At 39 years the Dick Clark New Years Eve show is one of the longest running shows in TV history and clocking in at 5 1/2 hours long it's also one of the longest shows in television history period. Further, it's also one of the longest titled shows in the history of TV, with the official name now Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.
And to ring in 2012 for the 40th anniversary show, ABC announced Sept. 8, 2011 the featured guest will be the artist who surely has the longest costume laundry list in the history of rock and roll - Lady Gaga. Gaga will be the artist who performs in New York's Times Square just before the clock strikes midnight.
The singer who likely has more costumes that host Dick Clark has had guest on his show, hasn't announced what she'll perform - somehow Born This Way seems apropos to the occasion of bringing in a New Year - but it seems a grand opportunity for her to put something splashy on.
Dick Clark and 40th Anniversary New Year's Show
With the occasion of the 40th show there will be an earlier program that will look back at 4 decades of Dick Clark ringing in the New Year, that show starting at 8 p.m. and run two hours with the 2011-12 Rockin' Eve getting underway at 10. Traditionally the show has an L.A. portion and this year it will again be Fergie of the Black Eye Peas hosting segments from the west coast.
Clark, who turns 82 on November 30, 2011, now has Type 2 diabetes and has had a severe stroke that saw him miss the 2004 show (Regis Philbin hosted in his place). He brought aboard Ryan Seacrest in 2005 and Seacrest does the lions share of hosting the show, which generally runs for 3 hours, breaks for an ABC news update, and then returns for another 2-and-a-half hours.
Lady Gaga and New Year's Eve Ratings
More than one million already gather in Times Square for the live shows and Lady Gaga may bring in extra viewers and make for an even wilder night in Times Square. More often the show gets the highest ratings of the evening, providing a place for viewers to tune into, try something else, or do something else, and then come back.
Mariah Carey, Christina Aguliera, Jennifer Lopez, and The Black Eyed Peas are some of the acts to appear on the show in recent years. Last year Ke$ha and Taio Cruz performed from Times Square.
