The WORST episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show
Every episode of The Ed Sullivan Show ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show!
From 1949 until its cancelation in 1971, the show ran on CBS every Sunday night from 8–9 p.m. E.T., and is one of the few entertainment shows to have run in the same weekly time slot on the same network for more than two decades. (During its first season, it ran from 9–10 p.m. E.T.) Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; opera singers, popular artists, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, dramatic actors performing monologues from plays, and circus acts were regularly featured. The format was essentially the same as vaudeville, and although vaudeville had died a generation earlier, Sullivan presented many ex-vaudevillians on his show. Seasons 1-8 can be found listed under the series "Toast of the Town".
#1 - John Huston / Sam Snead / Soupy Sales
Season 18 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/18/1965
Easter Show: --John Huston - scene from ""The Bible"" (might be on film) --The McGuire Sisters - Medley (""Heart Beat For Me,"" ""Easter Parade,"" ""Try A Little Tenderness"" & ""On the Avenue."") --The children from ""The Sound of Music"" sing ""So Long"" --On film: Soupy Sales & Sam Sneed (on film, golf film, Ed challenges Sam Sneed to golf match) --Sam Sneed (pro-golfer on stage with Ed) --Myron Cohen (stand-up comedian) --Martha Schlamme (singer) --Roy Castle - English comic (sings and tap dances) --Brian Andru (comedic tightrope act) --The White Sisters - Suzanna Nuns From Africa --Topo Gigio (Topo and the Bear) --Anden's Poodles (Trained animal act) Audience bows: Robert E. Moses & the parents of the McGuire Sisters
#2 - Jimmy Durante / scheduled: Leslie Uggams; Stiller & Meara; Jean Carroll
Season 18 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/7/1965
Guests (confirmed): --Jimmy Durante (entertainer, celebrating his 72nd birthday) --Sonny King Additional guests (scheduled to appear): --Leslie Uggams --Stiller & Meara --Rebecca Raz --Jean Carroll --Vaughn Monroe
#3 - Dave Clark Five / Rowan & Martin / Steve Lawrence
Season 18 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/14/1965
Guests: --The Dave Clark Five - ""Everybody Knows,"" ""Because"" & ""Anyway You Want It"" --Steve Lawrence - ""Hello, Dolly!"" ""People"" & ""Where Can I Go"" --Victor Borge - ""Viennese Waltz"" and a routine about an ""inflationary language"" (in which Tuesday would become Threesday). --Rowan & Martin (comedy team does a spy sketch and a quiz show routine) --The Israeli Ballet - performs some native folk dances --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) --The Mattison Trio (tap dancers) - ""Malaguena"" --John's balancing act
#4 - scheduled: Sid Caesar; Roberta Peters; Betsy Palmer; Frank Gorshin
Season 18 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/21/1965
Scheduled guests: --Sid Caesar --Roberta Peters (Metropolitan Opera soprano) --Jerry Vale (singer) --Betsy Palmer --Frank Gorshin --London Lee (comedian) --Malcolm Powell (ventriloquist) --The Three Kims (acrobats) --Conrad Buckner
#5 - scheduled: Wayne Newton; Juliet Prowse; Alan King; Bill Dana
Season 18 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/28/1965
Scheduled guests (from Florida's Miami Beach Auditorium): --Wayne Newton --Juliet Prowse --Alan King --Bill Dana --The Hurricanes (the University of Miami's Glee Club) --The Cypress Gardens water skiers --The Singing Hialeah Jockey Octet --The Sensational Leighs (aerial act)
#6 - Duke Ellington & Ella Fitzgerald / Rita Pavone / Stiller & Meara
Season 18 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/7/1965
Guests: --Duke Ellington & Ella Fitzgerald (medley of Duke's hits) --Duke Ellington - ""It Don't Mean A Thing"" --Rita Pavone - ""My Eyes"" --Stiller & Meara (comedians) --On film: Film clip from ""The Sound of Music"" with Julie Andrews singing ""My Favorite Things"" --Roy Castle (comedian) --The Clark Brothers (tap dancers) --The Carmenas (balancing act)
#7 - Petula Clark / Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem / Nancy Walker & Bert Lahr
Season 18 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/14/1965
Guests: --Petula Clark – ""Downtown"" and ""I Know a Place"" --Pat O'Brien --Nancy Walker & Bert Lahr --Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem - ""Wild Colonial Boy"" --Allen & Rossi (comedy team) --Steve Rossi - ""I'll Set My Love to Music"" --Jimmy Roselli - ""Femina"" & ""Rock-A-Bye Your Baby"" --Dorothy Donegan (pianist) - ""The Man I Love"" --The Olympiades (body builders)
#8 - Gary Lewis & the Playboys / Connie Francis / Tony Bennett / Melinda Marx
Season 18 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/21/1965
Guests: --Gary Lewis & the Playboys - ""This Diamond Ring"" & ""Count Me In"" --Tony Bennett (with the Woody Herman Orchestra) - ""Love Scene,"" ""If I Ruled The World,"" ""Lullabye of Broadway"" & ""Who Can I Turn To"" --Connie Francis - ""(Up Above My Head) There's Music in the Air"" (part of Gospel medley?) --Connie Francis - ""For Mama"" and ""Goldfinger"" --Melinda Marx - ""East Side of Town"" (Groucho Marx's daughter) --Woody Herman Orchestra - ""My Favorite Things"" --Pat Buttram (stand-up comedian) - tells stories about his grandparents --Jean Carroll (comedian) - jokes about domestic life & department stores --Ray Bloch & Band - Topo Gigo song --Texas Boys Choir Of Fort Worth - ""Mustang Grey"" --Claus Beckers (unicyclist act) - unicyclist with female assistant balances teapot & cups on tray. --Audience bow: Vic Ghezzi
#9 - Little Anthony and the Imperials / Bobby Vinton
Season 18 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/28/1965
Guests: --Little Anthony and the Imperials - ""Hurts So Bad"" --Bobby Vinton - ""Long Lonely Nights"" + medley of hits & tribute to Broadway songwriters --Bob King (comedian) --Elizabeth Allen & Sergio Franchi - ""Do I Hear A Waltz"" & ""Take The Moment"" (or ""Take This Moment"") --Sergio Franchi - ""Stella By Starlight"" --Marilyn Michaels - ""All Or Nothing At All"" --Le Marcellis (acrobat tricks with chairs and tables)
#10 - scheduled: Vince Edwards; Cilla Black; Alan King; Abbe Lane; George Kirby
Season 18 - Episode 27 - Aired 4/4/1965
Scheduled guests: --Vince Edwards (from ""Ben Casey"") --Cilla Black (singer) - ""You're My World"" --Alan King (comedian) --Abbe Lane (singer) --George Kirby (comedian) --Jean Paul Vignon (singer from France) --Djoliba (African instrumental and dance ensemble)
#11 - Gerry & the Pacemakers / Maurice Chevalier / Soupy Sales
Season 18 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/11/1965
Guests: --Gerry and the Pacemakers – ""Ferry Across the Mersey,"" ""It's Gonna Be Alright"" & ""Why, Oh Why"" --Maurice Chevalier - ""C'est Magnifique,"" ""It's All Right with Me"" and ""Just One of Those Things"" --Soupy Sales (comedian) - ""The Mouse"" --London Lee (comedian) --Jose Torres (middleweight boxing champion) - ""Un Poco Mas"" --Felicia Sanders (singer) - ""Sunrise, Sunset"" --The San Francisco Ballet - ""Beautiful Galatea"" --Stephenson's Dogs --Jorgen and Conny (a balancing act)
#12 - Lesley Gore / Burt Lancaster / Mickey Rooney / Miriam Makeba
Season 18 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/31/1965
Guests: --Lesley Gore - ""The Look of Love"" & ""Hello Young Lovers"" --Burt Lancaster (chats with Ed & film clips) --Mickey Rooney --Roger Williams --Miriam Makeba (South African folk singer, with back up singers) - ""Intoyam"" (African song) --The Agastonios (acrobat team) --Ravic & Babs (roller skaters)
#13 - Freddie & the Dreamers / Sean Connery (on film) / Eydie Gormé
Season 18 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/25/1965
--On film: Ed Sullivan talks with Sean Connery and Claudine Auger on the set of ""Thunderball"" Guests: --Freddie and the Dreamers perform ""I'm Telling You Now,"" ""You Were Made for Me"" & ""Do the Freddie"" --Eydie Gormé sings ""Matchmaker"" (from ""Fiddler on the Roof"") and ""As Long As He Needs Me"" (from ""Oliver"") --Charo appears with Xavier Cugat and his band --Leon Bibb (folk singer) - ""Who Can I Turn To?"" --Marty Allen and Steve Rossi (comedy team) - astronaut routine. Later in show, Rossi sings ""Al Di La"" --Shelly Berman (comedian) --Inga and Rolf (Adagio dancers) --Tux (European balancing act) --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet)
#14 - Rolling Stones / Dusty Springfield / Tom Jones
Season 18 - Episode 31 - Aired 5/2/1965
--The Rolling Stones - ""The Last Time,"" Little Red Rooster"" and ""Someone to Love"" --Dusty Springfield - ""All Cried Out"" --Tom Jones - ""It's Not Unusual"" --Audience bow (cameo): Roy Orbison --Leslie Uggams - ""Melancholy Baby"" --Totie Fields (comedian) --Topo Gigio (puppet) --Morecambe & Wise (comedians) --The Half Brothers (juggling act) --Gitta Morrelly (balancing act)
#15 - scheduled: Della Reese; the Three Stooges; Richard Pryor; Juliet Prowse
Season 18 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/9/1965
Scheduled guests: --Della Reese --The Three Stooges --Richard Pryor --Juliet Prowse --Vaughn Monroe (singer) --Jackie Clark (comedian) --The Kim Sisters (singers) --Les Doubles Faces (pantomime artists)
#16 - Petula Clark / Rudolf Nureyev / Alan King
Season 18 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/16/1965
Guests: --Petula Clark - ""I Know a Place"" & ""Heart"" --Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn (ballet dancers) - perform three excerpts from ""Swan Lake"" --Alan King (stand-up comedian) - routine about how parents bug kids. Alan talks about his kid's little league. --Sue Carson (comedian) --The West Point Glee Club --The Elwardos (balancing act) --Ugo Garrido (juggler) Other guests (scheduled to appear): --The Beach Boys - ""Help Me Rhonda"" --Frankie Randall (pop singer) CBS repeated this episode on September 5, 1965. The Beach Boys were not mentioned on the repeat.
#17 - Liza Minnelli / Rudolf Nureyev & Margot Fonteyn / the Bachelors
Season 18 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/23/1965
Guests: --Guy Lombardo - ""Red Roses for a Blue Lady"" & ""12th Street Rag"" --The Fredianis (acrobatic trio) --Liza Minnelli - ""All I Need is One Good Break"" & ""Sing Happy"" --Pernell Roberts (actor) - sings a western medley (production number) --Bob King (stand-up comedian) --Rudolf Nureyev & Margot Fonteyn (ballet dancers) - dance from Khachaturian's Ballet ""Gayne"" --Kathy Kirby - ""Can't Stop Loving That Man of Mine"" --The Bachelors (Irish folk trio) - ""Marie"" & ""I Believe""
#18 - The Animals / scheduled: Bert Lahr; Connie Francis; Wayne Newton
Season 18 - Episode 35 - Aired 5/30/1965
--The Animals - ""Bright Lights, Big City"" & ""Bring It On Home to Me"" Other guests (scheduled to appear): --Connie Francis --Bert Lahr (comedian, doing his ""Woodsman, Spare that Tree"" routine) --Stiller and Meara --Wayne Newton --Anthony Newley (scheduled to sing numbers from the Broadway musical ""The Roar of the Greasepaint – the Smell of the Crowd"") --Jackie Vernon --Pat Henning --Morty Gunty --DeMille aerialists
#19 - Herman's Hermits / scheduled: Tommy Steele; Trini Lopez
Season 18 - Episode 36 - Aired 6/6/1965
--Herman's Hermits – ""Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter,"" ""I'm Henry The VIII, I Am"" and ""Wonderful World"" Other guests (scheduled to appear): --Tommy Steele (musical-comedy star) - ""Let Me Sing A Happy Song"" (from Steele's Broadway show ""Half a Sixpence"") --Tommy Steele and the ""Half a Sixpence"" cast - ""Money To Burn"" --Trini Lopez (with orchestra) - ""A Taste of Honey,"" ""Greenback Dollar,"" ""Brown Eyes"" and ""We'll Sing in the Sunshine"" --Roberta Peters --John Byner (comedian) --Georgie Kaye (comedian) --Mr. Cox (magician) --The Malmo Girls (gymnasts)
#20 - Tom Jones / The Seekers / Dee Dee Sharp / Sid Caesar
Season 18 - Episode 37 - Aired 6/13/1965
Guests: --Tom Jones - ""It's Not Unusual"" & ""Watcha You Gonna Do"" --The Seekers - ""A World of Our Own"" --Dee Dee Sharp - ""Steady, Steady"" --Sid Caesar --London Lee (comedian) --Jean Paul Vignon - ""What Now My Love"" (in French) --Allen and Rossi (comedians) --Steve Rossi - ""Sunrise, Sunset"" --Rudi Schweitzer (juggler)
#21 - Dave Clark Five / scheduled: Cab Calloway; Soupy Sales
Season 18 - Episode 38 - Aired 6/20/1965
--The Dave Clark Five - ""Glad All Over,"" ""Come Home"" & ""I Like It Like That"" Other guests (scheduled): --Cab Calloway --Juliet Prowse (dancer) --Soupy Sales (comedian) --Totie Fields (comedian) --Arthur Haynes (British comedian) --The Malmo Girls (gymnasts from Sweeden) --Elizabeth & Collins (knife throwers)
#22 - Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas / Tony Bennett
Season 18 - Episode 39 - Aired 6/27/1965
Guests (June 27, 1965): --Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas - ""From a Window"" & ""Bad to Me"" --Tony Bennett - ""San Francisco,"" ""One for My Baby,"" ""It Had to be You"" and ""One More for the Road"" --Jackie Vernon (comedian) --The Belafonte Folk Singers (African musicians) --The Kim Sisters (singers/musicians) --Topo Gigio (puppet, sings ""Love Me Do"") --Johnny Hart (magician)
#23 - Peter and Gordon / Sammy Davis Jr. / Kaye Stevens
Season 18 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1964
Peter and Gordon – ""I Don't Want to See You Again"" & ""500 Miles"" Other guests: --Sammy Davis Jr. - ""Don't Shut Me Out"" --Kaye Stevens - ""I'll Tell Them All"" --The Kessler Twins (singers) --Jackie Vernon (comedian) --Charlie Drake --Trio Hoganas (high wire balancing act) --Brizio (Italian comic act)
#24 - scheduled: Kay Stevens; Myron Cohen; Jerry Vale; Allen & Rossi
Season 17 - Episode 39 - Aired 7/5/1964
Scheduled guests: --Jerry Vale --Kay Stevens --Allen and Rossi (comedy duo) --Myron Cohen (comedian) --Brascia and Tybee (dance team) --The Neiman Brothers (tumblers) --The Four Amigos (vocal and instrumental group) --Ronnie Martin (comedian)
#25 - Steve Lawrence / Helen Shapiro / Geula Gill
Season 17 - Episode 40 - Aired 7/26/1964
Scheduled guests: --Steve Lawrence --Helen Shapiro - ""Tip Toe Through The Tulips"" --Geula Gill (Israeli vocalist) --Maria Neglia (violinist) --los Chavales de Espana (singers-dancers-instrumentalists)