Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment (American Idol) will team up with Dick Clark Productions to revive Clark's American Bandstand for summer 2005.
The show will be executive produced by Fuller, Clark and Allen Shapiro, president of Mosaic Productions, who put the deal together. Mosaic owns a controlling interest in Dick Clark Productions.
American Bandstand aired for 30 years on ABC--from 1957 to 1987--and showcased most of the top music groups of the time as well as the dancing of lots of teenagers. No word on where the show will air, but ABC carried the show originally, Fox airs Idol, and NBC currently airs American Dreams, a drama based on the original Bandstand.
Word is that the series is definitely targeted for a network, probably early prime time, with 8 on Saturday night reportedly getting more than a passing glance. The show would be an hour, have a competition element to the dancing, and might include cutting to hosts in different cities--New York, Miami, Chicago--talking about what’s hot in their towns. A main host for the new American Bandstand has not yet been named, with a "nationwide search" currently underway.
