who is still having this special show on DVD for me? I don`t have any other shows to trade, but I would like pay for it of course. Maybe there is still existing other TV-stuff about him. I`m looking for US-articles in (daily/weekly) newspapers too (March till July 1986). Feel free to contact me! email: ZuvielHitze@gmx.at VIENNA CALLING and thanx for all serious posts...Harry less «

  maschinebrennt Last online Oct 27, 2008
  4 comments, last one Oct 15, 2008 + Add Comment

• THE AB TOP TEN HITS from 1957 to 1987 on abc-TV considering on Billboard.

  THE AMERICAN BANDSTAND 10 Best Selling Records Chart of 8/5-9/1957:         1. ELVIS PRESLEY-(Let Me Be your) Teddy Bea...more »

  THE AMERICAN BANDSTAND 10 Best Selling Records Chart of 8/5-9/1957:         1. ELVIS PRESLEY-(Let Me Be your) Teddy Bear & Loving You           2. Pat Boone-Love Letters in the Sand & Bernardine           3. The Everly Brothers-Bye Bye Love & I Wonder If I Care as Much           4. The Coasters-Searchin' & Young Blood           5. Larry Williams-Short Fat  Fannie & A High School Dance           6. Debbie Reynolds-Tammy           7. Jimmy Dorsey-So Rare           8. Nat "KING" Cole-Send for Me & My Personal Possession           9. Billy Williams-I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter & A Date with the Blues         10. The Dell-Vikings-Whispering Bells. less «

  Benhallums1 Last online 4 days ago
  29 comments, last one Apr 26, 2008 + Add Comment

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  9.2 Superb

  If you lived in Texas along I-45, you were out of luck. hide « show »

  Believe it or not, there were some cities that passed on American Bandstand. For 25 years, two of those stations are along I-45 (WFAA-8 in Dallas & KTRK-13 in Houston). I was always curious about the show growing up & finally saw it in San Antonio back in 1981. Was impressed over their annual dance contest.
  
  But the long feud finally ended for Houston on Sept. 1, 1984. It would've been nice to see some of the performers I missed out on during that time. Missed Scott Baio by 50 weeks.
  
  But I also liked watching the anniversary shos they had from time to time.

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  TriviaDude Added Jan 17, 2008 All my reviews
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  7.5 Good

  Marching to the beat of American Bandstand! hide « show »

  Dick Clark has cartainly created of the best music series on the air. I didn't see much of the series when i was growing up. the reason is my ABC station in Flint WJRT TV 12 has pulled "American Bandstand" in the late 1960's and 1970's to air religious programming. I don't know why the air religious programming on a Saturday, but never mind. I was angry at the station for taking away a part of my childhood. I call the station to complain, but they gave nothing but hot air nad they hang up. since then, I never forgiven WJRT TV 12 for what they did. But aside from that, I saw "American Bandstand" a few times and I like what I saw.

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  GeorgeJobson Added Nov 6, 2006 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  Great musical show, with wonderful talent, and the dance entertainment wasn't bad either. hide « show »

  Loved this show, made it a point to be inside and around the tv every saturday to watch. Wonderful way to get the talent out to the public. Good entertainment, sometimes I watched just to see what people where going to wear each week, some where way out there. Really enjoyed everything about this show.

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  cheyennequiet Added Mar 26, 2006 All my reviews
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  10 Perfect

  This was a great show, can be again. hide « show »

  I'm glad to hear there are plans to bring back this show, I use to love watching the re-runs on VH-1, remember bits and pieces of it when I was growing up, it was wrapping up on ABC and revamp on USA during that time.
  
  Also glad to hear Dick Clark is back to good health, if plans to re-launch AB go good, Ryan Seacrest would make a great host, I think he's the 21Century Dick Clark.
  
  Actually bringing this show back is long overdue, it should have made a comeback during the mid 90's.

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  BayFront Added Dec 23, 2005 All my reviews
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  7.5 Good

  Platter Chatter. hide « show »

  What the hell can you say about American Bandstand? It was always just.....there. I can remember when it was on every day, Monday through Friday. Then in the early sixties, AB became a once a week, Saturday afternoon show. All the while, a portrait of Dick Clark (hidden away in his attic), grew more and more hideous. Musical styles came and went, but Dick Clark remained the same.

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  crazyrhythm Added Sep 30, 2005 All my reviews