Where the Action Is
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 inSouthern 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 factohouse band. When the group departed the show in 1966, they were replaced by The Robbs. 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 toAmerican 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.
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Episodes
S01E01 · 1965-06-28
Jan & Dean / The Four Seasons
S01E03 · 1965-06-29
The Zombies / Jimmy Clanton
S01E04 · 1965-06-30
Jackie DeShannon / Eddie Hodges
S01E05 · 1965-07-01
The Shangri-Las / The Detergents
S01E06 · 1965-07-02
James Brown / Jody Miller
S01E07 · 1965-07-06
Tommy Roe / April Stevens & Nino Tempo
S01E08 · 1965-07-07
The Byrds / Jackie DeShannon
S01E09 · 1965-07-08
Sonny & Cher / Del Shannon
S01E10 · 1965-07-09
The Drifters / Brian Hyland
S01E11 · 1965-07-12
Mel Carter / Ian Whitcomb
S01E12 · 1965-07-13
Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs / Ronnie Dove
S01E13 · 1965-07-14
Herman's Hermits
S01E14 · 1965-07-15
Jan & Dean / Lenny Welch
S01E15 · 1965-07-16
Bobby Rydell
S01E16 · 1965-07-19
Sir Douglas Quintet / Jackie & Gayle
S01E17 · 1965-07-20
The Crystals / The Newbeats
S01E18 · 1965-07-21
Jackie Wilson
S01E19 · 1965-07-22
Jr. Walker & the All-Stars / Piccola Pupa
S01E20 · 1965-07-23
The Kinks / Jimmy Velvet
S01E21 · 1965-07-26
Freddy Cannon / Jody Miller
S01E22 · 1965-07-27
Les Sultans / Fred Hughes
S01E23 · 1965-07-28
Peter & Gordon
S01E24 · 1965-07-29
The Shangri-Las / Jimmy Clanton
S01E25 · 1965-07-30
Aretha Franklin / Sonny & Cher
S01E26 · 1965-08-02
Eddie Hodges / The Vibrations
S01E27 · 1965-08-03
Joe Tex / Bobby Rydell
S01E28 · 1965-08-04
Mel Carter / Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs
S01E29 · 1965-08-05
The Byrds / Jewel Akens
S01E30 · 1965-08-06
The Crystals / Jackie DeShannon
S01E31 · 1965-08-09
James Brown / April Stevens & Nino Tempo
S01E32 · 1965-08-10
The Drifters / Brian Hyland
S01E33 · 1965-08-11
The Dixie Cups / Ian Whitcomb
S01E34 · 1965-08-12
The Hondells / Major Lance
S01E35 · 1965-08-13
Sonny & Cher / Roosevelt Grier
S01E36 · 1965-08-16
Dee Dee Sharp / Ray Peterson
S01E37 · 1965-08-17
Jackie Wilson
S01E38 · 1965-08-18
The Kinks
S01E39 · 1965-08-19
Bobby Rydell / The Velvettes
S01E40 · 1965-08-20
The Turtles / Paul Petersen
S01E41 · 1965-08-23
Gary U.S. Bonds / The Guiloteens
S01E42 · 1965-08-24
The Impressions / Ian Whitcomb / The Detergents
S01E43 · 1965-08-25
The Newbeats / Ray Peterson
S01E44 · 1965-08-26
Duane Eddy / Peter & Gordon
S01E45 · 1965-08-27
James Brown / Brian Hyland
S01E46 · 1965-08-30
The Drifters / Del Shannon
S01E47 · 1965-08-31
We Five / Gene Chandler
S01E48 · 1965-09-01
The Turtles / Peter & Gordon / Barbara Lewis
S01E49 · 1965-09-02
Sonny & Cher / Bobby Goldsboro / Liverpool Five
S01E50 · 1965-09-03
Donovan / Jackie DeShannon / Del Shannon
S01E51 · 1965-09-07
Sonny & Cher / Major Lance / Ronnie Dove
S01E52 · 1965-09-08
James Brown / Bobby Goldsboro / Pat & Lolly Vegas
S01E53 · 1965-09-09
We Five / The Drifters
S01E54 · 1965-09-10
The Lovin' Spoonful / Paul Petersen
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