IT'S a really big show tonight!" With those immortal words to kick it off, The Ed Sullivan Show changed the face of American television! Dour-looking Ed was the unlikely host of the show, which aired on CBS from 1948 until 1971. The program was straight out of vaudeville, with acts ranging from stand-up comics to Spanish ventriloquist Senor Wences and a mouse puppet called Topo Gigio. It also featured popular rock 'n' roll with Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones and — for the first time in the U.S. — The Beatles! Here are some secrets to the popular variety program