Right Here on Our Stage Tonight!: Ed Sullivan's America (Ahmanson Foundation Book in the Humanities)

Before The Advent Of Cable And Its Hundreds Of Channels, Before Ipods And The Internet, Three Television Networks Ruled America's Evenings. And For Twenty-three Years, Ed Sullivan, The Broadway Gossip Columnist Turned Awkward Emcee, Ruled Sunday Nights. It Was Sullivan's Genius To Take A Worn-out Stage Genre - Vaudeville - And Transform It Into The Tv Variety Show, A Format That Was To Dominate For Decades. Right Here On Our Stage Tonight! Tells The Complete Saga Of The Ed Sullivan Show And, Through The Voices Of Some 60 Stars Interviewed For The Book, Brings To Life The Most Beloved, Diverse, Multi-cultural, And Influential Variety Hour Ever To Air. Gerald Nachman Takes Us Through Those Years, From The Earliest Dog Acts And Jugglers To Elvis Presley, The Beatles, And Beyond. Sullivan Was The First Tv Impresario To Feature Black Performers On A Regular Basis - Including Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, James Brown, And Richard Pryor - Challenging His Conservative Audience And His Own Traditional Tastes, And Changing The Face Of American Popular Culture Along The Way. No Other Tv Show Ever Cut Such A Broad Swath Through Our National Life Or Cast Such A Long Shadow, Nor Has There Ever Been Another Show Like It. Nachman's Compulsively Readable History, Illustrated With Classic Photographs And Chocked With Colorful Anecdotes, Reanimates The Ed Sullivan Show For A New Generation.--jacket. Out Of The Paley-ozoic Ooze -- Battle Of The Videoville Titans-berle, Godfrey, And Sullivan -- A Live Broadway Column Every Sunday Night -- The $375 Extravaganza -- Very Critical Condition -- The Magic Of Sullivision -- From Small-town Sportswriter To Manhattan Sport -- He's Just An Ink-stained Broadway Baby -- Toast Of The Nation -- It's The World, On Line One -- Sacred Sunday Rite -- Not Quite All In The Family -- Extended Family -- Herding Comedians -- Backstage Life (and Death) -- Give My Regards To La Scala -- Elvis Has Entered The Building -- Newspaper Wads At Fifty Paces-a Few Off-camera Feuds -- Embracing Blacks, Caving In To Mccarthyism -- The Son-in-law Also Rises -- And Now-the Beatles! -- The Showman Without A Country -- Echoes And Afterimages. Gerald Nachman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Table of Contents......Page 10 Introduction: Theme Music......Page 12 PART 1. NO-TALENT HOST TAMES THE ONE-EYED BEAST......Page 28 1. Out of the Paley-ozoic Ooze......Page 30 2. Battle of the Videoville Titans......Page 44 3. A Live Broadway Column Every Sunday Night......Page 52 4. The $375 Extravaganza......Page 63 5. Very Critical Condition......Page 76 6. The Magic of Sullivision......Page 90 PART 2. HOW TO SUCCEED IN SHOW BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TALKING......Page 116 7. From Small-Town Sportwriter to Manhattan Sport......Page 118 8. He's Just an Ink-Stained Broadway Baby......Page 134 9. Toast of the Nation......Page 149 10. It's the World, on Line One......Page 159 11. Sacred Sunday Rite......Page 174 12. Not Quite All in the Family......Page 189 13. Extended Family......Page 208 PART 3. INSIDE THE STAR-MAKING MACHINE......Page 222 14. Herding Comedians......Page 224 15. Backstage Life (and Death)......Page 252 16. Give My Regards to La Scala......Page 274 17. Elvis Has Entered the Building......Page 287 18. Newspaper Wads at Fifty Paces......Page 307 19. Embracing Blacks, Caving In to McCarthyism......Page 322 PART 4. RESCUED BY ROCK 'N' ROLL......Page 340 20. The Son-in-Law Also Rises......Page 342 21. "And Now-the Beatles!"......Page 354 22. The Showman without a Country......Page 386 23. Echoes and Afterimages......Page 408 Bibliography......Page 424 Interviews......Page 432 Acknowledgments......Page 434 Index......Page 436 Out of the Paley-ozoic ooze Videoville The columnist conspiracy The $375 extravaganza Very critical condition The magic of sullivision Barefoot boy with cheek Just a broadway baby Toast of the country It's the world, on line one Sacred sunday rite Semi-family man Extended family Unkindest cuts Backstage life (and death) Give my regards to La Scala Elvis has entered the building Newspaper wads at 50 paces The reds and the blacks The son-in-law also rises "And now, the Be-'uls!" Man without a country Echoes and after-images.