Where the Action Is
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| Where the Action Is | |
|---|---|
 Linda Scott and Steve Alaimo, regulars on the show, pictured in 1966. | |
| Created by | Dick Clark |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Production company | Dick Clark Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | June 27, 1965 – March 31, 1967 |
Where the Action Is or (WTAI) was a music-based television variety show in the United States from 1965–67. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon. Created by Dick Clark as a spin-off of American Bandstand, Where the Action Is premiered on June 27, 1965.
Originally intended as a summer replacement and broadcast at 2 P.M. EDT, the show was successful enough for it to continue throughout the 1965-66 TV season, with a change in time period to 4:30 P.M. Eastern time following the horror soap opera Dark Shadows. Both programs attracted a young audience who watch the shows after school.
The show's theme song, "Action", became a hit single for Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, peaking on the charts (#13) in September 1965. Most of the telecasts, all of which were produced in black-and-white, were taped at various locales in Southern California although a handful of segments were taped elsewhere in the country. The theme song was written by Steve Venet and Tommy Boyce. Later Boyce co-wrote songs for The Monkees.
The program had its own stable of performers, most notably Paul Revere & the Raiders, who served as the de facto house band. When the group departed the show in 1966, they were replaced by The Robbs and The Hard Times. Other regular performers on Action included the dance troupe Pete Manifee and the Action Kids. Individual episodes featured a wide range of guest performers, as detailed below.
Also appearing were Steve Alaimo, Keith Allison, and Linda Scott. Ms. Scott had a few hit singles as a teenager in the early 1960s; she was only 20 when "Action" premiered.
The weekday program was cancelled on March 31, 1967, with the network giving its local affiliates the time slot. However, members of the program's mainstay band Paul Revere and the Raiders (with lead vocalist Mark Lindsay) hosted very similar follow-up shows; both Revere and Lindsay hosted Happening '68, a Saturday afternoon follow-up to American Bandstand, and a weekday version of the same show, It's Happening, from 1968 to 1969. Both shows were produced by Dick Clark's production company for ABC.
Regulars
- Dick Clark (Host. Except for a brief cameo at the beginning of the pilot and subsequently at the end of the final episode, otherwise he only appeared in off-camera voice-overs to introduce performers)
- Paul Revere and The Raiders (1965–1966)
- The Robbs (1966–1967)
- Keith Allison
- Steve Alaimo
- Tina Mason
- Linda Scott
- Pete Menefee & The Action Kids
- The Knickerbockers
- The Hard Times
- Don and the Goodtimes
- Tommy Roe
Guest performers (partial list)
External links
