The Beatles performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" was deemed one of TV's most memorable moments

Web posted on: Monday, September 14, 1998 12:02:00 AM

(CNN) -- There were no big-ticket hosts for the Primetime Emmys' 50th anniversary, held for the first time in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Instead, the Emmy Awards turned golden with another kind of special celebration: A look back at the most significant events TV has documented over the last 50 years.

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Among the events that ranked near the top was the Beatles' landmark performance 34 years ago on the Ed Sullivan show -- the Emmy ceremony showed old footage of teen-agers going wild over the young Beatles as they performed "She Loves You" on Sullivan's show.

Also noted were the first broadcast of "Mike Stokey's Pantomime Quiz," a game show that became the first-ever Emmy recipient 50 years ago, and Johnny Carson's sign-off from the "Tonight Show," in which Bette Midler sang "Thanks for the Memories." Carson was the show's longest-running host, at its helm from 1962 to 1992.

The top five events, in ascending order, were:

The Challenger explosion

5. The Challenger Explosion. "Great enterprises require great risks," newsanchor Tom Brokaw said after the space shuttle Challenger exploded during a 1986 launch, "and the men and women aboard that space shuttle knew the risks involved." Yet the shuttle's explosion, televised over and over again to a shocked nation, was a major setback to the space program as it struggled to explain what had gone wrong.

4. The Kennedy Assassination. Even grizzled network newsanchors got teary-eyed as they announced the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and the subsequent coverage of his funeral.

"Hill Street Blues"

3. "Hill Street Blues" premiere. 1981 marked the premiere of "Hill Street Blues," a cop drama that marked the first major success in a long TV drama career for creator Steven Bochco, who went on to produce such winners as "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue." The show itself was also a critical success, garnering 21 Emmy nominations and eight wins in its first season on the air. Ironically, had it not been for the Emmy recognition, the show would likely have gone off the air after its first season; the show, unlike anything that had been aired previously, was slow to catch on with audiences.

"Roots"

2. "Roots." The 1977 miniseries that told the tale of Kunta Kinte's kidnapping into slavery and his family's fight for freedom and dignity in the American South, was based on Alex Haley's book outlining his own family's history. The work broke new ground in TV miniseries, and was eventually used as an educational tool in classrooms nationwide.

1. The Apollo 11 landing. The images were blurry, the sound quality poor by today's standards. Yet Neil Armstrong's first footstep on the moon and his historic words -- "The Eagle has landed" -- marked a new dawn in space and science for the American public. The televised moon landing's impact was so great that science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury suggested we reset our calendars to reflect the momentous event.

Although the top 10 TV moments were the most highly-touted segments in advance of the show, many more pieces also revolved around TV history, from several "Dateline NBC"-type "What year was it?" quizzes to full-length packages that reviewed -- a

The Apollo 11 moon landing

mong other topics -- early news coverage, and the full range of luminaries who appeared on Milton Berle's show.

And mini-clips of Emmy winners as they accepted their awards were also shown. Among the most memorable was Carol Burnett accepting her first Emmy. Her reaction: "I can't think of anything to say, and from my mouth, that's something!"