Season 24 • Episode 26
LatestThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Production
Live TV chaos before safety nets existed.
Practical Effects
Actual sets, actual audiences, actual stakes.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This show literally integrated American living rooms before schools were integrated—Black performers reaching 50 million white households weekly.
Ed Sullivan could barely read cue cards and had zero hosting experience—he was a gossip columnist who CBS gambled on because he was cheap.
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