Indeed absurd, Gibson would have wanted any solidbody endorsee to bring a goldtop or a custom if they were to appear on TV.
But a few books point out that the TV name was to connect potential solidbody buyers with what they have heard on TV, remember that Les and Mary appeared on TV all the time with their Gibson guitars, and obviously Gibson wanted something that was possible to buy for anyone.
LOL. That story came from Les himself, remembering the influence of his TV show that he says ran from 1953-1960, despite the fact that he never had his own TV show (he did 5-minute spots for Listerine for 18 months), and he and Mary were finished as hitmakers by 1955. Les remembered many things that never happened. I won't go into all that in a Rickenbacker thread. Look at old TV promo sheets or ads from that time, you'll find many limed finish cabinets, especially limed oak. Gibson's earliest promo sheets and price lists for the TV Model refer to the finish as limed oak. That's no coincidence. It was to connect the finish with TV cabinet finishes.
Now back to Rickenbackers. Sorry for the distraction.