A Facebook page I follow recently shared an image of a 1964 newspaper article. The article is by Paul Jones, and is a newspaper critic’s review of the most recent Ed Sullivan TV show. This article was originally published on February 11th, 1964, almost 60 years ago. Mr. Jones was clearly a fan of Mr. Sullivan’s TV show, which throughout the 50′s and 60′s was one of the most popular TV shows ever. However, after the very first appearance of The Beatles on February 9th, 1964, it would seem Mr. Sullivan had just lost at least 1 viewer, due to the absolute lack of looks or talent of the band, and the fact that the “fad” of rock n’ roll died when Elvis Presley joined the army in the 50′s. Yes, thankfully that horrendous musical fad never played out, who knows what music would sound like today if it had!

In another of my favorite lines from the review, Mr Jones voiced his displeasure with the typical I want all entertainment to cater to my tastes only or I will insult it because my ego is hurt, type of attempted scolding of the show itself. “There is no reason why Sullivan should take part in the absurd campaign to make this group appear to be important. But then Sullivan’s program has been on the skids for several weeks. I have noticed a general deterioration in the type entertainment presented in at least three of the last four shows.”

It’s a good thing he wrote this scathing review to help shut down such an awful program, 7 years later in 1971. Yup the trash that was the Ed Sullivan TV show only lasted a mere 23 years in total proving Ed clearly had no idea what talent really was...

Read the review for yourself.

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