Two old acquaintances to ring in new year on TV
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 29, 2005
NEW YORK – New Year’s Eve is the biggest party night of the year, and television is among the most youth-obsessed media, so guess who will be the top hosts this weekend when the ball drops in Times Square on Saturday?
A couple of guys in their 70s, that’s who.
Dick Clark and Regis Philbin have long cultivated a sort of ageless appeal which will be put to the test during New Year’s Eve specials on ABC and Fox, respectively.
The septuagenarian send-off to 2005 – one of a handful of interesting television subplots for the night – is particularly rich in irony. ABC and Fox are among those TV networks that usually pretend people over age 50 don’t exist.
“Regis can do anything these young punks can do,” said Philbin, 74. “I fit right in there with my Fox people. They want Regis to dance, Regis will dance. They want Regis to lift weights with them, Regis will lift weights with them. Whatever they want!”
Good thing he’s bringing a fighting spirit, because the lineup of performers Fox has given him – Nick Cannon, Tyler Hilton and John O’Hurley – is awfully thin.
The fact that Clark, 76, is now the father figure of New Year’s Eve is a vivid example of how time flies. Some revelers can remember when he started “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in 1972 as a hipper alternative to Guy Lombardo.
Despite increased competition, it’s still the dominant show of the evening. This year, “Rockin’ Eve” adds a curiosity factor: It will be Clark’s first appearance on television since he suffered a stroke a year ago. Philbin was his emergency sub last year.
Ryan Seacrest, 31, will co-anchor with Clark in New York, while Hilary Duff will anchor and perform at a Hollywood segment. ABC nailed the night’s biggest booking with Mariah Carey, set to perform in Times Square.
The Bangles, Chris Brown, Sean Paul, the Pussycat Dolls, Sugarland, 3 Doors Down and 311 will also be part of ABC’s party.
NBC’s Carson Daly, 32, takes pains to avoid being seen as a competitor to Clark. Comic Wanda Sykes joins Mary J. Blige as Daly’s featured performers. Daly gets his shot this year because of the calendar; lately NBC has let Jay Leno’s “Tonight” show keep the slot when New Year’s Eve landed on a weeknight.
Prime-time champ CBS is sitting out New Year’s Eve.
Other options include:
* MTV’s annual soiree features Kanye West, Shakira and Adam Levine.
* ESPN is also getting into the New Year’s business, with Stuart Scott as host of a party on ESPN2 with guest Little Steven Van Zandt, mixing sports highlights with a roster of garage rockers.
* CNN’s Anderson Cooper will also prowl Times Square for a special on the news network.
* Locally, the 605-foot Space Needle once again will display Seattle’s traditional New Year’s Eve fireworks show with thousands of pyrotechnic effects at midnight. KING-TV personalities host the festivities live starting after the 11 p.m. news.
