New Year's Rockin' Eve?

In case you haven't noticed, almost everything is now a commercial. A co-sponsorship. A logo placement. Product placement. Naming rights.

Last night, as is our custom, we stayed off the roads, instead opting for a movie and Champagne as we closed in on 2006. Curiosity lead me to New Year's Rockin' Eve with the much-ballyhooed return of Dick Clark and the official countdown (which would have been tape delayed since we are on Central time...)

I'll probably take a ton of heat for this but I don't think Dick should have gone on camera. Call him brave, a tradition, add whatever nice thing you wish... he shouldn't have gone on.

I have nothing against Dick Clark. I wish him nothing but good. I know a stroke can devastate. I applaud him for his effort to recover.

But look, Dick is above all else a SHOWMAN. I think he diminished the SHOW by co-hosting. Maybe his time in the spotlight is over and he won't let go? Maybe he envisions himself a role model. More likely, he owns the show and makes the decisions. This one was bad.

Look at it from the network competition point of view. People party or sit home alone with Champagne or The Devil Weed or whatever. The other networks are trying their hardest to 'throw the party.'

New Year's Rockin' Eve wasn't a party. Or if it was, it started and then stopped.

Mariah Carey is a good hire. She's popular. She'd pull an audience. But Dick pulled it down. I wonder how many gasped. How many laughed (not nice!) How many were inspired??? I was just flat out shocked.

Did you notice all the logos by Chevy on the hats down front? The Korbel balloons? They didn't just happen - it's part of the package they bought. Though there was a brief shot of a huge display screen that had the word PONTIAC on it. Ooops?

Across the dial, Regis was being Regis - he does it well.

Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly were America's new announcers (what Dick Clark used to be.)