Gerald Nachman
Right Here on Our Stage Tonight!
Ed Sullivan's America
An Ahmanson Foundation Book in the Humanities
$29.95, £20.95 hardcover
9780520258679
Available Now
472 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 40 b/w photographs
November 2009, Available worldwide
November 2009, Available worldwide
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.
"Nachman does full justice to the pathos of his subject. . . . The same year that the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, Norman Mailer ended his essay on the Republican Convention with the prescient warning, 'The wars are coming and the deep revolutions of the soul.' Those wars, later dubbed the 'culture wars,' were the death of The Ed Sullivan Show. Under the pressure of those wars, the man who insisted that Americans could unite over good, clean, high-class entertainment—yeah, even with a highbrow moment or two—failed in his noble mission."—National Post
"A vivid, discerning analysis of American history through the lens of popular culture. [The book] relives memorable performances with insight into backstage politics and fighting, including the complex orchestration of acts from Topo Gigio to the Beatles. The real star of the show is Sullivan himself, and Nachman's compelling analysis of his showbiz genius and unexpected...appeal"—Publishers Weekly
"'A memory-lane extravaganza, smart, witty and finely researched, often as picturesque a tour of early TV as of Sullivan and his CBS variety show that would eventually own Sunday nights.."—San Francisco Chronicle
"This work is a 'don't miss' of nostalgia and tells the unusual tale of how one of the weirdest guys ever in the outskirts of journalism scored to become one of the weirdest guys ever in the outskirts of early '60s television."—Liz Smith, wowOwow.com
"A fun, affectionate portrayal. . . . A long time in coming, it's the tome that Sullivan always deserved."—Playbill
"Packed with details, the book's sources include interviews with dozens of performers as well as Sullivan's family members and staffers."—San Francisco Examiner
"A vivid, discerning analysis of American history through the lens of popular culture. [The book] relives memorable performances with insight into backstage politics and fighting, including the complex orchestration of acts from Topo Gigio to the Beatles. The real star of the show is Sullivan himself, and Nachman's compelling analysis of his showbiz genius and unexpected...appeal"—Publishers Weekly
"'A memory-lane extravaganza, smart, witty and finely researched, often as picturesque a tour of early TV as of Sullivan and his CBS variety show that would eventually own Sunday nights.."—San Francisco Chronicle
"This work is a 'don't miss' of nostalgia and tells the unusual tale of how one of the weirdest guys ever in the outskirts of journalism scored to become one of the weirdest guys ever in the outskirts of early '60s television."—Liz Smith, wowOwow.com
"A fun, affectionate portrayal. . . . A long time in coming, it's the tome that Sullivan always deserved."—Playbill
"Packed with details, the book's sources include interviews with dozens of performers as well as Sullivan's family members and staffers."—San Francisco Examiner
"Nachman provides a three-dimensional portrait of the man and the show that were part of our national consciousness for over two decades...a detailed analysis on why Sullivan mattered; Nachman is a natural storyteller...a nuanced description of Sullivan's America. Nachman's style is always accessible...a delight for anyone interested in popular culture"—Ron Simon, Curator of Television and Radio, The Paley Center for Media
"A shining gem....One of those rare books you can open anywhere...and be highly entertained. As Ed himself might have said, 'Don't miss it if you can.''"—Dick Cavett, talk show host and online columnist for NYTimes/Opinion
"A shining gem....One of those rare books you can open anywhere...and be highly entertained. As Ed himself might have said, 'Don't miss it if you can.''"—Dick Cavett, talk show host and online columnist for NYTimes/Opinion
Introduction: Theme Music
Part One. No-Talent Host Tames the One-Eyed Beast
1. Out of the Paley-ozoic Ooze
2. Battle of the Videoville Titans-Berle, Godfrey, and Sullivan
3. A Live Broadway Column Every Sunday Night
4. The $375 Extravaganza
5. Very Critical Condition
6. The Magic of Sullivision
Part Two. How to Succeed in Show Business without Really Talking
7. From Small-Town Sportswriter to Manhattan Sport
8. He's Just an Ink-Stained Broadway Baby
9. Toast of the Nation
10. It's the World, on Line One
11. Sacred Sunday Rite
12. Not Quite All in the Family
13. Extended Family
Part Three. Inside the Star-Making Machine
14. Herding Comedians
15. Backstage Life (and Death)
16. Give My Regards to La Scala
17. Elvis Has Entered the Building
18. Newspaper Wads at Fifty Paces-a Few Off-Camera Feuds
19. Embracing Blacks, Caving In to McCarthyism
Part Four. Rescued by Rock 'n' Roll
20. The Son-in-Law Also Rises
21. "And Now-the Beatles!"
22. The Showman without a Country
23. Echoes and Afterimages
Bibliography
Interviews
Acknowledgments
Index
Photographs follow page
Part One. No-Talent Host Tames the One-Eyed Beast
1. Out of the Paley-ozoic Ooze
2. Battle of the Videoville Titans-Berle, Godfrey, and Sullivan
3. A Live Broadway Column Every Sunday Night
4. The $375 Extravaganza
5. Very Critical Condition
6. The Magic of Sullivision
Part Two. How to Succeed in Show Business without Really Talking
7. From Small-Town Sportswriter to Manhattan Sport
8. He's Just an Ink-Stained Broadway Baby
9. Toast of the Nation
10. It's the World, on Line One
11. Sacred Sunday Rite
12. Not Quite All in the Family
13. Extended Family
Part Three. Inside the Star-Making Machine
14. Herding Comedians
15. Backstage Life (and Death)
16. Give My Regards to La Scala
17. Elvis Has Entered the Building
18. Newspaper Wads at Fifty Paces-a Few Off-Camera Feuds
19. Embracing Blacks, Caving In to McCarthyism
Part Four. Rescued by Rock 'n' Roll
20. The Son-in-Law Also Rises
21. "And Now-the Beatles!"
22. The Showman without a Country
23. Echoes and Afterimages
Bibliography
Interviews
Acknowledgments
Index
Photographs follow page
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