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21
The Ed Sullivan Show

CBS (ended 1971)

This long-running variety series premiered on June 20, 1948 with the title Toast of the Town. (The Toast of the Town link covers the first 8 seasons of Ed Sullivan.)

The series was re-titled The Ed Sullivan Show on September 25, 1955 (the beginning of the 9th season). Although the name had changed, it remained the same variety show with "something for everyone." There continued to be a diverse guest line-up which included singers, musicians, actors, dancers, comedians, circus acts, plate spinners and acrobats.

But now there was now a new type of guest: the rock 'n' roll performer. While Ed booked a few rock 'n' roll acts on "Toast of the Town," these performers became even more prominent on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

One of the most famous rock 'n' roll acts was, of course, Elvis Presley. Ed had at first scoffed at the idea of booking Elvis, who had already appeared on "Stage Show," "The Milton Berle Show" and "The Steve Allen Show" amid much controversy. But as Elvis' popularity grew, Ed relented and booked him for three appearances.

Then there were the famous Beatles appearances. Legend has it that Ed booked the Beatles without hearing even a note of their music. While visiting England, Sullivan happened to be at Heathrow Airport on October 31, 1963 when the Beatles' plane arrived. The British press and hundreds of fans were there to greet them. Upon seeing all the frenzy, Ed signed the band to appear on his show. Beatlemania was already in full swing when the Beatles arrived at New York's JFK airport on February 7, 1964. On February 9, the Beatles made their "Ed Sullivan" debut. The Beatles' three 1964 Sullivan appearances were among the highest rated TV programs of the 1960's.

In 1967, Ed's NYC studio, Studio 50, was officially re-titled "The Ed Sullivan Theater." The ratings of The Ed Sullivan Show began to drop in 1968. CBS cancelled the series in 1971. The final new show aired on March 28, 1971 which was followed by several weeks of reruns. The series' network run ended on June 6, 1971 (which was a repeat of the February 7, 1971 show). At the time of the cancellation, CBS did not give The Ed Sullivan Show the sendoff that it deserved. Instead of ending with a tribute show focusing on all the great moments of the past 23 years, the show quietly went off the air. But in the 33 years since the series was cancelled, CBS has aired numerous tribute shows giving the series the recognition it deserves.

Syndicated, cable TV and PBS repeats:

In 1980, a "Best of Sullivan" series hosted by John Byner appeared in syndication. Each episode was an edited 30-minute version of the original 1-hour shows. This version has not been broadcast since the 1980's.

Around 1992, a new 30-minute "Ed Sullivan" series was syndicated. These were edited versions of the original shows (but often clips from other episodes were added). This version later appeared on the TV Land cable network (1996-1998).

From 2001 through 2004, PBS stations across the U.S. aired edited versions of The Ed Sullivan Show (usually airing two 30-minute programs back-to-back). These were produced by WQED Multimedia in Pittsburgh. --The first PBS season (2001-02) consisted of the 1990s shows that were edited for commercial TV. To fill in the commercial breaks, WQED added new intros by Shirley Jones. --For the 2002-03 PBS season, WQED publicized a new package of 76 Sullivan shows. (These do not have Shirley Jones.) Ten of these shows have not been seen since their original broadcasts. The other 66 were previously shown in the 1990s but were slightly re-edited with a few "missing" performances restored. This group of Sullivan shows continued into the 2003-04 season.

A different series, titled "Ed Sullivan's Rock 'N' Roll Classics," first appeared in the 1990's on VH1 (in the US). This version features rock and pop music clips taken from various Ed Sullivan episodes. This series is currently available on VHS and DVD.

For information about The Ed Sullivan Show and Toast of the Town, contact: SOFA Entertainment 9121 W. Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 Fax: 310-276-0242 greg.vines@sofaent.com www.sofaentertainment.com Sofa Home Entertainment SOFA Entertainment owns the right to every Ed Sullivan Show and Toast of the Town.

And thanks to Historic Films for their on-line database. Their website has been very helpful in verifing guest lists and other information.moreless
22
Entertainment Tonight

ET is a daily, half-hour, nationally syndicated entertainment newsmagazine, reporting on breaking news events, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes first looks, and Hollywood's hottest stories from the worlds of film, television, fashion, literature and interactive media.moreless
23
The Doctors

This Dr. Phil spin-off features a panel of doctors discussing a variety of health topics. The group of specialists that comprise the panel deliver medical advice in an easily digestible, down-to-earth manner. Each doctor will weigh in on medical topics brought up by guests and their real life experiences, as well as issues raised by users that are a part of the series' online community.moreless
24
The Jerry Springer Show

The Jerry Springer Show is probably most known for its foul mouths, excessive fighting, excessive nudity and wacky stories. Nearly every episode, if not all, have at least one bleeped over foul word. Then there's the sound effects. A clanging bell indicates it's time for a fight! Whenever a fat woman shows her boobs, the sound of a cow going "MOO!" is heard. Even the audience gets into it! Women show their boobs to get "Jerry Beads". Whenever a touching good moment happens or an audience member asks a goody goody logical question, the audience chants, "Go to Oprah"! TV Guide voted The Jerry Springer Show as the "Worst Show In The History of Television." A new UK version will soon be airing on ITV1 for 4 weeks after the UK's talk show queen Trisha Goddard left ITV to present her new five show Trisha Goddard.moreless
25
Jimmy Kimmel Live

ABC

Emmy-winner Jimmy Kimmel serves as host and executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live," ABC Television Network's distinctive late-night talk show. The show features a diverse line up of guests, including celebrities, athletes, comedians and human interest subjects. Along with a light-hearted and recognizable cast of characters, a hip house band and comedy bits in Kimmel's inimitable style, the show additionally offers one of the funniest, freshest monologues on television today. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" often features elaborate, innovative stunts - such as having Quentin Tarantino guest-direct an entire episode, or building a state of the art performance stage in the center of Hollywood Boulevard. The show originates from Disney's El Capitan Entertainment Center, located on Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood's Walk of Fame. This famed location is featured prominently in the show as Kimmel showcases the unique character of Hollywood. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" airs weeknights at 12:05 a.m. in most markets. Midway through its third year, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" has featured such high profile guests as George Clooney, Britney Spears, Jennifer Garner, Ashton Kutcher, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Shaquille O'Neal, Clay Aiken, Ryan Seacrest, Jose Canseco, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Lindsay Lohan, Bobby Brown and Hilary Duff -- plus musical guests Coldplay, 50 Cent, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, Jane's Addiction, Toby Keith, Audioslave, Nelly, Motley Crue, No Doubt, Green Day, Barry Manilow, Lionel Richie and Alanis Morissette -- since its premiere on Super Bowl Sunday, January 26, 2003. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is taped later in the day than other late night shows - at 7:45 p.m. PT. This allows the show to respond to the news of the day more quickly than the competition. Kimmel applies his irreverent wit to politics, television, the media, the FCC, popular culture - everything is a target. A weekly comedy segment, "Unneccesary Censorship," pokes fun at the FCC's crackdown on the media by unnecessarily censoring clips from TV news, political speeches, reality TV and nature shows. Other regular comedy segments include Cousin Sal's hidden camera pranks, Guillermo's Hollywood Gossip Round-up and adorably clueless Uncle Frank's coverage of red-carpet premieres.moreless
26
The Oprah Winfrey Show

(ended 2011)

The Oprah Winfrey Show has featured many celebrities over the years, but that´s only one side of it. There´s also Oprah´s eternal quest to better herself, and to make the viewers change themselves. Oprah has started several organizations: Oprah´s angel network, Oprah´s book club, and O Magazine. For a couple of years now, the show frequently ends with a "Remember your spirit" segment. The show is produced by Oprah´s own company, Harpo (which spells Oprah backwards). The Oprah Winfrey show ended after its 25th year of production.moreless
27
48 Hours

CBS

48 Hours began January 19, 1988 with Dan Rather anchoring/hosting until 2002. Leslie Stahl, took over for Rather in the Fall of 2002 and continues with the program to present day. This news magazine program began as a half hour show, evolving into the one hour investigative report that it remains today. The name has changed from "48 Hours" to "48 Hours Investigates" and the current, "48 Hours Mystery". Having won numerous awards in broadcast, it also now features a stellar 'cast' of individual award winning reporters and has been known to not just report on stories, but make real differences.moreless
28
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

NBC

Saturday Night Live veteran Jimmy Fallon takes the Late Night reins from Conan O'Brien when O'Brien as the new host. The Roots are the house band with Steve Higgins as the announcer. The show features comedy sketches, interviews and whatever other antics the Late Night crew can come up with.moreless
29
TMZ on TV

Can't get enough of TMZ online? Well now you can watch all Hollywood gossip on television with this entertainment news magazine show. TMZ TV tracks down today's hottest stars with their cameras whether they are hitting the clubs or the dry cleaners.moreless
30
20/20

ABC

Among the most recognized and revered television newsmagazines, 20/20 was ABC's answer to CBS's 60 Minutes. Though some stories were humorous, light-hearted and sometimes frivolous features, the meat of "20/20's" programming was investigative reporting many times exposing corporate, medical, educational and governmental wrongdoing, incompetence and criminal negligence and reports on news events of the week from (often) different angles than was seen on the nightly news. Though most of the reports proved to be factual, some were heralded as sensationalist; others led to allegations of libel while at least one story later proved to be an embarrassing hoax. The show's current co-anchors are John Stossel and Elizabeth Vargas.moreless
31
Extra

NBC

Love celebrity gossip? Then you know Extra. Mario Lopez and Maria Menounos host this show.
32
Judge Mathis

The CW

Judge Mathis is entertaining Court TV inspired by the troubled childhood of the judge of the same name. Judge Greg Mathis leads the court for an hour long session. Cases in the court are anything but dull. The litigants in each case are typically comical in their own right each with a lengthy story to tell. But Judge Mathis holds his own against the revolving guests, as he can always be counted on to offer a witty statement or instigation from the bench. And his two cents is constantly appreciated by the viewers and the spectators of the court. Lately the television judges of today are straying further from the 'stern-faced' no nonsense judges of the past and the intimidation role of such persons like Judge Judy. Instead, it looks as if the judge of today aims to display this "I want to be your friend" sort of demeanor – which often comes across as strained or scripted. But not with Mathis. When Judge Mathis laughs it up from his post on the bench, or heckles a litigant that was caught cheating on his girlfriend – it doesn't seem scripted, but downright genuine. Mathis seems to gather just as much amusement listening to the stories from his ruling position as the viewers gather from their posts at home. Of course, Judge Mathis isn't based upon an entire platform of humor. Present is the sporadic second of blatant seriousness. No times for laughs, but time for the spotlight to shine as Greg Mathis addresses a courtroom guest about straightening up their life. For importance adds his 'been-there-done-that' point of view about how life on the streets, drugs, and 'thuggin' will get you nowhere but in prison, or dead. The moment of unsmiling monologue is easy to digest – Mathis never goes over the top, he keeps it short and like a flash he moves on and the ho-hum 'scared straight' moment is lifted. Judge Mathis is 60 minutes of entertainment. Underrated against other shows of its genre, it remains a highly favored show among staunch fans. But the show doesn't go completely unnoticed. In 2004 and 2005, Judge Mathis was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding TV News, Talk or Information Series or Special.moreless
33
Real Time With Bill Maher

HBO

"Real Time with Bill Maher" is a weekly HBO talk show series hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Episodes include an opening political sketch, a monologue, a panel of three well educated celebrities, two guests (live or via satellite), and at the end, "New Rules."

The panel members normally represent a wide spectrum of American politics, which results in an interesting discussion and a fair presentation of the current events. While Bill Maher acts as the panel's head, he doesn't hide his ideological viewpoints. He'll end up agreeing with and attacking both sides of the political spectrum.

The last segment, "New Rules," is political satire and covers Bill Maher's personal peeves of the week.

The fore-runner of this series is the series Politically Incorrect (shown first on Comedy Central and then later on ABC).moreless
34
The Best Sex Ever

Cinemax (ended 2003)

Welcome to The Best Sex Ever guide at TV.com.

This adult anthology series from Cinemax, revolving around the sexual exploits recounted by listeners of a fictional radio call-in show, ran for two seasons.moreless
35
Tosh.0

Comedy Central

Comedian Daniel Tosh is the host of this rambunctious program that ranges from the absurd to the profane, the humorously silly to the shockingly irreverent. Built around a unique byproduct of the Internet age, the viral video, Tosh and company scour the Internet searching for the most intriguing, disgusting and entertaining of these mini-cinematic gems and present them with a narrative that is witty, provocative, insightful and outrageous. Add to that Tosh's interviews, skits, and other unclassifiable bits and it's almost guaranteed that you'll find something that will offend you or make you laugh out loud-probably at the same time.moreless
36
The Steve Wilkos Show

Steve Wilkos, better known as long-time head of security on The Jerry Springer Show doles out advice in this hour-long talk show.
Wilkos' assets as a host include morals instilled by his Marine training and street smarts garnered from his experience as a police officer.moreless
37
Inside the Actors Studio

Bravo

For almost fifteen years and more than 200 episodes, James Lipton has sat down with some of the world's most accomplished actors and directors for penetrating, fascinating interviews. Lipton's studious research and enlightened curiosity has inspired his guests to open up and confess their deepest thoughts about the art of acting. The series premiered with Paul Newman, an Actors Studio alumnus and former president (1982-1994). A partial list of featured guests includes Sally Field, Dennis Hopper, Jessica Lange, Christopher Walken, Nathan Lane, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon, Gary Sinise, Kathy Bates, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, John Hurt, Harrison Ford, Spike Lee, Ed Harris, Ben Affleck, Mike Myers, Antonio Banderas, Kevin Kline, Gene Hackman, Debra Winger, Johnny Depp, Hugh Grant, Richard Gere, Benicio del Toro, Samuel L. Jackson, Sir Ian McKellen, Pierce Brosnan, Juliette Binoche , Martin Scorcese, Edward Norton, Julianne Moore, The Cast of "The Simpsons," Nicholas Cage and Renee Zellweger, to name a few. Hosted by New York's famed New School For Social Research, each episode is taped before an audience of students at The Actors Studio Drama School. In addition to his duties as the show's executive producer and host, Lipton is also the Dean of the school. The series has been honored with multiple Emmy Award nominations.moreless
38
The Maury Povich Show

The Maury Povich Show deals with every day life drama's. From "Who is your baby's daddy to is it a man or a woman. Maury deals with real people with real problems. He helps try to solve mysteries of guests who have no where else to turn to get answers.moreless
39
Judge Joe Brown

Judge Joe Brown, the non-traditional, no-nonsense, no-holds-barred presiding judge of his signature series, the daily, half-hour, syndicated, reality courtroom show JUDGE JOE BROWN, that entered its seventh season on Monday, September 13, 2004.moreless
40
Last Call with Carson Daly

NBC

Hosted by Carson Daly, whose career now spans a multitude of media including network television, cable, radio and most recently, the recording industry, "Last Call" features interviews and musical performances by today's top artists and entertainers.moreless
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