Today, behind-the-scenes content is everywhere. Audiences want the set visit, the candid interview, the backstage moment and the clip that makes a famous person feel a little more human. Long before social media turned that kind of access into its own category, The Ed Sullivan Show was already giving viewers a front-row seat to worlds they could not normally enter.

That is what makes the YouTube playlist “Ed Gets into the Act” worth watching.

Rather than focusing only on performances, this playlist highlights the moments when Ed Sullivan stepped beyond the role of host and became part of the action himself. He visits movie sets, rides through the desert with Steve McQueen, talks boxing with legendary fighters, tours cultural exhibits, and brings viewers into spaces that felt rare and unexpected.

“Ed Gets into the Act” shows Ed Sullivan doing something that feels surprisingly modern, creating access.

One of the best examples is Ed’s visit with Steve McQueen in the California desert. The clip opens with McQueen riding his motorcycle through the sand, completely in his element. Ed meets him there, and McQueen introduces him to a dune buggy he helped design. “Come on and step into my office,” McQueen jokes before taking Ed on a wild ride. Instead of sitting on a couch promoting a project, McQueen is out in the desert showing Ed something he genuinely loves. Even Ed’s reaction becomes part of the entertainment. After the ride, he admits, “That was a hell of a ride,” as the audience laughs.

The playlist also includes Ed’s visit to Sean Connery on the set of Thunderball. Rather than a studio interview, Ed takes viewers to Nassau, where the James Bond film was being shot. The segment gives the audience a glimpse of the location, the production, and Ed’s time with Connery off camera, including a round of golf. In the clip, Connery plays a joke on Ed by having his caddy blast music just as Ed is about to swing. It is a short, funny moment. That is the appeal of behind-the-scenes content; not just seeing the famous person, but seeing the world around them.

“Ed Gets into the Act” is not only about movie stars. One of the strengths of the playlist is how broadly it defines access. Ed gets into the act with television actors, athletes, artists, journalists, and political figures.

In one clip, Ed calls Sugar Ray Robinson out from the crowd and asks him to name his three favorite fighters, turning a simple audience moment into a quick piece of boxing history. The Rocky Marciano clip goes deeper. In a five-minute interview, Ed asks Marciano about his career, his 49 fights, and the toughest opponent he ever faced. Marciano recalls his fight with Jersey Joe Walcott in Philadelphia, being knocked down in the first round, and eventually knocking Walcott out in the thirteenth. By the end, the conversation turns playful, with Ed and Marciano showing off their muscles as the crowd laughs. Marciano is still the undefeated heavyweight champion, but in that interview he is also a son, a family man, and someone who understands the cost of his profession.

That same spirit carries into Ed’s visit with Walt Disney. In a 1953 segment from Walt Disney Studios, Ed shares the screen with Donald Duck, who is showing a little jealousy over Peter Pan’s success. Later, Ed sits down with Disney himself, who talks about his love of animation and the show’s growing international reach. It is a reminder of how early that global ambition was taking shape, long before it became the industry norm. 

The playlist also includes moments where Ed brings viewers closer to history. In his segment on Michelangelo’s Pietà at the World’s Fair, Ed gives the backstory of the sculpture before the camera slowly pans across the work as solemn music plays, giving viewers across the country a chance to experience a masterpiece many would never see in person.

His visit through the John F. Kennedy Traveling Library works the same way. Ed walks viewers through photographs, signed documents, private notes, childhood images, and family photos, offering a more intimate look at Kennedy, not only as President but as a father, husband, and private person. At a time when the country was still mourning his death and before anyone could pull up an archive on a phone, Ed brought that experience into the living room.

Public affairs appear in the playlist as well. His interview with Fidel Castro is striking simply for the circumstances. Another clip shows a newsreel of American journalists in Vietnam connected to the last interview of President Ngo Dinh Diem, with Ed acknowledging the journalist before his live audience. These moments show that Ed’s curiosity extended well beyond entertainment.

The Edward R. Murrow clip adds another dimension. Murrow, one of the most respected journalists of the twentieth century, sits down with Ed for a thoughtful conversation about Winston Churchill, General Eisenhower, World War II, and the principles that shaped his view of journalism and public life. The exchange is serious without being heavy-handed, especially when Murrow speaks about due process, the Bill of Rights, and the importance of democratic values. At a time when those principles are very much part of the national conversation, the clip feels less like a historical artifact and more like a reminder.

Placed alongside the lighter clips, the Murrow interview captures the range of the show. Ed could ride through the desert with Steve McQueen, joke with Donald Duck, talk boxing with Rocky Marciano, tour a historic exhibit, and still make room for a serious conversation with one of the greatest journalists of his time.

That range is the real point of “Ed Gets into the Act.” The playlist is a reminder that The Ed Sullivan Show operated like an early content platform. Viewers did not tune in for one type of experience. They came for music, comedy, celebrity, sports, culture, history, and surprise. Ed understood something that remains true about audiences, people want access. They want to see where things happen, hear the personal story, catch the unexpected joke, and feel like they are being let in somewhere.

To see that side of the show, watch “Ed Gets into the Act” on The Ed Sullivan Show YouTube channel.