Toast of the Town

Variety

Variety

"The Ed Sullivan Show" is TV's longest-running variety show. It ran on Sunday nights for an amazing 23 years. The show's host, Ed Sullivan, had been a syndicated newspaper columnist who hosted two radio shows before agreeing to try television. On camera, Sullivan always seemed nervous and ill at ease; he couldn't sing or dance, but he knew people who could and signed them to appear each week. Called "Toast of the Town" until 1955, "The Ed Sullivan Show" featured the TV debuts of artists such as Irving Berlin, Hedy Lamarr, Walt Disney, and Fred Astaire and Jane Powell. The format of the show changed very little over the years, with Sullivan presenting acts that tried to please everyone. A typical show might include a few comics, an aria performed by an opera diva, an acrobat and maybe a plug for a new film from a well-known movie star.