In 1949, Wallace began to move to the new medium of television.
In that year, he starred under the name Myron Wallace in a short-lived police drama, Stand By for Crime.

Wallace hosted a number of game shows in the 1950s, including The Big Surprise, Who's the Boss?
and Who Pays?.
Early in his career, Wallace was not known primarily as a news broadcaster.
It was not uncommon during that period for newscasters to announce, to deliver commercials and to host game shows; Douglas Edwards, John Daly, John Cameron Swayze and Walter Cronkite hosted game shows as well.
Wallace also hosted the pilot episode of Nothing but the Truth, which was helmed by Bud Collyer when it aired under the title To Tell the Truth.
Wallace occasionally served as a panelist on To Tell the Truth in the 1950s.
He also made commercials for a variety of products, including Procter & Gamble's Fluffo brand shortening.

 
Wallace also hosted two late-night interview programs, Night Beat (broadcast in New York City during 1955–1957, only on DuMont's WABD) and The Mike Wallace Interview on ABC in 1957–1958.
See also Profiles in Courage, section: Authorship controversy.

In 1959, Louis Lomax told Wallace about the Nation of Islam.
Lomax and Wallace produced a five-part documentary about the organization, The Hate That Hate Produced, which aired during the week of July 13, 1959.
The program marked the first time that most white people heard about the Nation, its leader, Elijah Muhammad, and its charismatic spokesman, Malcolm X.
By the early 1960s, Wallace's primary income came from commercials for Parliament cigarettes, touting their "man's mildness" (he had a contract with Philip Morris to pitch their cigarettes as a result of the company's original sponsorship of The Mike Wallace Interview).
Between June 1961 and June 1962, he and Joyce Davidson hosted a New York-based nightly interview program for Westinghouse Broadcasting called PM East for one hour; it was paired with the half-hour PM West, which was hosted by San Francisco Chronicle television critic Terrence O'Flaherty.
Westinghouse syndicated the series to television stations that it owned and to a few other cities.
People in southern and southwestern states and in the metropolitan areas of Chicago and Philadelphia were unable to watch it.

A frequent guest on the PM East segment was Barbra Streisand, though only the audio of some of her conversations with Wallace survives, as Westinghouse wiped the videotapes.
Also in the early 1960s, Wallace was the host of the David Wolper–produced Biography series.

After his elder son's death in 1962, Wallace decided to get back into news and hosted an early version of CBS Morning News from 1963 through 1966.
In 1964 he interviewed Malcolm X, who, half-jokingly, commented "I probably am a dead man already."
The black leader was assassinated a few months later in February 1965.

In 1967, Wallace anchored the documentary CBS Reports: The Homosexuals. "
The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous", Wallace said in the piece. "
He is not interested or capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage.
His sex life, his love life, consists of a series of one-chance encounters at the clubs and bars he inhabits.
And even on the streets of the city—the pick-up, the one night stand, these are characteristics of the homosexual relationship."
 In later years, Wallace came to regret his participation in the episode. "
I should have known better," he said in 1992.
 Speaking in 1996, Wallace stated, "That is—God help us—what our understanding was of the homosexual lifestyle a mere twenty-five years ago because nobody was out of the closet and because that's what we heard from doctors—that's what [psychiatrist Charles] Socarides told us, it was a matter of shame."
In 1949, Wallace began to move to the new medium of television. In that year, he starred under the name Myron Wallace in a short-lived police drama, Stand By for Crime.
Wallace hosted a number of game shows in the 1950s, including The Big Surprise, Who's the Boss? and Who Pays?. Early in his career, Wallace was not known primarily as a news broadcaster. It was not uncommon during that period for newscasters to announce, to deliver commercials and to host game shows; Douglas Edwards, John Daly, John Cameron Swayze and Walter Cronkite hosted game shows as well. Wallace also hosted the pilot episode of Nothing but the Truth, which was helmed by Bud Collyer when it aired under the title To Tell the Truth. Wallace occasionally served as a panelist on To Tell the Truth in the 1950s. He also made commercials for a variety of products, including Procter & Gamble's Fluffo brand shortening.
 
Wallace also hosted two late-night interview programs, Night Beat (broadcast in New York City during 1955–1957, only on DuMont's WABD) and The Mike Wallace Interview on ABC in 1957–1958. See also Profiles in Courage, section: Authorship controversy.
In 1959, Louis Lomax told Wallace about the Nation of Islam. Lomax and Wallace produced a five-part documentary about the organization, The Hate That Hate Produced, which aired during the week of July 13, 1959. The program marked the first time that most white people heard about the Nation, its leader, Elijah Muhammad, and its charismatic spokesman, Malcolm X.
By the early 1960s, Wallace's primary income came from commercials for Parliament cigarettes, touting their "man's mildness" (he had a contract with Philip Morris to pitch their cigarettes as a result of the company's original sponsorship of The Mike Wallace Interview). Between June 1961 and June 1962, he and Joyce Davidson hosted a New York-based nightly interview program for Westinghouse Broadcasting called PM East for one hour; it was paired with the half-hour PM West, which was hosted by San Francisco Chronicle television critic Terrence O'Flaherty. Westinghouse syndicated the series to television stations that it owned and to a few other cities. People in southern and southwestern states and in the metropolitan areas of Chicago and Philadelphia were unable to watch it.
A frequent guest on the PM East segment was Barbra Streisand, though only the audio of some of her conversations with Wallace survives, as Westinghouse wiped the videotapes. Also in the early 1960s, Wallace was the host of the David Wolper–produced Biography series.
After his elder son's death in 1962, Wallace decided to get back into news and hosted an early version of CBS Morning News from 1963 through 1966. In 1964 he interviewed Malcolm X, who, half-jokingly, commented "I probably am a dead man already." The black leader was assassinated a few months later in February 1965.
In 1967, Wallace anchored the documentary CBS Reports: The Homosexuals. "The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous", Wallace said in the piece. "He is not interested or capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. His sex life, his love life, consists of a series of one-chance encounters at the clubs and bars he inhabits. And even on the streets of the city—the pick-up, the one night stand, these are characteristics of the homosexual relationship."  In later years, Wallace came to regret his participation in the episode. "I should have known better," he said in 1992.  Speaking in 1996, Wallace stated, "That is—God help us—what our understanding was of the homosexual lifestyle a mere twenty-five years ago because nobody was out of the closet and because that's what we heard from doctors—that's what [psychiatrist Charles] Socarides told us, it was a matter of shame."
Mike Wallace