The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show was a long running musical Variety Show that was a required viewing on American Prime Time television for decades. It lasted from June, 1948 to June, 1971. Originally called Talk of the Town when it premiered, it quickly became known informally as The Ed Sullivan Show for its host, former newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan, and was formally renamed in 1955.

It is best remembered for the numerous rock music acts it featured like Elvis Presley and The Beatles and the novelty acts. And it played a key role in the early history of The Muppets.

Briefly revived in the 1990s as The Virtual Ed Sullivan Show, with a CGI recreation of its famous host a la Max Headroom.

Its official web site can be found here.


 * Broadcast Live
 * Colbert Bump: The Beatles and Elvis both caused mutual Colbert Bumps, with the show and the musicians both becoming more popular after their appearance.
 * Cool Old Guy: Ed himself. He was already in his sixties when The Beatles first appeared on his program in February 1964.
 * The Eponymous Show
 * Long Runners: The show lasted for 23 years (1948-1971) and within the series, the Canadian comedy duo, Wayne and Shuster, appeared 67 times.
 * Muppets: Jim Henson made several appearances in the show's later years.
 * Newer Than They Think: Ed Sullivan didn't get Elvis first, he was third. Sullivan hated playing catch-up and so resolved to get the next big rock act first, and then came The Beatles...
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: A 16-year old Davy Jones appeared in the play Oliver! the same night The Beatles made their American debut. He would become known three years later as one of The Monkees.
 * Princeton Triangle Club: Throughout the 1950s, the Triangle Club was a regular sight on the Sullivan show.  In fact, Sullivan once wrote the club president, "The Princeton Triangle Club has an annual appointment on our stage, so long as I’m on TV."
 * Variety Show
 * Writer Revolt: When The Doors performed "Light My Fire", they were told to change the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" due to its alleged drug reference. The band eventually relented, and performed it accordingly in rehearsal, only for Jim Morrison to sing the original line on the air.