Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

When American Bandstand moved from weekday afternoons to Saturdays, America’s teens were despondent. It took two years to fill the void, but in the summer of 1965, Dick Clark Productions came through with Where the Action Is.

Another Monday-to-Friday rock and roll series, Where the Action Is featured the hottest artists of the day, performing (or lip-synching) their hits in front of a crowd of enthusiastic teens. Unlike American Bandstand, however, the new show literally went where the action was. The program toured several hot spots across the U.S.A., with most episodes filmed in southern California—Big Bear ski resort in the winter, Malibu in the summer.

In addition to the featured musical guests—everyone from Jan and Dean to Sonny and Cher to The Byrds to The Who—Where the Action Is also had its own stable of performers. Steve Alaimo, Linda Scott, Jimmy Hibbard and the Action Kids, The Robbs, Tina Mason, The Hard Times and Keith Allison all made regular appearances, but none had as much success as Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Before the show’s debut, Paul Revere and the Raiders had been known primarily in the Pacific Northwest, with only one minor nationwide hit to their credit. But the group also had a wild, energetic stage show, one that caught the eye of Dick Clark. Clark signed the group on as the house band, and within weeks of the show’s debut, Paul Revere and the Raiders had begun a chart-topping run that would make them one of the biggest American bands of the mid-60’s. Frontman Paul Revere and singer Mark Lindsay went on to host another Dick Clark production, Happening '68.

Where the Action Is ran for two years, doing for weekday afternoons what American Bandstand continued to do for weekends—bringing the music to the kids. Dick Clark brought the show back in 1973 as Action ‘73/’74, this time taking over hosting duties himself, but after one season, the action apparently went elsewhere.

Release History

6/27/65 - 3/31/67 ABC

TV Sub Categories

live-action

TV Studio

Dick Clark Productions

Television Cast

Steve Alaimo Himself
Keith Allison Himself
The Hard Times Themselves
Jimmy Hibbard and the Action Kids Themselves
Tina Mason Herself
Paul Revere and the Raiders Themselves
The Robbs Themselves
Linda Scott Herself

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