# How Did Dick Clark Look This Year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434 "2010-01-02T21:29:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/41 "2010-01-05T10:39:39Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It’s not a function of pretty, he can’t act in the capacity of a narrator anymore. I’ve dealt with enough people with severe speech problems in my life that I guess it doesn’t bother me as much as the usual person. Maybe they should do something where Dick represents the beat-up, worn out old year and he hands the baton off to a toddler representing the new year. > [@](#): > > It would be no different if he had tried to sing the national anthem. I’ve never had a stroke and I can’t sing the national anthem, either. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/42 "2010-01-05T12:11:27Z")
I just saw the video. With all that crowd noise, I could barely tell there was anything wrong. And, since we couldn’t see him, I don’t understand why it was live in the first place. Prerecord him counting it down, and, if he messes up, edit in the right numbers. It should have been quite easy. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/43 "2010-01-05T14:12:35Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > I think he’s the producer (he’s got big bucks) so he’s not going anywhere in that regard. I don’t care for Ryan Seacrest so I wish they would find someone else. There’s got to be an actor from an ABC show they can get. > [@RickJay](#): > > I think it’s great they still send him out there and I was glad to hear him. > > It would have been very easy for the network to say “we don’t want this old crip freaking our our viewers anymore, let’s get some fresh face to do it.” Instead they brought back Clark, stroke and all, with the philosophy that it’s his gig and by God he’ll keep doing it until he quits or dies, and to hell with the stroke. Good for them. > [@Wheelz](#): > > While I do have sympathy for him and his condition, and can understand his desire to keep going, you’d think the man has been in show biz long enough to realize that he’s an entertainer who can no longer perform. It may be sad, but I hope he makes the tough decision this year to step down, and I further hope has has many more years to enjoy the fruits of his career. I agree with the above. I applaud Dick for sticking with it and not saying “I don’t want people to see me now,” and ABC for not leaning on him (as far as I know) to call it a day. But I don’t like Seacrest much. Thoughts for alternatives? Do they have to be current ABC personalities, to pimp ABC shows? I’d think Drew would be a great host, but he works for CBS, on _The Price is Right_. Ditto Wayne Brady, and Neil Patrick Harris, the current go-to guy. Justin Timberlake would bring viewers. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/44 "2010-01-05T14:25:09Z")
Ryan Seacrest’s primary TV home is FOX, for whom he does _American Idol_. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/45 "2010-01-05T17:22:44Z")
To those saying that with any other job, we don’t throw someone out for not being pretty or looking “acceptable”…is acting like any other job? I mean, actors get judged on their look all the time. It does seem a bit cold to ask Dick to step down because he makes us feel uncomfortable, but would someone who has a speech impediment but who wasn’t already famous be given a prominent acting/speaking role? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/46 "2010-01-05T17:29:23Z")
Neil Patrick Harris wouldn’t be a bad choice. Actually, I’d like to put a vote in for Mike Rowe. Now I know it’s way off from what he normally does, but it’s just a once a year gig and he’s got more personality in his little finger than most TV “personalities” could ever hope to have in their whole bodies. Watching Mike Rowe ring in the new year would be a Rockin’ Eve, indeed, for me! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/47 "2010-01-05T22:32:32Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It does seem a bit cold to ask Dick to step down because he makes us feel uncomfortable, but would someone who has a speech impediment but who wasn’t already famous be given a prominent acting/speaking role? James Earl Jones did pretty well, despite having a life-long stutter. You can definitely hear sometimes during interviews with him. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/48 "2010-01-05T22:48:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > James Earl Jones did pretty well, despite having a life-long stutter. You can definitely hear sometimes during interviews with him. Thank goodness they edited that out of _Field of Dreams_! 😉 That I did not know. How ironic. Now, I’m going to listen to some [Scatman John](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpHLEm9-0bg). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/49 "2010-01-06T00:47:41Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Neil Patrick Harris wouldn’t be a bad choice. Actually, I’d like to put a vote in for Mike Rowe. Now I know it’s way off from what he normally does, but it’s just a once a year gig and he’s got more personality in his little finger than most TV “personalities” could ever hope to have in their whole bodies. Watching Mike Rowe ring in the new year would be a Rockin’ Eve, indeed, for me! Mike Rowe…with his head in a bell. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/50 "2010-01-06T04:36:21Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I had the opposite reaction from most here; I thought he looked fantastic. His mind and wit are clearly unaffected, and his speech was intelligible. Maybe I’m older and therefore closer to death, but I thought it was really life-affirming to know what he had been through and how far back he’d made it. I thought there was some genuine warmth between him and Seacrest, much more so than Cooper and Griffin. Props to ABC for letting Clark continue. I agree! I just watched the countdown on YouTube and don’t get where people are saying he screwed it up. What are you talking about? As far as I could tell, he went from 19 to one and got all of the numbers right. Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/51 "2010-01-06T04:40:13Z")
Ok, just watched it again and he definitely didn’t screw up the countdown. Those of you who say he did, what are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434/52 "2010-01-06T04:43:28Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > I agree! I just watched the countdown on YouTube and don’t get where people are saying he screwed it up. What are you talking about? As far as I could tell, he went from 19 to one and got all of the numbers right. Am I missing something? [The video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0VqQnbccW4). 14, 12, 10, 11 If you hear it differently then the audio has been altered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-dick-clark-look-this-year/523434.md?page=2)