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Revision as of 23:20, 29 June 2007 editSteve Pastor (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers7,364 edits from same source - dvd with complete Ed Sullivan Shows featuring Elvis Presley← Previous edit Revision as of 23:24, 29 June 2007 edit undoSteve Pastor (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers7,364 edits exact sequence of songs performedNext edit →
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On ] ], Presley made his first appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' (after earlier appearances on shows hosted by the ] and ]) even though Sullivan had previously vowed never to allow the performer on his show. At the time Presley was filming '']'' so Sullivan's producer Marlo Lewis flew to ] to supervise the Hollywood side of the show taping. Sullivan, however, was not able to host his show in ] because he was recovering from a near fatal automobile accident. ]-winner ] guest-hosted in Sullivan's place. Laughton appears in front of plaques with gold records and states, "These gold records, four of them... are a tribute to the fact that four of his recordings have sold, each sold, more than a million copies. And this by the way is the first time in record making history that a singer has hit such a mark in such a short time. ... And now, away to Hollywood to meet Elvis Presley". On ] ], Presley made his first appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' (after earlier appearances on shows hosted by the ] and ]) even though Sullivan had previously vowed never to allow the performer on his show. At the time Presley was filming '']'' so Sullivan's producer Marlo Lewis flew to ] to supervise the Hollywood side of the show taping. Sullivan, however, was not able to host his show in ] because he was recovering from a near fatal automobile accident. ]-winner ] guest-hosted in Sullivan's place. Laughton appears in front of plaques with gold records and states, "These gold records, four of them... are a tribute to the fact that four of his recordings have sold, each sold, more than a million copies. And this by the way is the first time in record making history that a singer has hit such a mark in such a short time. ... And now, away to Hollywood to meet Elvis Presley".


Once on camera, Elvis cleared his throat and said, “Thank you Mr Laughton, ladies and gentlemen. Wow”, and wiped his brow. “This is probably the greatest honor I’ve ever had in my life. Ah. There’s not much I can say except, it really makes you feel good. We want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. And now.." ]. Once on camera, Elvis cleared his throat and said, “Thank you Mr Laughton, ladies and gentlemen. Wow”, and wiped his brow. “This is probably the greatest honor I’ve ever had in my life. Ah. There’s not much I can say except, it really makes you feel good. We want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. And now.." ], which was, after a short introduction by Elvis was followed by ].


The show was viewed by a record 60 million people which at the time was 82.6% of the television audience and the largest single audience in television history. Sullivan was able to host other appearances by Presley on ] later the same year and ] ]. For the third and final appearance, Sullivan ordered the show's camera's to shoot the rock star only from the waist up. He extensively praised Elvis at the end of the show, saying "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you.... You're thoroughly all right." The show was viewed by a record 60 million people which at the time was 82.6% of the television audience and the largest single audience in television history. Sullivan was able to host other appearances by Presley on ] later the same year and ] ]. For the third and final appearance, Sullivan ordered the show's camera's to shoot the rock star only from the waist up. He extensively praised Elvis at the end of the show, saying "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you.... You're thoroughly all right."

Revision as of 23:24, 29 June 2007

1948 TV series or program
The Ed Sullivan Show
File:EdSullivan.jpgEd Sullivan
GenreVariety
StarringEd Sullivan
Narrated byBern Bennett (1948-1949), Art Hannes (1949-1959 & 1961-1964) & Ralph Paul (1959-1961 & 1964-1971)
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons24
No. of episodes1087
Production
Production locationCBS Studio 50
Ed Sullivan Theater
Running time60 Minutes
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseJune 20, 1948 –

June 6, 1971

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American television variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by former entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It ran on CBS every Sunday night at 8pm. Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; opera singers, rock stars, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, and circus acts were regularly featured. The format was essentially the same as vaudeville, and although vaudeville had died a generation earlier, Sullivan presented many ex-vaudevillians on his show.

The show was originally entitled Toast of the Town, but was widely referred to as The Ed Sullivan Show for years before September 25 1955, when that became its official name. In its debut, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed along with Broadway composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II previewing the score to South Pacific.

The show was broadcast live from CBS-TV Studio 50 in New York City, which is now named The Ed Sullivan Theater and is the home of The Late Show with David Letterman.

Background

Along with the new talent Sullivan booked each week, he also had recurring characters appear many times a season, such as his puppet sidekick Topo Gigio and ventriloquist Señor Wences. While most of the episodes aired live from New York City, the show also aired live on occasion from other nations, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. For many years, Ed Sullivan was a national event each Sunday evening, and was the first exposure for foreign performers to the American public.

On the occasion of the show's ten-year anniversary telecast, Sullivan commented on how the show had changed during a June 1958 interview syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA):

The chief difference is mostly one of pace. In those days, we had maybe six acts. Now we have 11 or 12. Then, each of our acts would do a leisurely ten minutes or so. Now they do two or three minutes. And in those early days I talked too much. Watching these kines I cringe. I look up at me talking away and I say "You fool! Keep quiet!" But I just keep on talking. I've learned how to keep my mouth shut.

The program did not shy away from airing performances from black entertainers. Sullivan also commented on this during his NEA interview:

The most important thing is that we've put on everything but bigotry. When the show first started in '48, I had a meeting with the sponsors. There were some Southern dealers present and they asked if I intended to put on Negroes. I said yes. They said I shouldn't, but I convinced them I wasn't going to change my mind. And you know something? We've gone over very well in the South. Never had a bit of trouble.

The show included frequent performances from black entertainers such as Diahann Carroll, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Bo Diddley, The Fifth Dimension, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, The Supremes, The Four Tops and The Temptations.

In that same 1958 NEA interview, Sullivan noted his pride about the role that the show had had in improving the public's understanding of mental illness. Sullivan considered his May 17 1953 telecast to be the single most important episode in the show's first decade. During that show, a salute to the popular Broadway director Joshua Logan, the two men were watching in the wings and Sullivan asked Logan how he thought the show was doing. According to Sullivan, Logan told him that the show was dreadfully becoming "another one of those and-then-I-wrote shows;" Sullivan asked him what he should do about it, and Logan volunteered to talk about his experiences in a mental institution. Sullivan took him up on the offer, and in retrospect believed that several advances in the treatment of mental illness could be attributed to the resulting publicity, including the repeal of a Pennsylvania law about the treatment of the mentally ill and the granting of funds for the construction of new psychiatric hospitals.

The show enjoyed phenomenal popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. As had occurred with Amos 'n Andy on the radio in the early 1930s, the family ritual of gathering around the television set to watch Ed Sullivan became almost a U.S. cultural universal. Ed Sullivan was regarded as a kingmaker, and performers considered an appearance on his program as a guarantee of stardom. The show's iconic status is illustrated by a song from the 1960 musical, Bye Bye Birdie. In the song, "Hymn for a Sunday Evening," a family of viewers expresses their regard for the program in worshipful tones.

In the late 1960s, Sullivan remarked that his program was waning as the decade went on. He realized that to keep viewers, the best and brightest in entertainment had to be seen, or else the viewers were going to keep on changing the channel. Along with declining viewership, Ed Sullivan attracted a higher median age for the average viewer as the seasons went on. These two factors were the reason for the show's cancellation in 1971. Sullivan would produce one-off specials for CBS until his death in 1974.

Famous performances

The Ed Sullivan Show is especially known to today's generation for airing breakthrough performances by Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

On September 9 1956, Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (after earlier appearances on shows hosted by the Dorsey Brothers and Steve Allen) even though Sullivan had previously vowed never to allow the performer on his show. At the time Presley was filming Love Me Tender so Sullivan's producer Marlo Lewis flew to Los Angeles, California to supervise the Hollywood side of the show taping. Sullivan, however, was not able to host his show in New York City because he was recovering from a near fatal automobile accident. Oscar-winner Charles Laughton guest-hosted in Sullivan's place. Laughton appears in front of plaques with gold records and states, "These gold records, four of them... are a tribute to the fact that four of his recordings have sold, each sold, more than a million copies. And this by the way is the first time in record making history that a singer has hit such a mark in such a short time. ... And now, away to Hollywood to meet Elvis Presley".

Once on camera, Elvis cleared his throat and said, “Thank you Mr Laughton, ladies and gentlemen. Wow”, and wiped his brow. “This is probably the greatest honor I’ve ever had in my life. Ah. There’s not much I can say except, it really makes you feel good. We want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. And now.." Don't Be Cruel, which was, after a short introduction by Elvis was followed by Love Me Tender.

The show was viewed by a record 60 million people which at the time was 82.6% of the television audience and the largest single audience in television history. Sullivan was able to host other appearances by Presley on October 28 later the same year and January 6 1957. For the third and final appearance, Sullivan ordered the show's camera's to shoot the rock star only from the waist up. He extensively praised Elvis at the end of the show, saying "This is a real decent, fine boy. We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you.... You're thoroughly all right."

Elvis sang "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Reddy Teddy" and "Love Me Tender" on the September show. He performed "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog" and "Love Me Tender" in October. Presley performed the songs "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Love Me Tender", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Peace in the Valley", "Too Much" and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" on the show in January.

Many television historians consider Elvis Presley's appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show as helping to bridge a large generation gap between Great Depression and World War II era parents and their baby boomer children. Later performers would use this bridge to introduce themselves to millions of American households. Among them were The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and The Beatles.

The Beatles appeared live on the show twice during February of 1964; (the third appearance was actually taped earlier in the day on February 9 before their first live appearance). Their first appearance on February 9, in particular, is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the start of the British invasion in music itself. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for an American television program.

The Beatles appeared again on September 12 1965 and earned Sullivan a 60% share of the nighttime audience for one of the appearances.

Although the appearances by The Beatles and Elvis are considered the most famous rock and roll performances on Ed Sullivan, several months before Elvis debuted, Sullivan invited Bill Haley & His Comets to perform their then-current hit "Rock Around the Clock" in early August 1955. This was later recognized by CBS and others (including music historian Jim Dawson in his book on "Rock Around the Clock") as the first performance of a rock and roll song on a national television program.

Controversies

In 1962, Jackie Mason allegedly gave Sullivan the finger on air. A tape of the incident shows Mason doing his stand-up comedy act and then looking toward Sullivan, commenting that Sullivan was signaling him. Sullivan was reportedly telling Mason to wrap it up, since CBS was about to cut away to show a speech by President John F. Kennedy. Mason began working his own fingers into his act and pointed toward Sullivan with his middle finger slightly separated. After Mason left the stage, the camera then cut to a visibly angry Sullivan. Sullivan argued with Mason backstage, then terminated his contract. Mason denied knowingly giving Sullivan the finger and later filed a libel suit. Sullivan publicly apologized to Mason when he appeared on the show a year later. Mason dropped the lawsuit, but never appeared on the show again.

Bob Dylan was slated to make his first nationwide television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 12, 1963, and intended to perform "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," a song he wrote lampooning the John Birch Society and the red-hunting paranoia associated with it. During the afternoon rehearsal that day, CBS officials told Dylan they had deemed the song unacceptable for broadcast and wanted him to substitute another. "No; this is what I want to do," Dylan responded. "If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear on the show." He then left the studio, walking out on the stint.

On September 17 1967 The Doors appeared on the show. The show's network censors demanded the group to change its lyrics for their hit song Light My Fire, altering the line "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" because of what the censors said was a reference to drugs. Jim Morrison, the band's lead singer, didn't agree and sang the original line instead with no notice to the show's producers. Morrison insisted that it was an accident, and that he meant to change the lyric but was so nervous about performing on live television that he forgot to change it when he was singing. Sullivan was reportedly so furious that he refused to shake their hands. They were never invited back.

In contrast, the Rolling Stones were instructed to change the title of their "Let's Spend the Night Together" single for the band's January 15 1967 appearance. The band complied, with Mick Jagger ostentatiously rolling his eyes heavenward whenever he reached the song's one-night-only, clean refrain, "Let's spend some time together."

Broadway

The show is also famous for showcasing original cast members of Broadway shows performing hit numbers from the musicals in which they were then appearing, at a time when this was rare. There were appearances from Broadway celebrities such as Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert singing Tonight from West Side Story, Julie Andrews singing Wouldn't It Be Lovely? from My Fair Lady as well as What Do The Simple Folk Do? (with Richard Burton) from Camelot, and Richard Kiley singing The Impossible Dream from Man of La Mancha. La Mancha leading lady Joan Diener also made an extremely rare television appearance in her stage role of Aldonza/Dulcinea, singing the song What Does He Want of Me?

All of these artists performed their songs wearing the same makeup and costumes that they wore in the shows, in order to preserve the illusion that one was actually seeing the musical in question. This was also extremely rare on television at the time. (Several of these performances have recently been released on a DVD).

Parodies

Due to the program's legacy, many musicians have parodied The Ed Sullivan Show over the years in countless music videos. Among the notable include:

Celebrity Guests

Note: Year indicates first appearance on the show.

1948

1949

1950

1951

1952

References

  • Joe Garner, Stay Tuned: Television's Unforgettable Moments (Andrews McMeel Publishing; 2002) ISBN 0-7407-2693-5
  • Slate article about the Beatles' appearances on the Ed Sullivan show

External Links

Categories: