I probably have no business rating anything to do with television since I've watched probably less than a hundred hours of it in my entire lifetime, so I'll bow to the experts and give Dick Clark five stars.

However, I must say he's never been "the world's oldest teenager". That honor belonged to Rufus Thomas until his death at age 84 in 2001 - and since then, I claim the title for myself. 

The man never seemed to age, it was sad to see him slowed by a stroke. I always enjoyed him at the 'Rockin' New Years Eve.'

American Bandstand was "Americana" for forty-seven years. For some, I guess that automatically made it a bad thing. After all this time...wow.....I am surprised to learn that all of his musical guests were mostly talentless, though somehow commercially successful.
A well-earned five stars for "America's oldest teenager".

If he was your guidepost for "teen-ager" then Orson Welles was your icon for fitness and Phylis Diller was dead sexy.

He got away with his longevity as a TV icon because he was one of the first guys in the business to realize that if you produce your own show, you can make who ever the hell you want the host. He had the smarts to figure out the TV business and get broadly acceptable bland middlebrow entertainment on the screen.

But by aiming for the middle and having commercial instead of artistic objectives, he's an icon of the boring wasteland part of the TV landscape. Merv Griffin's cheif rival in fact.

got to give him a five for contributing so much to TV. not only American Bandstand of course. he is also behind quite a few TV shows. game shows etc. he has been around almost as long as TV itself. he brings in the NEW YEAR almost every year. his stroke slowed him down. but he is still going.

My cruelest review was that of Dick Clark's post-stroke-unintentionally ghastly-attempt-to-speak-on-New-Year's-Eve. . .please, Allah, get that guy off the TV. . .amputees can't fly fighter jets, blind people can't perform surgery, and stroke victims shouldn't be announcing on TV. . .okay, I've kicked him enough. . .Give the famous icon 5-stars for a lifetime achievement award. . .