1996 in television

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Events

• January 1 - Speedvision premiered as a new cable channel. It changed its name to the Speed Channel
  SPEED Channel
  
  Speed, sometimes still referred to as the Speed Channel, is a cable television and satellite television television channel broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States....
   in 2002.
• January 15-March 11 - Our Friends in the North
  Our Friends in the North
  
  Our Friends in the North is a United Kingdom television drama Serial , produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC Two in early 1996....
  , a nine-part serial spanning the 1960s to the 1990s in the lives of four friends, is shown on BBC2
  BBC Two
  
  BBC Two is the second major terrestrial television channel of the BBC, aimed at a wide range of subject matter and interests, and specialising in intelligent yet popular programme genres....
  .
• January 28 - Chris Isaak
  Chris Isaak
  
  Christopher Joseph Isaak is an United States rock music musician and occasional actor....
   and Brooke Shields
  Brooke Shields
  
  Brooke Christa Camille Shields is an American actor and supermodel. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon as well as tv shows such as Suddenly Susan and Lipstick Jungle ....
   make guest appearances on the television show Friends
  Friends
  
  Friends is an American situation comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolves around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses....
  .
• April 29 - TV Land
  TV Land
  
  TV Land is an United States cable television television network launched April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns MTV and Nickelodeon ....
  , a United States cable network launches.
• May 14 - Doctor Who, an American television movie continuation of the famous British series of the same name, airs on the Fox Network
  Fox Broadcasting Company
  
  The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox and stylized as FOX, is an United States television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation....
   in the Tuesday Night Movie slot. This television movie is regarded as being a part of the same story as the original series and is an unsuccessful pilot for a new, American co-produced series. Paul McGann
  Paul McGann
  
  Paul McGann is an England actor who made his name on the BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer, in which he played the lead role. He is also known for his role in Withnail and I, and for portraying the Eighth Doctor in the Doctor Who and subsequent tie-in media....
   stars as the Eighth Doctor
  Eighth Doctor
  
  The Eighth Doctor is a fictional character, the eighth Doctor #Changing faces of Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC Science fiction on television series Doctor Who....
  . It was the only film considered canon, but Doctor Who only made a proper comeback in 2005
• June 14 - After 32 years (barring six months in 1973), Top of the Pops
  Top of the Pops
  
  Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a long-running United Kingdom UK Singles Chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006....
   moves from its traditional Thursday evening slot to Fridays.
• July - When it becomes evident that Anna Stuart
  Anna Stuart
  
  Anna Stuart is an United States actress. Stuart has been primarily featured in roles in daytime soap operas....
   will be next to die in a serial killer storyline on Another World
  Another World (TV series)
  
  Another World is a television soap opera that ran on the NBC network from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It was created by legendary serial creator Irna Phillips along with William J....
  , many fans start letter-writing campaigns to save the actress
  Actor
  
  An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
  ; the NBC studios in New York City also report a high number of switchboard calls regarding Stuart's imminent demise. Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps
  Jill Farren Phelps
  
  Jill Farren Phelps and has been the executive producer of many United States television soap operas: Santa Barbara , Guiding Light , Another World , One Life to Live , and currently General Hospital ....
   decides that actress Alice Barrett
  Alice Barrett
  
  Alice Barrett is an United States actress.She was born in New York City, New York . She is also credited by her married name, Alice Barrett-Mitchell....
   will be killed off the show instead.
• 14 - July 15 - America's Talking
  America's Talking
  
  America's Talking, a cable television channel created by NBC and spun off from CNBC, was launched on July 4, 1994. The headquarters were based in an office building in Fort Lee, New Jersey, New Jersey, 2 floors below CNBC's original studios, on Fletcher Avenue....
   ceases transmissions, and using its transponders and positions, MSNBC, a joint venture of Microsoft
  Microsoft
  
  Microsoft Corporation is a multinational corporation computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of computer software products for computing devices....
   and NBC, launches the following morning.
• September 1 - Sky 2 launches in the UK, a sister channel to the then-titled Sky 1. It closes a year later, but a channel of almost the same name (Sky Two) would later launch in 2005.
• September 2 - The ITV
  ITV1
  
  ITV1 is the generic brand used by twelve franchises of the ITV television network in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands....
   region Tyne Tees Television
  Tyne Tees Television
  
  Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and North Yorkshire. The structure of the company has altered across its history, notably in various mergers with Yorkshire Television, and then the larger regional companies that would eventually control the entire ITV network....
   is rebranded as Channel 3 North East. The rebranding is unsuccessful, and the original name returns two years later.
• September 13 - The dubbed version of the Japanese series Dragonball Z premieres in the U.S.
• September 17 - The O.J. Simpson civil trial begins.
• October 1 - The defunct Granada Sky Broadcasting launches.
• October 7 - News Corporation
  News Corporation
  
  News Corporation , , ) is one of the world's largest Media conglomerate conglomerates. The company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder is Rupert Murdoch and the President and Chief Operating Officer is Peter Chernin....
   gets into the cable news fray with the launch of Fox News Channel
  Fox News Channel
  
  Fox News Channel is a US Cable News and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation....
  .
• October 20 - Canada's Sesame Street switches to showing exclusively Canadian content, renaming itself Sesame Park
  Sesame Park
  
  Sesame Park was a Canada version of Sesame Street. In its first format, it was referred to as Canadian Sesame Street and was a re-edited version of the American series; it adopted a new format and the Sesame Park title in 1996....
   (1996-2002), as it no longer uses any American made segments from Sesame Street
  Sesame Street
  
  Sesame Street is an Television in the United States educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both edutainment....
  
• November 1 Two channels, Sky Scottish
  Sky Scottish
  
  Sky Scottish was a short lived satellite television channel operating on the analog television Sky TV service between 1 November 1996 and 31 May 1998....
   and The Computer Channel launch.
• November 2 - The final episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  
  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four turtle mutants, who are trained by their sensei, Splinter , in the art of Ninjutsu....
  , the 1987 series airs. And the Episode is Divide and Conquer.
• December 15 - A special episode of Dallas
  Dallas (TV series)
  
  Dallas is a long-running United States prime-time television program soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991. It revolved around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries....
   airs on CBS
  CBS
  
  CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
   five years after the original end of the series, titled Dallas: J.R. Returns
  Dallas: J.R. Returns
  
  Dallas: J.R. Returns was the first of the two Dallas reunion movies to air after the series went off the air. It originally aired on CBS on November 15, 1996, and recently was rerun as part of TV Land's salute to 50 years of Warner Bros....
  .
• December 29 - Time On Our Hands, the final episode of a Christmas trilogy of the popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses
  Only Fools and Horses
  
  Only Fools and Horses is a United Kingdom television situation comedy, created and written by John Sullivan , and made and broadcast by the BBC....
  , airs on BBC1
  BBC One
  
  BBC One is the primary television channel of the BBC . It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular public television service with a high level of ....
  . Publicised as the last ever episode, it draws 24.35 million viewers, the largest ever audience for a sitcom in the UK, and discounting Diana, Princess of Wales
  Diana, Princess of Wales
  
  Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes Prince William of Wales and Prince Henry of Wales , are second and third Line of succession to the British throne of the British monarchy and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms....
  's funeral, the biggest UK television audience of the 1990s. In the event, however, the show returns for three subsequent specials, one shown each Christmas from 2001.
• Zenith introduces the first HDTV
  High-definition television
  
  High-definition television is a digital television broadcasting system with higher than traditional television systems . HDTV is digitally broadcast; the earliest implementations used analog broadcasting, but today digital television signals are used, requiring less Bandwidth due to digital video compression....
  -compatible front projection TV in the U.S. Broadcasters, TV & PC manufacturers set industry standards for digital HDTV.
• Over a billion households worldwide now own television sets.
• Astro
  Astro (satellite TV)
  
  Astro is a subscription-based direct broadcast satellite service based in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It transmits digital satellite television and satellite radio to households initially in Malaysia, but also expands to Brunei and Indonesia....
  , Malaysia
  Malaysia
  
  Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
  's direct broadcast satellite
  Direct broadcast satellite
  
  Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to more broadly as direct-to-home signals....
   service is launched, beginning the digital television in Malaysia
  Digital television in Malaysia
  
  Digital television has been in Malaysia since the mid-1990s with the introduction of the Astro satellite television service, now followed by new pay television services in the 2000s, as well as the digital terrestrial television expected to be complete by the mid-2010s....
  .

Debuts

Miniseries

• Profit
  Profit (TV series)
  
  Profit is a short-lived United States television series that aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series was created by David Greenwalt and John McNamara , and starred Adrian Pasdar as the titular character, Jim Profit....
  
• Our Friends in the North
  Our Friends in the North
  
  Our Friends in the North is a United Kingdom television drama Serial , produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC Two in early 1996....
   (UK)

Television shows

1940s

• Meet the Press
  Meet the Press
  
  Meet the Press is a weekly Television in the United States news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the List of longest running U.S. television series television show in worldwide broadcasting history, having made its television debut on November 6, 1947....
   (1947-present).
• Candid Camera
  Candid Camera
  
  Candid Camera was a hidden camera television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947....
   (1948-present).

1950s

• Hallmark Hall of Fame
  Hallmark Hall of Fame
  
  Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on United States television. It has had a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and still continuing today....
   (1951-present).
• Guiding Light
  Guiding Light
  
  Guiding Light is an United States television program credited by the Guinness World Records as being the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest running drama in television and radio history....
   (1952-present).
• Hockey Night in Canada
  Hockey Night in Canada
  
  Hockey Night in Canada is a Broadcasting of National Hockey League games in Canada, produced by CBC Sports. Hockey Night consistently remains one of the highest-Bureau of Broadcast Measurement programs on Canadian television....
   (1952-present).
• The Today Show (1952-present).
• Panorama
  Panorama (TV series)
  
  Panorama is the longest-running current affairs documentary film series in the world. Launched on 11 November 1953 on BBC One, it focuses on investigative journalism....
   (UK) (1953-present).
• Face the Nation
  Face the Nation
  
  Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an United States Sunday-morning interview shows which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954....
   (1954-present).
• The Tonight Show
  The Tonight Show
  
  The Tonight Show is a long-running American late-night talk show and variety show airing on NBC whose The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has been hosted by Jay Leno since 1992....
   (1954-present).
• This Is Your Life
  This Is Your Life
  
  This Is Your Life was a Documentary film series hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards. It originally aired in the United States from 1952 to 1961, and again in 1972 on NBC....
   (UK) (1955-2003).
• As the World Turns
  As the World Turns
  
  As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that airs each weekday on CBS.Set in the fictional town of Oakdale , the show debuted on Monday, April 2, 1956 at 1:30pm Eastern Time Zone....
   (1956-present).
• What the Papers Say
  What the Papers Say
  
  What The Papers Say is the second longest-running programme on United Kingdom television after the sky at night,bbc_series)]]. It is a review programme of stories published in British newspapers....
   (UK) (1956-present).
• The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night
  
  The Sky at Night is a monthly 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 programmes with the same presenter in television history....
   (UK) (1957-present).
• Blue Peter
  Blue Peter
  
  Blue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel....
   (UK) (1958-present).
• Grandstand
  Grandstand (BBC)
  
  Grandstand was a United Kingdom television sport programme, and was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year....
   (UK) (1958-2007).

1960s

• Coronation Street
  Coronation Street
  
  Coronation Street is an award-winning soap opera created by Tony Warren. It is one of the longest-running television programmes in the United Kingdom, first broadcast on 9 December 1960, made by Granada Television and broadcast in all regions of ITV almost throughout its existence....
   (UK) (1960-present).
• Four Corners (Australia) (1961-present).
• It's Academic
  It's Academic
  
  For the Australian version, see It's Academic .It's Academic is a Television academic Quizbowl for high school students, currently airing on three NBC affiliates in Washington, D.C....
   (1961-present).
• The Late Late Show
  The Late Late Show
  
  The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running Talk show and officially the flagship television programme of Republic of Ireland broadcasting company Radio Telef?s ?ireann....
   (Ireland
  Republic of Ireland
  
  Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
  ) (1962-present).
• General Hospital
  General Hospital
  
  General Hospital is an United States soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company television network during the day and on SOAPnet each weeknight....
   (1963-present).
• Another World
  Another World (TV series)
  
  Another World is a television soap opera that ran on the NBC network from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It was created by legendary serial creator Irna Phillips along with William J....
   (1964-1999).
• Top of the Pops
  Top of the Pops
  
  Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a long-running United Kingdom UK Singles Chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006....
   (UK) (1964-2006).
• Days of our Lives
  Days of our Lives
  
  Days of our Lives is an United States soap opera, which has aired nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965 on the NBC network in the United States, and has since been syndicated to many countries around the world....
   (1965-present).
• Play School (Australia) (1966-present).
• 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....
   (UK) (1966-present).
• 60 Minutes
  60 Minutes
  
  or 60 Minutes 60 Minutes is an United States investigative television newsmagazine on United States television, which has run on CBS News since 1968....
   (1968-present).
• One Life to Live
  One Life to Live
  
  One Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company television network since July 15, 1968....
   (1968-present).
• Sesame Street
  Sesame Street
  
  Sesame Street is an Television in the United States educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both edutainment....
   (1969-present).

1970s

• All My Children
  All My Children
  
  All My Children, sometimes abbreviated by fans and the press as AMC, is an United States soap opera and drama television series that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the American Broadcasting Company television network since January 5, 1970, and the daily episode also airs weeknights on SOAPnet....
   (1970-present).
• Monday Night Football
  Monday Night Football
  
  Monday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the American Broadcasting Company network from 1970 NFL season to 2005 NFL season, Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on United States of America broadcast network television and one of the hig...
   (1970-present).
• Masterpiece Theatre
  Masterpiece Theatre
  
  Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH-TV. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly primetime drama series....
   (1971-present).
• Soul Train
  Soul Train
  
  Soul Train was a syndicated, music-related television program. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by rhythm and blues, soul music, and Hip hop music artists, although jazz musicians and gospel music singers have also appeared....
   (1971-present).
• Emmerdale
  Emmerdale
  
  Emmerdale, known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989, is a United Kingdom soap opera that has aired on ITV since 1972. It is set in the fictional village of Emmerdale in West Yorkshire, England, and was created by Kevin Laffan, with Keith Richardson serving as Executive Producer since 1986 and Anita Turner as Series Producer from Janu...
   (UK) (1972-present).
• Newsround
  Newsround
  
  Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children....
   (UK) (1972-present).
• The Price Is Right
  The Price Is Right
  
  The Price Is Right is an United States television game show that is currently owned by the FremantleMedia subsidiary of the RTL Group. It was originally created by Bob Stewart for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions in the United States in 1956, and was significantly revamped by them in 1972....
   (1972-present).
• Last of the Summer Wine
  Last of the Summer Wine
  
  Last of the Summer Wine is a United Kingdom situation comedy written by Roy Clarke that is broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973....
   (UK) (1973-present).
• The Young and the Restless
  The Young and the Restless
  
  The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera, first broadcast on CBS on March 26, 1973. It was created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, who set their show in a Genoa City of Genoa City, Wisconsin, a town near their annual vacation home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin....
   (1973-present).
• Derrick
  Derrick (TV series)
  
  Derrick is a Germany TV series produced by Telenova Film- und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG SSR id?e suisse between 1974 and 1998 about Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick and his loyal assistant Inspector Harry Klein , who solve murder cases in Munich and surroundings ....
   (1974-1998).
• Wish You Were Here...?
  Wish You Were Here...?
  
  Wish You Were Here...? was a United Kingdom television show that was first broadcast in 1974 on ITV. It was a series of 30 minute shows about travel and holidays....
   (UK) (1974-present).
• Arena (UK) (1975-present).
• Good Morning America
  Good Morning America
  
  Good Morning America is an Daytime Emmy Awards breakfast television talk show that is broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company television network, debuting on November 3, 1975....
   (1975-present).
• Saturday Night Live
  Saturday Night Live
  
  Saturday Night Live is a weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975....
   (1975-present).
• the fifth estate
  The fifth estate
  
  the fifth estate is a Canada television newsmagazine, which airs on the English language television network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation....
   (Canada) (1975-present).
• Wheel of Fortune (1975-present).
• This Week in Baseball
  This Week in Baseball
  
  This Week in Baseball is a weekly television program, originally designed to show highlights of the previous week's Major League Baseball action....
   (1977–1998, 2000–present)
• 20/20
  20/20
  
  20/20 is an United States television newsmagazine broadcast on American Broadcasting Company since June 6, 1978. Created by ABC News executive Roone Arledge, the show was designed similarly to CBS's 60 Minutes but focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects....
   (1978–present)
• Grange Hill, UK (1978-present).
• The South Bank Show
  The South Bank Show
  
  The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show, made by London Weekend Television, presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA....
  , UK (1978-present).
• Antiques Roadshow
  Antiques Roadshow
  
  Antiques Roadshow is a United Kingdom human interest television show in which antiques appraisals travel to various regions of the United Kingdom and appraise antiques brought in by local residents....
  , UK (1979-present).
• Nightline (1979–present)
• SportsCenter
  SportsCenter
  
  SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of United States cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979....
   (1979–present)
• This Old House
  This Old House
  
  This Old House is an United States home improvement magazine and television series which is aired on the United States public broadcast network Public Broadcasting Service that follows remodeling projects of houses over a number of weeks....
   (1979–present).

1980s

• Entertainment Tonight
  Entertainment Tonight
  
  Entertainment Tonight is a daily television entertainment news show that is Television syndication by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world....
   (1981-present).
• What Now
  What Now
  
  What Now is a long running New Zealand children's television program.It premiered in 1981 in television. It is filmed before two live audiences, one in a studio in Christchurch, New Zealand and another from a different location each week....
   (1982-present)
• Timewatch
  Timewatch
  
  Timewatch is a long-running United Kingdom television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. Produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can be found on USA cable channels without the branding....
   (UK) (1982-present)
• Jeopardy!
  Jeopardy!
  
  Jeopardy! is a game show featuring trivia in topics such as history, literature, pop culture and science. The show has a decades-long Jeopardy! broadcast history in the United States since its creation by Merv Griffin in the early 1960s....
   (1964-1975, 1984-present).
• The Bill
  The Bill
  
  The Bill is a long-running United Kingdom television police procedural, named after a List of slang terms for police officers. It was first broadcast on 16 August, 1983 as a pilot episode, and as a regular series from 16 October, 1984 and transmitted on ITV, at 20:00 on Thursdays and most Wednesdays....
   (UK) (1984-present).
• EastEnders
  EastEnders
  
  EastEnders is a popular and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985. It currently ranks within the top of the most watched shows in the United Kingdom....
   (UK) (1985-present).
• Neighbours
  Neighbours
  
  Neighbours is a long-running multiple Logie Award-winning Australian soap opera, which first aired in March 1985. The series follows the daily lives of several families who live in the six houses at the end of Ramsay Street, a short cul-de-sac in the fictional middle-class suburb of Erinsborough....
   (Australia) (1985-present).
• Sally
  Sally Jessy Raphaël
  
  Sally Jessy Raphael is an United States talk show Host , known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades....
   (1985-2002).
• The Oprah Winfrey Show
  The Oprah Winfrey Show
  
  The Oprah Winfrey Show is a United States Television syndication talk show, hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey, and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
   (1986-present).
• Comic Relief (UK) (1986-present).
• ChuckleVision
  ChuckleVision
  
  ChuckleVision is a popular United Kingdom children's television series, shown on CBBC, first shown in 1987. It follows the adventures of the two Chuckle Brothers, who find themselves in all sorts of situations that they must cope with....
   (UK) (1987-present).
• Inspector Morse
  Inspector Morse
  
  Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse is a fictional character in a series of thirteen detective novels by United Kingdom author Colin Dexter, as well as the Inspector Morse produced by Central Independent Television from 1987?2000, in which he was portrayed by John Thaw....
   (UK) (1987-2000).
• Married... with Children
  Married... with Children
  
  Married...with Children or Married with Children is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated American situation comedy about a dysfunctional family living in a Chicagoland suburb that lasted 11 seasons....
   (1987-1997).
• The Bold and the Beautiful
  The Bold and the Beautiful
  
  The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera. Set in Los Angeles, California, the show centers around the Forrester family and their Haute couture business Forrester Creations....
   (1987-present).
• Unsolved Mysteries
  Unsolved Mysteries
  
  Unsolved Mysteries is an United States television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until his death in 2003, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008....
   (1987-1998, 2001-2002, 2008-present).
• America's Most Wanted
  America's Most Wanted
  
  America's Most Wanted is an United States television program produced by 20th Century Fox, and is the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Broadcasting Company....
   (1988-present).
• The American Experience (1988-present).
• Electric Circus
  Electric Circus
  
  Electric Circus, aka EC, was a Canada live television dance music television program aired on MuchMusic and Citytv. It aired from September 16 1988 until December 12 2003....
   (Canada) (1988-2003).
• Fair City
  Fair City
  
  Fair City is an award-winning television soap opera , first broadcast in Ireland on September 18, 1989. Storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the residents of Carrigstown, a fictional suburb on the north side of Dublin....
   (1988-present).
• Home and Away
  Home and Away
  
  Home and Away is a Logie Award-winning Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney by the Seven Network since July 1987. It premiered on 17 January 1988, and is now one of the longest-running series on Australian television and won 34 Logie Awards since 1988....
   (1988-present).
• This Morning
  This Morning (TV series)
  
  This Morning is a United Kingdom daytime television programme created by Granada Television and broadcast on ITV1. It first aired from Granada's Albert Dock Studios in Liverpool on 3 October 1988....
   (UK) (1988-present).
• Red Dwarf
  Red Dwarf
  
  Red Dwarf is a United Kingdom science fiction television situation comedy Media franchise, primarily comprising eight series of a television sitcom that ran on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and gained a cult following....
   (UK) (1988-1999).
• Murphy Brown
  Murphy Brown
  
  Murphy Brown is an United States situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988 to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown , an investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television newsmagazine....
   (1988-1998).
• Mystery Science Theater 3000
  Mystery Science Theater 3000
  
  Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an United States cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains that ran from 1988 in television to 1999 in television....
   (1988-1999).
• Roseanne
  Roseanne (TV series)
  
  Roseanne is an United States situation comedy broadcast on American Broadcasting Company from 1988 in television to 1997 in television starring stand-up comedian Roseanne Barr....
   (1988-1997).
• The Ward
  Children's Ward
  
  Children's Ward was a United Kingdom children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its CiTV strand on weekday afternoons....
   (UK) (1988-2000).
• Baywatch
  Baywatch
  
  Baywatch is an United States television series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the crowded beaches of Los Angeles County, California....
   (1989-2001).
• COPS
  COPS (TV series)
  
  COPS is an United States documentary television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities....
   (1989-present).
• Family Matters
  Family Matters (TV series)
  
  Family Matters is an Emmy Award nominated American situation comedy about a middle-class family living in Chicago, Illinois. The series aired from September 22, 1989, to May 9, 1997, on American Broadcasting Company, and moved to CBS from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998....
   (1989-1998).
• Seinfeld
  Seinfeld
  
  Seinfeld is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning Television in the United States Situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in Broadcast syndication....
   (1989-1998).
• The Simpsons
  The Simpsons
  
  The Simpsons is an Television in the United States animated cartoon Situation comedy created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company....
   (1989-present).

1990s

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
  The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
  
  The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an Emmy-nominated American television situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996....
   (1990–1996)
• Law & Order
  Law & Order
  
  Law & Order is an United States police procedural and legal drama Television program created by Dick Wolf. It has been broadcast on NBC since its debut on September 13, 1990....
   (1990-present).
• America's Funniest Home Videos
  America's Funniest Home Videos
  
  America's Funniest Home Videos , is an United States Reality show television program on American Broadcasting Company in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes....
   (1990-present).
• One Foot in the Grave
  One Foot in the Grave
  
  One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television situation comedy series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, with several specials over a ten year period, from 1990 to 2000....
   (UK) (1990-2000).
• Home Improvement
  Home Improvement
  
  Home Improvement is an situation comedy starring Tim Allen, which aired 1991 to 1999. The show was created by Matt Williams , Carmen Finestra and David MacFadzean....
   (1991-1999).
• Rugrats
  Rugrats
  
  Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, G?bor Csup?, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon . The series aired from August 11, 1991 to June 8, 2004....
   (1991-2004).
• The Jerry Springer Show
  The Jerry Springer Show
  
  The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries....
   (1991-present).
• The Red Green Show
  The Red Green Show
  
  The Red Green Show was a Canadian television comedy that aired on CBC Television in Canada and on Public Broadcasting Service in the United States from 1991 until the series finale April 7, 2006 on CBC....
   (1991-2006).
• Absolutely Fabulous
  Absolutely Fabulous
  
  Absolutely Fabulous is a BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning British sitcom written by and starring Jennifer Saunders and co-starring Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks....
   (UK) (1992-1996, 2001-2003).
• Barney & Friends
  Barney & Friends
  
  Barney & Friends is a 1992 Children's television series show produced in the United States aimed at preschool children. The series features the title character Barney, a purple Anthropomorphism Tyrannosaurus who conveys learning through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, optimistic attitude....
   (1992-present).
• Dateline NBC (1992-present).
• Mad About You
  Mad About You
  
  Mad About You is an United States sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 23, 1999. The show starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple in New York City....
   (1992-1999).
• The Larry Sanders Show
  The Larry Sanders Show
  
  The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that originally aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the Home Box Office cable television network in the United States....
   (1992-1998).
• The Real World
  The Real World
  
  The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show is the longest-running program in MTV history....
   (1992-present).
• Shortland Street
  Shortland Street
  
  Shortland Street is a New Zealand soap opera and drama television series that was first broadcast on Monday, 25 May 1992. The show is set in a modern metropolitan hospital in the fictional suburb of Ferndale, New Zealand in Auckland City, and is produced by South Pacific Pictures....
   (NZ
  New Zealand
  
  New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
  ) (1992-present)
• Beavis and Butt-head
  Beavis and Butt-Head
  
  Beavis and Butt-head is an United States animated television series created by Mike Judge. After the success of Judge's short film entitled Frog Baseball, which starred the characters Beavis and Butt-head and was featured in an episode of Liquid Television, the cable television channel MTV signed Judge to create a series with the...
   (1993–1997)
• Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
  
  Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is an United States Western /Dramatic programming created by Beth Sullivan. Set in the American Old West, it stars Jane Seymour as a doctor who sets up her own practice in 1860s Colorado....
   (1993–1998)
• Frasier
  Frasier
  
  Frasier is an American situation comedy broadcast on National Broadcasting Company for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993 to May 13, 2004....
   (1993–2004)
• Iron Chef
  Iron Chef
  
  Iron Chef is a Japanese television program produced by Fuji Television. The original Japanese title is . The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cooking competition featuring accomplished guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredi...
  , Japan (1993–1999)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien
  Late Night with Conan O'Brien
  
  Late Night with Conan O'Brien was an United States late night television talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC from 1993 to 2009....
   (1993–2009)
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
  Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
  
  Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman is a live-action United States television program based on the Superman comic books. Lois & Clark aired on American Broadcasting Company from September 12, 1993 to June 14, 1997, and starred Dean Cain as Superman/Clark Kent and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane....
   (1993-1997).
• NYPD Blue
  NYPD Blue
  
  NYPD Blue is an United States TV show police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan.....
   (1993-2005).
• Ricki Lake
  Ricki Lake (talk show)
  
  Ricki Lake was a daytime tabloid talk show hosted by United States actor Ricki Lake. The show specialized in sensationalist topics involving invited guests and incorporated questions and comments from a studio audience....
   (1993-2004).
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  
  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry?s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by CBS Paramount Television....
   (1993-1999).
• The Late Show with David Letterman (1993-present).
• The Nanny
  The Nanny (TV series)
  
  The Nanny is an United States situation comedy co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc. and Highschool Sweethearts Productions in association with TriStar Television for CBS....
   (1993-1999).
• The X-Files
  The X-Files
  
  The X-Files is a Peabody Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning American cult following science fiction television series, created by Chris Carter , which first aired in 1993 and ended in 2002....
   (1993-2002).
• WWF Monday Night RAW
  WWE RAW
  
  WWE Raw is a professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States....
   (1993-present).
• ER
  ER (TV series)
  
  ER is an Emmy Award-winning Television in the United States medical drama television series created by the late novelist Michael Crichton and airing on NBC....
   (1994–2009)
• Friends
  Friends
  
  Friends is an American situation comedy created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolves around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses....
   (1994-2004).
• Time Team
  Time Team
  
  Time Team is a United Kingdom Television program that has aired on Channel 4 since 1994. Presented by the actor Tony Robinson, the series features a team of specialists doing an archaeology Excavation in three days, with Robinson explaining the process Wiktionary:in layman's terms....
  , UK (1994-present)
• Party of Five
  Party of Five
  
  Party of Five was an United States drama television series that aired on FOX Network for six seasons, from September 12, 1994 until May 3, 2000....
   (1994–2000)
• Touched by an Angel
  Touched by an Angel
  
  Touched by an Angel is an United States drama television series that chronicles the missions of a group of angels sent by God. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson , it ran on CBS for nine seasons, from September 21, 1994 to April 27, 2003, and aired in many countries all around the world....
   (1994–2003)
• The Drew Carey Show
  The Drew Carey Show
  
  The Drew Carey Show is an United States sitcom that aired on American Broadcasting Company from 1995 to 2004 and was known for its "everyman" characters and themes....
   (1995-2004).
• JAG
  JAG
  
  JAG is an United States Adventure /legal drama television show that was produced by Donald P. Bellisario, in association with Paramount Pictures CBS Paramount Television and, for the first season only, Universal Media Studios....
   (1995–2005)
• Modern Marvels
  Modern Marvels
  
  Modern Marvels is a Documentary film television series that premiered on January 1, 1995 on History Channel. The program features how several things used in daily life in the modern world are made possible and their historical origins....
   (1995–present)
• Pamela Wallin Live
  Pamela Wallin Live
  
  Pamela Wallin Live was a Canada interview series which aired on CBC Newsworld from 1995 to 1999. It was hosted by Pamela Wallin.Following her highly publicized firing from the CBC Television's Prime Time News in 1995, Wallin formed her own production company and launched the series....
  , Canada (1995-1999).
• Sesame Park
  Sesame Park
  
  Sesame Park was a Canada version of Sesame Street. In its first format, it was referred to as Canadian Sesame Street and was a re-edited version of the American series; it adopted a new format and the Sesame Park title in 1996....
  , Canada (1995-2002).
• Sliders
  Sliders
  
  Sliders is an United States science fiction television program that ran for five seasons from 1995 in television to 2000 in television. The series focuses on a group of travellers who "slide" between Parallel universe by use of a wormhole referred to as an "Sliders#Vortex."...
   (1995-2000).
• Star Trek: Voyager
  Star Trek: Voyager
  
  Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. The show was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor and is the fourth incarnation of Star Trek, which began with the 1960s series Star Trek: The Original Series, created by Gene Roddenberry....
   (1995-2001).
• Life's Work
  Life's Work
  
  Life's Work was a situation comedy that aired from 1996 to 1997 on the American Broadcasting Company channel that starred Lisa Ann Walter as Lisa Ann Minardi Hunter, the assistant district attorney....
   (1996-1997)
• Stickin' Around
  Stickin' Around
  
  Stickin' Around is a Canadian animated children's television series from Nelvana, which originally aired on YTV in English. In Latin America, it was broadcasted by Nickelodeon under the title Los Grafitos....
   (1996-1998, 2004).
• Timon and Pumbaa
  Timon and Pumbaa
  
  Timon and Pumbaa are a meerkat and warthog duo first introduced in The Walt Disney Company's popular 1994 animated film The Lion King. Timon was portrayed through his many appearances by Nathan Lane , Max Casella , Quinton Flynn , Kevin Schon , James Arnold Taylor while Pumbaa is voiced by Ernie Sabella and was portrayed by Tom Alan Ro...
   (1995-1998).
• Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  
  Doctor Who is a British Science fiction on television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien Time travel known as "Doctor " who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box....
  , UK (1963-1989, 1996, 2005-present).
• Doug
  Doug
  
  Doug was an United States list of animated television series sitcom that originally aired on Nickelodeon , and starred 6th grader Douglas Yancey Funnie....
   (1991-1994, 1996-1999).
• Only Fools and Horses
  Only Fools and Horses
  
  Only Fools and Horses is a United Kingdom television situation comedy, created and written by John Sullivan , and made and broadcast by the BBC....
  , UK (1981-1983, 1985-1993, 1996-1997, 2001-2003).
• Martin
  Martin (TV series)
  
  Martin is an United States situation comedy produced by HBO Independent Productions that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1990 in television to May 1, 1997 in television on Fox Broadcasting Company....
   (1992-1997).
• Kenan & Kel
  Kenan & Kel
  
  Kenan & Kel is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. The show starred comedy duo Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell....
   (1996-2000).
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers
  Captain Planet and the Planeteers
  
  Captain Planet and the Planeteers is an United States Animated television series Environmentalism television program, based on an idea by Ted Turner and produced by Andy Heyward, Robby London, Barbara Pyle and Nicholas Boxer....
   (1990-1996).
• 3rd Rock from the Sun
  3rd Rock from the Sun
  
  3rd Rock from the Sun is an Emmy Award-winning American situation comedy that aired from 1996 in television until 2001 in television on NBC....
   (1996-2001).

Ending This Year

Changes of Network Affiliation

Births

• April 14 - Abigail Breslin
  Abigail Breslin
  
  'Abigail Kathleen Breslin' is an Academy-Award nominated United States child actor. The fourth youngest actress ever to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award, Breslin is best known for portraying Olive Hoover in the film Little Miss Sunshine, Nim Rusoe in Nim's Island, and the title character in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl...
  , actress

Deaths

• February 3 - Audrey Meadows
  Audrey Meadows
  
  Audrey Meadows was an United States actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners....
  , actress (Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners
  The Honeymooners
  
  The Honeymooners debuted as a half-hour series on October 1 1955. Although initially a Nielsen Ratings success?it was the #2 show in the United States?it faced stiff competition from the popular Perry Como....
  )
• February 13 - Martin Balsam
  Martin Balsam
  
  Martin Henry Balsam was an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning American actor....
  , actor (Murray on Archie Bunker's Place
  Archie Bunker's Place
  
  Archie Bunker's Place is an United States sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 in television as a continuation of All in the Family....
  )
• February 15 - McLean Stevenson
  McLean Stevenson
  
  McLean Stevenson , born in Normal, Illinois, was an American actor most recognized for his role as Henry Blake on the TV series M*A*S*H ....
  , actor (Lt. Col. Henry Blake on M*A*S*H
  M*A*S*H (TV series)
  
  M*A*S*H is an United States television series developed by Larry Gelbart, adapted from the 1970 in film feature film MASH . The series is a medical drama/black comedy that was produced by 20th Television Fox for CBS....
  )
• February 15 - Tommy Rettig
  Tommy Rettig
  
  Thomas Noel Rettig, more familiarly Tommy Rettig or, as an adult, Tom Rettig, was an United States child actor and computer software engineer and author....
  , former child actor (Jeff on Lassie
  Lassie (1954 TV series)
  
  Lassie is an United States television series that follows the adventures of a female rough collie named Lassie and her companions, human and animal....
  )
• March 4 - Minnie Pearl
  Minnie Pearl
  
  Minnie Pearl was the stage name of Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon , a country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991....
  , comedian
• March 5 - Whit Bissell
  Whit Bissell
  
  Whitner Nutting "Whit" Bissell was an United States actor....
  , character actor
• March 9 - George Burns
  George Burns
  
  George Burns was an United States comedy, actor, and comedy writer.His career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen....
  , 100, comedian
• March 11 - Vince Edwards
  Vince Edwards
  
  Vince Edwards was an United States actor, director, and singer, best known for the role of TV doctor "Ben Casey"....
  , actor (Ben Casey
  Ben Casey
  
  Ben Casey is a medical drama television series which ran on American Broadcasting Company from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its iconic opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "?, ?, Asterisk, ?, 8" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Pioneering neurosurgeo...
  )
• April 21 - Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder
  Jimmy Snyder
  
  Jimmy Snyder , better known as "Jimmy the Greek", was an United States sports commentator and Las Vegas, Nevada bookmaker. He was born Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos in Steubenville, Ohio, Ohio....
  , sports commentator
• May 20 - Jon Pertwee
  Jon Pertwee
  
  John Devon Roland Pertwee , better known as Jon Pertwee, was an England actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, where he played the Third Doctor of Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge....
  , 76, former star of Doctor Who
  Doctor Who
  
  Doctor Who is a British Science fiction on television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien Time travel known as "Doctor " who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box....
  .
• June 2 - Ray Combs
  Ray Combs
  
  Raymond Neil "Ray" Combs, Jr. was an United States comedy and host of the game show Family Feud on CBS and in Broadcast syndication from 1988 to 1994....
  , 40, former host of Family Feud, (suicide
  Suicide
  
  Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
  )
• June 16 - Mel Allen
  Mel Allen
  
  Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions, and will forever be known as the one and only "Leg...
  , sports commentator
• July 21 - Herb Edelman
  Herb Edelman
  
  Herbert "Herb" Edelman was an United States actor of stage, film and television. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his television work....
  , actor (Stanley Zbornak on The Golden Girls
  The Golden Girls
  
  The Golden Girls is an United States situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a Miami, Florida home....
  )
• August 27 - Greg Morris
  Greg Morris
  
  Francis Gregory Alan Morris was an American television and film actor.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Morris began his acting career in the 1960s making guest appearances on many TV shows such as The Twilight Zone and Ben Casey....
  , actor (Mission: Impossible
  Mission: Impossible
  
  Mission: Impossible began as an American television series that chronicles the missions of a team of secret United States government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force ....
  )
• September 13 - Tupac Shakur
  Tupac Shakur
  
  Tupac Amaru Shakur , also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American Rapping. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a promising actor and a social activist....
  , 25, actor/songwriter.
• September 29 - Leslie Crowther
  Leslie Crowther
  
  Leslie Crowther, Order of the British Empire was an England comedian, actor and gameshow host....
  , 63, British TV comedian & game show host
• October 6 - Ted Bessell
  Ted Bessell
  
  Ted Bessell was an United States television actor.Born in Flushing, New York, on March 20, 1935, Bessell was originally gearing up for a career as a classical musician....
  , actor (That Girl
  That Girl
  
  That Girl is an United States television situation comedy that ran on American Broadcasting Company from 1966 to 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring actor, who had moved from her hometown of Brewster, New York to make it big in New York City....
  )
• October 27 - Morey Amsterdam
  Morey Amsterdam
  
  Morey Amsterdam was a veteran United States television actor and comedian, renowned for his large, ready supply of jokes. He is probably best known for his role as Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s....
  . actor and comedian (Buddy on The Dick Van Dyke Show
  The Dick Van Dyke Show
  
  The Dick Van Dyke Show is an United States television situation comedy which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 and ran until June 1, 1966....
  )
• December 8 - Howard E. Rollins, Jr., actor (Tibbs on the TV version of In the Heat of the Night
  In the Heat of the Night (TV series)
  
  'In the Heat of the Night' is a television series based on the Film In the Heat of the Night . The series debuted as a midseason replacement for the short-lived NBC series J.J....
  )
• December 11 - Willie Rushton
  Willie Rushton
  
  William George Rushton, commonly known as Willie Rushton was an England cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the Private Eye satirical magazine....
  , 59, comedian, actor, and performer.
• December 12 - Larry Gates
  Larry Gates
  
  Larry Gates was an American actor probably best known for his role as H.B. Lewis on daytime's Guiding Light and as Doc Baugh in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ....
  , soap opera actor (Guiding Light)