I saw Elvis' US TV debut, which was NOT (as some now believe) on the Ed Sullivan Show.

The "summer replacement" program in Jackie Gleason's time slot was the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Show. The Dorsey brothers were swing-era bandleaders who had each led his own jazz orchestra in their 1940s heyday, but who were teamed up front a combined band and to co-host this short-lived TV variety show. Tommy was a trombone player; I forget Jimmy's instrument -- probably trumpet or sax, I'd guess.

Anyway, Elvis appeared on their show with his trio and played "Hound Dog," just as he would a couple of months later on the much-more-widely-watched Sullivan show. It's been a long time and I was pretty young, so I don't remember much in the way of detail, but:

a) There was little or no advance publicity, certainly less than there would be the following fall before the Sullivan appearance, so viewers were completely taken by surprise. I'm sure my parents had no idea how to react, beyond a stunned "Boy, that's crazy!" I was thinking, "Wow, that's amazing!."

b) I think the lack of preparation meant that the cameras would have showed Elvis from head to toe as he delivered his song. The Sullivan appearance has been noted for its semi-censorship -- the cameras were careful to shoot The King from the waist up only, cropping out his swivelling "Elvis the Pelvis" hips. They were probably forewarned by the reaction to the earlier Dorsey show appearance, whose relatively few viewers got to see the whole show.

Ed Sullivan's show was definitely broadcast nationwide from New York. I grew up in the NY media market (central NJ), and didn't always know which TV shows out of New York were local and which were national. The Dorsey Brothers summer series *may* have been local, but since they were holding down Jackie Gleason's time slot for the summer, and Gleason was probably nationwide by that time, their show was probably broadcast coast-to-coast, too -- although not everyone was watching. *Everyone* watched Sullivan on Sunday nights, though -- that's why Elvis (and later, the Beatles) made such an impresion by appearing on his program.