Events

• January 15 – Tyne Tees Television
  Tyne Tees Television
  Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
  
  , the 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 for North East England
  North East England
  North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
  
  , goes on air.
• May 28 – Launch of Lebanon
  Lebanon
  Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
  
  's first television station, Télé Liban
  Télé Liban
  Télé Liban became the first Lebanese public television network, owned by the Lebanese government. Télé Liban was a result of the merger of two privately-owned stations, CLT and Télé Orient in 1977. Currently, it mainly broadcasts terrestrially throughout Lebanon. TL is the current Lebanese...
  
  .
• July 13–17 – The Hate That Hate Produced
  The Hate That Hate Produced
  The Hate That Hate Produced is a television documentary about the Nation of Islam. It was produced in 1959 by Mike Wallace and Louis Lomax.-Background:...
  
  introduces the Nation of Islam
  Nation of Islam
  The Nation of Islam is a mainly African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan by Wallace D. Fard Muhammad in July 1930 to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African-Americans in the United States of America. The movement teaches black pride and...
  
   to white Americans
• July 24 – The Kitchen Debate
  Kitchen Debate
  The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...
  
   takes place in Moscow
  Moscow
  Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
  
  , captured on color 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...
  
  .
• October 27 – Anglia Television
  Anglia Television
  Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
  
  , the ITV franchise for Eastern England, goes on air.
• October 31 – Ulster Television, the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland
  Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
  
  , goes on air.
• November 29-The Grammy Awards are first televised as part of NBC's Sunday Showcase
  Sunday Showcase
  Sunday Showcase is a Canadian radio show, which airs Sunday nights on CBC Radio One. The program, hosted by Damiano Pietropaolo, is an anthology of radio drama....
  
  .

Debuts

• January 9 – Rawhide
  Rawhide (TV series)
  Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
  
  , 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...
  
   (1959–1966
  1966 in television
  The year 1966 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1966.For the American TV schedule, see: 1966-67 American network television schedule.-Events:...
  
  )
• January 12 - The Bell Telephone Hour
  The Bell Telephone Hour
  The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...
  
  premieres on NBC (1959–1968).
• February 4 - Face to Face debuts on BBC Television
  BBC Television
  BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
  
   (1959–1962).
• May 2 - Markham
  Markham
  -Biology:* Markham's storm-petrel , a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia* Markham's grass mouse , a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the nearby Southern Patagonian Ice Field in southern Chile* Ulmus americana 'Markham', an American elm cultivar-Companies:* Markham & Co., an...
  
  , starring Ray Milland
  Ray Milland
  Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
  
  , premieres 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...
  
   (1959-1960).
• June 1 - Juke Box Jury
  Juke Box Jury
  Juke Box Jury was a musical panel show which originally ran on BBC Television from 1 June 1959 until December 1967. The programme was based on the American show Jukebox Jury, itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series....
  
  premieres on BBC Television (1959–1967, 1979, 1989–1990).
• September 12 – Bonanza
  Bonanza
  Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
  
  premieres on NBC
  NBC
  The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
  
  , the first weekly television series broadcast completely in color (1959–1973).
• September 20 - NBC Sunday Showcase
  NBC Sunday Showcase
  NBC Sunday Showcase was a series of hour-long specials telecast in color on NBC during the 1959-60 season. The flexible anthology format varied weekly from comedies and science fiction to musicals and historical dramas...
  
  premieres on NBC
  NBC
  The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
  
   (1959–1960).
• September 30 - Men Into Space
  Men Into Space
  Men Into Space is an American sci-fi television series broadcast from September 30, 1959 to September 7, 1960 by CBS which depicted future efforts by the United States Air Force to explore and develop outer space. The black-and-white filmed show starred William Lundigan as Col...
  
  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...
  
   Original run September 30, 1959 to September 7, 1960.
• October 2 – Rod Serling
  Rod Serling
  Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
  
  's The Twilight Zone
  The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
  The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
  
  debuts 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...
  
   (1959–1964, 1985–1988, 2002).
• October 4 - Dennis the Menace premieres on CBS (1959–1963).
• October 4 - The Rebel
  The Rebel (TV series)
  The Rebel is an American Western television series that ran originally on the ABC network from 1959 to 1961. The program was produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, marking one of their few non-game show ventures...
  
  on ABC
  American Broadcasting Company
  The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
  
   Original run October 4, 1959 – June 18, 1961.
• October 5 - Bourbon Street Beat
  Bourbon Street Beat
  Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which aired on the ABC network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer, the secretary at the New Orleans detective agency in which...
  
  on ABC Original run October 5 - July 4, 1960.
• October 7 – Hawaiian Eye
  Hawaiian Eye
  Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
  
  premieres on ABC
  American Broadcasting Company
  The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
  
   (1959–1963).
• October 15 - The Untouchables
  The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
  The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
  
  premieres on ABC (1959–1963).
• Tales of the Riverbank
  Tales of the Riverbank
  Tales of the Riverbank, sometimes called Hammy Hamster, is a Canadian children's television show starring Hammy Hamster and other animals....
  
  premieres (1959–1963).

Television shows

• Men Into Space
  Men Into Space
  Men Into Space is an American sci-fi television series broadcast from September 30, 1959 to September 7, 1960 by CBS which depicted future efforts by the United States Air Force to explore and develop outer space. The black-and-white filmed show starred William Lundigan as Col...
  
  (1959–1960).
• Man with a Camera (1959–1960).
• Perry Mason
  Perry Mason
  Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
  
  (1957–1966).
• 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).
• 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
  The Ed Sullivan Show
  The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
  
  (1948–1971).
• 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...
  
  (1949–2001).
• 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 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).
• 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).
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
  Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
  Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960...
  
  (1958-1960)
• Search for Tomorrow
  Search for Tomorrow
  Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...
  
  (1951–1986).
• Hallmark Hall of Fame
  Hallmark Hall of Fame
  Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
  
  (1951–present).
• 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)
• 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).
• 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) (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).
• 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
  The Tonight Show
  The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
  
  (1954–present).
• 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).
• 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).
• Jubilee USA
  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).
• 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 (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).
• 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 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).
• 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).
• 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...
  
  (1957-1960).
• 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...
  
  (1957–1963).
• The Real McCoys
  The Real McCoys
  The Real McCoys is an American situation comedy co-produced by Danny Thomas' "Marterto Productions", in association with Walter Brennan and Irving Pincus's "Westgate" company...
  
  (1957-1963).
• 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) (1957–1961).
• The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night
  The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The...
  
  (UK) (1957–present).
• Blue Peter
  Blue Peter
  Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
  
  (UK) (1958–present).
• General Motors Presents
  General Motors Theatre
  General Motors Theatre was a Canadian television anthology series, which ran on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation under its various titles from 1953 until 1961. First transmitted under the sponsored title on October 5 1954, a new 60-minute drama would be presented each week...
  
  (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
• Grandstand
  Grandstand (BBC)
  Grandstand was a British television sport programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock...
  
  (UK) (1958–2007).
• Peter Gunn
  Peter Gunn
  Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The show's creator was Blake Edwards...
  
  (1958–1961).
• The Texan
  The Texan (TV series)
  The Texan is a Western television series starring popular B movie star Rory Calhoun. It aired on the CBS television network from 1958-1960.-Production notes:...
  
  (1958-1960).
• The Donna Reed Show
  The Donna Reed Show
  The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September...
  
  (1958–1966).
• The Huckleberry Hound Show
  Huckleberry Hound
  The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from Hanna-Barbera following The Ruff & Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound; another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo; and a third...
  
  (1958–1962).
• Walt Disney Presents (1958–1961).
• KPIX Dance Party (1959–1963).

Ending this year

• January 13 - Jack Wyatt
  Jack Wyatt
  John Francis Minford "Jack" Wyatt was an advertising executive and television host from New York City and Dallas, Texas, who, during his early fifties, was ordained as an Episcopalian priest...
  
  's Confession
  Confession (TV series)
  Confession is a short-lived ABC crime/police reality show which aired from June 19, 1958, to January 13, 1959, with interviewer Jack Wyatt questioning criminals from assorted backgrounds. The program was carried by videotape from WFAA-TV, the network affiliate in Dallas, Texas, the first station to...
  
  (1958-1959)
• January 26 – The science-fiction
  Science fiction on television
  Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
  
   serial Quatermass and the Pit
  Quatermass and the Pit
  Quatermass and the Pit is a British television science-fiction serial, originally transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the character would reappear in a 1979 ITV production simply entitled Quatermass...
  
  concludes with 11 million viewers for the final episode, a recent BBC record (1958–1959).
• April 24 – 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...
  
  , which had been on the air since 1935 in its earlier radio form (1950–1959).
• Dragnet (1951–1959).
• 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 Restless Gun
  The Restless Gun
  The Restless Gun is a western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is an idealistic person who prefers peaceful resolutions of conflict...
  
  (1957-1959).

Births

• February 22 – Kyle MacLachlan
  Kyle MacLachlan
  Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor. MacLachlan is best known for his roles in cult films Blue Velvet as Jeffrey Beaumont, Showgirls as Zack Carey, as Paul Atreides in Dune, and Ray Manzarek in the Oliver Stone film The Doors...
  
  , American actor
• March 6 – Tom Arnold
  Tom Arnold (actor)
  Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...
  
  , American actor & comedian
• April 3 - David Hyde Pierce
  David Hyde Pierce
  David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
  
  , actor, (Frasier
  Frasier
  Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
  
  )
• April 17 – Sean Bean
  Sean Bean
  Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
  
  , English actor
• May 3 – Ben Elton
  Ben Elton
  Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
  
  , English comedian & writer (Blackadder
  Blackadder
  Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
  
  )
• May 29 – Rupert Everett
  Rupert Everett
  Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
  
  , English actor
• June 11 – Hugh Laurie
  Hugh Laurie
  James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
  
  , English actor & comedian
• June 30 – Vincent D'Onofrio
  Vincent D'Onofrio
  Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
  
  , actor
• August 13 – Danny Bonaduce
  Danny Bonaduce
  Dante Daniel "Danny" Bonaduce is an American radio/television personality, comedian, professional wrestler, and former child actor...
  
  , actor
• August 14 – Marcia Gay Harden
  Marcia Gay Harden
  Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...
  
  , actress
• August 16 – Laura Innes
  Laura Innes
  Laura Elizabeth Innes is an American actress and director, probably best known for her role as Dr. Kerry Weaver on ER, and most recently, as Sophia on the NBC thriller The Event.-Career:...
  
  , actress
• September 14 - Mary Crosby
  Mary Crosby
  Mary Frances Crosby is an American actress. She is most often credited as simply Mary Crosby for her performances.-Early life:...
  
  , actress (Dallas
  Dallas (TV series)
  Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
  
  )
• September 21 – Dave Coulier
  Dave Coulier
  David Alan "Dave" Coulier is an American stand-up comedian, impressionist, television and voice actor, and television host. He is well-known for his role as Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom Full House, which ran from 1987 to 1995....
  
  , actor
• September 23 – Jason Alexander
  Jason Alexander
  Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
  
  , actor
  • Rosalind Chao
    Rosalind Chao
    Rosalind Chao is a Chinese American actress. Chao's most prolific roles have been as a star of CBS' AfterMASH portraying South Korean refugee Soon-Lee Klinger for both seasons, and the recurring character Keiko O'Brien with 27 appearances on the syndicated science fiction series Star Trek: The...
    
    , actress
• October 3 - Jack Wagner
  Jack Wagner (actor)
  Peter John "Jack" Wagner, II is an American actor and singer, best-known for his roles on the soap operas General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Melrose Place.-Early years:...
  
  , actor
• October 13 – Marie Osmond
  Marie Osmond
  Olive Marie Osmond is an American singer, actress, doll designer, and a member of the show business family The Osmonds. Although she was never part of her family's singing group, she gained success as a solo country music artist in the 1970s and 1980s...
  
  , singer & entertainer
• October 23 – "Weird Al" Yankovic
  "Weird Al" Yankovic
  Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
  
  , music parodist
• October 25 – Nancy Cartwright
  Nancy Cartwright
  Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
  
  , voice actress ("Bart Simpson
  Bart Simpson
  Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
  
  ").
• November 10 - Mackenzie Phillips
  Mackenzie Phillips
  Mackenzie Phillips is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in American Graffiti and as rebellious teenager Julie Cooper Horvath on the sitcom One Day at a Time...
  
  , actress (One Day at a Time
  One Day at a Time
  One Day at a Time is an American situation comedy on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 until May 28, 1984. It portrays Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper and Schneider, their building superintendent .The show...
  
  )
• November 19 - Allison Janney
  Allison Janney
  Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
  
  , actress, (The West Wing)
• November 28 - Judd Nelson
  Judd Nelson
  Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
  
  , actor
• December 16 – Alison LaPlaca
  Alison LaPlaca
  Alison LaPlaca is an American actress best known for the role of acid-tongued yuppie Linda Phillips in the Fox sitcoms Duet and its spin-off Open House, both of which aired in the late 1980s....
  
  , actress
• December 30 – Tracey Ullman
  Tracey Ullman
  Tracey Ullman is a British stage and television actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author ....
  
  , English actress & comedienne
• December 31 - Val Kilmer
  Val Kilmer
  Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
  
  , American actor of film and television