TV & VIDEO - Sept. 30, 1987

He probably won’t croon “There he is . . . MISTER America,” but Bert Parks, will emcee the first U.S. Man of the Year Pageant on Dec. 18 in Atlantic City, N.J.’s Convention Hall, where just last week Miss Michigan, Kaye Lani Raye Rafko, was crowned Miss America, 1988. Parks was fired from his Miss America hosting job in 1979. The U.S. Man of the Year Pageant, which will be broadcast by a syndication company in February, will feature contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia competing in tuxedo and swimsuit competitions. Instead of a talent contest, the men will be placed in an everyday life situation and be judged on how they handle it. The men’s pageant has no connection to the Miss America group.