Had a nice New Years celebration. We went to an early evening bash at the local bowling alley with disco lights and a buffet. That ran from 4 to 8. Then neighbors down the street had an inpromptu get together and we went over for that. As Caroline drifted to sleep in my lap, we all welcomed in the New Year without trying to be too depressed over Ðìçk Clark’s state. At least he’s recovering, but jeez, poor devil.
Anyway, happy New Year to all. Frankly, 2005 was kind of a sucky year, so let’s hope for better in 2006.
PAD
• 
We went over to a friend’s house and had the Sci Fi channel’s Twilight Zone marathon on. They had it timed just right so when the clock struck 12 during The Masks it was also New Years.
I can’t say the last year was a bad one for family and friends but there’s always room for improvement, so here’s hoping for a great 2006.
I was coming home from work, and just as I was getting to my front steps, the clock struck midnight, as I heard it on my walkman (My walkman has a TV feature that picks up the audio of Channels 2-13). I didn’t see Ðìçk, but I heard his slurred speech, and yeah, it was hard to listen to him like that.
But it was brave of him to come back, in my opinion.
Happy New Year, everyone.
Another year of Bush down.
Only (gasp) three more to go.
Happy New Year, Mr. David!
I wish you and your family a 2006 full of health, success, luck, love, fun and happiness!
Nicole
We too were surprised that Clark opted to push himself in front of the camera in his current condition. Goodness knows he has enough money exec-producing half of ABC’s stuff that he doesn’t have to work! We figured maybe he just took bad advice from a lot of yes-folks assuring him that “it won’t be the same without you on TV on New Year’s Eve,” not realizing it’s not the same anyway.
We sacked out early — two out of three members of the household are sick, so staying up until midnight didn’t seem like the best of choices from a health standpoint.
A good 2006 to all!
TWL
I don’t quite know how to feel about Ðìçk “The World’s Oldest Teenager” Clark’s return to New Year’s Eve TV. As uncomfortable as it was for me to watch and hear a post-stroke Clark, ultimately, I think I (like ) can feel OK about it.
I mean, as many have pointed out, Clark doesn’t need to do the show. So it’s reasonable enough to think that Clark did the show because he wanted to do the show (assuming, for the moment, that the stroke didn’t so impair his faculties as to render him incapable of making such a reasoned decision, or incredibly suceptible to coercion or suggestion.) If that’s the case, then more power to him for setting a goal and achieving it.
And if seeing Ðìçk Clark sitting there, conspicuously less than his former self, is an uncomfortable reminder of aging and mortality to we viewers, then we can take it, and should. Perhaps particularly on a holiday dedicated to nothing so much as the turning of a calendar, to be reminded of the passage of time, of the transience of life and health, seems somehow appropriate to me.
>Ahem
A bit of the first paragraph of my original post got garbled. What I mean to type was:
“I don’t quite know how to feel about Ðìçk “The World’s Oldest Teenager” Clark’s return to New Year’s Eve TV. As uncomfortable as it was for me to watch and hear a post-stroke Clark, ultimately, I think I (like Mark Evanier: http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_01_01.html#010772 ) can feel OK about it.”
Sorry ’bout that…
Well, I don’t think I can say 2005 was a “sucky” year for my wife and I. October 3, 2005 saw the birth of our son Brandon, our first child. He’s also the first grand-child for both sets of parents. We decided to stay in for Brandon’s first NYE. He fell asleep by 11 pm, and my wife and I followed not too far behind him. We didn’t make it until midnight, but for me, it was the best NYE ever.
I actually worked from 2:30 to 10:45, so the day was a bit less celebratory than I would’ve hoped. Still, I got home to watch both The Twilight Zone and Mariah Carey (who I hope never gets fully dressed, ever), and to see the ball drop.
I hope that no matter how good 2005 was, 2006 is even better!
Happy New Year to all.
Happy New Year! 2005 was good to me…I hope for an even better 2006.
Mariah Carey. My personal preference in women isn’t the Victoria’s Secret model (the secret is they are all anorexic.) Having said that..wow! I remember her from the 90’s when she weighed, what, 120 lbs? She’s put on a lot of weight. I guess I haven’t seen her in quite a while.
I don’t mind seeing Mariah Carey at any size or shape. I do wish I liked her singing more.
Happy New Year!
Yeah, it was tough seeing Ðìçk Clark last night, but I don’t think this was about us or about the overall success of the show for greedy network execs (I don’t know what the ratings were last year, but I think his show is enough of a “brand” that it doesn’t actually need him at this point).
No, this was about *him.* I can only imagine that having this goal in front of him was a major factor behind his overall improvement (and sad to say, given his state, this probably is a tremendous improvement from where he was this time last year).
Happy New Year Mr. David, and thank you for all the great work. You’ve turned Madrox into my favourite comic book character, and X-Factor into my favourite on-going series. I’m anxious to discover Fallen Angel as well.
I wish everyone here a better year than last.
/AF
As sad a state as you may (or may not) have thought Ðìçk was in last night– I thought it took a hëll of a lot of courage and determination to do what he did. Ðìçk Clark has always personified professionalism and he was every bit of that and more.
He may have garbled his words but you could tell the Ðìçk Clark timber and inflection was still alive and well.
Give him a year and I’ll bet he’ll be almost as good as new.
I was actually relieved to see that his facial expressions were almost there– and to see that the stroke did not cause Ðìçk to suffer the same fate that Kirk Douglas has had to endure.
Bravo to Ðìçk! Bravo to ABC! And Bravo to facing our own mortality!
I’ll take a recovering Ðìçk Clark over Ryan Seacrest calling Ðìçk “Ðìçk Carey” any New Year’s Eve.
Best to all!
Last night I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark on DVD, ate some barbecue chicken wings and went to bed around 10 pm. I generally don’t do the whole stay up until midnight thing for New Year’s. Considering I had to wake up early to go to work this morning, it made a certain amount of sense.
Anyway, here’s to a new tear that’s even better than the last.
Happy New Years Everyone!
And thank you Mr. David for all your amazing works!
Rolling Stone declared 2005 the worst year EVER in a recent issue.
I guess I have a contrary take on the whole Clark thing. As others have said, it seems that he appeared because he wanted to – that he certainly didn’t need to. And, to me, it was just a bad decision, and it read to me on New Year’s Eve not as a brave, defiant, inspiring choice, one that spoke of resiliance in the face of tragedy, but of a much more simple hubris – as if Ðìçk Clark was convinced that we needed him back, and that “New Year’s Eve wouldn’t be the same without him.” I saw an ego convinced of its own importance, and wish he would have just passed the baton on. I’m all for doing things as long as you can do them well – that Ricky Henderson, for example, continues to play baseball because he loves it and is good at it, even if he’s no longer great by pro standards, is inspiring to me. But to do something you can’t do well anymore, just to show off in a way (and Clark’s job as host is, basically, to talk–which he obvioucly can not do well), is to me, well, kind of sad.
I can see how it might be an ego thing, but do I think the Ðìçk Clark did need to do it, not for the money but to prove to himself and his fans that he was still capable of making public appearances.
It was heart breaking seeing himself limited to sitting behind a desk and listening to him slur his words, but at the same time, it was also inspiring to see that he is on the mend.
Here’s hoping that he’s back to full strenght for next year’s celebration.
Happy New Year to you and yours as well!
jonny