A video pirate overrides an HBO movie broadcast and declares he won't pay for his cable service. ┬Johnny Carson fires guest-host Joan Rivers when he learns of her new late-night show on Fox. ┬Though some take offense to its comic portrayal of a Nazi war camp, "Hogan's Heroes" begins a six-year run. ¡"Mork to Orson: My show called 'Mork & Mindy' just started and it's an instant hit. Na nu, na nu." ║Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz struggle to persuade CBS to take on their show; "I Love Lucy" premieres. ƒEdgar Rice Burrough's hero begins appearing weekly on TV, when Ron Ely portrays "Tarzan". «Ernest Borgnine stars as "Quinton McHale", the commander of P.T. Boat 73. ¬"Dallas" star Victoria Principal and plastic surgeon Harry Glassman marry in Dallas. ┴After a 22-year-run, "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour" takes its final bow. ▓"The Virginian" begins nine seasons as the foreman with no name on the Shiloh Ranch. ¬Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crochetti, begins his nine-year TV show, with regulars The Goldiggers. ¡The best amateur disco dancers from around the country debut on the syndicated series "Dance Fever". ╗Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave take on twisted sister roles in a remake of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?". ╟"Star Trek: The Next Generation" first warps into America's living rooms. ├ABC's movie "That Certain Summer" is the first sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality on American TV. ┤After a 38-year career, CBS veteran Eric Sevareid retires at age 65. ╣The abrasive "Maude", first introduced as Edith Bunker's cousin, gets her own show and family. ┤Donna Reed briefly returns to TV to play Miss Ellie on "Dallas". └"Shaft" premieres on CBS as Richard Roundtree recreates the flamboyant streetwise private eye. ╡The series "The Love Boat" sets sail on her maiden voyage on ABC. ╣"The Life of Riley" returns to TV with William Bendix now starring as the hapless Chester A. Riley. íDuring football coverage on national TV, Ahmad Rashad and Phylicia Ayers-Allen become engaged. ┴Twenty-six years after debuting in the role, Barbara Eden returns in "I Still Dream of Jeannie". ╟Members of "The Mickey Mouse Club" TV series gather for a 25th anniversary reunion. ╝ABC recruits the comedy show "F Troop" where "pale face and redskin both turn chicken". ¡In search of adventure and treasure, Lloyd Bridges dons aqua-lungs as "Sea Hunt" premieres. ªDetective Phil Fish from the hit series "Barney Miller" gets his own show, simply titled "Fish". ╣Angie Dickinson as "LAPD Sgt. Pepper Anderson" makes her last bust when "Police Woman" is dropped by NBC. ║"The Day After" evening drama shows 100 million television viewers a post nuclear war world. ┐CBS variety-show-host Ed Sullivan dies. ╢Filmed on location throughout America, "Route 66" debuts as an hour-long adventure series. ¿The first alien in a sitcom is "Uncle Martin", Bill Bixby's "Favorite Martian". ½Fast-talker John Moschitta expresses the benefits of Federal Express in a memorable TV commercial. ╜NBC's "Another World" is the first daytime soap opera to expand to one hour all week long. ╖Jim Backus is heard but not seen as the voice of "Mr. Magoo" in the weekly cartoon series. ¼Billy Crystal originates prime time's first gay character on the explicit "Soap". ╣Phil Donahue picks up and moves his talk show from Chicago to New York. ┴When it debuts, "Family Affair" is one of the first comedies to realistically present kids' feelings. «"Hart To Hart" debuts with Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart. ╗Edward Mulhare haunts Hope Lange when "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" comes to TV. ░When "Alice" debuts we quickly learn Flo's favorite expression is "Kiss my grits". ╕Diahann Carroll originates the role of "Julia", the first black "professional" woman in a series. ░Actor David Hartman becomes the new host of ABC's "Good Morning America". ╖Dwayne Hickman first plays the hapless teenager "Dobie Gillis" who's obsessed with beautiful women. º"Hootenanny" bans singer Pete Seeger after he refuses to sign a loyalty oath to the American government. ½June and Ward Cleaver need no longer worry about the boys when "Leave It To Beaver" is canceled. ½Groucho Marx gambles on a new show as "You Bet Your Life" debuts. ₧Although rejected today as racist, "Amos 'n' Andy" is a solid hit when it first moves from radio to TV. ƒLunar landing mission "Apollo 15" transmits the first color TV signals from space. │Home Box Office goes coast-to-coast over a national satellite hookup. ╖The cabbies of New York's Sunshine Cab Company drive "Taxi" into your living room for the first time. ║Teen idol James Darren becomes trapped in time when he takes a walk through "The Time Tunnel". «The nation awats the first televised courtroom verdict. The case---the Jack Ruby trial. ¼A shy Wally Cox makes an impression on viewers as a science teacher when "Mr. Peepers" premieres. áCorny weatherman Willard Scott joins the morning lineup on "Today". ╝"The Match Game" premieres with questions like, "Samson said to Delilah, 'let go my blank'". ¬An actors' strike delays the start if the TV season from the usual September to November. ╝The Farrah Fawcett-Lee Majors union splits up, with Farrah getting their $2.5 million home. ╛The Cannonball first rolls 'round the bend to the junction ... "Petticoat Junction". ½Actress Candice Bergen, ventriloquist Edgar's daughter, marries film director Louis Malle. ╝Fox TV launches multi-talented Tracey Ullman on her own comedy show. ├A horse is a horse, that is of course, until "Mr. Ed" comes to prime time. ⌐ ╟"Gunsmoke" debuts, and Kitty pines for Matt for two decades on TV's Longest-runnig western. ú"Barmaby Jones", starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether, is first broadcast on CBS. ╡Jim Henson's "The Muppet Show" is first telecast and soon becomes a hit with adults and children alike. ╕TV preacher Pat Robertson surprises George Bush when he announces he's running for president. ┬The adventures of the Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics begin when "Emergency" premieres. ┤"60 Minutes", the magazine format news show, begins ticking for the first time. ░The Playboy Channel, a controversial pay cable TV service is launched. ╛"Dark Shadows" returns to TV as "Barnabas Collins" is resurrected in the guise of actor Ben Cross. ╟Mike Connors creates the character "Mannix", a rather unorthodox private detective. »Poor ratings force CBS to cancel the daytime soap opera "The Secret Storm" 20 years after it began. ╢Jack Paar, early "Tonight Show" host, walks off his show to protest NBC's censorship of certain jokes. ¿Jackie Gleason makes TV history by introducing "The Honeymooners" on "Cavalcade of Stars". ₧Former Miss America Phyllis George debuts on "CBS Morning News" by interviewing Burt Reynolds. ┴Mary Tyler Moore's "Mary Richards" moves to the "big city" to begin her career at WJM. ▓Cicely Tyson plays a proud black lady from youth to age 110 in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman". ╢Nat "King" Cole becomes the first major black performer to host his own network variety series. ñChet Huntley retires and says "goodnight" to David Brinkley for the last time on NBC nightly news. ▓The game show "Family Feud", with emcee Richard Dawson, premieres on ABC. ╕TV movie "The Execution of Private Slovik" depicts the first execution for desertion since the Civil War. ╢"Laugh-In" presents its last Fickle Finger of Fate Award and ends its hilarious five-year run. ╡TV history is made when "The Tonight Show" premieres with Steve Allen and a cast of comic newcomers. ó"Quincy, M.E.", the coroner cop show, first airs as one of the four shows on "The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie". ╕Philadelphia's local "Bandstand" becomes "American Bandstand", and is telecast coast to coast. ÑNewscaster Christine Craft first wins her sex bias case against station KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri. ┐ ╟Public eyes see the private lives of personalities as Ralph Edwards' "This Is Your Life" debuts. áMaxwell Smart first answers his ringing shoe phone. ¡"The Six Million Dollar Man" becomes a weekly series starring Lee Majors as the bionic "Steve Austin". ╢Charles Kuralt's last "On the Road" segment for CBS airs, after 13 years and thousands of miles. ╝"The Waltons" battle the Depression and a time slot opposite Flip Wilson in their first season. ┤"All in the Family" premieres, hitting audiences over the head with moral issues and toilet humor. │After 26 years, NBC strikes out, losing exclusive World Series coverage to ABC. ╣TV tries something really different with "Cop Rock", a musical cop show; it bombs. ╞The voyages of the "Seaview" are depicted when "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" debuts. ¼"The Lost Episodes" of "The Honeymooners", not televised since the 1950s, are aired on Showtime. ┴Abbott and Costello try figuring out "Who's on first?" as they debut with their own TV series. ƒ"Mighty Mouse" premieres and proudly comes "to save the da-a-ay!" The series lasts for 12 years. ú"Hill Street Blues", the critically acclaimed cop drama, has its first roll call. ╜"Surfside Six" becomes the Miami Beach address of three private eyes working out of a houseboat. ¿Chuck Barris creates "The Newlywed Game", in which husband and wife couples kiss and tell all. «"Monty Python's Flying Circus" makes its first transatlantic crossing to syndication on PBS. ╢Red Skelton ends 20 years of network TV with "Good health, good life, and may God bless, good night." │The TV show "The Greatest Show on Earth" starring Jack Palance debuts. ½Singing cowboy Gene Autry, his horse Champion, and sidekick Pat Buttram, take their first ride on TV. ₧"Mr. Wizard debuts, making simple scientific phenomena fascinating for kids of all ages. ƒRoommates Janet, Chrissy, and Jack triple up to start "Three's Company" on its successful run. ╣Yuppie prime-time soap "thirtysomething" surprises viewers when likable Gary is tragically killed. ╟Live from New York "Saturday Night Live" is born. ╖"Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law" begins a three-year run starring Arthur Hill and Lee Majors. │"Ooh, Ooh." "Car 54, Where Are You?" starts its TV patrol. ⌐After five years as "Suzanne Sugarbaker", Delta Burke leaves the hit show "Designing Women". ╟Diane Sawyer is named the first woman correspondent on "60 Minutes", the CBS news show. └NBC's ratings get a big boost thanks to "Shogun", starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune. ╝"ABC's Wide World of Sports" debuts, bringing viewers the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. ⌐Weight-loss guru Richard Simmons brings his fitness ideas to the little screen. ╝Joan Collins is hired to add some spice to the "Dynasty" saga. ╜Pinky Lee, vaudevillian clown, dancer, and singer, debuts on his own children's show. óJonny Quest first joins his father, Race, Hadji, and dog Bandit in exploring the world's mysteries. ¼After eight years, Andy Griffith leaves his show; "Mayberry R.F.D." spins off with a new cast. ░Leif Erikson and TV-wife Linda Cristal begin their four-year run as owners of "The High Chaparral". »Of all the videos sold this year, three of the top ten are Jane Fonda workout tapes. ─"Valerie" and "David" make daytime soap opera history as "Days of Our Lives'" first interracial couple. ╕During his first break from "Magnum, P.I.", Tom Selleck stars in "Divorce Wars: A Love Story". ╛"Twelve O'Clock High" comes to TV, recreating the adventures of a B-17 bomber squadron in WWII. ¼After a successful seven-year run, "Marcus Welby, M.D." writes his last prescription. ╕TV succeeds with two novel-based miniseries, "The Thorn Birds" and "The Winds Of War". ┐It's no secret to viewers what the contestants are hiding when "I've Got A Secret" debuts. á"Happy Days" characters Joanie (Erin Moran) and Chachi (Scott Baio) get their own TV show. ╛The show "Kukla, Fran, And Ollie" earns an Emmy for Best Children's Program. íSharon Gless and Tyne Daly first team up in "Cagney and Lacey". ╛"Amerika", ABC's controversial miniseries about a Soviet takeover of the U.S., airs. ├The U.S. Senate permits TV coverage of proceedings during a six-week test period. ┬"The Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin" debuts starring the canine descendant of a 1922 silent movie hero. óNBC's "The Big Event" presents the American network debut of the 1939 movie classic "Gone With The Wind". ╕"A.M. Chicago" becomes "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in honor of its successful host. ┴An episode of "Miami Vice" starring singer Phil Collins as a con man is first telecast. ┬NBC retires "Adam 12" after seven seasons in the day-to-day working world of two cops on patrol car duty. ╖Following earlier failures on TV, Danny Thomas successfully returns in "Make Room For Daddy". í"The Cosby Show" is first shown, giving NBC a big boost in the network ratings. └Often controversial, "Married...With Children" debuts on the Fox network. ├"The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" debuts, and its star warmly invites us to see the U.S.A. in a Chevrolet. ñMichael Douglas says good-bye to his partner Karl Malden and "The Streets Of San Francisco". ╕Little green clay figure Gumby first stars with his pet horse, Pokey, on his very own show. Ñ"Your Hit Parade" moves from radio to TV where top hits are sung and danced for your evening pleasure. ₧The rock 'n' roll show "Shindig" debuts with San Cooke, the Everly Brothers, and more. ¼Bob Dylan walks out on "The Ed Sullivan Show" after being told he cannot perform a controversial song. ½The Dave Clark Five appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show"; he calls them "nice, neat boys". ¼Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey admits to having had a baby at age 14; the baby died shortly after birth. ╞Debuting as "That Girl", Marlo Thomas is one of the first to portray a career girl living alone. «Red Skelton, a circus clown's son, begins his variety show; one of his writers is Johnny Carson. ƒFirst Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes TV viewers on a guided tour of the White House. ¬The Los Angeles Police Department recruits three new counterculture TV cops---"The Mod Squad". ░Former baseball star Chuck Connors hits a bull's-eye when adult-western "The Rifleman" debuts. ª"Hey, hey, we're The Monkees", sing the popular rock group at the opening of their new show. «"Family Ties" unravels after seven years when the final episode of the close-knit Keaton family airs. ┼Zany comedian Ernie Kovacs dies tragically in a car accident. ¬Florence Henderson and Robert Reed "marry" and form "The Brady Bunch". ▒Getting home audiences humming, "Name That Tune" debuts, offering cash awards to song-title guessers. íComedian and "Honeymooners" star Jackie Gleason dies at age 71. ├The largest worldwide TV audience tunes into the World Cup soccer finals played in Italy. ╞"Death Valley Days" debuts and for the next 23 years presents true stories of the old West. áColor televisions begin outselling black and white units. ░Viewers are shocked by the tragic suicide of "Chico And The Man" star Freddie Prinze. ╣Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife first team up in Mayberry on "The Andy Griffith Show". ¿"The Facts Of Life", a spinoff from the popular comedy "Diff'rent Strokes", gets a summer tryout run on NBC. ╗"The Odd Couple" comes to TV with Tony Randall as neatnik Felix and Jack Klugman as sloppy Oscar. ▓Instead of diaries, some Nielsen families get "people meters" to chart their TV habits. ├Cybill Shepherd and future "Die Hard" movie star Bruce Willis debut in "Moonlighting". ┴An outraged Dan Rather walks off the air when a tennis match runs over into his newscast. ├Walt Disney produces adventure and masked derring-do when "Zorro" premieres at the sign of the "Z". Ñ"The Tonight Show", with Johnny Carson, moves from New York to California. ┤Perennial kid Steven Spielberg forays into TV with "Tiny Toon Adventures", for kids of all ages. ╞No longer "The Rifleman", Chuck Connors stars in "Branded" as a coward "scorned as the one who ran". ¡John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd leave the cast of "Saturday Night Live". ╗McLean Stevenson as "Lt. Col. Henry Blake" is replaced by Harry Morgan as "Col. Sherman Potter" on "M*A*S*H". ╖The Surgeon General says that video games have negative physical and mental effects on kids. ╛Several groups protest the casting of Vanessa Redgrave in a TV film on Nazi concentration camps. ╝The Super Bowl is telecast for the first time. »Radio favorite Jack Benny brings his offbeat comedy and his violin to TV for the first time. ₧PBS's 11-hour documentary on the Civil War breaks viewing records and captivates the nation. ╞"The Tomorrow Show", a late night talk show hosted by brash newsman Tom Snyder, starts on NBC. ╡After five years, "Taxi" is dropped by ABC, but within a few months it's back on the air---on NBC. ╛Arsenio Hall "gets busy" as the first regular black host of a network late night talk show. ┼Chad Everett as "Dr. Gannon" performs his last operation when "Medical Center" ends its seven-year run. ╕A book by TV sex counselor Dr. Ruth Westheimer is recalled over a small, but serious error. ┴Bandleader Lawrence Welk bubbles onto TV screens to the delight of Middle America. úStefanie Powers teams up with Noel Harrison and becomes "April Dancer, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.". «"Josie And The Pussycats", a cartoon series about an all-girl rock band, premieres on TV. ▓Hal Linden's run on ABC as New York City police captain "Barney Miller" comes to an end. ╛"Columbo" premieres with Peter Falk in the title role instead of the producers' first choice, Bing Crosby. │"The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet", TV's longest running sitcom debuts; Ozzie's occupation is never revealed. áBill Cosby becomes the first black in TV history to co-star in a weekly dramatic series, "I Spy". ¡Hallmark Greeting Cards cares enough to send the very best when it debuts the "Hallmark Hall Of Fame". áSony makes available the first home video tape recorder, precursor of the VCR; cost: $995. ¡Uh-one, uh-two, "The Lawrence Welk Show" is through, but it goes from ABC to syndication with no problem. │
