Just finished watching the first Beatles appearance on the old Ed Sullivan Show. What a schizophrenic experience.
First of all, whenever The Beatles take the stage, the energy level in the program expands exponentially, despite the fact that it is obvious that John, Paul, George and Ringo are visibly nervous on their first American television appearance.
Ed Sullivan himself is fine, and one can understand why he was on the air for twenty-five seasons. This episode, by the way, was the nineteenth episode of the seventeenth season.
Most of the remaining entertainment was remnants from previous eras of entertainment. Outside of The Beatles, the most interesting act was the celebrity impressions of actor Frank Gorshin (who would later become The Riddler on the 1960s Adam West-Burt Ward Batman series).
In particular, Gorshin's Kirk Douglas impression was spectacular (and one he repeats later for the short stop motion animation, The Big Story [Daid Stoten & Tim Watts,1994])
Outside of The Beatles and Gorshin, one of the most entertaining parts of the program is the minute long Anacin commercial (pain, depression, tension, anxiety, fatigue, pain indeed).
The scene from the stage production of Oliver! was typical of musicals from the era, and this style would be functionally dead by the end of the decade (with the box office failures of Star! and Dr. Dolittle). It is, however, interesting to see future Monkee Davy Jones as the Artful Dodger.
Far worse are magician Fred Kaps and the comedy team McCall and Brill. These acts have not aged well at all. Wells and the Four Fays, the acrobatic group, are fine, but are very anti-climatic after The Beatles second set.
The Beatles perform their biggest hits of 1964 including "All My Loving", "'Til There Was You", "SHe Loves You", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The Beatles prove what a great live band they were here.
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