Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»TV by Decade»TV Shows - 1950s
    TV Shows - 1950s TV Shows - 1960s TV Shows - 1970s Variety 4 Mins Read

    Ed Sullivan Show, The (Toast Of The Town)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 4 8 – 1 9 7 1 (USA)

    Anyone who watched television in America between 1948 and 1971 saw Ed Sullivan. Even if viewers did not watch his Sunday night variety show regularly, chances are they tuned in occasionally to see a favourite singer or comedian.

    Milton Berle may have been “Mr Television” in the early years of TV, but for almost a quarter-century Sullivan was Mr Sunday Night.

    Considered by many to be the embodiment of banal, middle-brow taste, Sullivan exposed a generation of Americans to virtually everything there was to offer in the field of art and entertainment.

    sullivan_1968

    Sullivan began as a journalist, and it was his column in the New York Daily News that launched him as an MC of vaudeville revues and charity events.

    This role, in turn, led to his selection to front a regular televised variety show in 1948. Known as the Toast of the Town until 1955, it became The Ed Sullivan Show, in September of that year.

    Ed Sullivan’s stiff physical appearance, evident discomfort before the camera, and awkward vocal mannerisms (including the oft-imitated description of his programme as a “reeeeeelly big shoe”) made him an unlikely candidate to become a television star and national institution.

    But what Sullivan lacked in screen presence and personal charisma he made up for with a canny ability to locate and showcase talent.

    He did so by booking acts from every spectrum of entertainment – performers of the classics such as Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev; comedians such as Buster Keaton, Bob Hope and Joan Rivers; singers like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, James Brown and Sister Sourire, the Singing Nun.

    Elvis was instructed by Sullivan to tone down his swivelling pelvic motions, which TV censors of the time considered too obscene to be seen on television. Cameras showed the singer only from the waist up, much to the disappointment of his adoring female fans . . .

    sullivan_topoSports stars appeared on the same stage as Shakespearean actors. Poets and artists shared the spotlight with dancing bears and trained dogs.

    There were the “speciality acts” too, such as Topo Gigio (pictured at left), the marionette mouse with the thick Italian accent and Senor Wences, a ventriloquist who talked to his lipstick-smeared hand and a wooden head in a box. Sullivan’s programme was a variety show in the fullest sense of the term.

    Elvis Presley and many other performers had appeared on network television before ever showing up on the Sullivan programme, but taking his stage once during prime time on Sunday night meant more than a dozen appearances on any other show.

    Although Sullivan relented to the blacklist in 1950, apologising for booking tap dancer and alleged communist sympathiser Paul Draper, he was noted for his support of civil rights.

    At a time when virtually all sponsors baulked at permitting black performers to take the stage, Sullivan embraced Pearl Baily over the objections of his sponsors. He also showcased black entertainers as diverse as Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Richard Pryor, Duke Ellington, Richie Havens and The Supremes.

    Sullivan attempted to keep up with the times, booking rock bands and young comedians, but by the time his show was cancelled in 1971 he had been eclipsed in the ratings by hip variety programmes like Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and The Flip Wilson Show.

    Since it ended in 1971 no other programme on American television has approached the diversity and depth of Sullivan’s weekly variety show.

    Periodic specials drawing from the hundreds of hours of Sullivan shows as well as the venue of The Late Show with David Letterman continue to serve as a tribute to Sullivan’s unique place in broadcasting.

    Ed Sullivan remained an important figure in American broadcasting because of his talents as a producer and his willingness to chip away at the entrenched racism that existed in television’s first decades.

    Ed Sullivan died on 13 October 1974, three years after his last telecast.

    TRIVIA
    The budget for the very first Toast Of The Town was $1,375 – including $375 for “talent”.

    When The Beatles appeared on the show on 9 February 1964, 50,000 requests were received for 700 seats. The show was watched by an estimated audience of 75 million.

    sullivan_beatles

    Related Posts

    • Mr Pastry's Progress
      Mr Pastry's Progress
      1 9 5 0 - 1 9 5 1 (UK) Mr Pastry, the slapstick character complete with walrus moustache and…
    • Joan and Leslie
      Joan and Leslie
      1 9 5 5 - 1 9 5 8 (UK) 71 x 30 minute episodes Husband and wife comedy team Leslie Randall…
    • Story of Peter Grey, The
      Story of Peter Grey, The
      1 9 6 1 - 1 9 6 2 (Australia) 164 x 15 minute episodes ATN7 (Australia) produced this daytime…
    • What's The Story?
      What's The Story?
      1 9 5 1 - 1 9 5 5 (USA) This innocuous panel show had the distinction of being the last…
    • Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The
      Engelbert Humperdinck Show, The
      1 9 6 9 - 1 9 7 0 (UK) 18 x 60 minute episodes This hour-long late-night variety show was…
    • Hollywood Palace, The
      Hollywood Palace, The
      1 9 6 4 - 1 9 7 0 (USA) Originally broadcast as The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace, this big-budget, lavish, weekly…
    • Sullivans, The
      Sullivans, The
      1 9 7 6 - 1 9 8 3 (Australia) 30 minute episodes This World War II drama series, set in…
    • Broadway Open House
      Broadway Open House
      1 9 5 0 - 1 9 5 1 (USA) Broadway Open House was an informal late-night variety program - the…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleEamonn Andrews Show, The
    Next Article Engelbert With The Young Generation

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    You May Also Like
    • Big Top, The
      1 9 5 0 – 1 9 5 7 (USA) The Big Top featured American and […]
    • Mrs Brown (1997)
      Judi Dench and Billy Connolly are a wonderfully regal double-act […]
    • Obsession (1976)
      High melodrama, creeping insanity and barely contained delirium […]
    • Passions, The
      The Passions formed in Shepherds Bush, west London, in 1978.  […]
    • Iced (1988)
      A psycho in broken ski goggles kills people at a Utah ski resort […]
    • Brat Pack
      When young actors like Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Matthew […]
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    OUR LATEST FACEBOOK POSTS

    edition.cnn.com/2023/01/30/entertainment/cindy-williams-dead/index.html

    More sad news 😢
    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    'Laverne & Shirley' star Cindy Williams dead at 75 | CNN

    edition.cnn.com

    Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," has died, according to a statement from her family, provided to CNN by a...
    3 days ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
    5 days ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64418847 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
    6 days ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

    Put some "beefiness into your mid-week menu" with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the "Radio Times" on 30 September 1965. ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 3
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news 😪

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened?

    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 54
    • Shares: 22
    • Comments: 7

    Comment on Facebook

    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

    View more comments

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

    nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    That is so sad to hear 😥 rest in peace 🙏 🕊 xx

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 4
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    😍😍😍😍

    Vale Jeff Beck. Dead at 78. 😢

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Jeff Beck: British guitar legend dies aged 78

    www.bbc.co.uk

    One of rock's most influential guitarists, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Hi everyone. Were in the process of moving www.nostalgiacentral.com to new dedicated servers to better cope with the volumes of traffic. Please ignore any SSL security errors you may receive when visiting the site over the next 24 hours while the move completes.

    Hi everyone. We're in the process of moving www.nostalgiacentral.com to new dedicated servers to better cope with the volumes of traffic. Please ignore any SSL security errors you may receive when visiting the site over the next 24 hours while the move completes. ... See MoreSee Less

    4 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 5
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 2

    Comment on Facebook

    Ironically, this post has jumped off the page at me. You'll probably get most traffic today because everyone will want to see what they might be missing!

    Martin Platt

    Load more
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.