YMMV / The Ed Sullivan Show

• Hilarious in Hindsight: The episode dated February 9, 1964 (the same one in which The Beatles first appeared) also featured Frank Gorshin impersonating celebrities "running for office themselves." Of course, nobody would think that Ronald Reagan would be elected governor of California, let alone President of the United States.
• Never Live It Down: The network’s insistence on only shooting Elvis Presley from the waist up so his famous gyrating hips couldn’t be seen has become one of the most mocked icons of how uptight television was at the time.
• Newer Than They Think: Ed Sullivan didn't get Elvis first, he was fourth.^note The first three hosts to have Elvis perform on their shows were Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey (of Stage Show) in February and March 1956, Milton Berle in April and June 1956, and Steve Allen in July 1956. Sullivan hated playing catch-up and so resolved to get the next big rock act first, and then came The Beatles...In fact, he made the arrangements for them in late 1963, before they broke in America, based on their massive British success (disregarding the lack of success Vee-Jay and Swan had so far with their Beatles singles in the US; Sullivan may not have even been aware that there had already been Beatles releases in America).
• Nightmare Fuel: The premiere of the nuclear-disaster animation A Short Vision on May 27, 1956.
  • Animation Age Ghetto: On said premiere, Sullivan told the TV audience that "if you have youngsters in the living room tell them not to be alarmed at this 'cause it's a fantasy, the whole thing is animated..." To be fair to Sullivan, when he reran the film on June 10, he instead warned the home viewers to take the kids out of the room and just have the older ones watching.
• Once Original, Now Common: In this day of hundreds of specialty channels, the Ed Sullivan Show's variety act format seems rather hodge-podge, and showcased a lot of acts that wouldn't be considered popular or entertaining. But back then when there were few national networks, Sullivan provided a market for hundreds of new or obscure performers who'd otherwise never see any exposure. Thankfully, Sullivan took that responsibility seriously.
• Signature Scene: One of the most remembered moments of the show was the episode where Ed had The Beatles perform, which was the first major performance the Fab Four did for American audiences.

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