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Bernie Ilson
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Sundays with Sullivan: How the Ed Sullivan Show Brought Elvis, the Beatles, and Culture to America Paperback – October 16, 2010

by Bernie Ilson (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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Get an inside view of The Ed Sullivan Show and the unusual story of one of the most unlikely television stars in the history of the medium. Sullivan's shows were unique in their variety, spontaneity, and the fact that Sullivan insisted they be live. In this book Bernie Ilson, the Sullivan show's P.R. man for eight years, takes us on a trip down memory lane to revisit one of the most popular shows in television history.
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  1. Print length
    232 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Taylor Trade Publishing
  4. Publication date
    October 16, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6.03 x 0.68 x 9.06 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1589795733
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1589795730
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Editorial Reviews

Review

...[P]ick up a copy of this book and give it to your grandparents as a gift… but do yourself a favor and read it first (just don’t crack the spine, dummy, it’s a present!). -- Indie Street Radio

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Taylor Trade Publishing
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 16, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1589795733
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1589795730
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.03 x 0.68 x 9.06 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #6,094,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

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Bernie Ilson

Bernie Ilson

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Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
23 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

  • RobertL
    3.0 out of 5 stars It was just ok for me
    Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2021
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    I watched the Ed Sullivan show from 1964 until 1971 and own a DVD set. I enjoyed the show very much. I didn't know much about his early life so I liked that part of the book. I enjoyed learning about how he chose the artists and how diverse the artists were. However I personally did not care for the last half of the book. I was not at all interested in a lengthy chapter on the opera stars. Could have been more insight from an insider on some artists. It was just ok.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Arty Kessler
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful nostalgia!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2022
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Very entertaining and an absolute pleasure to read.
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  • Brian
    3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Measure Up
    Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2010
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    While I had high hopes for this book, it failed to measure up with better histories of the Ed Sullivan Show. The author admits that the book grew out of his Ph.D thesis, which is one of its shortcomings--the book is shallow, choppy, and clinical, as it winds its way through a discussion of the Ed Sullivan Show's effect on culture in America. For a better examination of Ed Sullivan and the contemporary world around him, I would look elsewhere.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Denise Isacson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift book!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2012
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    I ordered this book for my 88 year-old mother who spent every Sunday for YEARS watching "The Ed Sullivan Show". It will no doubt bring back many memories from an era when TV-watching was a fun family activity!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Marc leichter
    5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent look back at one of the best television shows ...
    Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2014
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    An excellent look back at one of the best television shows of all time. Many people have forgotten how popular and influential The Ed Sullivan Show was.
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  • M. Hassner
    4.0 out of 5 stars Like Being There
    Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2009
    Format: Hardcover
    Ilson shares what it's like to be behind the scenes of one of TV's icon shows. Like the PR pro that he is, Ilson's writing absolutely captures the no nonsense Ed Sullivan attitude and approach - simple, direct, very visual and well balanced. You feel like you are part of the planning and right there in the audience as Sullivan mixed the puppets with the opera and ballet stars; Broadway's best and the Beatles and Elvis - Sunday after Sunday for a quarter of a century. Now with the new Beatles video and remastering of their 15 albums,this book captures the moptops amazing New York appearances and their American success on the Sullivan Show. "Let's hear it" for Ilson and Sundays with Sullivan.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Rocket
    5.0 out of 5 stars Came in excellent shape
    Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2009
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Its here. I'm looking forward to reading it. It arrived in excellent condition.

    Thank you.
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  • laytonwoman3rd
    2.0 out of 5 stars How to minimize a really big show
    Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2011
    Format: Paperback
    Sundays with Sullivan (subtitled "How the Ed Sullivan Show brought Elvis, the Beatles and Culture to America") was written by a publicist who handled press relations for the Ed Sullivan Show for the last eight years of its run on CBS television. It purports to give the reader a look behind the scenes of the phenomenal variety show that dominated Sunday night television during the 1950's and 1960's. In reality, there is very little in it that one could not learn from reading the entry for the Ed Sullivan Show on the Museum of Broadcast Communications' website. [...]
    Week after week, from 1947 to 1971, Ed Sullivan presented the American TV audience with an eclectic mix of popular music, comedy routines, novelty acts--dancing dogs, ventriloquists, acrobats, Broadway performers, classical musicians, Russian ballet, and opera stars. He brought "high culture" to rural America in 3 to 4 minute segments; an aria here, a violin solo there, nestled among less heady stuff more familiar to the hoi poloi. In the midst of the cold war, he was somehow able to raise the Iron Curtain long enough to let dancers and puppeteers slip underneath and entertain the western world. He insisted on a full dress rehearsal every Sunday afternoon, before a live audience, and then tweaked the acts as he deemed necessary to create a dynamic live show at 8:00. Live TV...with finicky performers and sometimes animals. Week after week Sullivan did what no one else, not even his worthy rivals Steve Allen or Milton Berle, tried to do. Chapter after chapter, Bernie Ilson makes the point that this is what Ed Sullivan did. He tells us; then he quotes former CBS executive, Irwin Segelstein telling us; then he quotes (long dead) classical music impresario Sol Hurok telling us, and Bob Precht, and Paul Klein and Alvin Cooperman. These names may mean something to you or they may not; they were all insiders in the business of entertainment, and they should know. They all say the same thing, and I know that it's true, but man, does it get tedious.

    How do you make the arrival of the Beatles on American soil sound mundane? How do you tell the story of Ed and Topo Gigio's last night together without conveying one mousey morsel of its poignancy (I cried when Topo said "Eddeeeee, Kees me gooo night" for the final time---I remember.) How do you write a whole book about the Ed Sullivan show without mentioning The Doors, or The Jackson Five (yes, their picture is in there, but there MUST be a story or two). How do you take an iconic chunk of entertainment history and make it dull as dishwater? Sadly, Bernie Ilson found a way.

    The trouble with Sundays with Sullivan is, it wasn't written for the audience that remembers the Ed Sullivan Show in all its glory, or even for the younger inquiring minds who wonder what it was all about. It was written to satisfy the requirements of a PhD in culture and communications, and whatever editing was done to bring it to publication did not remove the dry academic flavor from its prose. Furthermore, as it was researched and written in the late `90's, some of its references and comparisons are over a dozen years out of date. A lot has happened in television in the meantime that this book does not take into account. If you remember the Ed Sullivan show, you already know everything this book sets out to explain. If you don't remember the show, [Sundays With Sullivan] is unlikely to help you "get it".
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Music Book Lover
    4.0 out of 5 stars Allison Anne
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Ilson is an academic himself, but here he provides a nice narrative and fun relaxed read. One will not become overwhelmed with information, but be able to kick back and learn or reminisce about the fabulous Ed Sullivan show.
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