The BEST episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show season 17
Every episode of The Ed Sullivan Show season 17, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show season 17!
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 - Liza Minnelli / Duke Ellington / The Beatles (on film)
Season 17 - Episode 33 - Aired 5/24/1964
--The Beatles (on film) - movie clip of ""You Can't Do That"" from ""A Hard Day's Night"" - song was cut from final edit of film. Also on film: Ed Sullivan interviews The Beatles in London on the set of "" A Hard Day's Night"". --On film: footage of the Lipizzaner White Stallions in Vienna. --On film: Michelangelo's Pieta, an exhibit at the New York World's Fair. Guests: --Duke Ellington & his orchestra --Liza Minnelli (actress-singer) - possibly performed ""The Travelin' Life"" --John Paul Vignon (French singer) --Shirley Verrett (mezzo-soprano) - ""Ava Maria"" --Morecambe and Wise (British comedy team) Other guests (scheduled to appear): --Professor Backwards (comedian) --The Watusi Dancers
#2 - Dave Clark Five / A Salute to American Composers
Season 17 - Episode 23 - Aired 3/8/1964
Dave Clark Five - ""Glad All Over"" ""A Salute to American Composers"" --Jerry Vale - ""Ah, Sweet Mystery"" & ""You Can't Take That Away from Me"" --Florence Henderson - ""I Get A Kick Out of You"" & ""Wonderful Guy"" --Ed Sullivan talks with Ira Gershwin. --Steve Lawrence - ""A Room Without Windows, A Room Without Doors"" & ""Gigi"" --Harry Ruby (piano medley) --Phil Silvers & Saul Chaplin - ""Old Man River"" sketch --Juliet Prowse (dancer) - dances to ""Black Bottom"" & ""The Peabody"" --Blossom Seeley - ""I Love A Medley"" Piano medley with five ASCAP composers: Jimmy McHugh (""Sunny Side of the Street""); Arthur Freed (""Singing in the Rain""); Grace Kahn & Donald Kahn (""It Had to be You"" & ""Ain't We Got Fun""); Sammy Fain (""Love Is A Many Splendored Thing"").
#3 - Dave Clark Five / Peter O'Toole / Jack Jones
Season 17 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/15/1964
--Dave Clark Five - ""Do You Love Me,"" ""Bits and Pieces"" and ""Glad All Over"" Other guests: --Peter O'Toole (actor) - interview, sings ""When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"" with Ed Sullivan. --Jack Jones (singer) - ""Rosalie"" & ""Call Me Irresponsible"" --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) --Pat O'Brian (comedian) --Jackie Vernon (comedian) --Carmel Quinn (medley Of Irish songs) --The Volantes (unicycle balancing act) - rides a unicycle in theatre aisle and plays an accordian while on unicycle on table --The Augsberg Jungle Wonders (trained monkey act)
#4 - Bobby Vinton / Van Johnson / The Ladybugs
Season 17 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/22/1964
Guests: --Van Johnson - ""Just One of Those Things"" & ""I'm A Ham"" --Bobby Vinton - ""My Heart Belongs to Only You"" --The Ladybugs - ""I Saw Him Standing There."" The Ladybugs were Jeannine Riley, Pat Woodell and Linda Kaye Henning (from ""Petticoat Junction"") & Sheila James (formerly of ""Dobie Gillis""). --Totie Fields (comedian) --George Kirby (comedian-impressionist) --Brooks Sisters - ""Brooks' Boogie"" --The South African dancers (from the Alan Paton-Krishna Shaw play ""Sponono"") --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) - ""Topo's Birthday"" CBS repeated this show on Aug. 9, 1964.
#5 - Harry Belafonte and the Belafonte Folk Singers
Season 17 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/29/1964
Guests: --Harry Belafonte --Jack Carter (comedian) --The Kessler Twins Additional guests (scheduled to appear): --Harry Belafonte and the Belafonte Folk Singers – ""Sailor Man,"" ""Look Over Yonder,"" ""Windin' Road,"" ""In My Father's House"" and ""Shake That Little Foot"" --Dennis Spicer (ventriloquist) --Karen Valentine (singer-dancer, talent winner in the Miss Teen-Age America contest)
#6 - The Searchers / scheduled: Rowan & Martin; Senor Wences
Season 17 - Episode 27 - Aired 4/5/1964
The Searchers – ""Ain't That Just Like Me"" & ""Needles and Pins"" Other guests (scheduled): --Dan Rowan & Dick Martin (comedians) --Senor Wences (ventriloquist) --Nipsey Russell (comedian) --Franco Corelli (Italian tenor) --Topo Gigio (puppet) --Mata & Hari (dance-pantomime team) --The Little Singers of Tokyo.
#7 - Moscow State Circus (taped in Minneapolis, MN)
Season 17 - Episode 28 - Aired 4/12/1964
Moscow State Circus (taped in Minneapolis, MN): Taped show with guests: --Oleg Popov (clown, appears throughout the show) --The Khodzhabaev Cossack Riders --Valentin Filatov's trained bears (boxers, motorcyclists, acrobats & balancers) --Kaseev and Manasaryan (acrobatic strongmen) --Michael Nikolaev group (precision gymnasts) --Violetta and Alexander Kiss (balancers) --The Vladimir Doveyko tumblers (somersault onto stilts) --The Vladimir Zamotkin's acrobatics (on a giant free-spinning wheel) --Vsevolod Kherts (juggling strongman) --The Volzhansky wire walkers (roller-skate & perform acrobatics on the highwire) --Helena Sinkovskaya & Victor Lisin (gymnasts on the rocket trapeze) --Victoria Olkhovikova's football-playing canines
#8 - Al Hirt / Roberta Peters / Itzhak Perlman / Kim Sisters
Season 17 - Episode 29 - Aired 4/26/1964
--Al Hirt - ""Begin the Beguine"" & ""Cotton Candy"" --Al Hirt & Roberta Peters - ""The Shadow Song"" --Itzhak Perlman - ""Rondo Capricione"" (on violin) --Peg Leg Bates & Little Buck (tap duet) --The Kim Sisters (""South of the Border"" medley and ""Charlie Brown"") --London Lee (comedian) --Georgie Kaye (comedian) --Bob King (comedian) --Ariston (acrobat trio)
#9 - Stevie Wonder / Gerry and the Pacemakers
Season 17 - Episode 30 - Aired 5/3/1964
Guests: --Stevie Wonder - ""Fingertips"" --Gerry and the Pacemakers - ""Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"" & ""I'm the One"" --Patti Page (singer) - ""Call Me Irresponsible"" & ""If I Had A Hammer"" --Bill Dana (comedian in character as Jose) - Ed interviews Jose, who's dressed as a Roman soldier. This time, Jose is an actor talking about his latest epic. --The Claytons (whip and rope act) - 3 people, dressed as cowboys, do tricks with whips. --The cast of ""America Be Seated"" with Louis Gossett, May Barnes, Bibby Oscarwall Scheduled guest: --Vaughn Meader (comedian)
#10 - Dusty Springfield / Gerry & the Pacemakers / Itzhak Perlman
Season 17 - Episode 31 - Aired 5/10/1964
Guests: --Dusty Springfield - ""Stay Awhile"" & ""I Only Want to Be with You"" --Gerry and the Pacemakers - ""I Like It"" & ""Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"" --Bobby Rydell - ""World Without Love"" --Itzak Perlman (violinist) - Wieniawski's ""Second Concerto"" --Phyllis Diller (stand-up comedy) --Jackie Mason (makes jokes about folk songs) --The Brooks Sisters - ""When The Saints Go Marching In"" (instrumental) --Doug Hart (portrays a drunk who wants to do wire walking with a female. He gets on and does a good routine by himself) --Sid Gary (comedian) - imitates George Jessel's flat singing --Los Cinco Latinos - ""El Relicaro""
#11 - scheduled: Paul Anka; McGuire Sisters; Rita Pavone
Season 17 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/17/1964
Guests (2nd half of show): --Totie Fields (comedian) --The Mansville Marching Band - ""When The Saints Come Marching In"" --Audience bow: Eunice Kennedy Shriver --Jackie Vernon (comedian) --""Big"" Tiny Little (pianist, from ""The Lawrence Welk Show"") Scheduled guests (probably the 1st half of show): --Paul Anka --Rita Pavone (Italian singer) - ""Remember Me"" & ""Just One More"" --Paul Anka and Rita Pavone - ""Ogni Volta"" --The McGuire Sisters --Rowan & Martin (comedy team) --Youngsters from the Connecticut Training Center for the mentally retarded
#12 - George Raft / Jack Carter / John Byner
Season 17 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/1/1964
Guests: --George Raft (Hollywood star) - scheduled to appear in a tango sequence with the Hugh Lambert dancers --Jack Carter (comedian) - routine includes jokes about the Beatles --John Byner (comedian making his first TV appearance) Additional guests (scheduled to appear): --Anita Bryant (singer) --Rickie Layne and Velvel (ventriloquist act) --Julius Monk's ""Baker's Dozen"" (revue troupe, scheduled to appear in 2 comedy sketches)
#13 - Dave Clark Five / Bill Cosby / Helen Hayes
Season 17 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/31/1964
Guests: --Dave Clark Five – ""Can't You See That She's Mine"" & ""Do You Love Me"" --Bill Cosby --Helen Hayes - plays Mrs. Woodrow Wilson in a dramatic scene --Abbe Lane - ""The Rhumba Rump"" & ""I Will Follow You"" --Peter Lind Hayes & Mary Healy (husband & wife doing a stand up routine) --Elsa & Waldo (comedy dance team)
#14 - Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas / Alec Guinness
Season 17 - Episode 35 - Aired 6/7/1964
Guests: --Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas - ""Pride,"" ""Little Children"" and ""Bad to Me"" --Alec Guinness (cameo & film clip from ""Bridge On The River Kwai"") --Nipsey Russell (stand-up comedian) --Robert Horton - ""Oklahoma"" medley & ""When The Sun Comes Out"" --Tessie O'Shea (singer doing a London music medley) --Leo Bassi (foot juggler)
#15 - Sammy Davis Jr./ A filmed tour of the JFK Library exhibit
Season 17 - Episode 36 - Aired 6/14/1964
Guests: --Sammy Davis Jr. - ""My Kind of Town (Manhattan),"" ""Where Do I Belong?"" ""Gonna Build Me A Mountain"" & ""What Kind of Fool Am I"" --Stiller & Meara (comedy team) --The Vagabonds - ""It's a Good Day"" & ""Route 66"" --Trio Hoganas (high wire balance act) --The Philippine Dance Company --On film: a tour of the John F. Kennedy Library exhibit (then on display at the IBM Gallery in NYC).
#16 - Debbie Reynolds (on film) / Trini Lopez / Harve Presnell
Season 17 - Episode 37 - Aired 6/21/1964
--Ed introduces the 50 candidates for the title of ""National College Queen,"" then announces the 6 finalists. --On film: Ed visits Debbie Reynolds at her home. In her screening room, they view scenes of Debbie dancing in ""The Unsinkable Molly Brown"" --Harve Presnell (Reynolds' co-star in ""The Unsinkable Molly Brown"") - sings ""I'll Never Say No"" (live on stage) --John Bryner (stand-up comedian) - imitates folk singers, sings ""The Mountain,"" then does impressions of Ed Sullivan, Elvis and Topo Gigio. --Sally Ann Howes - sings ""Let's Face the Music and Dance"" --Allen and Rossi (comedy team) - Steve Rossi sings ""With A Son in My Heart,"" then interviews the general manager of the World's Fair Japanese Pavillion (played by Marty Allen) --Sally Ann Howes sings ""Do Re Me"" with children from the Lexington school for the deaf. --Cameo: Ken Venturi (1964 U.S. Open champion) --Lexington School for the Deaf children - ""Spring Theme"" --Jim Bunning (baseball pitching star from Philadelphi
#17 - Bobby Vinton / Connie Francis / Frank Sinatra / Ferrante & Teicher
Season 17 - Episode 38 - Aired 6/28/1964
Guests: --Frank Sinatra - cameo, brings out anniversary cake, sings ""My Kind of Town"" --Bobby Vinton - ""Tell Me Why"" & ""Mama Don't Allow"" + instrumental songs (""Hava Nagila,"" ""Poinciana"" & ""When The Saints Go Marching In"") --Connie Francis - ""Will You Still Be Mine,"" ""Mala Femina,"" ""Looking for Love"" & ""I Found Myself A Guy"" --Ferrante & Teicher (2 pianists, playing two pianos) - theme from ""Seventh Dawn"" --Jerry Shane (comedian) --Joan Holloway - ""Puttin' On My Top Hat"" --The Banihan Dancers (Filipino dance group)
#18 - 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)
#19 - 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)
#20 - Della Reese / the Highwaymen
Season 17 - Episode 41 - Aired 8/16/1964
Guests: --Della Reese - ""Nobody's Sweetheart"" & ""His Eye Is On The Sparrow"" --The Highwaymen (vocal-instrumental quintet) - ""Standing by the Gate"" & ""Pretoria"" --Pat Henning (stand-up comedian) --Bob King (stand-up comedian) --The Kaye Sisters (British vocal trio) - ""I Only Want To Be With You"" --Mac Ronay (magician) --Harry Lorayne (memory expert) --Rosh Atubian & His Mediterranean International Troop (folk musicians & dancers) --Jack La Cayen & Gelsomina (acrobatic dancers from Italy) --Bauman's Tigers (trained animal act)
#21 - Bert Lahr / Rita Pavone / The Kim Sisters
Season 17 - Episode 42 - Aired 9/6/1964
Guests (show taped earlier in the season): --Bert Lahr - ""Schneider's Miracle"" --Rita Pavone (Italian pop singer) - ""Remember Me?"" & ""Big Deal"" --Pat Buttram (comedian) --London Lee (comedian) --The Stepp Brothers (tap-dancers) --The Kim Sisters - ""Mr. Banjo"" & a ""West Side Story"" medley --Enzo Stuarti (Italian singer) - ""Battle Hymn"" & ""Yours Is My Heart Alone"" --Attila Galamb (child saxophonist) --The Two Carmenas (a ""head-to-toe"" balancing act)
#22 - scheduled: Buster Keaton; Teresa Brewer; Tessie O'Shea
Season 17 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/22/1963
Scheduled guests: --Buster Keaton --John Huston (director) --Teresa Brewer --George Kirby --Tessie O'Shea --Frank Ifield (British singer) --The Burke Family Singers --Paul Dooley and Dick Liberti (comedians) --Rene Lavand (one-armed magician) --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) --Hugh Forgie (ice skater)
#23 - Dick Dale / The Angels / Totie Fields
Season 17 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/1963
Guests: --Dick Dale - ""Swingin' & Surfin'"" (with some ""Miserlou"") --Totie Fields (comedian) - boasts about her diet, sings, and then flirts with men in the audience. --Sonny Liston (heavyweight champion of the world) - skips rope to ""Night Train"" recording. --The Page Seven (featuring Page Cavanaugh at the piano) - ""Preacher"" (instrumental song) --The Three Stooges (Larry, Moe and Curly Joe) - sketch with Curly Joe as the Rajah --Audience bow: Eileen Brennan --The Clark Brothers (tap dancers) --Kate Smith - medley of WWII songs: ""Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree,"" ""The White Cliffs of Dover,"" ""On a Wing and a Prayer"" and ""God Bless America."" --Alan Gale (comedian) - jokes about politics, sports, modern conviences, supermarkets, banks --Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara (comedy team) - a couple starts arguing following their dinner party. --The Angels - ""My Boyfriend's Back""
#24 - Lesley Gore / Tony Bennett / Frank Gorshin
Season 17 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/13/1963
Guests (confirmed): --Lesley Gore - ""It's My Party""/""She's A Fool"" medley --Szony & Claire (dancers) --The Baranton Sisters (foot jugglers) --Mr. Pastry (comedian Richard Hearn) - Ed participates in a sketch about various dances. --Tony Bennett - ""The Moment Of Truth"" & ""Don't Wait Too Long "" --Frank Gorshin (impressionist) - does his classic ""Actors in Heaven"" routine Additional guests (scheduled to appear): --Bob & Ray (comedy team) - doing a collection of satiric sketches titled ""What's Going on Here?"" --Jonathan Miller & Peter Cook (from the Broadway play ""Beyond the Fringe."") --Danny Meehan (singer-dancer) --John Bird (from the off-Broadway play ""The Establishment"") --Pat Henry (comedian) --Peter Duchin (pianist) --Mac Ronay (pantomimist) ""What's Going On Here?"" - Some of the comedians on this show were to appear in a satire of current news titled ""What's Going On Here?""
#25 - Scheduled: Cliff Richard; Eydie Gorme
Season 17 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/20/1963
Scheduled guests: --Cliff Richard (singer) - ""Stranger In Town"" & ""Some of These Days"" --Eydie Gorme (singer) --the Kessler Twins (singing & dancing team) --Dave Madden (comedian) --Shirley Verrett (opera singer) --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) --Vic Grecco & Fred Willard (comedy team) --The Four Saints (comedy-instrumental group) - ""Tonight""