Ghost Metropolis: Los Angeles from Clovis to Nixon Main Menu Regimes: Ruling the Los Angeles Region from the Late Pleistocene to the 21st Century Places and Paths of Los Angeles Manna From Hell: Power and Politics from Region to World Power Shadows: Visual Cultures and Mass Media of a Regional and Global Power Segregated Diversity: The Geosocial Formation of Social Justice in the Late Twentieth Century Richard 37th: Nixon, Los Angeles, and World Power The American 1989: Los Angeles at the Climax of the 20th Century Narrative Essay Bibliographies, Filmographies, Gazeteers, Indexes Mapping the Past: Theory, Methods, Historiography Path Credits Root

The Ed Sullivan Show, 1948-1971

677
     One of the most influential programs in the history of television, it paved the way for the popularity of variety shows such as Saturday Night Live and many others. In academic and popular discourse, the show is widely remembered and memorialized by the appearances of Elvis Presley (1956/1957), the Beatles (1965), the Doors (1967), the Rolling Stones (six times throughout the run of the show starting in 1964), and other white musical talents.
      Less discussed however, are the various appearances of Miriam Makeba (starting in 1962), Harry Belafonte, The Supremes (1964-1967, appearing fifteen times), and many other black celebrities and artists. Ed Sullivan as early as 1950, went as far as to assert that television played a pivotal role in helping “the Negro in his fight to win what the Constitution of this country guarantees as his birthright.” Furthermore, the famous host noted that TV was in large responsible for fostering discussions of civil rights “into the living rooms of America’s homes where public opinion is formed.” Makeba's appearance on Sullivan and other variety television shows were vital, in that as a black woman she performed traditional African music, in spaces and on a medium traditionally reserved for white people. In addition throughout her appearances on Sullivan, Makeba wore clothing from Africa, spoke African dialects and did not straighten her. By doing so, Makeba challenged white ideals of beauty and feminine norms.
    Although Sullivan, was one of the few big television programs to openly display black lives in a non-stereotypical manner, black guests and performers still made up a small percentage of appearances throughout the variety show's twenty four year run. 

This page has paths:

  1. Blinding Race: Television in the Civil Rights Era, 1948-1965 Phil Ethington
  2. Television Timeline Leonard Butingan

This page has tags:

  1. 1970s Phil Ethington
  2. 1950s Phil Ethington

This page references: