Though a staple of radio since its infancy, the Grand Ole Opry had never been presented on TV as a regular series until 1955. That's when, long before The Nashville Network and Country Music Television were even envisioned, ABC began to show live Saturday-night performances from the Grand Ole Opry. Dozens of country-music performers of the day, from Carl Smith and Webb Pierce to Kitty Wells and June Carter, took the famous stage to perform their biggest hits. The "Grand Ole Opry" lasted just one year on ABC, but films from the series were rerun endlessly on local TV stations, and later, PBS. The "Grand Ole Opry" finally became a long-term success in the 1980s when it started to air on The Nashville Network.