Ed Sullivan Show

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre celebrated a successful $200,000 fundraising campaign and the start of its 45th season with a reception for about 150 donors and friends before the opening performance of "Forever Plaid." The play reprises the ASGT's 2008 production, which was shortened when an injured cast member had to be replaced and several shows were rained out. The funds raised will be used to complete the first phase of the restoration of its circa-1800 building. With the four 2008 cast members reprising their roles, "Forever Plaid" is a pleasant return to 1950s pop music, when groups like the Four Aces and the Four Freshmen topped the charts.

TelevisionTrip down memory laneOne show was a raucous breakaway from convention, while the other was television's last regular gasp of the vaudeville stage, and both are getting attention on CBS this weekend. At 8 tonight (Channel 11) comes the "All in the Family 20th Anniversary," with highlights of the social satire series which in 1971 gave us Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), "Dingbat" Edith (Jean Stapleton), "Meathead" Michael (Rob Reiner) and all the rest. And at 9 p.m. tomorrow, "The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show" brings back Old Stoneface and some of the "reealy big shews" he provided for 23 years.

Rickie Layne, 81, a ventriloquist who frequently appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with his Yiddish-accented dummy Velvel, died of heart failure Feb. 11 at a hospital in Tarzana, Calif. Singer Nat "King" Cole discovered Mr. Layne in 1955 at Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip and urged Mr. Sullivan to put the act on his popular Sunday night variety show. Mr. Cole even made an unusual guarantee: If Mr. Layne bombed, Mr. Cole would appear on the show for free. Mr. Layne made his Sullivan debut Jan. 1, 1956, and returned several dozen times.

What better way to celebrate a really big holiday than with a really big shew?Bob Newhart takes time out from his CBS series, "Bob," to emcee the two-hour special, "Holiday Greetings From 'The Ed Sullivan Show' " tonight. Mr. Newhart is no stranger to "The Ed Sullivan Show," having appeared on it numerous times."Holiday Greetings" is the third in a series of retrospectives of the memorable CBS variety series, which aired from 1948 to 1971. The first two drew large audiences. The latest special mixes new performances with old clips.

May Davies Hopkins Martenet, 85, a novelist and short-story writer, died of complications stemming from lung cancer June 6 at the Westminster-Canterbury retirement home in Virginia Beach, Va., where she had lived since 1985.Frantz Casseus, 77, a guitarist and composer, died of heart failure June 3 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.Marlo Lewis, 77, a TV producer who was co-creator of "The Ed Sullivan Show," died of heart failure Tuesday at a hospital in Palm Springs, Calif.Gabriel Preil, 84, the last of the generation of poets who revived Hebrew into a modern, living language, died in a Jerusalem hotelroom June 5.

Don't despair if you're already disappointed with the new television season. There are plenty of series and offerings just released on DVD to thrill the discerning couch potato. One of the WB's most acclaimed and popular series is Smallville, which chronicles the teen-age years of the Man of Steel in Smallville, Kan. As the young Superman-to-be Clark Kent, former model Tom Welling beautifully captures the hero's nobility, shyness and frustrations; Kristen Kreuk is ideal as Lana Lang, the girl of his dreams; and Michael Rosenbaum embodies the role of Clark's nemesis, Lex Luthor.

Gosh knows, there's been enough Elvis on TV this week to keep all but the most rabid fans happy. But if you've managed to avoid the deluge so far, or if you're trying to decide which is the best program to watch today, set your dials to MPT.The documentary "Elvis '56" (8 p.m.-9: 30 p.m., Channels 22 and 67) captures the King at his undisputed best, at the beginning. Elvis in 1956 was practically an unstoppable force: At 21, he had his first No. 1 hit ("Heartbreak Hotel") and his next four ("I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog" and "Love Me Tender")

''Bye Bye Birdie,'' the touring revival of the 1960 musical starring Tommy Tune, will replace ''House of Flowers'' in the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre-Lyric Opera House 1991-92 schedule.''House of Flowers,'' with Patti LaBelle in the lead role, was to have played the Lyric Feb. 11 through March 8. The producers have postponed the tour, according to Hope Quackenbush, managing director of the Baltimore Center for the Performing Arts, which oversees the Mechanic.In ''Bye Bye Birdie,'' Tune plays the manager of rock singer Conrad Birdie, who, as a publicity stunt, will kiss a young lady on the "Ed Sullivan Show."

MPT works through the final weekend of its August pledge drive with an evening of programs chosen by you, the viewers (picked according to the number of calls received when the shows aired earlier during the pledge drive). And it looks as if you're a pretty musically inclined bunch.First up is violinist Andre Rieu (5 p.m.-8 p.m.), leading the Strauss Orchestra in a performance that includes "Persian March" by Johann Strauss Jr. and "Radetzky's March" by Johann Strauss Sr. Then comes "Great Moments in Opera" (8 p.m.-9: 30 p.m.)