1971 in television
Encyclopedia
The year 1971 in television involved some significant events.
Below is a list of television-related events in 1971.

For the American TV schedule, see: 1971-72 American network television schedule.

Events

  • January 1 – The final cigarette
    Cigarette
    A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...

     advertisements are televised in the United States, with the final one occurring during that evening's broadcast of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

    on NBC
    NBC
    The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

    .
  • January 3 – BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

     Open University
    Open University
    The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...

     broadcasts begin in the UK.
  • January 12 – CBS
    CBS
    CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

     airs the first episode of All in the Family
    All in the Family
    All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...

    ,
    with a disclaimer at the beginning of the program warning viewers about potentially offensive content. Within a year, it became television's most popular program, and started a trend toward realism in situation comedies
    Situation comedy
    A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...

    .
  • January 27 – Valerie Barlow is electrocuted by a faulty hairdryer, and then perishes in a house fire on Coronation Street
    Coronation Street
    Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

    .
  • February 23 – The Selling of the Pentagon documentary airs on CBS
    CBS
    CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

    .
  • March 2 – On an All in the Family
    All in the Family
    All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...

    episode, Archie
    Archie Bunker
    Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...

     and Edith
    Edith Bunker
    Edith Bunker is a fictional 1970s sitcom character on All in the Family , played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker , mother of Gloria Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and, after 1975, grandmother of Joey Stivic...

     get brand new next-door neighbors—Michael
    Michael Stivic
    Michael Casimir Stivic is a fictional character on the long running American television sitcom of the 1970s, All in the Family. He was the live-in son-in-law of the series's lead character, the bigoted and undereducated Archie Bunker, who frequently called him "Meathead". Michael was the husband...

     and Gloria
    Gloria Stivic
    Gloria Stivic , is the name of the supporting character played by Sally Struthers on the American situation comedy All in the Family, which aired on the CBS television network from 1971 until 1979...

    's best friend, Lionel Jefferson
    Lionel Jefferson
    Lionel Jefferson is a supporting character from the hit sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons. He is the son of George and Louise Jefferson. He was originally portrayed by D'Urville Martin for two unaired episodes of All in the Family before the role was recast with Mike Evans taking over...

     (played by Mike Evans) and his parents. The episode marks Isabel Sandford's
    Isabel Sanford
    Isabel Sanford was an American actress best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Jefferson on the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons .-Career:...

     first appearance as Louise Jefferson
    Louise Jefferson
    Louise Jefferson was a supporting character, portrayed by Emmy Award-winning actress Isabel Sanford, who appeared first on the television series All in the Family. She later became one of the main characters in its spinoff series, The Jeffersons...

    ; George Jefferson would not be depicted on-screen until 1973
    1973 in television
    The year 1973 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1973.-Events:*January 4 – The record breaking, long-running comedy series in the UK and the world "Last of the Summer Wine" starts as a 30-minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show....

     (by Sherman Hemsley
    Sherman Hemsley
    Sherman Alexander Hemsley is an American actor, most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons, and as Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC series Amen. He also played Earl Sinclair's horrifying boss, a Triceratops named B.P...

    ).
  • March 11 – ABC
    American Broadcasting Company
    The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

     cancels The Lawrence Welk Show
    The Lawrence Welk Show
    The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...

    after sixteen years on the network. The show, however, returns to the airwaves in syndication
    Television syndication
    In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

     in September, where it would run for another eleven years.
  • April 3 – RTÉ
    Raidió Teilifís Éireann
    Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...

     launches Color television
    Color television
    Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....

     in Ireland with the Eurovision Song Contest 1971
    Eurovision Song Contest 1971
    The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the sixteenth Eurovision Song Contest and the first held in Dublin, Ireland. The new voting system that was introduced in this Eurovision did have one big problem: some juries gave fewer points out than others...

    , held in Dublin.
  • May – CBS
    CBS
    CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

     debuts its schedule for the fall 1971 season, and cancels
    Rural purge
    The "rural purge" of American television networks was a series of cancellations between 1969 and 1972, the majority of which occurred at the end of the 1970-71 television season, of still popular rural-themed shows and shows with demographically-skewed audiences...

    , in the words of Pat Buttram
    Pat Buttram
    Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram was an American actor, known for playing the sidekick of Gene Autry and for playing the character of Mr. Haney in the TV series Green Acres. He had a distinctive voice which, in his own words, "... never quite made it through puberty"...

    , "every show that had a tree in it," including Buttram's Green Acres
    Green Acres
    Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...

    , The Beverly Hillbillies
    The Beverly Hillbillies
    The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....

    , and Mayberry R.F.D.
    Mayberry R.F.D.
    Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...

    . Hee Haw
    Hee Haw
    Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...

    was also canceled by CBS, but would continue production for the next two decades in syndication
    Television syndication
    In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

    .
  • June 7 – The UK children's magazine show Blue Peter
    Blue Peter
    Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...

    buries a time capsule
    Time capsule
    A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...

     in the grounds of BBC Television Centre
    BBC Television Centre
    BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...

    , due to be opened on the first episode of the year 2000.
  • August 1 - The much-acclaimed 6-hour BBC miniseries
    Miniseries
    A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

     The Six Wives of Henry VIII, starring Keith Michell
    Keith Michell
    Keith Michell is an Australian actor, particularly noted for his television and film performances as King Henry VIII of England.- Early life :He was born in Adelaide and brought up in Warnertown, near Port Pirie...

     as Henry, makes its U.S. premiere; CBS would air it over 6 consecutive Sundays through September 5.
  • September 13 – U.S. network prime time programming shrinks as the original Prime Time Access Rule
    Prime Time Access Rule
    The Prime Time Access Rule was instituted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 to restrict the amount of network broadcast programming that a local television station, Owned-and-operated station by or affiliated with a television network may air during "prime time"...

     takes effect. NBC, unable to take advantage, immediately feels the pinch and fails to win any of the 1971–72 season's first thirteen weeks.
  • October 21 – One-off drama Edna, the Inebriate Woman
    Edna, the Inebriate Woman
    Edna, the Inebriate Woman is a British television drama written by Jeremy Sandford which was transmitted by the BBC as part of the Play for Today series on 21 October 1971. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, Irene Shubik produced it....

    , starring Patricia Hayes
    Patricia Hayes
    Patricia Lawlor Hayes, OBE was an English comedy actress.Hayes was born in Streatham, London. As a child Hayes attended Sacred Heart School in Wandsworth....

    , is shown by BBC One
    BBC One
    BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

     in its Play for Today
    Play for Today
    Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...

    slot.
  • November – Top-rated As the World Turns
    As the World Turns
    As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

    loses the #1 slot in the daytime Nielsens
    Nielsen Ratings
    Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

     for the first time since 1959.
  • Michael Zaslow
    Michael Zaslow
    Michael Joel Zaslow was an American actor. He was best known for his role as villain Roger Thorpe on CBS's Guiding Light, a role he played from 1971 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1997.-Life and career:...

     first appears as Roger Thorpe on The Guiding Light
    Guiding Light
    Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

    .

Debuts

  • January 10 – Masterpiece Theatre debuts on PBS
    Public Broadcasting Service
    The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

     (1971–present).
  • January 12 – All in the Family
    All in the Family
    All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...

    premieres on CBS (1971–1979).
  • April 3 – Kamen Rider
    Kamen Rider
    , is a weekly science fiction story created by Japanese manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. It debuted as a tokusatsu television series on April 3, 1971 and ran until February 10, 1973, airing on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET TV . A manga adaptation was also featured in Shōnen Magazine...

    premieres on MBS in Japan (1971–1973).
  • April 10 – The Two Ronnies
    The Two Ronnies
    The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...

    debuts on BBC1
    BBC One
    BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

     in the UK (1971–1987).
  • April 21 – The Return of Ultraman debuts on TBS
    Tokyo Broadcasting System
    , TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

    in Japan. (1971–1972)
  • September 11 – Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
    Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
    Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a teenage fictional character named Sabrina Spellman. The character was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo. The comic's characters have also appeared in various other media...

    premieres on CBS Saturday Morning (1971–1972).
  • September 11 – Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch
    Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch
    Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! is a Saturday morning cartoon, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1971 for CBS.-Production:The show was developed under the name The Yo Yo Bears, a title which many sources inaccurately list as its name in syndication. The show never went into syndication...

    premieres on CBS Saturday Morning (1971–1974).
  • September 11 – The Jackson 5ive premieres on ABC Saturday Morning (1971–1973).
  • September 11 – The Funky Phantom
    The Funky Phantom
    The Funky Phantom was a Saturday morning cartoon, produced for Hanna-Barbera Productions by Australian production company, Air Programs International in 1971 for ABC.-Plot:...

    premieres on ABC Saturday Morning (1971–1972).
  • September 11 – Lidsville
    Lidsville
    Lidsville was Sid and Marty Krofft's third television show following H.R. Pufnstuf and The Bugaloos . As did its predecessors, the series combined two types of characters: conventional actors in makeup filmed alongside performers in full mascot costumes, whose voices were dubbed in post-production...

    premieres on ABC Saturday Morning (1971–1973).
  • September 17 – McMillan & Wife (1971–1977);
  • September 21 – The Old Grey Whistle Test
    Old Grey Whistle Test
    The Old Grey Whistle Test was an influential BBC2 television music show that ran from 1971 to 1987. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco Two", which had been running since January 1970, while continuing to feature non-chart music. It was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers...

    premiered on BBC2
    BBC Two
    BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

     (1971–1987).
  • October 2 -Soul Train
    Soul Train
    Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...

    , the African-American equivalent to American Bandstand
    American Bandstand
    American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

    , premieres (1971–2006).
  • October 10 – Upstairs, Downstairs
    Upstairs, Downstairs
    Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...

    debuts in the UK on ITV
    ITV
    ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

     (1971-1975, 2010-present).
  • October 25 – The Electric Company
    The Electric Company
    The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...

    , a skit-based children's program aimed at teaching reading skills, premieres on PBS
    Public Broadcasting Service
    The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

     (1971–1977).
  • September 18 – The New Dick Van Dyke Show
    The New Dick Van Dyke Show
    The New Dick Van Dyke Show is an American sitcom starring Dick Van Dyke that aired on CBS from 1971 to 1974. This was Van Dyke's first return to series television since The Dick Van Dyke Show.-Production:...

    premieres on CBS (1971–1974).
  • August 1 – The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
    The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
    The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour is an American variety show based on the married couple of American pop-singer Cher and her husband, Sonny Bono. The show ran on CBS in the United States, when it premiered in August 1971...

    premieres on CBS (1971–1974).
  • NBC Mystery Movie
    NBC Mystery Movie
    The NBC Mystery Movie is the general name of an American television series, produced by Universal Studios, that was broadcast by NBC from 1971-77...

    premieres (1971–1977) as a wheel show featuring:
    • McCloud (premiered in 1970);
    • Columbo (1971–1978).

1940s

  • Meet the Press
    Meet the Press
    Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...

    (1947–present).
  • Candid Camera
    Candid Camera
    Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...

    (1948–present).
  • Bozo the Clown
    Bozo the Clown
    Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...

    (1949–present).
  • Come Dancing
    Come Dancing
    Come Dancing was a BBC TV ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off from 1949 to 1998, becoming one of television's longest-running shows....

    (UK) (1949–1995).

1950s

  • Truth or Consequences
    Truth or Consequences
    Truth or Consequences is an American quiz show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards and later on television by Edwards , Jack Bailey , Bob Barker , Bob Hilton and Larry Anderson . The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication...

    (1950–1988)
  • Love of Life
    Love of Life
    Love of Life is an American soap opera which aired on CBS Daytime from September 24, 1951 to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation Search for Tomorrow had premiered three weeks before Love of Life, and who would go on to create The Secret Storm two and a half years...

    (1951–1980)
  • Search for Tomorrow
    Search for Tomorrow
    Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...

    (1951–1986)
  • Hallmark Hall of Fame
    Hallmark Hall of Fame
    Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...

    (1951–present)
  • American Bandstand
    American Bandstand
    American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...

    (1952–1989)
  • Death Valley Days
    Death Valley Days
    Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945. It continued from 1952 to 1975 as a syndicated television series...

    (1952–1975)
  • The Guiding Light
    Guiding Light
    Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

    (1952–2009)
  • Hockey Night in Canada
    Hockey Night in Canada
    Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...

    (1952–present)
  • The Today Show (1952–present)
  • Panorama
    Panorama (TV series)
    Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...

    , UK (1953–present).
  • The Good Old Days
    The Good Old Days
    The Good Old Days is a popular BBC television light entertainment programme which ran from 1953 to 1983.It was performed at the Leeds City Varieties and recreated an authentic atmosphere of the Victorian–Edwardian music hall with songs and sketches of the era performed by present-day...

    , UK (1953–1983).
  • Face the Nation
    Face the Nation
    Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...

    (1954–present).
  • The Secret Storm
    The Secret Storm
    The Secret Storm is a soap opera which ran on CBS from February 1, 1954 to February 8, 1974. The series was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Love of Life...

    (1954–1974).
  • The Tonight Show
    The Tonight Show
    The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

    (1954–present; 1962–1992 as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

    )
  • Captain Kangaroo
    Captain Kangaroo
    Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...

    (1955–1984).
  • Dixon of Dock Green
    Dixon of Dock Green
    Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:...

    (UK) (1955–1976).
  • Gunsmoke
    Gunsmoke
    Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....

    (1955–1975).
  • The Lawrence Welk Show
    The Lawrence Welk Show
    The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...

    (1955–1982).
  • This Is Your Life
    This Is Your Life
    This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...

    , UK (1955–2003).
  • As the World Turns
    As the World Turns
    As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

    (1956–2010).
  • Opportunity Knocks, UK (1956–1978).
  • The Edge of Night
    The Edge of Night
    The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...

    (1956–1984).
  • What the Papers Say
    What the Papers Say
    What The Papers Say is a BBC radio programme that originally ran for many years on British television.Its first incarnation was the second longest-running programme on British television after Panorama...

    (UK) (1956–2008).
  • The Sky at Night
    The Sky at Night
    The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The...

    (UK) (1957–present).
  • Blue Peter
    Blue Peter
    Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...

    (UK) (1958–present).
  • Grandstand
    Grandstand (BBC)
    Grandstand was a British television sport programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock...

    (UK) (1958–2007).
  • Bonanza
    Bonanza
    Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...

    (1959–1973).

1960s

  • Coronation Street
    Coronation Street
    Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

    , UK (1960–present).
  • My Three Sons
    My Three Sons
    My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...

    (1960–1972).
  • ABC's Wide World of Sports (1961–1998)
  • Four Corners (Australia) (1961–present).
  • It's Academic
    It's Academic
    It's Academic is a televised academic quiz competition for high school students, currently airing on two NBC affiliates in Washington, D.C. and Central Virginia and one CBS affiliate Baltimore, Maryland . The show has been on the air since October 7, 1961, making it the longest...

    (1961–present).
  • The Mike Douglas Show
    The Mike Douglas Show
    The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...

    (1961–1981).
  • The Late Late Show
    The Late Late Show
    The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...

    , Ireland
    Republic of Ireland
    Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

     (1962–present).
  • Password (1962–1967, 1971–1975, 1979–1982, 1984–1989, 2008–)
  • Professional Bowlers Tour (1962–1997)
  • The World Tonight
    The World Tonight (ABS-CBN)
    The World Tonight is an English-language newscast of ABS-CBN. It is anchored by Angelo Castro, Jr. And Tina Monzon-Palma on weekdays, and by Gigi Grande on Saturdays and Ron Cruz on Sundays.-Airing history:...

    , Philippines (1962–present)
  • Z-Cars
    Z-Cars
    Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...

    , UK (1962–1978).
  • Doctor Who
    Doctor Who
    Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

    , UK (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present).
  • The Doctors (1963–1982).
  • General Hospital
    General Hospital
    General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

    (1963–present)
  • Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
    Wild Kingdom
    Wild Kingdom, sometimes known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American television show that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and was revived in 2002...

    (1963–1988, 2002–present)
  • Another World
    Another World (TV series)
    Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...

    (1964–1999).
  • Bewitched
    Bewitched
    Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...

    (1964–1972).
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas
    A Charlie Brown Christmas
    A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Melendez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy...

    (1965–present, aired annually).
  • It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a 1966 American prime time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz....

    (1966–present, aired annually).
  • Charlie Brown's All-Stars
    Charlie Brown's All-Stars
    Charlie Brown's All-Stars is the second prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was the second such TV special to be produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez , and originally aired on the CBS network on June 8, 1966...

    (1966–1972, aired annually).
  • Crossroads (UK) (1964–1988, 2001–2003).
  • Jeopardy!
    Jeopardy!
    Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...

    (1964–1975, 1984–present).
  • Top of the Pops
    Top of the Pops
    Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

    (UK) (1964–2006).
  • Days of our Lives
    Days of our Lives
    Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

    (1965–present).
  • The Dean Martin Show
    The Dean Martin Show
    The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...

    (1965–1974).
  • Tom and Jerry
    Tom and Jerry
    Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...

    (1965–1972, 1975–1977, 1980–1982)
  • World of Sport
    World of Sport (UK TV series)
    World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...

    (UK) (1965–1985).
  • Mission: Impossible
    Mission: Impossible
    Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...

    (1966–1973).
  • The Money Programme
    The Money Programme
    The Money Programme is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC2.It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" William Davis, Erskine Childers and Joe Roeber. At this time David Attenborough was the controller of BBC2...

    (UK) (1966–present).
  • The Newlywed Game
    The Newlywed Game
    The Newlywed Game is an American television game show that pits newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know each other. The program, originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir The Newlywed Game is an American...

    (1966–1974).
  • Play School
    Play School (Australian TV series)
    Play School is an Australian educational television show for children produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is the longest-running children's show in Australia, and the second longest running childrens show in the world. An estimated 80% of pre-school children under six watch the...

    (1966–present).
  • Ironside
    Ironside (TV series)
    Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...

    (1967–1975).
  • Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–1973).
  • Mannix
    Mannix
    Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors...

    (1967–1975).
  • The Carol Burnett Show
    The Carol Burnett Show
    The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...

    (1967–1978).
  • 60 Minutes
    60 Minutes
    60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

    (1968–present).
  • Dad's Army
    Dad's Army
    Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

    (UK) (1968–1977).
  • The Doris Day Show
    The Doris Day Show
    The Doris Day Show is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 1968 until September 1973. In addition to showcasing Doris Day, the show is remembered for its many abrupt format changes over the course of its five-year run...

    (1968–1973).
  • Hawaii Five-O
    Hawaii Five-O
    Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...

    (1968–1980).
  • Here's Lucy
    Here's Lucy
    Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...

    (1968–1974).
  • Laugh-In (1968–1973).
  • Magpie
    Magpie (TV series)
    Magpie was a children's television programme shown on ITV from the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. It was a magazine format show intended to compete with the BBC's Blue Peter, but attempted to be more "hip", focusing more on popular culture...

    (UK) (1968–1980).
  • Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
    Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
    Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...

    (1968–2001)
  • The Mod Squad
    The Mod Squad
    The Mod Squad is a television series that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. This series starred Michael Cole, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Tige Andrews...

    (1968–1973).
  • One Life to Live
    One Life to Live
    One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

    (1968–present).
  • The Benny Hill Show
    The Benny Hill Show
    The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...

    (1969–1989).
  • The Brady Bunch
    The Brady Bunch
    The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...

    (1969–1974).
  • Bright Promise
    Bright Promise
    Bright Promise is an American daytime soap opera that ran on NBC from September 29, 1969 to March 31, 1972. It aired weekdays at 3:30 PM Eastern/2:30 PM Central.-Synopsis:...

    (1969–1972).
  • The Dick Cavett Show
    The Dick Cavett Show
    The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ...

    (1969–1974)
  • Hee Haw
    Hee Haw
    Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...

    (1969–1993).
  • Love, American Style
    Love, American Style
    Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...

    (1969–1974).
  • Marcus Welby, M.D.
    Marcus Welby, M.D.
    Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...

    (1969–1976).
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus
    Monty Python's Flying Circus
    Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...

    (UK) (1969–1974).
  • Room 222
    Room 222
    Room 222 is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The series aired on ABC from September 17, 1969, to January 11, 1974, for 112 episodes...

    (1969–1974).
  • Sesame Street
    Sesame Street
    Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

    (1969–present).
  • Clangers
    Clangers
    Clangers is a popular British stop-motion animated children's television series of short stories about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on, and in, a small blue planet . They speak in whistles, and eat green soup supplied by the Soup Dragon...

    (UK) (1969–1972).
  • The Wonderful World of Disney (1969–1979 under this title)
  • What's My Line?
    What's My Line?
    What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....

    (1968–1975, syndicated version).
  • Where the Heart Is
    Where the Heart Is (1969 TV series)
    Where the Heart Is is an American soap opera telecast on the CBS television network from September 8, 1969 to March 23, 1973. Created by Lou Scofield and Margaret DePriest, the program ran for 25 minutes, the remaining five minutes of its timeslot ceded to a CBS news break.Scofield and DePriest...

    (1969–1973).

1970s

  • All My Children
    All My Children
    All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...

    (1970–present).
  • Doomwatch
    Doomwatch
    Doomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC One between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist , responsible for investigating and combating various...

    (UK) (1970–1972).
  • Famous Jury Trials
    Famous Jury Trials
    Famous Jury Trials was a TV series which aired on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from 1949 to 1952.-Broadcast history:Famous Jury Trials first aired on October 12, 1949 on DuMont, and was a live crime drama with each episode lasting 30 minutes. During the first season, the show aired...

    (1971–1972).
  • Mary Tyler Moore (1970–1977).
  • McCloud (1970–1977).
  • Monday Night Football
    Monday Night Football
    Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

    (1970–present).
  • Play for Today
    Play for Today
    Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...

    (UK) (1970–1984).
  • The Flip Wilson Show
    The Flip Wilson Show
    The Flip Wilson Show is a variety show that aired in the U.S. on NBC from September 17, 1970 to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson; the program was one of the first American television programs starring a black person in the title role to become highly successful with a...

    (1970–1974).
  • The Odd Couple (1970–1975).
  • The Partridge Family
    The Partridge Family
    The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...

    (1970–1974).

Ending this year

  • January 17 – The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
    The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
    The Perils of Penelope Pitstop is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that premiered on CBS on September 13, 1969. The show lasted two full seasons, with a total of 17 half-hour episodes produced and released, the last first-run episode airing on January...

    (1969–1971).
  • March 23 – Julia
    Julia (TV series)
    Julia is an American sitcom notable for being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann...

    (1968–1971).
  • March 29 – Mayberry R.F.D.
    Mayberry R.F.D.
    Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...

    (formerly The Andy Griffith Show
    The Andy Griffith Show
    The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...

    , 1960–1971).
  • April 2 – Dark Shadows
    Dark Shadows
    Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...

    (1966–1971).
  • April 27 – Green Acres
    Green Acres
    Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...

    (1965–1971).
  • May 5 – The Johnny Cash Show
    The Johnny Cash Show (TV series)
    The Johnny Cash Show was 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...

    (1969–1971).
  • June 6 – The Ed Sullivan Show
    The Ed Sullivan Show
    The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

    (1948–1971).
  • July 4 – Hogan's Heroes
    Hogan's Heroes
    Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...

    (1965–1971).
  • July 24 – UFO
    UFO (TV series)
    UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...

    (UK) (1970–1971).
  • September 7 – The Beverly Hillbillies
    The Beverly Hillbillies
    The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....

    (1962–1971).
  • September 9 – Family Affair
    Family Affair
    Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...

    (1966–1971).
  • September 10 – That Girl
    That Girl
    That Girl is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City...

    (1966–1971).
  • October 22 – What's New
    What's New (TV series)
    What's New was a Canadian news and current affairs television series for youth which aired on CBC Television from 1972 to 1982.-Premise:...

    (1959–1971); this was the show The Electric Company
    The Electric Company
    The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...

    replaced on the PBS schedule.

Changes of network affiliation

  • The Lawrence Welk Show
    The Lawrence Welk Show
    The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...

    moves from ABC
    American Broadcasting Company
    The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

     to first-run syndication
    Television syndication
    In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

    .
  • Hee Haw
    Hee Haw
    Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...

    , from CBS
    CBS
    CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

     to first-run syndication.

Births

  • January 1 – Suzanne Virdee
    Suzanne Virdee
    Suzanne Virdee is a British television newsreader known in the Midlands area. She is one of the presenters of Midlands Today on BBC One and has appeared on BBC Breakfast as the programme's newsreader, until a change of studio and format in March 2006.-Career:Virdee became a journalist at the age...

    , British regional TV newscaster.
  • January 5 – Jayne Middlemiss
    Jayne Middlemiss
    Jayne Middlemiss is a London-based British television and radio presenter, originally from Northumberland. She began presenting music television shows such as The O-Zone and Top of the Pops in the mid '90s, before presenting a variety of other television and radio shows, including on BBC 6 Music...

    , UK television presenter.
  • January 6 – Charlie Neil
    Charlie Neil
    Charlie Neil, born 12 May 1961 in Upper Gornal, West Midlands, is a British weather forecast presenter who worked for Central TV in Birmingham, UK...

    , British regional TV weather reader.
  • January 7 – Gillian Lacey-Solymar, television presenter
  • January 12 – Jay Burridge
    Jay Burridge
    Jay Jay Burridge also known as Jay Burridge is an artist and former television presenter. He fronted the BBC children's art programme SMart from 1994 until 2003, when he left and became a graphic designer and snowboard inventor...

    , UK television presenter
  • January 13 – Sarah Tansey
    Sarah Tansey
    Sarah Julia Tansey is a British actress. She had a major role in Heartbeat as pharmacist Jenny Merton and many minor roles in series such as Casualty, Where the Heart Is and The Bill. She has also appeared in movies Far from the Madding Crowd and Beginner's Luck...

    , UK actress.
  • January 14 – Yiolanda Koppel
    Yiolanda Koppel
    Yiolanda "Yolly" Koppel is a television presenter with many years experience presenting for Carlton Television, CITV and Nickelodeon, with her friend Mounya Khamlichi...

    , UK television presenter
  • January 15 – Regina King
    Regina King
    Regina King is an American film and television actress. She is well known for her role as Mary Jenkins's studious daughter, Brenda Jenkins, on the 1980s sitcom, 227, and for her critically acclaimed supporting role in the feature film Jerry Maguire...

    , American actress.
  • January 16 – Julia Ford
    Julia Ford
    Julia Ford is a British actress who has appeared in a variety of theatre, film, radio and television productions, including Waking the Dead, Silent Witness, Midsomer Murders and All About George, The Street, Red Riding, Coming Down The Mountain, In A Land of Plenty, Insiders, Island at War...

    , English actress
  • January 18 – Wendy Elsmore, television presenter.
  • January 19 – Shawn Wayans, American actor
  • January 20 – Pixie McKenna
    Pixie McKenna
    Bernadette Anne McKenna, known as Pixie McKenna is an Irish doctor and television presenter. She is best known for her work on the Channel 4 series Embarrassing Illnesses and its sister series Embarrassing Bodies and BBC Three's Freaky Eaters.-Education and training :McKenna attended medical...

    , Irish television presenter
  • January 21 – Amy Lame
    Amy Lamé
    Amy Lamé is an American-born, British performer, writer, television and radio presenter and producer.-Biography:Lamé was born Amy Caddle and raised in Keyport, New Jersey. She attended Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland and moved to London in 1992...

  • January 22 – Dawn Harper, British television presenter
  • January 23 – Lorne Spicer
    Lorne Spicer
    Lorne Spicer is an English television presenter best known for presenting reality shows on the BBC's current daytime output....

    , British television presenter
  • February 15 – Alex Borstein
    Alex Borstein
    Alexandrea "Alex" Borstein is an American actress, singer, voice actress, writer and comedian. She is best known for her long-running role as Lois Griffin on the animated television series Family Guy, and as a cast member on the sketch comedy series MADtv.A native of Highland Park, Illinois,...

    , Actress/comedian.
  • February 16 – Amanda Holden
    Amanda Holden
    Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...

    .
  • February 23 – Melinda Messenger
    Melinda Messenger
    Melinda Jayne Messenger is an English ex-glamour model, Page 3 Girl and a former presenter on the magazine programme Live from Studio Five. She is currently co-broadcaster of the reality show Cowboy Builders.-Biography:...

    , British television presenter and model.
  • February 25 – Sean Astin
    Sean Astin
    Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...

    , American actor.
  • March 2 – Lisa Lackey, Australian actress
  • March 4 – Shavar Ross
    Shavar Ross
    Shavar Malik Ross is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, editor, photographer, author, and entrepreneur. He is known for his recurring television roles as Dudley Ramsey on the NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, and as Weasel on the ABC sitcom Family Matters.-Biography:Ross...

    , American actor.
  • March 9 – Emmanuel Lewis
    Emmanuel Lewis
    Emmanuel Lewis is an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the 1980s television sitcom Webster. He is tall. Lewis graduated from Midwood High School in 1989 and then Clark Atlanta University in 1997...

    , American actor.
  • March 11 – Johnny Knoxville
    Johnny Knoxville
    Philip John Clapp , better known by his stage name Johnny Knoxville, is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, stunt performer, best known for being the co-creator and principal star of the MTV reality series Jackass, with the catchphrase "I'm Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass."-Early...

    , American actor/host.
  • April 12 – Shannen Doherty
    Shannen Doherty
    Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...

    , American actress.
  • May 26 – Matt Stone
    Matt Stone
    Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....

    , American writer/animator.
  • June 5 – Mark Wahlberg
    Mark Wahlberg
    Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...

    , American actor
  • June 16 – 2Pac, rapper (d. 1996)
  • July 9 – Dani Behr
    Dani Behr
    Dani Behr is an English singer, actress and television presenter.-Early life:Behr was born in Mill Hill London, of South African Jewish descent. Her father is a partner in London estate agents Behr & Butchoff...

    , television presenter and actress.
  • July 12 – Kristi Yamaguchi
    Kristi Yamaguchi
    Kristine Tsuya "Kristi" Yamaguchi-Hedican is an American figure skater. She is the 1992 Olympic Champion in ladies' singles. Yamaguchi also won two World Figure Skating Championships in 1991 and 1992 and a U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1992. She won one junior world title in 1988 and two...

    , Professional ice skater
  • July 30 – Tom Green
    Tom Green
    Michael Thomas "Tom" Green is a Canadian actor, rapper, writer, comedian, talk show host and media personality. Best known for his shock humour brand of comedy, Green found mainstream prominence via his MTV television show The Tom Green Show...

    , comedian.
  • August 9 – Kate Sanderson
  • August 10 – Angie Harmon
    Angie Harmon
    Angela Michelle "Angie" Harmon is an American fashion model and television/film actress. She became a well-known model before gaining international fame for her roles in Baywatch Nights and Law & Order....

    , American actress.
  • September 2 – Lisa Snowdon
    Lisa Snowdon
    Lisa Snowdon is an English fashion model, television personality and presenter. She was the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model from 2006 until 2009...

  • September 8 – Brooke Burke
    Brooke Burke
    Brooke Burke Charvet , better known by her maiden name, Brooke Burke, is an actress, dancer, model and television personality...

    .
  • September 9 – Natasha Kaplinsky
    Natasha Kaplinsky
    Natasha Margaret Kaplinsky is a British newsreader and television presenter, currently employed by ITV having previously worked for Channel 5, Sky News and the BBC...

    , British television presenter.
  • September 21 – Alfonso Ribeiro
    Alfonso Ribeiro
    Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro is an American actor, director, dancer, game show host, and comedian. While he received attention for his performance in the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid and his appearance as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial featuring Michael Jackson, Ribeiro is best...

    , American actor.
    • Luke Wilson
      Luke Wilson
      Luke Cunningham Wilson is an American film actor known for his roles in Old School, Bottle Rocket, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde, Idiocracy and Death at a Funeral.-Early life:...

      , American actor.
  • September 25 – Jessie Wallace
    Jessie Wallace
    Jessie Wallace is an English actress best known for her portrayal as Kat Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...

    , British actress.
  • September 28 – Liza Walker
    Liza Walker
    Liza Walker is an English actress. She is the former girlfriend of 1990s pop star Chesney Hawkes.-Filmography:*El Sueno Del Mono Loco, 1990*Buddy's Song, 1990*Teenage Health Freak, 1991 TV Series*Century, 1993...

    , British actress.
  • September 30 – Jenna Elfman
    Jenna Elfman
    Jennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....

    , American actress.
  • October 13 – Sacha Baron Cohen
    Sacha Baron Cohen
    Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...

    , British comedian.
  • October 20 – Snoop Dogg
    Snoop Dogg
    Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...

    , American rapper.
  • October 29 – Winona Ryder
    Winona Ryder
    Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...

    , American actress.
  • November 5 – Corin Nemec
    Corin Nemec
    Corin "Corky" Nemec is an American actor. Nemec is known for playing the title character on Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Jonas Quinn on Stargate SG-1, and Harold Lauder in the ABC miniseries The Stand.-Personal life:Nemec's mother was a graphic artist as well as a painter, writer and poet...

    , American actor.
  • November 25 – Christina Applegate
    Christina Applegate
    Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...

    , American actress.
  • December 5 – Justine Kerrigan, British actress.
  • December 26 – Jared Leto
    Jared Leto
    Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor, director, producer, occasional model and musician. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life...

    , American actor/ musician.

Deaths

  • March 11 – Philo Farnsworth
    Philo Farnsworth
    Philo Taylor Farnsworth was an American inventor and television pioneer. Although he made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-electronic television, he is perhaps best known for inventing the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device , the "image...

    , 64, television pioneer.
  • March 15 – Bebe Daniels
    Bebe Daniels
    Bebe Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals like 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain...

    , 70, actress.
  • December 12 – David Sarnoff
    David Sarnoff
    David Sarnoff was an American businessman and pioneer of American commercial radio and television. He founded the National Broadcasting Company and throughout most of his career he led the Radio Corporation of America in various capacities from shortly after its founding in 1919 until his...

    , 80, television pioneer.
  • December 30 – Melba Rae
    Melba Rae
    Melba Rae was an American soap opera actress.-Career:Rae was a key figure in early daytime television, playing the wife of the couple next door on Search for Tomorrow for 20 years — from its inception in 1951 until her untimely death of a cerebral hemorrhage...

    , 49, soap opera
    Soap opera
    A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

    actress (Search for Tomorrow).
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