- Box 2.3 The Elvis TV Phenomenon
- First nationally televised performance: 6 episodes on Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's The Stage Show in 1956
- Didn't attract much attention
- First show he performed Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" and "Flip, Flop, and Fly"
- Week 2 he performed Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" and "Baby, Let's Play House"
- Third week he performed "Heartbreak Hotel" with Jimmy Dorsey's orchestra and "Blue Suede Shoes"
- It took six shows for Elvis to get comfortable on camera
- April 30, 1956 he appeared on the Milton Berle Show
- Repeated his combination of "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes"
- Appeared in a comedy skit with host Berle - it went fine
- June 5th return to Berle's show was different
- Performed "Hound Dog"
- Didn't use his guitar for the first time
- Stage moves were noticeably sexual
- In the middle of the song he cut the tempo in half and thrust his hips in a very sexual way
- This was a popular show, and a large audience saw this and was shocked
- National press were highly critical and unkind
- He appeared on the Steve Allen Show in a tuxedo
- On Sept 9th 1956 he appeared on the season premiere of the Ed Sullivan Show
- He was at that point the biggest music star in America
- Already working on his first movie (Love Me Tender)
- Paid $50,000 for three appearances
- TV cameras only showed him from the waist up
