The BEST episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show season 21
Every episode of The Ed Sullivan Show season 21, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show season 21!
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 - The Bee Gees / Lucille Ball / George Hamilton
Season 21 - Episode 28 - Aired 3/17/1968
Guests: --The Bee Gees - ""Words"" --Lucille Ball guest appearance: (1) Lucy (onstage) chats with Ed; (2) On film: ""Yours, Mine & Ours"" film clip with Henry Fonda; (3) Lucy introduces 18 children from "" Yours, Mine & Ours"" who sing. --George Hamilton - ""At The Crossroads"" & ""Dock Of The Bay"" --Stiller & Meara (comedy team) --Tony Sandler & Ralph Young - ""Cotton Fields"" --Fran Jeffries - ""Sunny"" medley --Fran Jeffries, Sandler & Young - ""Duet For Three"" --Jackie Kahane (stand-up comedian) --The Five Bearded Irishmen from Dublin (traditional Irish musicians) --Audience bows: Ross Hunter; Marine Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients (Vietnam)
Watch Now:Amazon#2 - Fifth Dimension / Liza Minnelli / Allen & Rossi
Season 21 - Episode 27 - Aired 3/10/1968
Guests (broadcast from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas): --5th Dimension - ""Up-Up and Away"" & ""Monday, Monday"" --Liza Minnelli - ""You'd Better Sit Down, Kids,"" ""Certain Girl"" & ""Life of the Party"" --McGuire Sisters - ""Big Spender,"" ""Sound of Money"" & ""Here We Are in Las Vegas"" --Allen & Rossi (comedy team) --Theodore Bikel (actor & folk singer performing a scene from ""Fiddler on the Roof"") - ""If I Were a Rich Man"" --Jack Carter (comedian) --The Canestrellis (trampoline act)
#3 - Johnny Mathis / Melvyn Douglas / Pert Kelton
Season 21 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/21/1968
Guests: --Johnny Mathis - ""Get Out of Town"" & ""At the Crossroads"" --Melvyn Douglas and Pert Kelton (actors) - appear in a comic scene from the Broadway play ""Spofford."" --John Byner (comedian) --Lana Cantrell - ""On the Good Ship Lollipop"" & ""Shadows of Our Love"" --Jack E. Leonard (comedian) --The Pickle Brothers (comedians) --Edward Villella and Patricia McBride (of the New York City Ballet) - perform a pas de deux from Asafieff's ""Flames of Paris"" Scheduled guests: --The Buckinghams - ""Susan"" & ""What Is Love"" (please see Notes below.) CBS repeated this episode on 01-Sep-1968. The Buckinghams were not listed on the repeat.
#4 - Robert F. Kennedy Tribute - Dionne Warwick; Duke Ellington; Charlton Heston
Season 21 - Episode 39 - Aired 6/9/1968
Tribute Show - National Day Of Mourning for Robert F. Kennedy --Dionne Warwick - ""The Battle Hymn of the Republic"" --Duke Ellington - ""David Dance Before the Lord"" (tap dancer Bunny Briggs plays David) --Charlton Heston - reads Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address --Richard Harris - ""Camelot"" --Ed Ames - ""Who Will Answer?"" --Kate Smith - ""Lord's Prayer"" --Robert Goulet - ""The Impossible Dream"" --Sergio Franci - ""You'll Never Walk Alone"" (with Welsh Choir) --West Point Glee Club - ""America the Beautiful"" (poem) --Shirley Verrett - ""Oh, Glory"" --Doodletown Pipers - ""What The World Needs Now Is Love"" & ""For What It's Worth"" --McNiff Irish Dancers (dancers perform traditional Irish Step Dance)
#5 - scheduled: Fifth Dimension; Al Martino; Nancy Ames
Season 21 - Episode 21 - Aired 1/28/1968
Scheduled guests: --The 5th Dimension - ""Up Up and Away,"" ""Carpet Man"" & ""Shake Your Tambourine"" --Al Martino --Nancy Ames - ""Can't Buy Me Love"" & ""What the World Needs Now Is Love"" --Carol Lawrence - ""What Is a Woman?"" & ""Stairway to Paradise"" --Wayne and Shuster (comedy team) --Corbett Monica (comedian) --Bob Bramson (hoop juggler) --The Trio Rennos (pole balancing act)
#6 - scheduled: Michele Lee; Stiller & Meara; Morecombe & Wise; Stu Gilliam
Season 21 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/4/1968
Scheduled guests: --Michele Lee (singer-actress) --Stiller & Meara (comedy team) --Jackie Vernon (comedian) --Sergio Franchi (opera singer) --Regina Resnik (opera singer) --Morecombe & Wise (comedy team) --Stu Gilliam (comedian) --Peter Gennaro (dancer) --Gil and Freddie Lavedo (acrobats)
#7 - Vincent Price / Eddie Albert / Lennon Sisters
Season 21 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/11/1968
Guests: --Vincent Price --Eddie Albert (actor, performs a dramatic reading about Abraham Lincoln) --Morey Amsterdam --Totie Fields --Patricia Routledge (actress) - sings ""Not On Your Nellie"" --Roberta Peters (soprano) - ""Shadow Song"" (from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera ""Dinorah"") --The Lennon Sisters - ""California Dreamin'"" & ""Where Are the Words?"" --Hendra & Ullett (comedy team) --Jimmy Nelson (ventriloquist) --Vaughn Bullivant (water-skier, on film?) --Les Dollies (unicycle act)
#8 - scheduled: Bobbie Gentry; George Chakiris; Jane Powell; Paul Mauriat
Season 21 - Episode 24 - Aired 2/18/1968
Scheduled guests: --Jane Powell --Bobbie Gentry --George Chakiris - ""West Side Story"" medley --Rodney Dangerfield --Paul Mauriat (pianist) - ""Love Is Blue"" --Will Jordan (comedian) --Franco Corelli (singer) --Jim Henson's Muppets
#9 - Gladys Knight & the Pips / Jackie Mason / Dinah Shore
Season 21 - Episode 25 - Aired 2/25/1968
--Gladys Knight & the Pips - medley (""The End of Our Road,"" ""And So Is Love"" and ""I Heard It Through the Grapevine"") --Dinah Shore - ""Oh, Lonesome Me,"" ""It's Over,"" ""Trains, Boats And Planes,"" and ""Oh, Lonesome Me"" (reprise). --Ed Ames - ""I Want To Be Free"" & ""Who Will Answer"" --Ed Ames and Dinah Shore - ""Sunrise, Sunset"" --Jackie Mason (stand-up comedy) --Ballet America (dancers perform to ""Mule Train"") --Andy Stewart (Scottish comedian wearing kilt - sings and does impression of Dean Martin) --The Bruskis (balancing act from Poland) Audience bows: Governor Stan Hathaway; Jane Morgan; Tony Bennett; Sheila Davis
#10 - scheduled: Lou Rawls; Alan King; Morecambe & Wise
Season 21 - Episode 26 - Aired 3/3/1968
Scheduled guests: --Lou Rawls --Alan King --Morecambe & Wise --Jack E. Leonard --J. Rivers --Sergio Franchi --D. Valery
#11 - Spanky & Our Gang / Supremes / Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood
Season 21 - Episode 29 - Aired 3/24/1968
Guests: --Spanky & Our Gang - ""I'd Like to Get to Know You"" --Diana Ross and the Supremes - ""Forever Came Today"" & Fats Waller medley (""Honeysuckle Rose,"" ""Ain't Misbehavin'"" & ""Keepin' Out of Mischief Now"") --Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - ""Story Book Children"" --Nancy Sinatra - ""100 Years"" --Jimmy Dean - ""Little Thing Called Love"" & ""Sleeping Beauty"" --George Carlin (stand-up comedian) --Louis & Christy (comedy duo) --Charlie & Cairoli (comedy team, both play clarinets) --Dominique (illusionist) Audience bow: Franco Corelli, Del Insco, Jean Drapeau
#12 - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles / Frankie Laine / Charlton Heston
Season 21 - Episode 30 - Aired 3/31/1968
Guests: --Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - medley (""I Second That Emotion,"" ""If You Can Want,"" ""Going To A Go-Go"" & ""Yesterday"") --Frankie Laine - ""To Each His Own"" & ""I Found You"" --Charlton Heston (1) reads from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (2) Later in show talks about ""Planet of the Apes"" with film clip. --Wayne & Shuster (comedians) - skit: parent-teacher meeting about violence on TV --Myron Cohen (stand-up comedian) --The Young Americans - ""Oklahoma"" medley --Peter Gennaro (dancer) - ""If I Were A Rich Man"" w/dancers --Baranton Sisters (foot jugglers who balance & spin tables) Audience bows: Richard Rodgers; Jerome Hines; Pearl Mesta & Earl Blackwell; Samuel Defalco CBS repeated this show on July 28, 1968.
#13 - scheduled: Eddie Albert, Norm Crosby, Joan Rivers
Season 21 - Episode 31 - Aired 4/14/1968
Scheduled guests: --Eddie Albert --Norm Crosby --Joan Rivers --Sergio Franchi --Shirley Verrett --Montford Mission
#14 - Tom Jones / Patty Duke / Totie Fields / The Muppets
Season 21 - Episode 32 - Aired 4/21/1968
Guests: --Tom Jones - ""It's Not Unusual,"" ""Danny Boy"" & ""Delilah"" --Patty Duke - ""Dona, Dona"" (with dancers) & ""And We Were Strangers"" --The Muppets - female frog (Kermit wearing a wig) sings ""I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face"" --Your Fathers Moustache (Dixieland band) --Totie Fields (comedian) - sings ""I'm Perfect"" and pokes fun at audience members. --Richard Hearne (English comedian, a.k.a. ""Mr. Pastry"") - demonstrates ""The Passing Out Ceremony"" (a drinking & dancing ritual using two chairs). Ed appears on camera for entire skit, telling Mr. Pastry which drink is in which glass --Pavel (magic act) --Audience bows: Capain Geoff Mitchell & other Captains; Major General William J. Sutton; Kevin Robinson
#15 - Richard Harris / Ella Fitzgerald / Stiller & Meara
Season 21 - Episode 33 - Aired 4/28/1968
Guests: --Ella Fitzgerald - ""Can't Buy Me Love"" & ""Mr. Paganini"" (with 3 man combo) --Richard Harris - ""Camelot"" & ""Didn't We"" --George Carlin (comedy sketch) - Carlin plays a politician interviewed on ""Meet the Candidate."" --Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara (stand-up comedy) - do a routine about a high school reunion --Milt Kamen (stand-up comedian) - tells jokes about living in New York --Doodletown Pipers (singers) - ""With A Little Help From My Friends"" & medley ("" What The World Need Now"" & ""For What Its Worth"") --Ma Chung (violin playing prodigy) Audience bows: Joel Grey (then appearing on Broadway's ""George M. Cohan""); Cheryl Ann Patton (Miss USA from Florida); Clifton Daniel & sons
#16 - 80th Birthday salute to Irving Berlin: Diana Ross & Supremes; Bing Crosby
Season 21 - Episode 34 - Aired 5/5/1968
80th Birthday salute to Irving Berlin (90-minute episode) Guests: --Diana Ross & the Supremes - ""Always"" --Diana Ross & the Supremes with Ethel Merman - Irving Berlin medley (""Say It With Music,"" ""It's A Lovely Day Today,"" ""Heat Wave"" ""Say It Isn't So"") --Bing Crosby - spoken tribute to Irving Berlin & sings medley of Berlin songs (""Sweet Marie from Sunny Italy,"" ""Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon,"" ""The International Rag,"" & ""Alexander's Ragtime Band"") & ""I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas"" (film clip & live on stage). --Bob Hope (stand-up, Bob salutes Irving Berlin) --Ethel Merman - Berlin medley (""Sunshine,"" ""I Got Lost In His Arms,"" ""Anything You Can Do,"" ""They Say It's Wonderful"") --President Johnson (on tape, wishes Irving Berlin a Happy 80th birthday) --Harry James (medley of dance tunes) --Robert Goulet & Harry James - ""Marie"" --Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians - ""Give Me Your Tired"" --Robert Goulet, Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians - ""I Used To Play It By Ea
#17 - Gary Puckett and the Union Gap / Richard Pryor / Rodney Dangerfield
Season 21 - Episode 35 - Aired 5/12/1968
--Gary Puckett and the Union Gap - ""Lady Willpower"" & ""Young Girl"" Other guests: --Richard Pryor (stand-up comedy) - imitates his mother and grandmother, talks about getting revenge on the neighborhood bully. --Rodney Dangerfield (stand-up, doing his ""No Respect"" routine) --Diahann Carroll - ""At The Crossroads"" & ""Elusive Butterfly"" --David Frye (comedy, impressions of William F. Buckley, Presidents Nixon, Johnson, RFK.) --Shani Wallis - ""Alfie"" & ""High"" --Jay Marshall (ventriloquist) --Young Americans - ""Happiness"" & medley (""A Spoonful of Sugar,"" ""Back In the Old Routine Minute Waltz,"" ""Green Sleeves,"" and ""Raindrops"") --Audience bows: Leonard Sillman, Imogene Coca, Capt. Robert F. Foley
#18 - Fifth Dimension / Joel Gray / Joan Rivers / Morey Amsterdam
Season 21 - Episode 36 - Aired 5/19/1968
Fifth Dimension - ""On Broadway"" & ""Stoned Soul Picnic"" Other guests: --Joel Grey - scene from ""George M"" --Joan Rivers (stand-up comedian, topics: marriage, weight, the beach) --Morey Amsterdam (stand-up comedy) --Jane Morgan - ""What Now My Love"" --London Lee (stand-up comedian: plays the trumpet badly) --The West Point Glee Club - ""Sons Of A Different Time"" Audience bows: Major General Donald Bennett; Angel Cordero, Jr.; President Marcos' Children Ferdinand & Maria Marcos
#19 - Spanky & Our Gang / Nancy Sinatra / Mike Douglas
Season 21 - Episode 37 - Aired 5/26/1968
Guests: --Nancy Sinatra - ""Sock It To Me Sunshine"" & ""This Girl's In Love With You"" --Spanky & Our Gang - ""Three Ways from Tomorrow"" --Mike Douglas - ""Talk To the Animals"" & ""Why Did I Choose You"" --Scoey Mitchell (stand-up comedian, topics: taxes, races, relations) --The Muppets (one worm gets another to dance, Jim Henson cameo) --Henra & Ullett (stand-up comedy; routine set at the UN) --Bobby Remson (Ransen?) - stand-up comedy routine --Lucera Tena (attractive Spanish dancer, from Madrid) --Trio Rennos (three acrobats from Italy) --Audience bow: Tony Bennett --Audience bows: a group of wounded Vietnam Veterans.
#20 - 20th Anniversary Show - scheduled: Alan King; Jerry Vale; Lana Cantrell
Season 21 - Episode 38 - Aired 6/2/1968
20th Anniversary Show Scheduled guests: --Alan King --Jerry Vale - ""My Love, Forgive Me"" --Lana Cantrell - ""Honey"" & ""How Can I Be Sure? --Sue Carson (comedian) --Norm Neilson (magician) --Mr. Jiggs (trained monkey)
#21 - The Turtles / Johnny Mathis / Joan Rivers
Season 21 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/12/1967
--The Turtles - ""Happy Together"" & ""She's My Girl"" Complete show: --Lana Cantrell - ""Yes Sir, That's My Baby"" --Joan Rivers (stand-up comedian) - tells jokes about being pregnant. --NY Harkness Ballet Co. - Spanish theme ballet --Gustafsons (magic act) - man & woman do a magic act using candles and scarves, and make things disappear. --Victor Lundberg - recites "" An Open Letter to My Teenage Son"" (a message to America's youth regarding the war in Vietnam) --Johnny Mathis - ""Sleigh Ride"" & ""Up-Up, and Away"" --Richard Hearne (British comedian) - dances and does pantomime --Audience bows: Johnny Weissmuller & Buster Crabbe --The Turtles - ""Happy Together"" & ""She's My Girl"" --Lana Cantrell - ""Love Is Stronger Far Than We"" --Shelley Berman (comedian) - tells jokes about embarrassing moments
#22 - Young Rascals / Petula Clark / Red Skelton
Season 21 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/10/1967
Guests: --The Young Rascals - ""Groovin',"" ""A Girl Like You"" & ""How Can I Be Sure?"" --Petula Clark - ""I'll be Loving You Eternally"" & medley: ""Who Am I?"" ""Don't Sleep in the Subway"" & ""Cat in the Window"" --Red Skelton (stand-up routine) --Eddie Fisher - ""Mame"" & ""That Face"" (Buddy Hackett cameo on 2nd song) --Buddy Hackett (comedian) - does a Chinese waiter routine --The Great Carazini (comedian) Audience bows: Walter Winchell; Jerry Vale
#23 - The Doors / Yul Brynner / Rodney Dangerfield
Season 21 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1967
Guests: --The Doors - ""People are Strange"" & ""Light My Fire"" --Yul Brynner (actor, appearing with a musician) - perform ""Two Guitars"" (from Brynner's album) --Flip Wilson (stand-up comedian) --Rodney Dangerfield (stand-up comedy) --Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme - ""That's Love,"" ""Come Back to Me"" & medley: ""Anything Goes,"" ""Love For Sale,"" ""I Get A Kick Out Of You,"" ""You Do Something To Me,"" ""I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,"" ""Getting To Know You,"" ""Happy Talk"" & ""I've Got You Under My Skin"" --Eydie Gorme - ""Mame"" --Steve Lawrence - ""Too Fast, Too Soon"" --The Kessler Sisters (twins Alice & Ellen Kessler) - medley of Maurice Chevalier songs: ""Thank Heaven For Little Girls"" and ""Louise"" (A salute To Maurice Chevalier on his 79th birthday) --The Skating Bredos (from Sweeden) - man & woman speed skate in 6 ft. circle CBS repeated this show on 07-Jul-68. Following by the Doors, Jim Morrison said the line "Girl we could not get much higher" to never play the Sullivan Show agian.
#24 - Mamas & the Papas / Florence Henderson / John Byner
Season 21 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/24/1967
--The Mamas and the Papas - ""Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)"" --The Mamas and the Papas (later in show) - medley: ""Monday, Monday,"" ""I Call Your Name"" & ""California Dreamin'."" --Florence Henderson (actress-singer) - medley from ""Sound of Music"": ""My Favorite Things,"" ""Climb Every Mountain,"" ""Do-Re-Mi"" & ""The Sound of Music"" --Ed Ames (actor-singer) - sings ""My Cup Runneth Over"" & ""When The Snow Is On the Roses"" --John Byner (comedian) --Jorgen and Conny (balancers, acrobats from Sweeden) --Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) --Jack Carter (stand-up comedian) --Jean Claude (balancing act) --Audience bows: Ralph Pearl & Charlie McAddams (reporter & publisher of Las Vegas Sun) --Audience bows: Roberto Rossellini; Duane Hackney Please see ""Recap"" for more details.
#25 - Nancy Sinatra / Peggy Lee / George Carlin
Season 21 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/1/1967
Nancy Sinatra - ""Until It's Time for You to Go"" --Nancy Sinatra, Peggy Lee, & Sergio Franchi - medley including ""Just One of Those Days,"" ""Why Don't You Do Right,"" ""These Boots are Made for Walkin',"" ""Falling Leaves"" & ""M'Lord"" --Peggy Lee - ""I Feel It"" & ""The More I See You"" --Sergio Franchi - ""By Myself"" & ""Time Will Tell"" (in English & Italian) Other guests: --George Carlin (stand-up comedy: going to the movies, coming attractions) --Winners Of The 33rd Harvest Moon Ball --Gimma Brothers (comic acrobats, do tumbling wearing suits) --London Lee (stand-up comedian, tells jokes about show business) --Richiardi (magician) Audience bows: Ladies Auxiliary of the Polish Legion of Pine Island