Ed Sullivan was the host of the longest running variety show in television history. He hosted the show from 1948-1971. A variety show consists of a combination of different acts. Most variety shows featured a musical performance, a comedy sketch, and sometimes novelty acts such as ventriloquists and magicians. The idea here is to create a show that entertains all of the audience at least some of the time. This genre of show was derived from the earlier Vaudeville theatres and minstrel shows that previously entertained America. Eventually this type of entertainment was brought to television. The transition to television could either make of break a career. And Although Ed Sullivan was not the best looking man and had an awkward charisma; he outlasted all of the other hosts of his time such as Milton Berle. Berle’s show was so popular at one point that restaurants would close so everyone could watch. Another characteristic that separated Sullivan from the rest of variety show hosts was his complete lack of talent. Comedian Alan King once said, “ Ed does nothing but he does it better than anyone else on television.” This type of host is often called a “pointer” because he simply pointed and introduced the acts. But it was his ability to pick and arrange a mixture of talent for his show that allowed him to succeed.
Ed Sullivan made his television debut on June 20th 1948 on a show that was broadcast on CBS called, “ The Toast of the Town.” For his first show he had a Broadway group as the headliner, followed by up and coming stars, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. He also had a pianist, a ballerina, a group of singing New York firemen, and a group of dancers called, “the toastettes.” As one can see, with such an array of acts there was at least some entertainment for everyone.
Ed Sullivan was the executive editor from the beginning. He was the king of booking talent and he was also well known for his attention to detail when it came to arranging acts. He also had a good sense of what the diverse segments of his audience wanted to see. One columnist once called Sullivan the “ cultural eyes and ears of America” because he brought Broadway and theatre into the homes of many families. Most of these families wouldn’t have had the chance to be exposed to these aspects of American culture if it wasn’t for Ed Sullivan.
As Sullivan and “Toast of the Town” gained popularity the show was renamed “The Ed Sullivan Show” in September of 1955. Part of the reason for his progressive popularity was due to the postwar mentality of American society. After the war there was more leisure time for families in America, which also allowed television in general to become more popular. It was also a time when people began to have more money to spend on other things besides the necessities. It was then that television sets became common in American homes, especially in middle class homes.
When you think of the 1950’s the notion of the “traditional family” comes to mind in relation to American society. The Ed Sullivan Show captured the attention of the traditional family by providing some entertainment for everyone. For the children, there were circus acts and magic tricks as well as Sullivan’s puppet sidekick, Topo Gigio. Topo Gigio was a puppet that Sullivan would talk to periodically during the show. This would also allow viewers to see Sullivan’s more sensitive side. For the teenagers, The Ed Sullivan Show supplied the hottest rock n’ roll bands. Bands like the Rolling Stones, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, and probably the most well known moment on the Ed Sullivan Show and possibly in television history was the American television debut of the Beatles. When the Beatles first aired on the show on February 9th 1964 it was at the peak of “Beatlemania” and the beginning of the music revolution. It was that night that Sullivan received the highest rating of his career. After the Beatles Sullivan began capitalizing of the teenage audience by continuing to book the best rock n’ roll around. As for entertainment for the mom of the family there were Broadway segments and opera segments. And for dad the re were comedians such as Alan King, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin. Sullivan saw comedy as the glue that held the demographically diverse show together and allowed the nation to release social tension by laughing at itself.
One of the benefits of the show was that each family member could be exposed to and understand what entertained others. Mom and dad could see that Elvis was not the devil and the children could get exposure to opera and Broadway. Some critics say that this multigenerational exposure helped strengthen family communication and understanding. So essentially this mass mediated entertainment was helping to socialize American society.
As time went on the Vietnam War began to take its toll on society and there was little time left to spend with the whole family gathered around the television set. The need for a variety show began to dissolve. This was mostly due to the rapid production of broadcasting channels and programs. At this point there were separate channels and programs of television that were directed towards a particular audience and there became no reason to sit through an entire program just to watch a small segment of it. So in 1971 The Ed Sullivan Show was cancelled, ending one of the greatest careers in television history. He later died in October of 1974
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