1957 in television
Encyclopedia
The year 1957 in television involved some significant events.
Below is a list of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

-related events in 1957.

Events

  • January 6 – Elvis Presley
    Elvis Presley
    Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

     makes final appearance on 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....

    .
  • January 24 – Steve Allen
    Steve Allen (comedian)
    Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...

     makes his final appearance as host of 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...

    's 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...

    . He is replaced by Jack Lescoulie
    Jack Lescoulie
    Jack Lescoulie was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's Today during the 1950s and 1960s. His parents were both in vaudeville along with their children; Lescoulie's first public performance was at age seven. His first media job was with KGFJ, Los Angeles, when he was still...

    , with the show's format being changed to be more like Today than the talk/variety show format Tonight had under Allen.
  • June – Lescoulie is a flop, so NBC hires Al "Jazzbo" Collins to serve as emcee. But Collins doesn't last long; NBC is already planning to replace him and go back to the original format.
  • July 29 – Jack Paar
    Jack Paar
    Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...

     becomes the permanent host for 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...

    's 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...

    . The format changes back to a talk/variety show.
  • March 7 – Portugal
    Portugal
    Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

     creates its television service
    Rádio e Televisão de Portugal
    Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, S.A.,commonly known as RTP, is Portugal's public service broadcasting organization. It operates four terrestrial television channels and three national radio channels, as well as several satellite and cable offerings....

     after several months of experimentation.
  • March 31 – The first TV version of Cinderella
    Cinderella (TV)
    Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is a musical written for television, with music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based upon the fairy tale Cinderella, particularly the French version Cendrillon, ou la Petite Pantoufle de Vair, by Charles Perrault...

    , starring 21-year-old Julie Andrews
    Julie Andrews
    Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...

    , and with songs by Richard Rodgers
    Richard Rodgers
    Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

     and Oscar Hammerstein II
    Oscar Hammerstein II
    Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

    , airs in color 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...

    .
  • April 1 – British current affairs programme 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...

    (BBC) broadcasts the famous Spaghetti tree
    Spaghetti tree
    The spaghetti tree hoax is a famous 3-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current affairs programme Panorama. It told a tale of a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the fictitious spaghetti tree, broadcast at a time when this Italian dish was not...

    s hoax report.
  • August 31 – Central Scotland's 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...

     franchise Scottish Television
    Scottish Television
    Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

     goes on air, the first 7-day-a-week ITV franchise to do so.
  • September 7 – NBC introduces an animated version of its famous "living color" peacock logo.
  • February 16 – In the UK
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

    , the "Toddlers' Truce
    Toddlers' Truce
    The Toddlers' Truce was a piece of early British television scheduling policy that required transmissions to terminate for an hour each weekday between 6pm and 7pm. This was from the end of Children's TV to the start of the evening schedule, so that young children could be put to bed.-Background:It...

    " (an arrangement whereby there were no TV broadcasts between 6 PM and 7 PM, to allow parents to put their children to bed!) was abolished. It had been a major stumbling block to the success of 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...

    .
  • Front Page Challenge
    Front Page Challenge
    Front Page Challenge was a long-running Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth and produced and aired by CBC Television, the series ran from 1957 to 1995.-Synopsis:The series featured notable journalists attempting to guess the...

    , television's longest continuously running panel show starts airing on the CBC
    Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
    The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

     (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) for the next 38 years.
  • Cyprus
    Cyprus
    Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

     began a limited television service, serving only three hours a day, twice-weekly. By 1960, a full service was launched.
  • CBC Television
    CBC Television
    CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

     begins nationwide broadcasting of NHL games as Canada's microwave network is completed coast-to-coast. Prior to this, programmes have to be bicycled
    Broadcast delay
    In radio and television, broadcast delay refers to the practice of intentionally delaying broadcast of live material. A short delay is often used to prevent profanity, bloopers, violence, or other undesirable material from making it to air, including more mundane problems such as technical...

    .
  • Westinghouse
    Westinghouse Electric (1886)
    Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...

     introduces the first rectangular tube color TV. Due to issues with convergence (aligning the guns to get a single image), the sets is withdrawn from the market. The first successful rectangular color tubes arrive in the mid 1960's.

Debuts

  • April 24 – 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) appears for the first time, presented by Patrick Moore
    Patrick Moore
    Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...

     (1957–present).
  • May 1 – Junior Television Club
    Junior Television Club
    Junior Television Club was a Canadian children's television news magazine series. It was broadcast on CBC Television from Vancouver, British Columbia between May 1, 1957 and June 26, 1957. On June 12, 1957, the show featured ten-year-old Kim Campbell, who later became Canada's first female Prime...

    (1957)
  • May 7 – In Melbourne Tonight
    In Melbourne Tonight
    In Melbourne Tonight, also known as "IMT", was a highly popular nightly variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970....

    with Graham Kennedy
    Graham Kennedy
    Graham Cyril Kennedy, AO was an Australian radio, television and film performer, often called Gra Gra and The King of Australian television.-Childhood:...

     begins on GTV-9
    GTV-9
    GTV is a commercial television station in Melbourne, Australia owned by the Nine Network. The station is currently based at a new high-tech, purpose-built studios at 717 Bourke Street, Docklands.-History:...

  • September 21 – The Polly Bergen Show
    The Polly Bergen Show
    The Polly Bergen Show is a half-hour 18-episode comedy/variety show, starring then 27-year-old Polly Bergen, which aired on NBC in the 1957-1958 television season. The program is remembered for its impressive guest-star lineup as well as its closing theme song, "The Party's Over" .The Polly Bergen...

    premiers on NBC, alternating with Club Oasis
    Club Oasis
    Club Oasis is a 24-episode half-hour comedy-variety show, set in a chic simulated nightclub, which appeared on NBC in the 1957–1958 television season. The series alternated with The Polly Bergen Show in the 9 p.m. EST time slot on Saturday evenings...

    , which debuted on September 28 (1957–1958)
  • September 22- Maverick
    Maverick (TV series)
    Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...

    premieres on ABC. (1957–1961)
  • Fall 1957 – Saber of London
    Saber of London
    Saber of London is a half-hour 1950s detective television series about a British police captain named Mark Saber, who works, in the original version of the program, in the homicide department of a large American city. Tom Conway portrayed Mark Saber from October 1951 to June 1954...

    , a British detective series, moved from ABC to NBC for the remainder of its episodes broadcast through mid-1960. It had previously aired under different titles from 1951–1954 and 1955–1957, in the latter run under the name The Vise
    The Vise
    The Vise is a half-hour dramatic anthology television series which aired at 9:30 p.m. EST on Fridays on ABC from December 1955 to June 1957....

    .
  • October 4 – Leave It to Beaver
    Leave It to Beaver
    Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...

    premieres (1957–1963).
  • October 10- Zorro premieres on ABC (1957–1959)
  • October 23 – The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
    The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
    The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom is a half-hour variety show that aired on ABC from October 3, 1957 to June 23, 1960, starring the young singer Pat Boone and a host of top-name guest stars. The program was of course sponsored by Chevrolet...

    premieres on ABC (1957–1960).
  • November 17 – Scotland Yard
    Scotland Yard (TV series)
    Scotland Yard is a half-hour ABC crime/drama television series, which uses police files from the British Scotland Yard investigative force in the shaping of each episode. The series aired on Sunday evenings in the 1957-1958 season, having premiered on November 17, 1957, but the sixty-three episodes...

    premieres on ABC (1957–1958).
  • November 26: WHDH-TV
    WHDH-TV (defunct)
    WHDH-TV was the callsign of the first station to use channel 5 in Boston. The station ceased operations March 18, 1972, after the station lost its license. The channel, but not the license, was taken over by WCVB-TV the following morning: March 19, 1972. It is of no relation to either WCVB or...

    /5-Boston begins broadcasting. It soon becomes embroiled in controversy about its license. It finally loses its license in 1972
    1972 in television
    The year 1972 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1972.For the American TV schedule, see: 1972-73 American network television schedule.-Events:...

    .
  • December 25 – Royal Christmas Message
    Royal Christmas Message
    The Queen's Christmas Message is a broadcast made by the sovereign of the Commonwealth realms to the Commonwealth of Nations each Christmas. The tradition began in 1932 with a radio broadcast by George V on the British Broadcasting Corporation Empire Service...

     first televised with a message from Elizabeth II.
  • The Army Game
    The Army Game
    The Army Game is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1957 to 1961. Made in black-and-white, it is about National Service conscription to the post-war British Army. It was created by Sid Colin...

    (UK) premieres 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...

     (1957–1961).
  • Divorce Court
    Divorce Court
    Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...

    (US) (1957–1969, 1985–1992, 1999–present)
  • Front Page Challenge
    Front Page Challenge
    Front Page Challenge was a long-running Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth and produced and aired by CBC Television, the series ran from 1957 to 1995.-Synopsis:The series featured notable journalists attempting to guess the...

    premieres (1957–1995).
  • The Edsel Show
    The Edsel Show
    The Edsel Show is an hour-long television special broadcast live on CBS in the United States on October 13, 1957, intended to promote Ford Motor Company's new Edsel cars...

    , first full-length show to be recorded on videotape
    Videotape
    A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...

    , first of many Bing Crosby
    Bing Crosby
    Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

     specials
  • Wagon Train
    Wagon Train
    Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...

    premieres (1957–1965)
  • Perry Mason
    Perry Mason (TV series)
    Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...

    (1957–1966)

Television shows

  • Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
    Gillette Cavalcade of Sports
    The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports was an American network radio program and later television program that included broadcasts of a variety of sports, although it is primarily remembered by many for its focus on boxing.-Overview and background:...

    (1946–1960).
  • Howdy Doody
    Howdy Doody
    Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by E. Roger Muir and telecast on NBC in the United States from 1947 until 1960. It was a pioneer in children's television programming and set the pattern for many similar shows...

    (1947–1960).
  • Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958).
  • 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).
  • The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971).
  • 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).
  • The Voice of Firestone
    The Voice of Firestone
    The Voice of Firestone, is a long-running radio and television program of classical music. The show featured leading singers in selections from opera and operetta. Originally titled The Firestone Hour, it was first broadcast on the NBC Radio network December 3, 1928 and was later also shown on...

    (1949–1963).
  • The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
    Burns and Allen
    Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades.-Vaudeville:...

    (1950–1958).
  • The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
  • 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).
  • What's My Line (1950–1967).
  • Your Hit Parade
    Your Hit Parade
    Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...

    (1950–1959).
  • Dragnet (1951–1959).
  • I Love Lucy
    I Love Lucy
    I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...

    (1951–1960).
  • 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).
  • 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).
  • 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).
  • The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
    The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
    The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...

    (1952–1966).
  • Adventures of Superman
    Adventures of Superman (TV series)
    Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...

    (1952–1958)
  • 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).
  • The Today Show (1952–present).
  • 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...

    (US
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

    ) (1952–1961).
  • 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).
  • Climax! (1954–1958).
  • Disneyland (1954–1958).
  • 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 Brighter Day
    The Brighter Day
    The Brighter Day is an American daytime soap opera which aired on CBS from January 4, 1954 to September 28, 1962. Originally created for NBC radio by Irna Phillips in 1948, the radio and television versions ran simultaneously from 1954-1956...

    (1954–1962).
  • The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967).
  • 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 (1954–present).
  • Zoo Quest
    Zoo Quest
    Zoo Quest was a series of multi-part nature documentaries broadcast on BBC television between 1954 and 1963. It was the first major programme to feature David Attenborough....

    (UK) (1954–1964).
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents
    Alfred Hitchcock Presents
    Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...

    (1955–1962).
  • 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).
  • Cheyenne (1955–1962).
  • Country Music Jubilee
    Ozark Jubilee
    Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...

    (1955–1960).
  • 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).
  • Mickey Mouse Club
    Mickey Mouse Club
    The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...

    (1955–1959).
  • 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).
  • Armchair Theatre
    Armchair Theatre
    Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968....

    (UK) (1956–1968).
  • 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).
  • The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
    The Ford Show
    The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....

    (1956–1961)
  • Hancock's Half Hour
    Hancock's Half Hour
    Hancock's Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy, series of the 1950s and 60s written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sid James; the radio version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr...

    (1956–1962).
  • 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).
  • The Gale Storm Show, Oh! Susanna (1956–1960).
  • The Price Is Right (1956–1965).
  • The Steve Allen Show
    Steve Allen (comedian)
    Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...

    (1956–1960).
  • 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).

Ending this year

  • February – Annie Oakley
    Annie Oakley (TV series)
    Annie Oakley is an American Western television series which fictionalized the life of famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley. It ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. ABC showed reruns on Saturday and Sunday daytime from 1959–1960 and from 1964-1965...

    (1954–1957).
  • February 26 – Noah's Ark
    Noah's Ark (1956 TV series)
    Noah's Ark is a 24-episode half-hour drama television series which aired on NBC in the 1956-1957 season. It stars Paul Burke in the title role of the young veterinarian Dr. Noah McCann, partner with the older Dr. Sam Rinehart, played by Victor Rodman , who in the series uses a wheelchair...

    (1956–1957)
  • April 13 – The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
    The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
    The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network...

    (UK) (1956–1957).
  • Kukla, Fran and Ollie
    Kukla, Fran and Ollie
    Kukla, Fran and Ollie is an early American television show using puppets, originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed...

    (1947–1957).
  • Life is Worth Living
    Life is Worth Living
    Life is Worth Living is an inspirational American television series which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 12, 1952 to April 26, 1955, then on ABC until 1957.-Broadcast history:Hosted by Bishop Fulton J...

    (1952–1957).
  • The Roy Rogers Show
    The Roy Rogers Show
    The Roy Rogers Show is an American Western television series that broadcast 100 episodes on NBC for six seasons between December 30, 1951 and June 9, 1957. The show starred Roy Rogers as a ranch owner, Dale Evans as the proprietor of the Eureka Cafe in fictional Mineral City, and Pat Brady as...

    (1951–1957).
  • The Grove Family
    The Grove Family
    The Grove Family is a British television soap opera, generally regarded as the first of its kind broadcast in the UK, made and transmitted by BBC Television from 1954 to 1957...

    (UK) (1954–1957).
  • The Three Stooges (1934–1957).

Births

  • January 7 – Katie Couric
    Katie Couric
    Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...

    , television host.
  • January 17 - Steve Harvey
    Steve Harvey
    Broderick Steven "Steve" Harvey is an American actor, comedian, entertainer, television and radio personality and best-selling author. He is best known as the star of the WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, and as one of the four comedians featured in the Spike Lee film The Original Kings of Comedy...

    , comedian & game show host.
  • February 16 – LeVar Burton
    LeVar Burton
    Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. , professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer and author who first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley...

    , actor
  • February 18 – Vanna White
    Vanna White
    Vanna White is an American television personality and film actress best known as the hostess of Wheel of Fortune since 1982.-Early life:...

    , game show presenter
  • March 30 – Paul Reiser
    Paul Reiser
    Paul Reiser is an American stand-up comedian, actor, television personality, author, screenwriter and musician. He is most widely known for his role on the long-running television sitcom Mad About You.-Early life:...

    , actor & comedian.
  • April 13 – Gary Kroeger
    Gary Kroeger
    Gary Kroeger is an American actor best known for his work on Saturday Night Live from 1982 to 1985.Born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Kroeger attended Northern University High School and graduated from Northwestern University in 1981. He joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during Lorne Michaels' hiatus...

    , actor.
  • May 3 – Jo Brand
    Jo Brand
    Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand is a BAFTA winning British comedian, writer, and actor.- Early life :Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957 in Wandsworth, London. Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers...

    , English comedian.
  • May 5 – Richard E. Grant
    Richard E. Grant
    Richard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...

    , English actor.
  • June 12 – Timothy Busfield
    Timothy Busfield
    Timothy "Timmy B" Busfield is an American actor and director best known for his role as Eliot Weston on the television series Thirtysomething and his recurring role as Danny Concannon on the television series The West Wing...

    , actor & director.
  • July 21 – Jon Lovitz
    Jon Lovitz
    Jonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...

    , actor & comedian.
  • July 26 – Nana Visitor
    Nana Visitor
    Nana Visitor , born Nana Tucker, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.-Early life:...

    , actress.
  • August 18 – Denis Leary
    Denis Leary
    Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...

    , actor & comedian.
  • August 24 – Stephen Fry
    Stephen Fry
    Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

    , English actor & comedian.
  • September 29 – Andrew Dice Clay
    Andrew Dice Clay
    Andrew Dice Clay is an American comedian and actor who played the lead role in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.Clay has been in several movies and has released a number of stand-up albums...

    , comedian.
  • September 30 – Fran Drescher
    Fran Drescher
    Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher is an American film and television actress, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, author, singer, talk show host, political lobbyist and health activist...

    , actress & comedienne (The Nanny
    The Nanny
    Nanny may refer to:* Nanny, a child's caregiver* A grandmother * A Cajun word for godmother * A female goat* Nanny , a 1981–83 British drama series starring Wendy Craig* Nanny of the Maroons...

    ).
  • October 5 – Bernie Mac
    Bernie Mac
    Bernard Jeffrey McCullough , better known by his stage name, Bernie Mac, was an American actor and comedian. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined comedians Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, and D. L...

    , actor & comedian (d. 2008).
  • October 11 – Dawn French, Welch-born English actress & comedienne.
  • October 29 – Dan Castellaneta
    Dan Castellaneta
    Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...

    , actor & comedian ("Homer Simpson
    Homer Simpson
    Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

    ").
  • November 7 – Christopher Knight, actor, (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...

    ).
  • December 9 – Donny Osmond
    Donny Osmond
    Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...

    , singer, actor & game show host.
  • December 21 – Ray Romano
    Ray Romano
    Raymond Albert "Ray" Romano is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian, best known for his roles on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and in the Ice Age film series. He recently starred in the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.-Early life:Romano was born in Queens, New York to Italian...

    , stand-up comedian & actor.
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