Video and Syndication for ‘Sullivan’

“The Ed Sullivan Show,” which CBS paid tribute to twice last year with high-rated network specials, is making a comeback.

Documentary filmmaker Andrew Solt, who purchased all 1,087 hours and 10,000 performances in 1990 for a reported $5 million to $10 million, will break up the old one-hour shows into themed subjects and performances and release them beginning in April through Buena Vista Home Video.

In the next several months, Solt hopes to work out a deal that will bring the old episodes, cut down to 30 minutes, to television syndication. In September, Viking Press will publish “A Really Big Show,” which Solt helped engineer. And during the next two TV seasons, there will be two more Sullivan specials on CBS.

The first two volumes of “The Ed Sullivan Show Collection” on video, priced at $19.99 each, are basically the CBS specials repackaged--with more performances and less retrospective. Two more tapes expected this year include a compilation of Sullivan Christmas specials and Elvis performances.