That crowd you'll see in Times Square tonight will be made up mostly of TV correspondents.
Each of them will be on the scene, each of them reporting the event and breathlessly delivering the scoop: Flash! The ball has dropped! It's 1994!So now you know.
Of course, you don't have to be Guy Lombardo to love tracking New Year's Eve and sharing with others this annual rite of passage, as the moments tick, tick, tick down to midnight.
And how better to share it than on TV? The only hard part is deciding which channel to watch.
- At 11 p.m., Fox (Ch. 13) kicks off its 90-minute "New Year's Eve '94" special hosted by comedian Richard Jeni (yup, live at Times Square) and featuring George Carlin, Penn & Teller, Sinbad, Bobcat Goldthwait and cast members from the sitcom "Living Single."
- Same time over on PBS (Ch. 7), catch the English perspective with "Clive James' New Year's Eve" as this British TV personality takes an irreverent look at the year almost past. Bonus: Here you'll see none other than London's Big Ben ring in 1994.
- If you've got a mind to pay the going price of $39.95, you can tune in "The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant," a cable pay-per-view event starting at 9 p.m. MST. This resolutely rude and crude send-up of a beauty pageant features among its judges Tiny Tim, Joe Frazier and the year's most unlikely celebrity, John Wayne Bobbitt. On-site at Times Square: Howard Stern's sidekick Stuttering John.
- At 11:30 p.m., MTV goes on the air with "Janet's New Year's Jam," featuring Janet Jackson live in concert from Madison Square Garden. But don't worry: MTV correspondents will report from Times Square.
- At 11:35 p.m., Dick Clark hosts his 22nd annual "New Year's Rockin' Eve" on ABC (Ch. 4). Originating from Florida's Walt Disney World Resort, the show includes "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" stars Mark Curry and Holly Robinson along with musical guests Daryl Hall, Joey Lawrence, Kiss, SMV and Brooks and Dunn.
An added rockin' attraction is the Times Square nuptials of two California firefighters, Laura Turpin and Bob Hutnyan, in the final moments of 1993. Dick Clark himself will report that and the new year from Times Square.
- At 10:35 p.m. on NBC (Ch. 2), "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" will air in a live edition (taped in this time zone) from Burbank, along with fitness guru Richard Simmons reporting from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Comedian Bill Maher will be on hand at Times Square.
Of course, there's more to New Year's Eve than watching the ball drop at midnight.
Pigskin fans can watch another kind of ball with the Peach Bowl at 4 p.m. on ESPN, the Gator Bowl at 5 p.m. on TBS, and the Alamo Bowl at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Speaking of football, gridiron great Joe Namath hosts the 60th Annual King Orange Jamboree Parade from Miami at 7 p.m. on NBC (Ch. 2). The grand marshal is often associated with another fruit, the second banana: Ed McMahon.
And at 11 p.m. on Ch. 14, there's the syndicated "Merv Griffin's New Year's Eve." This is Merv's third annual party from his Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.