Next Tuesday, June 20th, marks the 75th Anniversary of the television premier of The Ed Sullivan Show.
Back then, it was called The Toast Of The Town, and Ed (a newspaper columnist) was about as unlikely a choice for a host as could be had. (He earned the nickname "Old Stoneface" almost immediately!)
Yet week after week after week he brought us the biggest names in show business ... including providing tremendous exposure to artists like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Fifth Dimension, Paul Anka, The Everly Brothers, The Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, The Doors, Connie Francis, The Mamas and the Papas, Bobby Darin and literally hundreds and hundreds more.
He brought this great talent into our homes every Sunday Night ... there was something on every program to appeal to every member of the family ... and, believe it or not, entire families sat down together to watch it. Ed did more to make rock and roll music acceptable than anyone else in the history of the genre ... yet incredibly, he STILL hasn't been inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. (The man has never even been nominated!!!)
Perhaps some of this new anniversary coverage can help to change all of this. (We have another piece running tomorrow, courtesy of Harvey Kubernik.)
The Ed Sullivan You Tube Channel launched a couple of years ago ... and now, for the first time in decades, you can watch full-length performances just as they originally aired on Ed's program back in the '50's, '60's and early '70's.
Parade Magazine ran a cover feature this past weekend ...
https://parade.com/tv/ed-sullivan-show-turns-75
And CBS Sunday Morning will be running a profile on the series this Sunday, June 18th.
We have covered Ed's program in great depth several times over the years ...
But probably never more so than in these two features, permanently posted on the other Forgotten Hits Website:
http://forgottenhits.com/forgotten_hits_interviews_andrew_solt
SOFA Entertainment has also given us permission to share some of these photos with our readers ...
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And it wasn't just music and rock and roll acts lighting up the screen on Sunday nights (although that's why WE tuned in!!!)
Ed also regularly spotlighted entire scenes from the hottest Broadway Shows ...
Profiled all of the hot, up and coming comics ...
Had tumblers and magicians and plate spinners and ballet dancers ... and let's not forget Topo Gigio!
It was truly designed to appeal to the entire family, presented as a program that the whole family could sit down and watch together. (Sure, we left the room during what we considered to be the "boring" parts ... and I don't know that our parents always hung around to see the latest rock and roll acts ... although most of the time MY parents did because they considered them all to be such a curiosity!!!)
The stats were staggering ...
If an up and coming group (like say Chicago's own Buckinghams) were invited to appear, they knew they had finally made it ... and that MILLIONS of people would be tuning in that weekend to see them perform ... even if that wasn't the real reason they had the set on in the first place. That kind of exposure virtually guaranteed a move up the charts of at least twenty places the following week.
It was variety television at its very best ... pure show biz ... and something that just doesn't exist today.
Join in on the celebration!
Me-TV regularly runs highlights from The Ed Sullivan Show ... check your local listings for air times ...
And you can catch "Best Of" episodes On Demand on FreeVee, too ... 24/7 ...
More info here: https://www.edsullivan.com/the-ed-sullivan-show-officially-launches-on-amazon-freevee/
Stop back tomorrow for a special Ed Sullivan piece prepared by Harvey Kubernik! (kk)
