On Sunday nights at 8 PM for decades, there was only one show everybody's parents (and by osmosis their kids) watched: The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS.

For those who never saw him, Ed was a hulking giant, stiff as a board, with no perceptible performing ability. Except one. He had a keen eye for talent, and that's one of the reasons both Elvis Presley and the Beatles both became associated with him, even if neither made their actual TV debuts on his show. 

Now a new documentary airing on Netflix extends that reputation even further, saying Sullivan was a pioneer in breaking the so-called colour barrier on TV. His show featured a ton of Black artists and performers, especially in the world of music, and many owe their early careers to him being willing to put them on when it sometimes was frowned upon. 

"Sunday Best" debuted on the streaming service Monday and it traces the role the former gossip columnist played in the equal rights movement. Sullivan wasn't interested in skin colour - just talent and its ability to attract viewers to his show.

“Sunday Best,” directed by the late Sacha Jenkins, is billed as the “untold story” of Sullivan’s pivotal role in championing Black performers through both his activism and his groundbreaking variety show. The title pays homage to the program’s legendary Sunday night slot, which for decades spotlighted the very best in show business."

Ed Sullivan Rewrote The Rules Of Television — And Changed American Pop Culture Forever