Why is it we can't have real variety shows like the Ed Sullivan Show these days?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

42. You should have seen The Johnny Cash Show last night.

The Johnny Cash Show (TV series)

The Johnny Cash Show is an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969 to March 31, 1971 on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show reached No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings in 1970.

History
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The show was canceled in 1971 in response to the Prime Time Access Rule, which eliminated a half-hour of network prime time programming from all of the major networks' nightly schedules. Cash's show was one of many that had strong rural followings that were canceled across the networks in what came to be known as the "rural purge."
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List of episodes
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{snip, but you owe it to yourself to see who he had on as guests.}

GetTV runs the episodes. I didn't watch it, but Neil Diamond was on, performing "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show." This was Episode 19, form the first season:

THE JOHNNY CASH SHOW — 10 CAN’T MISS EPISODES ON GETTV
by getTV Staff
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4. Season One, Episode 19 — July 29 10pm ET

Originally broadcast on February 11, 1970, this episode opens with Johnny’s “I Got Stripes.” Tammy Wynette sings “I’ll See Him Through” and the hit that made her a star two years earlier, “Stand By Your Man.” Johnny is joined by Neil Diamond for a medley poking fun at Neil’s Brooklyn roots and then Diamond does a barn-burning rendition of his hit “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show.” Blues legend Ray Charles performs “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Take These Chains” and duets with Johnny on “Busted.” Johnny performs “Rock Island Line” and “Flesh And Blood,” the Statlers sing “One Song Away,” and the ensemble closes the show with “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms.”

1970s Episode Guide for 'The Johnny Cash Show':