'And Now, Right Here on Our Stage...' The Ed Sullivan Show – A Landmark of American Entertainment

There could never be another Ed Sullivan. And there could never be another Ed Sullivan to showcase what was a 24-year global potpourri of music, theater, opera, comedy and drama. Yet, with the help of several dedicated individuals, the show that gave us everything from Connie Francis to The Doors, from Camelot to Bye, Bye Birdie, from Erich Blenn's plate spinning to The Carals' acrobatic stunts, has been and continues to be a source of cultural and historical significance that can't be duplicated ever again.

The Ed Sullivan Show (and its previous incarnation from 1948-1955 as Toast of the Town) brought the studio audience and the viewers at home up close to their favorite movie stars and musical performers. While most of the recognition was and has been deemed earth-shattering firsts — Elvis' primetime appearance, The Beatles' live U.S. debut — those moments are part of a much larger picture.

Serendipitously, The Ed Sullivan Show was able to bring together a group of people based on their love for the show, then and now. "From the moment I first saw it, I was hooked on it," revealed Andrew Solt. Solt and his son Josh, with their company SOFA Entertainment, are for all intents and purposes, the caretakers of The Ed Sullivan Show. And as Q discovered in interviews with the Solts and Sullivan's granddaughter Margo Precht Speciale, wherever it's seen or heard — at the show's site, on the official YouTube channel and many other outlets – there's no shortage of enthusiasm in bringing it all back to life.

"Over the years I developed a relationship with the family, especially with Bob Precht, who was the son-in-law of Ed," Andrew said. "At one point in the late '80s I said to him, "What's going on with the library?" and he said, "Well, we've tried a couple of things. Do you have any ideas?" I said. "Yeah, sure." I started thinking Bob was opening a door to having some kind of a relationship. And when I was working on a project on The Rolling Stones in 1989, I said, 'Well, what if we made an offer?"

That offer turned into the Sullivan family handing over the reins (and truckloads of paperwork and tapes) to the Solts in 1990. Since then, what began as a trickle of media made available to the public in the form of theme-driven VHS tapes has now expanded. As Andrew enthused, "Josh has been doing an unbelievable job of bringing it into the 21st century. I had no way to figure out how to do this. We re-licensed almost 1,100 songs. And we're also working very closely with Universal Music. So the clips are very important because that's the kind of attention span that most people have."

But if you're thinking that The Ed Sullivan Show is now a place to see what was hip in the Swinging Sixties you need to understand how far back it really goes. "It goes back to 1948," Josh acknowledged. "We worked our best to preserve everything in terms of the multiple formats over the years from kinescopes onward." Recalling the era when the show was first named Toast of the Town, Josh noted about the earliest episode that's available, "There is a kinescope of November 28, 1948. The first show was on June 20th. At that point, television was just starting. It was like a baby learning to walk!"

A kinescope was a recording technique that captured live television by filming the screen of a video monitor. Up until about 1956, the technology didn't exist to record to tape. But as Andrew added, "The reason they started recording these is because the sponsors wanted to make sure that they saw their commercials in the shows. And then they realized it's a benefit to the show to be able to look up [past episodes]. But it was done originally for legal reasons."

The impact music would have on the show is now recognized as the blueprint for every talk show, variety show, and music video program that has come since those revolutionary broadcasts. "It's a deeper, better and more important archive as time progresses," Andrew pointed out. "It's obviously the music that is the most important part of it for us. And it's every genre, every kind of music. It's the birth of rock and roll in the fifties. It's the rebirth of rock and roll when the Beatles came on. It captures history on multiple levels."

Music in all categories and decades resonates heavily within The Ed Sullivan Show. And not just within the U.S. borders, as most would believe. Andrew mentioned "We're very excited by the fact that about 60% of our audience is watching outside the United States. So Ed Sullivan is known as a brand. But then we're finding stuff we never knew we had. And this is 32 years after we acquired it!"

While Josh acknowledged that 2024 is a big year in terms of anniversaries from the show — "We know the Beatles 60th anniversary will be huge. It's also The Rolling Stones' 60th anniversary" — he also points out that the sheer variety of talent available to showcase online feels never-ending and strangely relevant in a world of TikTok clips or theme-specific playlists on YouTube. "You're working with such quality and quantity that we're able to make these new discoveries every day. And what's also interesting are the passionate fan bases that pop up around this. There's a huge opera fan base on YouTube and they go deep in the comments section. It's really an interesting dialogue there."

Sullivan was a savvy businessman and known as someone who could break out acts that would generate media interest and sponsorship dollars. One little-known aspect of this department was The Muppets. Beloved by millions after their debut in 1969 on Sesame Street, the troupe headed by the late Jim Henson was showcased 25 times between 1966 and 1971. As Andrew remarked, "Jim Henson was a genius, so creative with his wife Jane and Frank Oz. They created these amazing characters. And each time he had to do something different. Sometimes he used music, and he usually ended with an explosion where the Muppets just blow up. If Jim didn't know quite how to end it, it was, "Let's give him some pyrotechnics."

In the memories that recall 'first times,' Andrew confirmed a little-known publicized fact: Sullivan did not introduce Elvis Presley in his first appearance. Sullivan had been in a car accident with his son-in-law Bob Precht and was recuperating in New York. "[British actor] Charles Laughton was the host," Andrew explained. "But Elvis was working at 20th Century Fox [in Los Angeles] on his first film Love Me Tender, so he went to CBS Television City and it went live across the country from there. But he was on three separate times." This paved the way for a fortuitous exchange, as Andrew added: "When Brian Epstein called Colonel Parker and asked a few questions about "What's the best way to launch my boys in America?" Colonel Parker said, "Well, we got three different shows." And I think the light might have gone off in Brian's head."

The preserved legacy of so many artists is especially rich when it comes to Motown. As Andrew declared, "One of the great marriages in the history of television and music was the meeting up of Berry Gordy, Jr. and Ed Sullivan and they realized if a new hit was being launched, they put it on Sullivan on Sunday nights."

This puts the Solts in an extremely advantageous position of not only preserving the legacies of artists like The Temptations, The Supremes and The Jackson 5, but in many ways, it's a rare opportunity to bridge generations in much the same way that Ed Sullivan himself did for 24 years. "They made so many of the right decisions in every respect," Andrew confirmed. "They had a fantastic team behind every show and they did their damnedest to make it look great!"

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While the Solts are preserving Ed Sullivan's archives for future music lovers, Sullivan's granddaughter Margo Precht Speciale has another mission.

As a documentary filmmaker, Speciale founded MPS Legacy Productions in 2015, intent on not only showcasing her grandfather's work, but also the important messages brought forth during the Civil Rights Movement.

"I was involved in a film festival where I live in Annapolis, Maryland, and was introduced to storytelling through documentaries several years ago, Speciale explained. "Through that, I met some people, including Ambassador [Attallah] Shabazz, Malcolm X's daughter, and Suzanne Kay, who is Diahann Carroll's daughter. They told me how important my grandfather was in their lives.

"My grandfather had a record going back to 1929. When he was a reporter he was adamantly against segregation in sports. He felt it was important that everyone was treated equally, and he showed that on his show."

A quick scan of television in the '50s and '60s is an experiment in social standing, even within the entertainment industry. As Speciale confirmed, Sullivan had a battle on his hands away from the television cameras.

"There's so much to it. It was the network, his sponsors, his audience. It was everywhere. And he had this attitude that maybe he would appear a little arrogant. But what he cared about was talent. It didn't matter what their religion, what their race, what their background was. If they're talented, they're going to be on the show, period."

Sullivan had zero qualms about showcasing Black performers, even as far back as February 1949 when he introduced the father of modern blues, W. C. Handy onto the stage. And as Speciale pointed out, "Way before Motown, he just loved them, loved the music, and he was crossing the line in some people's eyes in a time where you don't shake hands, and you certainly don't kiss a guest on your show. But he did all of that."

The overriding characterization of Sullivan is that of a stiff, one-note persona — and by the way, he never said "really big shew" — who looks like he'd rather be somewhere else than in front of a camera or giving off the vibe of backtalking to the network's standards and practices. However, Speciale dispelled that notion. "My grandfather was very attuned to what would push their buttons so he would try to intervene before that. I know he has been criticized for censorship. But that was all coming from the network. During that time, many Southern viewers had never even seen a Black performer on stage in that light.

"But there also was pushback. I learned that there was a gas station in the South that would not put gas in Lincoln Mercury cars because my grandfather sponsored Lincoln Mercury cars. It ran deep, racism in America. And it still does, unfortunately. But during that time I feel like he stood up for what he believed in."

The nostalgia factor rides very high for a certain generation that recalls a time when the family unit gathered together to watch television, a "communal experience," as Speciale likens it. And as she has taken a deep dive into her grandfather's legacy, she has, an adult, come to appreciate what he accomplished.

"I knew that I received certain privileges that other people did not. I always knew that it was related to my grandfather. But honestly, he was my grandpa. He used to sit in our living room and he'd do little magic tricks for me. But people used to make fun of his persona, and I would hear some stories that I sometimes cringed at. And people would imitate him. I shied away from that relationship. It wasn't anything I was proud of. So it's taken almost ten years for me to understand who he was.

"I know the majority of Americans if they were asked who Ed Sullivan was, would probably have some sort of connection with the Beatles. But with this documentary, I want him to be known for the person he was and the things he did."