television has grown faster than a teenager, and now it is time to grow up. the tv was the center of the house. i don t remember a time without tv. by 1960, essentially every household in america had a television. it was a new way of bringing the world to you. when something big happened on television, it really did happen to the entire country and impacted the entire country at the same time. keep an awakened eye on the world. suddenly television was the main event. everything else changed, even the way in which you went about the business of getting someone elected president. david, will you hit the one-minute button, please. 30 seconds and the cut, please. in 1960, the nixon/kennedy debate was a first in television. a lot of people were watching that night, and it introduced a lot of people to kennedy. would you let me see the tight shot on camera one, please? can you hear me now speaking? is that about the right tone of voice? good evening. the
no. no. why? it is very difficult. easy. advertisers wanted everybody. and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents could watch the same show. they would have an elephant on, and then the next thing somebody doing shakespeare, and the next thing, a comic. there would be an acrobat and then an opera singer the next bit, which was true variety. go downtown things will be great when you re downtown anything that was current was on the ed sullivan show. a young richard pryor. joan rivers. rodney dangerfield. everybody wanted a showcase. if you got on sullivan, you knew you could talk about it. did you see sullivan? my whole life i don t get no respect. no respect from anyone. as a performer, you couldn t get a place to sell your product. when i started out, they would say, variety is a man s
advertisers wanted everybody. and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents could watch the same show. they would have an elephant on, and then the next thing somebody doing shakespeare, and the next thing, a comic. there would be an acrobat and then an opera singer the next bit, which was true variety. go downtown things will be great when you re downtown anything that was current was on the ed sullivan show. a young richard pryor. thank you, thank you. joan rivers. rodney dangerfield. everybody wanted a showcase. if you got on sullivan, you knew you could talk about it. did you see sullivan? my whole life i don t get no respect. no respect from anyone. as a performer, you couldn t get a place to sell your product.
he always looked as if he was a bit lost. people thought it was because he was tiddly, that was part of the charm. here he is, ed sullivan. [ applause ] thank you very much. thank you. no matter who controlled the tv set the other nights of the week, on sunday night 8:00, you were going to watch ed sullivan. now, ladies and gentlemen, a very fine act ed sullivan was a phenomenon. he was a powerful force. quiet, please. quiet. the beauty of the sullivan kind of variety show, something else would be on in four minutes. why? it s very difficult. advertisers wanted everybody, and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents would watch the same show. they would have an elephant on, then the next thing someone
he was a powerful force. quiet, please. the beauty of the sullivan kind of variety show is that if you didn t like something, something else would be around in four minutes. no. no. why? it is very difficult. easy. advertisers wanted everybody. and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents could watch the same show. they would have an elephant on, and then the next thing somebody doing shakespeare, and the next thing, a comic. there would be an acrobat and then an opera singer the next bit, which was true variety. go downtown things will be great when you re downtown anything that was current was on the ed sullivan show. a young richard pryor. joan rivers. rodney dangerfield. everybody wanted a showcase. if you got on sullivan, you knew you could talk about it. did you see sullivan? my whole life i don t get no respect. no respect from anyone. as a performer, you couldn t get a place to sell your product.