 | Television:Top 50 Music-Related Shows |
This list has been generated by aggregating more than 40 lists focused on the best music-related television shows of all time. It covers a wide scope of shows, including countdown shows (Your Hit Parade, Top of the Pops), dance-oriented shows (American Bandstand, Soul Train), television series (The Monkees, The Partridge Family), reality and contest shows (American Idol, America’s Got Talent), live performance shows (The Midnight Special, MTV Unplugged), variety shows (The Ed Sullivan Show, Saturday Night Live), children’s shows (The Mickey Mouse Club, Sesame Street), and even documentaries (Behind the Music). Instead of presenting this as a ranked list, I’ve put the shows in chronological order to offer a glimpse at the history of music in television over the years. Click here to see other media-based lists, such as best videos and best music books of all time. |
Music & the Spoken World (1929-) |
 | This weekly broadcast from the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, features performances from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as well as spiritual messages. It has been broadcast on KSL radio since 1929 and made its television debut in October 1949. July 13, 2025 marks the show’s 5000th broadcast. It is the longest-running non-news program on television. |
Your Hit Parade (1935-1959) |
 | Your Hit Parade ran as a radio program from 1935 to 1953 and was broadcast on television from 1950 to 1959. The show offered a glimpse at the most popular and best-selling songs every week, counting down to the #1 song of the week. It was never revealed exactly how they tabulated the results, leading some to question the authenticity of the results. |
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948-1971) |
 | This variety show, originally called Toast of the Town, was hosted by Ed Sullivan on CBS for more than two decades. TV Guide ranks it one of the top 50 shows of all time. It featured a wide variety of music entertainment, including classical, opera, ballet, Broadway, pop, and rock music. The February 9, 1964, show featuring the Beatles drew the largest television audience in history with 73 million viewers. |
American Bandstand (1952-1989) |
 | This show featured popular artists performing their hit songs while teenagers danced. While the artists performed live for the studio audience, the broadcast usually featured the original recordings. Originally known as Bandstand, the show started locally in Philadelphia with Bob Horn, who hosted a radio show of the same name. In 1956, Horn was replaced by Dick Clark. When it was picked up for national broadcast in 1957, it became American Bandstand. |
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The Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959, 1977-1979, 1989-1996) |
 | The show grew out of a theater-based Mickey Mouse Club that dated back as far as 1929 in California that then expanded to other states. It launched as a television program, hosted by Jimmie Dodd on ABC, in 1955. The initial iteration ran until 1959, featuring Mickey Mouse in vintage cartoons alongside a cast of teen performers. The show was revived on ABC from 1977-79 as The New Mickey Mouse Club and from 1989-96 on the Disney Channel as The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. |
The Lawrence Welk Show (1955-1982) |
 | Big band leader Lawrence Welk launched his variety show locally in Los Angeles in 1951. It went national on ABC in 1955, originallk nown as the Dodge Dancing Party. It ran there until 1971, at which point it moved to syndication until Welk retired in 1982 at age 79. At the time, he was the oldest host of a regularly scheduled entertainment TV series in the United States. |
Bandwagon (1960-) |
 | This show featured traditional dance music such as polka that was performed in a ballroom, accompanied by a dancing audience. It is one of the longest-running music TV programs in the world. Over the years, the show has been hosted by Earl Lamont (1960-62), Chuck Pasek (1962-95), Dick Ginn (1974-?), Tom Goetzinger (1995-?), and Shawn Cable (2023-). The show is recorded in Mankato, Minnesota – initially at the KEYC studio and now at the Kato Ballroom. |
Top of the Pops (1964-2006) |
 | This British show counted down the biggest pop hits of each week, varying from a top 20 to top 30 format. It was broadcast on the BBC for more than 40 years, making it the world’s longest-running weekly music show. Shows generally consisted of performances of some of the biggest-selling songs of the week. Originally performances were lip-synched but that practice was abandoned in 1966. The show taped 52 weeks a year. |
Shindig! (1964-1966) |
 | This musical variety series aired on ABC with Los Angeles DJ Jimmy O’Neill serving as host. It was conceived as a replacement for Hootenanny, a show focused on folk revival music. Shindig! featured a wider variety of popular music such as the Beatles, James Brown, Sam Cooke, Bo Diddley, the Everly Brothers, the Righteous Brothers, the Rolling Stones, the Ronettes, Sonny & Cher, the Supremes, Tina Turner, the Who, and Jackie Wilson. |
Hullabaloo (1965-1966) |
 | This show, similar to Shindig!, aired in prime time but barely lasted over a year. It was conceived as a big-budget showcase for the popular artists of the day with different hosts every week, including Frankie Avalon, Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, and Liza Minnelli. They would sing a couple of their own hits and introduce songs by other artists including the Animals, the Four Seasons, the Mamas & the Papas, Roy Orbison, the Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, the Supremes, and Dionne Warwick. |
The Monkees (1966-1968) |
 | The Monkees television series capitalized on the success of the Beatles – and specifically their zany antics and lovable charm exhibited in the movie A Hard Day’s Night – by casting four mop-top actors to play goofy musicians trying make it in a rock band. It only ran two seasons, but established the namesake group as a legitimate chart-topping group that has become iconic. |
The Johnny Cash Show (1969-1971) |
 | Johnny Cash was already a country music icon with classics like “I Walk the Line” and “Ring of Fire” when he signed on to host this ABC variety show. He regularly performed on the show with his touring group as well as his wife June Carter Cash, members of the Carter Family, Carl Perkins, and the Statler Brothers. In its brief two seasons it featured guest spots from Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Tammy Wynette, and Neil Young. |
Hee Haw (1969-1997) |
 | Inspired by Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, this variety show featured a mix of country music and comedy sketches centered around the fictional Kornfield Kounty. Country musicians Buck Owens and Roy Clark were the hosts for most of the show’s near-three-decade run. While the show was targeted toward more rural audiences, it found appeal in major markets like Los Angeles and New York as well. Musical performances were taped with live audiences. |
Sesame Street (1969-) |
 | This Emmy-award-winning children’s educational television series combines sketch comedy and educational segments between live actors and the famous puppetry of Jim Henson’s Muppets. The show has also featured a slew of A-list celebrities and musicians as guest stars. The show aired on public television from its beginning until 2016 when it moved to streaming services. |
The Partridge Family (1970-1974) |
 | This sitcom followed the lives of the fictional Partridge family, including the mother (Shirley Jones) and her five children. The show was loosely based on the Cowsills, a real-life musical family who had some pop success in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. None of the actors actually played any of the music on the show, although Shirley Jones and David Cassidy did sing on the show. Cassidy propelled himself to teen idol status and a decent pop music career. |
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971-1974) |
 | Sonny Bono and his wife Cher had established themselves as a hit-making duo back in 1964, most notably with their #1 hit “I Got You Babe.” Their likability and comic back-and-forth jabs made them naturals for hosts of a variety show. It was cancelled after three years due to the couples’ divorce, although they reunited for the similarly-themed The Sonny and Cher Show for two more seasons in 1976 and ‘77. |
Soul Train (1971-2006) |
 | The dance-themed show launched locally in Chicago in 1970 before going national in syndication the following year. Don Cornelius the show’s creator, served as the host until 1993, after which various celebrities providing hosting from 1993 to 1997 before Mystro Clark (1997-99), Shemar Moore (2000-03), and Dorian Gregory (2003-06) served as hosts. Its 1100 episodes at the end of the show’s run set a record at the time for the longest-running, first-run nationally-syndicated program in the history of American television. |
The Midnight Special (1972-1981) |
 | Burt Sugarman created and produced this 90-minute program to air after the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The show first aired as a TV special in 1972 before launching as a series the next year. The show relied on a series of guest hosts, other than a regular stint from singer Helen Reddy in 1975-76. Famous DJ Wolfman Jack was the show’s announcer and a frequent guest host. The show featured live performances from a variety of popular acts alongside stand-up comedy routines and sketch comedy. |
In Concert (1972-1975, 1991-1998) |
 | Don Kirshner conceived of this show as a means to showcase popular bands taped in concert and then broadcast on ABC on Friday nights. By the third show, the show jettisoned hosts in favor of a voice-over from the show’s director, Joshua Lightshow, announcing acts. Meanwhile, Kirshner no longer had any involvement with he show and left in 1973 to produce his own syndicated series, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. ABC dropped the show after 1975 but it returned in 1991, eventually renamed ABC in Concert for its run from 1992 to 1998. |
Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert (1973-1981) |
 | After launching the In Concert series for ABC, Don Kirshner left to create his own syndicated show that focused on live performances from popular rock acts. Over the years, the show featured ABBA, the Allman Brothers Band, Bad Company, the Bee Gees, Pat Benatar, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, the Byrds, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, the Doobie Brothers, Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Billy Joel, Journey, Kiss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, Van Morrison, the Police, Prince, Queen, REO Speedwagon, the Rolling Stones, Rush, Santana, Steely Dan, and Van Halen. Kirshner hosted the show, but was mocked for his flat on-air delivery. |
Schoolhouse Rock! (1973-1985, 1993-1996, 2009) |
 | David McCall, an advertising executive, saw his so struggling to learn multiplication tables, although he had no problem remembering lyrics to Rolling Stones’ songs. He hired Bob Dorough, a musician, to write a song teaching multiplication. An illustrator at McCall’s company heard the song and created visuals for it. They ended up pitching the idea as a television series. It became a collection of educational, short-form animated music videos that ran during ABC’s lineup for kids. |
Saturday Night Live (1975-) |
 | Lorne Michaels pitched the idea of a late-night, live sketch comedy variety show to NBC and, more than 50 years later, the show is still on the air. The show revolves around a regular comedy troupe, a celebrity guest host, and performances from a musical guest. Some of the most memorable musical performances have come from Joe Cocker performing alongside cast member John Belushi imitating him, Elvis Costello launching into “Radio Radio” (an attack on corporate-controlled broadcasting), Sinead O’Connor tearing up a picture of the Pope, and Paul Simon wearing a turkey suit. |
Donny & Marie (1975-1979) |
 | The Osmond siblings had racked up an impressive number of hits, including the #1 hit “One Bad Apple,” Donny’s #1 version of “Go Away Little Girl,” and Marie’s #1 country hit “Paper Roses.” Their charisma and good lucks made them perfect to host a variety show. The show was comprised of them singing their songs alongside comedy sketches. As teenagers when the show first aired, they were the youngest entertainers in the history of television to host their own variety show. |
The Muppet Show (1976-1981) |
 | The Muppets were a series of puppet characters developed by Jim Henson that initially became popular via Sesame Street. In 1976, Henson introduced this show that revolved around Sesame Steet’s Kermit the Frog alongside a slew of new characters. It followed a variety show format with celebrity guest hosts and musical guests alongside the Muppets in a series of comedy sketches. The show gained a lot of humor from Kermit’s frustrating efforts to keep the show running smoothly. |
Austin City Limits (1976-) |
 | This live music program is recorded and produced in Austin, Texas, and broadcast via PBS. Episodes consist of an introduction about the featured artist, a live performance, and an interview segment. Some episodes focused on two artists while others focused on just one. Alabama, the Allman Brothers Band, Beck, Garth Brooks, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Fats Domino, Billie Eilish, the Foo Fighters, Buddy Guy, Don Henley, the Indigo Girls, George Jones, B.B. King, Kendrick Lamar, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Oasis, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Robert Plant, Radiohead, R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, Olivia Rodrigo, Kenny Rogers, Paul Simon, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Steve Winwood, and Neil Young are some of the notable artists to perform. It is the longest-running music show in the history of American television and has won a National Medal of Arts and Peabody Award. |
Solid Gold (1980-1988) |
 | This syndicated show featured professional dancers grooving to current hits. The New York Times’ Jon Pareles said the show was “its own parody…[enacting] mini-dramas...of covetousness, lust and aerobic toning—routines that typically have a minimal connection with the songs that back them up” (2/25/1986). It featured well-known hosts through the years, including Dionne Warwick, Marilyn McCoo, Andy Gibb, Rex Smith, Rick Dees, Nina Blackwood, and Arsenio Hall. |
Fame (1982-1986) |
 | This television series, based on the 1980 film of the same name, followed students and faculty at New York City’s High School of Performing Arts. Debbie Allen reprised her role from the film as a dance teacher and choreographer. The show featured a number of cast members over six seasons, most notably singers Janet Jackson and Nia Peeples and future Footloose love interest Lori Singer. |
120 Minutes (1986-2003) |
 | The birth of MTV on August 1, 1981, is one of the most significant events in the history of music. It essentially became America’s national radio station, breaking major artists through their videos. In 1986, they launched 120 Minutes as a program to specifically showcase more alternative, left-of-center acts. The Cure, Hüsker Dü, the Jesus & Mary Chain, New Order, the Replacements, and Siouxsie & the Banshees were notable artists to benefit from their exposure on the show. Nirvana’s video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” premiered on the show. |
Headbangers Ball (1987-1995) |
 | Like 120 Minutes, this was a show developed on MTV to showcase videos of a specific genre – heavy metal in this case. The Cult, Faith No More, Jane’s Addiction, and Primus all benefited from exposure on the show. In addition to videos, the show often featured interviews with bands. Riki Rachtman became the host most identified with the show, helming it from 1990-95. |
Yo! MTV Raps (1988-1995) |
 | This was sort of a trifecta on MTV, designed – like 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball – to focus on a specific genre of music. The rap-focused show featured interviews, live in-studio performances, and comic bits alongside videos. Fab 5 Freddy, Doctor Dré, and Ed Lover served as hosts. At the time the pilot aired, the only programs to have higher ratings were the Video Music Awards and the Live Aid performance. |
MTV Unplugged (1989-2014) |
 | MTV launched this program to showcase live, acoustic performances in more intimate setting than the traditional concert venue. It generally focused on one act. In the ‘90s, multiple acts released their Unplugged sets as live albums, of which many became platinum sellers. Eric Clapton’s Unplugged won the Grammy for Album of the Year and sold 26 million copies worldwide. Nirvana’s set was released after lead singer Kurt Cobain’s death and reached #1 and sold 8 million copies in the United States. |
Later…with Jools Holland (1992-) |
 | Jools Holland was one of the original members of the new wave band Squeeze, but built an impressive career as a session musician with multiple artists. It made him a natural as the host of this BBC show with him often sitting in on piano alongside guest artists performing live in front of an intimate studio audience. |
VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown (1994-2015) |
 | VH1 was conceived as a rival to MTV, gearing to a slightly older demographic. As MTV started to move into more reality programming in the ‘90s, VH1 made an effort to rebrand themselves as the go-to place for music videos. The countdown – initially a top ten – was one of the premiere efforts. Rankings were determined by a combination of record sales, radio airplay, video airplay, and viewer responses. |
Behind the Music (1997-2014) |
 | This documentary series had a certain “where are they now?” vibe with its focus on profiling artists who’d risen to fame and then fell on hard times, usually because of band in-fighting and substance abuse while the band lost its initial hold on commercial success. Jim Forbes served as the narrator for most of the shows. Fan favorites included episodes about Milli Vanilli, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, and M.C. Hammer. |
Total Request Live (1998-2019) |
 | This was MTV’s take on the conventional, weekly video countdown show. They played the ten most-requested videos of the day as determined by viewer votes online. The show – hosted by Carson Daly – featured interviews with celebrities alongside news updates and musical performances. |
American Idol (2002-) |
 | British entrepreneur and television producer Simon Fuller introduced the show Pop Idol in Britain in 2001. The concept was to give unknown artists a chance to perform for live audiences and be voted on by viewers. It launched a reality-TV revolution with the American counterpart, American Idol, at the helm. While the show made stars out of winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, it also made household names out of first season judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and especially Simon Cowell. |
The X Factor (2004-2021) |
 | This was another singing competition that originated in the UK with Simon Cowell as a judge. Once again, an American version followed, although it was much less successful, running just three seasons from 2011 to 2013. Frankly, it’s hard to understand why this show became a hit considering how much it copied Pop Idol and American Idol. |
America’s Got Talent (2006-) |
 | After creating The X Factor, Simon Cowell launched yet another talent competition show, with spin-offs in multiple countries. Once again, winners were determined after viewers voted on performers. The show differed slightly from its predecessors in that other talents such as dancing, comedy, and novelty acts were part of the mix alongside singing. |
Hannah Montana (2006-2011) |
 | In the 2000s, the Disney channel launched a slew of programming targeted toward teen and pre-teen audiences. Arguably the most successful of the bunch was Hannah Montana, which starred Miley Cyrus as a teen girl trying to live a normal life while also maintaining an alter ego as a famous pop singer. The premise was about as easy to believe as a world where no one recognizes Clark Kent as Superman, but the show wasn’t exactly shooting for reality. It made Miley Cyrus into one of the century’s biggest pop stars. |
Flight of the Conchords (2007-2009) |
 | New Zealand multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement established themselves as a live musical comedy duo with their live act in the early 2000s, eventually landing a BBC radio series and later an HBO television series. Their live performances combined skits and songs with audience interactions. The television series revolved around a fictional version of the duo trying to find success in New York City. |
Unsung (2008-) |
 | This documentary series on TV One focused on popular R&B and hip-hop acts. Much like VH1’s Behind the Music, the focus was often a “where are they now?” approach that keyed in on individuals and groups whose careers had derailed for one reason or another. Some of the most popular episodes focused on DeBarge, Donny Hathaway, Shalamar, and Teena Marie. |
The Sing-Off (2009-2014) |
 | Yet another American singing competition. This NBC show, hosted by Nick Lachey of the boy band 98 Degrees, focused on a cappella groups. Like its predecessors, the show focused on celebrity judges determining which acts would make it to broadcast and then viewers would vote on the acts. Pentatonix, the winner of season 3, became a platinum-selling act noted for Christmas recordings. |
Glee (2009-2015) |
 | Given the success of jukebox musicals that built stage productions around familiar songs, the success of a television show using the same approach wasn’t a complete surprise. However, the show’s astonishing 200+ chart entries on the Billboard Hot 100 was a phenomenon. Every week a handful of familiar songs featured on the show would hit the chart, only to be gone the next week when a new batch came around. The concept for using all these familiar songs centered around a high school glee club competing in the show choir circuit. |
Nashville (2012-2018) |
 | This series centered around the life of fictional country music stars in Nashville. It starred Connie Britton as a fading superstar and Hayden Panettiere as a young rival threatening to supplant the legend with her brand of bubblegum country pop. The show launched on ABC but after four seasons moved to CMT for two additional years. |
The Voice (2012-) |
 | It’s no surprise that the success of American Idol spawned a slew of copycat-talent-competition shows, but it is a bit astonishing how many of them became so immensely successful. Like Idol, The Voice became a franchise with multiple countries creating their own versions of the show which focused on judges blindly listening to contestants and only being able to see them if they chose to turn their chair around. Judges then coached their chosen singers in competitions thoughout the season. While none of the contestants became major stars, multiple judges – including well-established singers Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Gwen Stefani – became household names. |
Smash (2012-2013) |
 | This two-season NBC series focused on the New York City theater community and efforts to create a new Broadway musical. The cast included film icon Angelica Huston, sitcom star Debra Messing, and American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee. |
Empire (2015-2020) |
 | Empire focused on Empire Entertainment, a fictional hip-hop music and entertainment company. The show starred Terrence Howard as a former drug dealer turned hip-hop mogul and company CEO. After his diagnosis with ALS, he’s forced to choose a successor amongst his three sons and pits them against each other. Meanwhile, his ex-wife (played by Taraji P. Henson), also vies for control of the company. The series ran on Fox for six seasons. |
Lip Sync Battle (2015-2020) |
 | Actors Stephen Merchant and John Krasinski conceived the idea of celebrities battling each other in lip sync competitions. It started as a recurring segment on Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show before spinning off into its own separate show on Spike TV. The show, hosted by LL Cool J, produced such memorable bits as Tom Holland’s all-out performance of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Anne Hathaway replicating the iconic image of Miley Cyrus swinging on a wrecking ball for her hit of the same name. |
The Masked Singer (2019-) |
 | Yet another singing competition. This one focused on celebrities in over-the-top costumes with a panel of judges voting for their favorites and trying to guess who the singers are beneath the masks. When a singer is eliminated, there’s a big reveal where the celebrity removes the mask. It’s no surprise that audiences would delight in trying to guess who’s beneath the mask but the performances in the bulky costumes make for a weird show. |
Girls5Eva (2021-2024) |
 | This is a musical comedy series about four women who had success as part of a girl group in the ‘90s. When a rapper samples one of their songs, it revives interest in the group and they decide to reunite. The series starred singer Sara Bareilles and television regular Busy Philipps. It aired on Peacock for two years before moving to Netflix for a third and final season. |
Resources/Related Links |
First posted 7/11/2025; last updated 7/14/2025. |
