1989 in television
Encyclopedia
For the American TV schedule, see: 1989–90 United States network television schedule.

The year 1989 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 1989.

Events

Date Event
January 1 Affiliation swap in Miami take place late night at 3AM (3 hours ago from the first day of 1989), channels have been switched 3 places: WTVJ
WTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...

 becomes 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...

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

, WCIX
WFOR-TV
WFOR-TV, virtual channel 4.1 , is the CBS owned-and-operated station in Miami, Florida. WFOR shares its TV studio facilities with sister station WBFS-TV in Doral, near Miami International Airport, and its transmitter is located in Miramar.WFOR-TV also previously had two translator stations in the...

 (now WFOR-TV) becomes CBS from Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

, and WSVN
WSVN
WSVN, channel 7, is a television station located in Miami, Florida, USA. WSVN is owned by Sunbeam Television, and is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company. The station has its studio facilities located in North Bay Village and transmitter based in north Miami-Dade County.WSVN operates a Key...

 becomes Fox from NBC. In West Palm Beach, two stations have been moved altogether, WPEC-TV has switched from ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 to CBS, and WTVX
WTVX
WTVX is the CW-affiliated television station for West Palm Beach, Florida that is licensed to Fort Pierce. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter southwest of Palm City and I-95 in Martin County...

 has switched from CBS to become mostly independent. ABC station WPBF
WPBF
WPBF is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Gold and Treasure Coasts of South Florida. Licensed to Tequesta, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter in Palm City southwest of I-95. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios on RCA...

 signed on for this day.
January 9 Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak
Pat Sajak is a television personality, former weatherman, actor and talk show host, best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune.-Early life:...

 leaves Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

for a CBS late night talk show
The Pat Sajak Show
The Pat Sajak Show is an American late-night television talk show which aired on CBS from January 9, 1989 to April 13, 1990.-Cast:The show was hosted by Pat Sajak, best known as host of the game show Wheel of Fortune...

 while remaining on the nighttime version. His daytime hosting role will be taken by Rolf Benirschke
Rolf Benirschke
Rolf Joachim Benirschke is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1987, and was the host of the NBC daytime Wheel Of Fortune in 1989.-Early career:...

, then by Bob Goen
Bob Goen
Robert Kuehl "Bob" Goen is an American game show emcee and television personality, best known for his work on Entertainment Tonight between 1993 and 2004...

 when Wheel switches networks from 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...

 to CBS the following July.
February 20 Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....

star Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...

 is rushed to the hospital, after suffering from diabetes and liver ailment.
March 2 Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

's Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records, three years after her previous studio album. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, and fellow icon Prince on the album while co-writing and co-producing all the...

 for Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...

 debuts 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...

 during The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

.
March 24 For the first time since 1973, 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...

 reruns a 1960 telecast of Peter Pan, with Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...

 in the title role.
April 8 David Spade
David Spade
David Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and from 1997 until 2003 when he starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!. He also starred as C.J...

, and Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...

 join the cast of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

.
April 30 CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...

, the first 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...

 cable channel and the first financial cable channel, is launched.
May 14 The last ever Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

 short aired on The Tracy Ullman Show. This was later aired a full-length Christmas episode on December 17.
May 18 Donna Mills
Donna Mills
Donna Mills is an American actress, most well known for her role as Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing.-Early years:...

 makes her final regular appearance as villainess Abby on Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...

.
May 19 Sue Ellen plans to reveal a tell-all movie on J.R. Ewing, and hopes to make him "the laughingstock of Texas," in the season finale of 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...

.
August 14 Cliff and Nina Warner
Cliff and Nina Warner
Cliff Warner and Nina Cortlandt are fictional characters and a supercouple from the 1980s Cliff and Nina storyline on the American daytime drama All My Children. Cliff was portrayed by Peter Bergman, and Nina was portrayed by Taylor Miller....

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

, a record that has not been matched in the soap world.
September 29 Susan Sullivan
Susan Sullivan
Susan Michaela Sullivan is an American actress, known for several notable roles on various television programs. Sullivan played the role of Lenore Curtin Delaney on the daytime soap opera, Another World ; waitress Lois Adams during the first season of the comedy It's a Living, Maggie Gioberti...

's character, Maggie Gioberti Channing, is killed off on the season premiere of Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....

.
September 30 NBC airs its final edition of the Major League Baseball Game of the Week
Major League Baseball Game of the Week
The Major League Baseball Game of the Week is the de facto title for over-the-air, nationally televised coverage of regular season Major League Baseball games...

(before the package moves over to CBS). Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...

 and Tony Kubek
Tony Kubek
Anthony Christopher "Tony" Kubek is a retired American professional baseball player and television broadcaster....

 call the action from Toronto's SkyDome
Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...

, as the Toronto Blue Jays
1989 Toronto Blue Jays season
The Toronto Blue Jays season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Blue Jays finishing first in the American League East with a record of 89 wins and 73 losses...

 defeat the Baltimore Orioles
1989 Baltimore Orioles season
The Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing 2nd in the American League East with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses. The team was known as the Comeback Kids as they rebounded from the 54 wins and 107 losses of the 1988 season...

 to clinch the American League Eastern Division
American League East
The American League Eastern Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions . This division was created before the start of the 1969 season along with the Western Division...

 title.
October 6 Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...

 is already on medical leave from Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....

, when her character, Angela Channing, is in a coma.
December 18 A seldom-seen 1956
1956 in television
The year 1956 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1956.-Events:*January 28 – Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on CBS on Stage Show, the first of six appearances on the series....

 Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 special episode of 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...

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

.
Unknown Charlie O'Donnell
Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...

 returns to Wheel of Fortune after a 9 year absence.

Debuts

Date Show
January 3 The Arsenio Hall Show
The Arsenio Hall Show
The Arsenio Hall Show is an American variety/talk show that aired late weeknights in syndication from January 3, 1989 to May 27, 1994. The show was created and hosted by comedian/actor Arsenio Hall.- Background :...

in Syndication
January 9 The Pat Sajak Show
The Pat Sajak Show
The Pat Sajak Show is an American late-night television talk show which aired on CBS from January 9, 1989 to April 13, 1990.-Cast:The show was hosted by Pat Sajak, best known as host of the game show Wheel of Fortune...

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...

Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...

in Syndication
January 29 Shining Time Station
Shining Time Station
Shining Time Station is an American children's television series co-created by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by The Britt Allcroft Company and Quality Family Entertainment in New York for New York City PBS Station WNET, and was filmed first in New York and then in Toronto...

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

February 28 Coach
Coach (TV series)
Coach is an American television sitcom that aired for nine seasons on ABC from 1989 to 1997. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional Division I-A college football team, the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles...

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...

March 5 Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Created by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove, it featured the established Disney characters Chip 'n' Dale in a new setting. The series premiered on the Disney Channel on March 4, 1989,...

in Syndication
March 11 COPS
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...

on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

March 26 Quantum Leap 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...

March 27 Generations on NBC
April 14 The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour was a short-lived television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the popular Muppet characters. Only nine of the twelve episodes produced managed to air on NBC before the low-rated...

on NBC
April 18 Rescue 911
Rescue 911
Rescue 911 is an informational reality-based television series, hosted by William Shatner. Originally intended to be only a set of three TV specials, Rescue 911 was picked up by CBS for the 1989 fall season after two specials aired on April 18, 1989 and May 9, 1989...

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...

June 4 McGee and Me! in Syndication
June 10 Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...

on HBO
July 5 Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

on NBC
July 14 Hey Dude
Hey Dude
Hey Dude is an American Western comedy series that aired from 1989 to 1991. The show was broadcast on the Nickelodeon network, and currently airs reruns on Teen Nick...

on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....

August 20 Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...

on NBC
August 28 Open House
Open House (TV series)
Open House is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from August 27, 1989 to July 21, 1990. The series was a spin-off of the Fox series Duet...

on Fox
September 2 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1989 TV series)
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a half-hour American animated television series based on the successful toyline from Hasbro and the comic book series from Marvel Comics. The series was produced by DIC Entertainment and ran from 1989 to 1991....

in Syndication
September 4 The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American television series based upon Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 video games. It was originally broadcast via first-run syndication to mostly independent or Fox television stations from September 4, 1989, to December 1, 1989, with...

in Syndication
September 8 The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda (TV series)
The Legend of Zelda is an American animated series based on the The Legend of Zelda video game series for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The plot follows the adventures of Link and Princess Zelda as they defend the kingdom of Hyrule from an evil wizard named Ganon...

in Syndication
September 9 Captain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master was an American animated television series that aired on television from 1989 to 1991 as part of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup on NBC. The show incorporated elements from many of the most popular Nintendo games of the time...

on NBC
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid (TV series)
The Karate Kid was a thirteen episode animated series which debuted on NBC's Saturday morning lineup. It starred Joey Dedio, Robert Ito, and Janice Kawaye. It was based on the popular Karate Kid series of films...

on NBC
September 12 Chicken Soup
Chicken Soup (TV series)
Chicken Soup is an American sitcom that aired on ABC, starring Jackie Mason and Lynn Redgrave.-Overview:The series focuses on the interfaith relationship of a middle-aged Jewish man, Jackie , and an Irish Catholic woman, Maddie...

on ABC
Life Goes On
Life Goes On (TV series)
Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989 to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thacher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky...

on ABC
September 13 Wolf
Wolf (TV series)
Wolf was a 1989 CBS television series starring Jack Scalia and Nicolas Surovy. It featured Scalia as Tony Wolf, a former San Francisco cop turned private detective and Surovy as the district attorney who had caused him to be discharged from the force...

on CBS
September 16 American Gladiators in Syndication
Camp Candy
Camp Candy
Camp Candy was a 1989-1992 animated television series produced by DiC Entertainment, with comedian John Candy providing the voice for an animated version of himself.-Overview:The show was set in a fictional summer camp run by Candy...

on NBC
The California Raisin Show
The California Raisin Show
The California Raisin Show is an animated television series based on the claymation advertising characters The California Raisins. The show is based on an Emmy Award-winning claymation special, Meet the Raisins!, which originally aired on CBS in 1988...

 on CBS
Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur is an animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series originally aired on the CBS Kids block on CBS from 1989 to 1991. The series was developed for television by Karen Willson and Chris Weber....

on CBS
Island Son
Island Son
Island Son was a CBS television medical drama during its 1989-90 schedule.Island Son marked the return to regular weekly series television of Richard Chamberlain, who had not so appeared since his Dr. Kildare series almost 25 years earlier...

on CBS
Rude Dog & the Dweebs
Rude Dog
Rude Dog is a fictional white cartoon dog originally created by artist Brad McMahon while under contract to Sun Sportswear in the 1980s as part of a line of surfing- and skateboarding-related clothing.-Sun Sportswear Projects:...

 on CBS
September 17 Sister Kate on NBC
September 18 Alien Nation on Fox
The Famous Teddy Z
The Famous Teddy Z
The Famous Teddy Z is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the fall of 1989. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and inspired by the true story of Jay Kantor, who was a mailroom clerk at MCA and later became Marlon Brando's agent.-Synopsis:...

on CBS
Hard Copy
Hard Copy
Hard Copy is an American tabloid news television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. Hard Copy was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence....

in Syndication
Major Dad
Major Dad
Major Dad is an American sitcom created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly...

on CBS
The People Next Door
The People Next Door
The People Next Door is an American situation comedy which aired briefly on CBS as part of its Fall 1989 schedule.-Synopsis:Set in Covington, Ohio, The People Next Door stars Jeffrey Jones, previously regarded as a character actor, as cartoonist Walter Kellogg, a man whose imagination was so vivid...

on CBS
September 20 A Peaceable Kingdom
A Peaceable Kingdom
A Peaceable Kingdom is an American television drama series that aired in 1989. The series was short-lived and was cancelled after only seven episodes .-Series history:...

on CBS
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....

on ABC
The Nutt House
The Nutt House
The Nutt House is a short-lived situation comedy that aired on NBC as part of its 1989 Fall lineup.-Overview:The Nutt House was the creation of executive producers Mel Brooks and Alan Spencer and was a broad farce about a once-prestigious New York City hotel which had of late fallen on hard times,...

on NBC
The Young Riders
The Young Riders
The Young Riders is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders based at the Sweetwater Station in the Nebraska Territory during the years leading up to the American Civil War...

on ABC
Top of the Hill
Top of the Hill
Top of the Hill is a short-lived political drama series aired by CBS as part of its 1989 fall lineup.-Synopsis:Top of the Hill starred William Katt as U.S...

 on CBS
September 22 Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...

on NBC
Family Matters
Family Matters (TV series)
Family Matters is an American sitcom about a middle-class African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois, which ran on national television for nine full seasons. The series was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers, but revolves around the Winslow family...

on ABC
Free Spirit
Free Spirit (TV series)
Free Spirit is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran on ABC during the 1989-1990 television season. The series was originally produced by ELP Communications. It ran from September 22, 1989 to January 14, 1990.-Overview:...

on ABC
Hardball
Hardball (1989 TV series)
Hardball is an American crime drama television series that ran on NBC during the 1989-1990 television schedule.-Synopsis:Hardball is a variation of the buddy cop genre that focused on two cops, Charlie "C.B." Battles and Joe "Kaz" Kaczierowski . Battles is a 45-year-old hard-nosed veteran cop who...

on NBC
Snoops on CBS
September 23 Saturday Night with Connie Chung on CBS
September 24 Booker
Booker (TV series)
Booker is an American crime drama series starring Richard Grieco that aired on the Fox Network from September 24, 1989 to May 6, 1990. The series was a spin-off of 21 Jump Street...

on Fox
Homeroom
Homeroom
Homeroom or advisory is the classroom session in which a teacher records attendance and makes announcements. It can also be called Registration or Planning Period...

on ABC
October 13 Mancuso, F.B.I.
Mancuso, F.B.I.
Mancuso, F.B.I. was a crime drama which was aired by NBC as part of its 1989-90 schedule.Mancuso, F.B.I. starred veteran actor Robert Loggia as Nick Mancuso, a hardened veteran of the Bureau now assigned to Washington, D.C., where he was largely regarded by his superiors and bureaucratic types as a...

 on NBC
November 26 America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...

on ABC
December 17 The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

on Fox

1950s

  • 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).
  • 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).
  • 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).
  • 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).

1960s

  • Wide World of Sports (1961–1997)
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
    The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....

    (1962-1992)
  • General Hospital
    General Hospital
    General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....

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

    (1964–1999).
  • Days of our Lives
    Days of our Lives
    Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

    (1965–present).
  • 60 Minutes
    60 Minutes
    60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....

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

    (1968–present).
  • Hee Haw
    Hee Haw
    Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...

    (1969–1993).
  • Sesame Street
    Sesame Street
    Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

    (1969–present).

1970s

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

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

    (1970–present).
  • NBC Nightly News
    NBC Nightly News
    NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...

    (1970–present)
  • Masterpiece Theatre
    Masterpiece Theatre
    Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...

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

    (1971–present).
  • The Price Is Right
    The Price Is Right
    The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...

    (1972–present).
  • The Young and the Restless
    The Young and the Restless
    The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...

    (1973–present).
  • Derrick
    Derrick (TV series)
    Derrick is a German TV series produced by Telenova Film und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG 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 Derrick is a...

    (1974–1998).
  • Nova
    NOVA (TV series)
    Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...

    (1974–present)
  • Good Morning America
    Good Morning America
    Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...

    (1975–present)
  • The McNeil/Leather Newshour (1975–present)
  • Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...

    (1975–present).
  • Wheel of Fortune
    Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
    Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

    , daytime version (1975–1991).
  • 20/20 (1978–present).
  • 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...

    (1978-1991).
  • ABC World News
    World News with Charles Gibson
    ABC World News is the flagship daily evening program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company television network in the United States. Currently, the weekday editions are anchored by Diane Sawyer and the weekend editions are anchored by David Muir. The program has been...

    (1978–present)
  • CBS News Sunday Morning
    CBS News Sunday Morning
    CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...

    (1979–present)
  • Knots Landing
    Knots Landing
    Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...

    (1979–1993).
  • Nightline (1979–present).
  • SportsCenter
    SportsCenter
    SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...

    (1979–present)
  • This Old House
    This Old House
    This Old House is an American home improvement magazine and television series aired on the American television station Public Broadcasting Service which follows remodeling projects of houses over a number of weeks.-Overview:...

    (1979–present).

1980-1983

  • Lou Dobbs Tonight
    Lou Dobbs Tonight
    Lou Dobbs Tonight is an American editorial commentary and discussion program hosted by Lou Dobbs, previously broadcast on CNN and currently on Fox Business Network. The hour-long show aired live on evenings every weekday, and was replayed in the overnight/early morning hours. It covered the major...

    (1980-2009)
  • Mystery!
    Mystery!
    Mystery! is an episodic television series that debuted in 1980 in the USA. It airs on PBS and is produced by WGBH...

    (1980–present)
  • College Basketball on CBS
    College Basketball on CBS
    College Basketball on CBS presented by State Farm is a presentation of men's NCAA Division I basketball games on CBS...

    (1981–present)
  • Entertainment Tonight
    Entertainment Tonight
    Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

    (1981–present).
  • Dynasty
    Dynasty (TV series)
    Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...

    (1981—1989)
  • Falcon Crest
    Falcon Crest
    Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....

    (1981–1990)
  • This Week
    This Week (ABC TV series)
    This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...

    (1981–present)
  • America This Morning (1982–present)
  • Cheers
    Cheers
    Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...

    (1982–1993)
  • Family Ties
    Family Ties
    Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...

    (1982-1989)
  • Late Night with David Letterman
    Late Night with David Letterman
    Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...

    (1982–1993)
  • Nature
    Nature (TV series)
    Nature is a wildlife television program produced by Thirteen/WNET New York. It has been distributed to United States public television stations by the PBS television service since its debut on October 10, 1982. Some episodes may appear in syndication on many PBS member stations around the U.S. and...

    (1982–present)
  • Newhart
    Newhart
    Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...

    (1982–1990)
  • America Undercover
    America Undercover
    America Undercover is a television series of documentaries that airs on the cable television network HBO. Within the series are several sub-series, such as "Autopsy", "Real Sex" and "Taxicab Confessions". The series began in 1983 and, after a brief time being broadcast weekly in 2001, is now...

    (1983–present)
  • American Masters
    American Masters
    American Masters is a PBS television show which produces biographies on the artists, actors and writers of the United States who have left a profound impact on the nation's popular culture. It is produced by WNET in New York City...

    (1983–present)
  • Frontline (1983–present)
  • Loving
    Loving (TV series)
    Caden Grant Carlton loves Mika Ayako Ryan more.Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 26, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes...

    (1983–1995).
  • Webster
    Webster (TV series)
    Webster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...

    (1983–1989).
  • Wheel of Fortune
    Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
    Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

    , syndicated version (1983–present)

1984

  • Kate & Allie
    Kate & Allie
    Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS...

    (1984–1989)
  • Jeopardy!
    Jeopardy!
    Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...

    (1964–1975, 1984–present).
  • Miami Vice
    Miami Vice
    Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...

    (1984–1989).
  • Muppet Babies (1984–1991)
  • Murder, She Wrote
    Murder, She Wrote
    Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...

    (1984–1996)
  • Night Court
    Night Court
    Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...

    (1984–1992)
  • Santa Barbara
    Santa Barbara (TV series)
    Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...

    (1984–1993)
  • The Cosby Show
    The Cosby Show
    The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

    (1984–1992)
  • Who's the Boss?
    Who's the Boss?
    Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984 to April 25, 1992...

    (1984–1992)

1985

  • 227
    227 (TV series)
    227 is an American situation comedy that originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, until May 6, 1990. The series starred Marla Gibbs as a sharp-tongued, inner-city resident gossip and housewife, Mary Jenkins...

    (1985–1990)
  • Growing Pains
    Growing Pains
    Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...

    (1985–1992)
  • Larry King Live
    Larry King Live
    Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....

    (1985–present)
  • MacGyver
    MacGyver
    MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...

    (1985–1992)
  • Moonlighting
    Moonlighting (TV series)
    Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...

    (1985–1989).
  • Mr. Belvedere
    Mr. Belvedere
    Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...

    (1985–1990)
  • National Geographic Explorer
    National Geographic Explorer
    National Geographic Explorer is an American documentary television series that originally premiered on Nickelodeon on April 7, 1985, after having been produced as a less costly and intensive alternative to PBS's National Geographic Specials by Pittsburgh station WQED...

    (1985–present)
  • Sally
    Sally Jessy Raphaël
    Sally Lowenthal , better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American talk show host, known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades.-Early years:...

    (1985–2002)
  • The Golden Girls
    The Golden Girls
    The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which 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 home in Miami, Florida...

    (1985–1992)

1986

  • ALF
    ALF (TV series)
    ALF is an American science fiction sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1986 to 1990, created by Paul Fusco. The title character was Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF , who crash lands in the garage of the suburban middle-class Tanner family.The series starred Max...

    (1986–1990)
  • Amen
    Amen (TV series)
    Amen is an American television sitcom produced by Carson Productions that ran from September 27, 1986 to May 11, 1991 on NBC. Set in Sherman Hemsley's real-life hometown of Philadelphia, Amen starred Hemsley as the deacon of a church and was part of a wave of successful sitcoms on NBC in the 1980s...

    (1986–1991)
  • Designing Women
    Designing Women
    Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered on the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by head writer...

    (1986–1993)
  • Double Dare (1986–1993)
  • L.A. Law
    L.A. Law
    L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

    (1986–1994)
  • Mama's Family
    Mama's Family
    Mama's Family is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 22, 1983. It was cancelled in May 1984, but NBC would continue to air reruns until September 1985. In September 1986, Mama's Family returned in first-run syndication, where it aired for an additional four seasons,...

    (1983–1984, 1986–1990)
  • Matlock
    Matlock (TV series)
    Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...

    (1986–1996)
  • Pee-wee's Playhouse
    Pee-wee's Playhouse
    Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more...

    (1986–1990)
  • Perfect Strangers
    Perfect Strangers (TV series)
    Perfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean...

    (1986–1993)

1987

  • A Different World (1987–1993)
  • CBS Morning News
    CBS Morning News
    For CBS's main morning news program, formerly known as CBS Morning News, see The Early Show.CBS Morning News is the half-hour daily television broadcast from CBS News that airs following Up to the Minute and features late-breaking news stories, weather forecasts, and sports scores...

    (1987–present)
  • College GameDay, football version (1987–present)
  • Full House
    Full House
    Full House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...

    (1987–1995)
  • Married... with Children
    Married... with Children
    Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...

    (1987–1997)
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
    Star Trek: The Next Generation
    Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...

    (1987–1994)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)
    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. The pilot was shown during the week of December 28, 1987 in syndication as a five part miniseries and began its official run on October 1, 1988...

    (1987–1996)
  • The Bold and the Beautiful
    The Bold and the Beautiful
    The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....

    (1987–present)
  • The Tracey Ullman Show
    The Tracey Ullman Show
    The Tracey Ullman Show was an American television variety show, hosted by British comedian and onetime pop singer Tracey Ullman. It debuted on April 5, 1987 as the Fox network's second primetime series after Married... with Children, and ran until May 26, 1990. The show blended sketch comedy shorts...

    (1987–1990)
  • thirtysomething (1987–1991)
  • Unsolved Mysteries
    Unsolved Mysteries
    Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...

    (1987–1998, 2001–2002, 2008–present).

1988

  • America's Most Wanted
    America's Most Wanted
    America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...

    (1988–present).
  • American Experience
    American Experience
    American Experience is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service Public television stations in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American history...

    (1988–present).
  • 48 Hours
    48 Hours (TV series)
    48 Hours is a documentary and news program broadcast on the CBS television network since January 19, 1988. The program originally presented documentaries of various events related to a particular subject occurring within a 48-hour period, and is credited as one of the first to air a "reality show"...

    (1988–present)
  • The Adventures of Superboy
    The Adventures of Superboy
    The Adventures of Superboy was a proposed TV series that was put into production in 1961. It was meant to capitalize on the success of Adventures of Superman, which was cancelled years earlier. A revival was planned, but abandoned following the death of George Reeves, but only a pilot episode,...

    (1988–1992)
  • Empty Nest (1988–1995)
  • Family Feud
    Family Feud
    Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...

    (1976–1985, 1988–1995, 1999–present)
  • Garfield and Friends
    Garfield and Friends
    Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show was produced by Film Roman, in association with United Feature Syndicate and Paws, Inc., and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994, with...

    (1988–1995)
  • Murphy Brown
    Murphy Brown
    Murphy Brown is an American 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, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...

    (1988–1998)
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000
    Mystery Science Theater 3000
    Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....

    (1988–1999)
  • Quantum Leap (1988–1993)
  • Roseanne
    Roseanne (TV series)
    Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...

    (1988–1997)
  • The Wonder Years
    The Wonder Years
    The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....

    (1988–1993)

Returning this year

Show Last Aired Previous Network Retitled as/Same New/Returning/Same Network Returning
The Mickey Mouse Club 1979 Syndication The All-New Mickey Mouse Club Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

April 24

Ending this year

Date Show Debut
January 14 Snorks 1984
January 19 Knightwatch
Knightwatch
Knightwatch was a television drama aired by ABC as part of its fall 1988 lineup. It had been promoted as an original series in light of summer reruns continuing into the fall due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike....

1988
January 21 Dirty Dancing
Dirty Dancing (1988 TV series)
Dirty Dancing is a 1988 television series on the CBS network. It was based on the film Dirty Dancing but had none of the original cast or staff. It starred Patrick Cassidy as Johnny and Melora Hardin as Baby...

1988
Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon
Simon & Simon is an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker.-History:The original 1978 pilot called Pirate's Key was set in Florida...

1981
February 20 Almost Grown 1988
March 9 Webster
Webster (TV series)
Webster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...

1983
March 18 It's a Living 1985
Murphy's Law
Murphy's Law (American TV series)
Murphy's Law is an American television series starring George Segal and Maggie Han. The series premiered November 2, 1988 on ABC. On March 9, 1989, ABC announced that it had canceled the series and that the final episode would air on March 18, 1989....

1988
March 19 Creepy Crawlies
Creepy Crawlies
Creepy Crawlies was a stop motion animation series created by Cosgrove Hall. The series consisted of 52 ten-minute episodes, which were broadcast on Children's ITV between 1987 and 1989...

1987
March 24 Sale of The Century
Sale of the Century
Sale of the Century is a television game show format that has been screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. The show found its biggest success in Australia, where it aired weeknights from 1980 to 2001...

1983
Super Password
Password (game)
Password is an American television game show which was created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman Productions. The host was Allen Ludden, who had previously been well known as the host of the G.E...

1984
March 25 TV 101
TV 101
TV 101 is an American drama series that aired on CBS from 1988 until 1989. The series starred Sam Robards, Brynn Thayer, Leon Russom and Andrew Cassese. Other notable cast members include Stacey Dash, Teri Polo, Alex Désert and Matt LeBlanc...

1988
March 31 Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...

1986
April 14 Unsub
Unsub (TV series)
Unsub was an American television series that aired on NBC from February 3, 1989 to April 14, 1989. The series centered around an elite FBI forensic team that investigates serial murderers and other violent crimes. Unsub is an abbreviation for the unknown subject of an...

1989
May 7 Duet
Duet (TV series)
Duet is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from April 19, 1987 to August 20, 1989...

1989
May 10 Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...

1981
May 14 Family Ties
Family Ties
Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...

1982
Moonlighting
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...

1985
May 21 Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...

1984
May 22 Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie
Kate & Allie is an American television situation comedy which ran from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989. Kate & Allie first aired on CBS as a midseason replacement series and only six episodes were initially commissioned, but the favorable response from critics and viewers alike easily convinced CBS...

1984
July 30 The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour
The Jim Henson Hour was a short-lived television series that aired on NBC in 1989. It was developed as a showcase for The Jim Henson Company's various puppet creations, including the popular Muppet characters. Only nine of the twelve episodes produced managed to air on NBC before the low-rated...

1989
August 4 Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...

1984
October 7 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
November 7 Chicken Soup
Chicken Soup (TV series)
Chicken Soup is an American sitcom that aired on ABC, starring Jackie Mason and Lynn Redgrave.-Overview:The series focuses on the interfaith relationship of a middle-aged Jewish man, Jackie , and an Irish Catholic woman, Maddie...

1989
November 30 The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American television series based upon Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 video games. It was originally broadcast via first-run syndication to mostly independent or Fox television stations from September 4, 1989, to December 1, 1989, with...

1989
December 1 The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda (TV series)
The Legend of Zelda is an American animated series based on the The Legend of Zelda video game series for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The plot follows the adventures of Link and Princess Zelda as they defend the kingdom of Hyrule from an evil wizard named Ganon...

1989
December 8 Denver, the Last Dinosaur
Denver, the Last Dinosaur
Denver, the Last Dinosaur is a U.S.-French cartoon for children originally released in 1988 by World Events Productions . It was nationally syndicated throughout the United States in 1988 with reruns airing until 1990...

1988
December 9 The California Raisin Show
The California Raisin Show
The California Raisin Show is an animated television series based on the claymation advertising characters The California Raisins. The show is based on an Emmy Award-winning claymation special, Meet the Raisins!, which originally aired on CBS in 1988...

1989
December 16 The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid (TV series)
The Karate Kid was a thirteen episode animated series which debuted on NBC's Saturday morning lineup. It starred Joey Dedio, Robert Ito, and Janice Kawaye. It was based on the popular Karate Kid series of films...

1989

Changes of network affiliation

Show Moved from Moved to
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...

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...

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...

The Gummi Bears 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...

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...

Fun House
Fun House (game show)
Fun House was a United States children's television game show that aired from September 5, 1988 to April 13, 1991. Two teams , each consisting of a boy and a girl, played messy games and answered questions to win a chance to run through an obstacle-strewn Fun House at the end of the show. It was...

first-run syndication Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...


Births

  • January 3 – Alex D. Linz
    Alex D. Linz
    Alexander David Linz is an American actor who starred in several late 1990s and early 2000s films and television programs as a child actor. His notable film roles include Home Alone 3 and Max Keeble's Big Move ....

    , American actor
  • February 7 – Louisa Lytton
    Louisa Lytton
    Louisa Lytton is an English actress born in Camden and living in Islington. She rose to fame in 2005 when joining EastEnders as Ruby Allen. After leaving EastEnders in late 2006, Lytton joined The Bill as PC Beth Green, who she played from May 2007 to March 2009. She also appeared on Strictly...

    , British actress
  • March 25 – Alyson Michalka
    Alyson Michalka
    Alyson Renae "Aly" Michalka , often credited as Aly, is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and musician. Michalka gained fame for playing the role of Marti Perkins in the CW television drama Hellcats...

    , American actress
  • April 18 – Alia Shawkat
    Alia Shawkat
    Alia Martine Shawkat is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Maeby Fünke in the Fox series Arrested Development.- Personal life :...

    , American actress
  • May 5 – Chris Brown, American singer and actor
  • June 18 – Renee Olstead
    Renee Olstead
    Rebecca Renee Olstead is an American actress and singer. Active since childhood as an actress, she is best known for her roles in the TV sitcoms Still Standing as Lauren Miller and The Secret Life of the American Teenager as Madison Cooperstein...

    , American actress
  • July 23 – Daniel Radcliffe
    Daniel Radcliffe
    Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....

    , English actor
  • August 19 – Lil' Romeo, American rapper and actor
  • August 21 – Hayden Panettiere
    Hayden Panettiere
    Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...

    , American actress, model, and singer
  • October 1 – Brie Larson
    Brie Larson
    Brie Larson is an American actress and pop rock singer/songwriter. She is best known for her roles in United States of Tara, Sleepover, Remember The Daze and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...

    , American actress
  • December 7 – Basia A'Hern
    Basia A'Hern
    Basia A'Hern is an Australian actress. She is well known for her roles on television shows, including, The Sleepover Club, McLeod's Daughters, Out of the Blue, Don't Blame the Koalas, and Double Trouble....

    , Anglo-Australian actress
  • December 22 – Jordin Sparks
    Jordin Sparks
    Jordin Brianna Sparks is an American pop / R&B singer-songwriter and actress. She hails from Glendale, Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in Idol history...

    , TV American singer
  • December 28 – Mackenzie Rosman
    Mackenzie Rosman
    Mackenzie Lyn Rosman is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television role as Ruthie Camden on The WB/The CW's longest-running show 7th Heaven.- Personal life :Rosman was born in Charleston, South Carolina....

    , American actress

Deaths

  • February 5 – Joe Raposo
    Joe Raposo
    Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was a Portuguese-American composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie"...

    , 51, composer (various songs from Sesame Street and The Electric Company
    The Electric Company
    The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...

    , as well as the Three's Company
    Three's Company
    Three's Company is an American sitcom that aired from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984, on ABC. It is based on the British sitcom, Man About the House....

    theme song)
  • April 26 – Lucille Ball
    Lucille Ball
    Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...

    , 77, actress, comedian
    Comedian
    A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

     (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...

    , The Lucy Show
    The Lucy Show
    The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...

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

    )
  • May 1 – Douglass Watson
    Douglass Watson
    Larkin Douglass Watson III was an American actor.Before an acting career, he received two Purple Heart awards for his service in World War II. A character actor since 1950, his most notable roles were in the movies Julius Caesar , Sayonara , and The Money Pit...

    , 68, soap opera actor (Mac on Another World)
  • May 7 - Guy Williams, 65, actor (Zorro
    Zorro
    Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....

    , Lost in Space
    Lost in Space
    Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...

    )
  • May 20 – Gilda Radner
    Gilda Radner
    Gilda Susan Radner was an American comedian and actress, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978.-Early life:...

    , 42, actress, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
  • July 3 – Jim Backus
    Jim Backus
    James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...

    , 76, actor (Thurston Howell on Gilligan's Island
    Gilligan's Island
    Gilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...

    and voice of Mr. Magoo
    Mr. Magoo
    Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem...

    )
  • July 4 - Vic Perrin
    Vic Perrin
    Vic Perrin was an American actor and voice artist. He is best remembered as the "Control Voice" in the original version of the TV series The Outer Limits ....

    , 73, voice actor, the original Control Voice The Outer Limits, and in Hanna-Barbera cartoons
  • July 10 – Mel Blanc
    Mel Blanc
    Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

    , 81, voice actor who spoke for Bugs Bunny
    Bugs Bunny
    Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...

    , Daffy Duck
    Daffy Duck
    Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...

    , and countless other cartoon characters, and especially in Warner Brothers cartoons. He also did irritating voices for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
    Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
    Buck Rogers in the 25th Century may mean:* Buck Rogers in the 25th Century A.D., a 1929 comic, see Buck Rogers#Comic strip* Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a 1933 novella, see Buck Rogers#Amazing Stories...

    .
  • July 18 – Rebecca Schaeffer
    Rebecca Schaeffer
    Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was an American actress best known for her role in the sitcom My Sister Sam...

    , 21, actress (My Sister Sam
    My Sister Sam
    My Sister Sam is an American situation comedy series that aired on CBS from 1986 to 1988. It was created by Stephen Fischer and executive produced by Diane English.-Synopsis:...

    ) -- murdered by a stranger!
  • September 17 – Jay Stewart
    Jay Stewart
    Jay Fix , known professionally as Jay Stewart, was an American television and radio announcer known primarily for his work on game shows. One of his longest-lasting roles was as the announcer on the game show Let's Make a Deal, which he announced throughout the 1960s and 1970s...

    , 71, an announcer of Let's Make a Deal
    Let's Make a Deal
    Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...

    and other game shows, (suicide
    Suicide
    Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

    )
  • October 4 – Graham Chapman
    Graham Chapman
    Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...

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

    ), one day before the 20th anniversary of that show's premiere.
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