'American Bandstand' 50 Years Old

By Stephen M. Silverman

05/01/2002 at 04:27 PM EDT

Half a century has passed since TV's "American Bandstand" first took to the airwaves . That anniversary will be marked this Friday, when ABC presents a two-hour tribute, hosted by -- who else? -- the show's eternally young emcee, Dick Clark. "It's one of the pioneer programs on TV," Clark, 72, who joined the Philadelphia-based show in 1956, four years into its run, told USA Today. "Bandstand" ran until 1989. "What happened with this show could never happen again," Clark added. "We just had it all together. I remember the day when we had Billy Preston and Wayne Newton on the same show." MTV and NBC's Carson Daly, 28, also speaking to USA Today, remarked, "'Bandstand' was the first show where kids of that generation got to see themselves reflected on television. They could watch their peers and see what they were wearing and dancing to. Trends came off the television. I think (my own show on MTV, 'Total Request Live') has had similarities to that." Besides clips of past stellar "Bandstand" grandstands, Friday's special will include artists who performed last month during three nights of taping at California's Pasadena Civic Auditorium. They reportedly include Brandy, Cher, Michael Jackson, KC & the Sunshine Band, Kiss, Little Richard, Alanis Morissette, A Taste of Honey, the Village People, and Stevie Wonder crooning with Babyface.