text: At a time when television had not yet embraced country and western music, Sullivan featured Nashville performers on his program. This in turn paved the way for shows such as Hee Haw and variety shows hosted by Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell and other country singers.
  The Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster made the most appearances of any act throughout the show's run with 67 appearances between 1958 and 1969.
  Sullivan appeared as himself on other television programs, including an April 1958 episode of the Howard Duff and Ida Lupino CBS situation comedy Mr. Adams and Eve. On September 14, 1958, Sullivan appeared on What's My Line? as a mystery guest. In 1961, Sullivan substituted for Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show. Sullivan took Skelton's roles in the various comedy sketches, with Skelton's hobo character Freddie the Freeloader renamed Eddie the Freeloader.
  Personality
  Sullivan was quick to take offense if he felt that he had been crossed, and he could hold a grudge for a long time. As he told biographer Gerald Nachman, "I'm a pop-off. I flare up, then I go around apologizing." "Armed with an Irish temper and thin skin," wrote Nachman, "Ed brought to his feuds a hunger for combat fed by his coverage of, and devotion to, boxing." Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Jackie Mason, and Jim Morrison were parties to some of Sullivan's most storied conflicts.