There was a slew of afternoon music variety shows however "Shindig" on ABC was one of only 2 prime-time rock 'n roll shows that aired on TV in the 1960's along with "Hullabaloo" seen on NBC. The host of this series was Jimmy O'Neill and the show house dancers were called the Shindig Dancers. The very first episode on 16 September 1964 saw Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, The Righteous Brothers, The Wellingtons, Alan Sues and a Shindig discovery in Bobby Sherman. Most of the biggest acts of the 1960's appeared on Shindig such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, Neil Sedaka and The Rolling Stones to name a few. Since they were not able to get the great and very popular Elvis Presley to ever appear on the show they dedicated an entire show in May 1965 to playing his music.

The series aired in different time slots over it short period on the air which were:

September 1964 - January 1965 - Wednesday 8:30 to 9:00PM
January 1965 - September 1965 - Wednesday 8:30 to 9:30PM
September 1965 - January 1966 - Thursday & Saturday 7:30 to 8:00PM