Video: 'The Ed Sullivan Show - Vol. 1 (Hosted by Carol Burnett)' (June 20, 1948, at 10:17)

(Sunday, June 20, 1948, 9:00-10:00 p.m. EDT) — Toast of the Town, an American television variety show hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan, debuted tonight on CBS, broadcast live from CBS Studio 51, The Maxine Elliott Theater at Broadway and 39th St. in New York City.

In the show’s debut, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed along with singer Monica Lewis and Broadway composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II previewed the score to South Pacific, which would open on Broadway in 1949.

Toast of the Town, but was widely referred to as The Ed Sullivan Show for years before Sept. 25, 1955, when that became its official name.

Video: 'The Ed Sullivan Show - Vol. 2 (Hosted by Burt Reynolds)' (June 20, 1948, at 48:53)