The Ed Sullivan Show

I watched a video of the Ed Sullivan show. It was entitled "Red, White, and Blue." It was a patriotic compiled tape which everybody in America should own. I was born after the show's cancellation so I never saw the original. But I can tell you after watching this tape, it was probably one of the best television shows of all time. In this tape, they have the great Henry Fonda doing the first Lincoln address. Dame Judith Anderson reciting the Gettysburg Address. Carl Sandburg offers the Lincoln Birthday address and the great Charlton Heston gives the second Lincoln inauguration speech. There are great musical numbers with Dale Evans, the West Point crew, and Kate Smith singing "God Bless America." They also have Joel Grey singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Grey's not James Cagney but it's worth seeing. This short video tape is only an hour long from Sofa Entertainment. Now if you are a history teacher, an American patriot, American lover, or just patriotic, this tape is worth the money. I bought 2 copies and gave it to history teachers that I know of. It's also worth buying for your home.

It was officially called "Toast of the Town", but to most of us it was simply "The Ed Sullivan Show." If I recall correctly, it came on Sunday nights, in glorious black and white. We always looked forward to seeing his show. Sullivan himself was not much to look at, in fact it is safe to say most would consider him 'funny looking.' Nor did he have a particularly good speaking voice. One of his catch phrases, 'we're going to have a really big show' came out 'a really big shoe.' That's the way he pronounced words. But regardless of his personal lack of charisma, Ed Sullivan knew how to bring in the big stars.

One of them was Elvis Presley before he became wildly popular. In fact, being on the Ed Sullivan show was perhaps the biggest springboard to his success. But there was a problem with Elvis, his hips moved just too much, were considered far too suggestive for this family program, so the TV cameras showed Elvis only above the waist.

Ed Sullivan also got the Beatles in the early 1960s, when they were still relatively unknown in the USA. I don't know if he was the first, but his show certainly went a long way towards introducing America to this group from England. And the rest, as they say, is 'history'!!

What everyone remembers are the Beatles and Elvis. What they forget is what people were forced to sit through.

This was before Tivo, videotape, or streaming. The only way to see the classic performances was to sit through 40 minutes of tedious bad circus performers, over the hill vaudeville comics with jokes that were old before you were born, and corny schmaltzy over the top "singers."

If you had to work, or even ran to the bathroom, you missed it. This also means even the greatest performances on Sullivan became badly overrated. The Beatles were amazing songwriters, but as live performers were just slightly better than average. Elvis was amazing live, that is, before his Vegas days. But on Sullivan they notoriously censored him from the waist down.

So watch, but be prepared to fast forward a lot. A lot. You'll finish a 40 minute episode in seven minutes.

I must say that I have become immersed in watching reruns of this awesome television classic as of late. Everything about it is great. It is my opinion that highlights of its series run include guest appearances by Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Doors. Ed Sullivan was always a truly great and cordial host and it's very easy to see why this show is so fondly remembered even today.

One of the most popular shows of that era. You would never see a show like it on television today. Except, now you can watch the original by tuning to the Decades network. If you do be prepared to watch something almost surreal. Opera singers, ballet dancers, stand up comedians, vaudeville acts, mimes, circus acts, ventriloquists, the best rock and pop acts of the day(The Beatles!) and of course weird acts like Senor Wences, and the guy with the spinning dinner plates. Want to feel nostalgic, amused, and beguiled? Check it out.