1988 in American television
Appearance
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2015) |
For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.
List of years in American television: |
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1987–88 United States network television schedule |
1988–89 United States network television schedule |
List of American television programs currently in production |
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events. This is a list of notable events in the United States.
Events
Date | Event |
---|---|
January 4 | Nick Jr. begins as a block of Nickelodeon programming for younger children. |
Blackout, hosted by Bob Goen, premieres on CBS. The game show runs for only thirteen weeks, after which The $25,000 Pyramid, the show it replaced, returns to the air on April 4 while CBS develops a revival of Family Feud. | |
February 2 | Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, involved with a sex scandal, admits to being with prostitutes and temporarily ends his television ministry. |
February 5 | Wrestlers Hulk Hogan and André the Giant compete on The Main Event on NBC, marking the return of professional wrestling to network prime-time for the first time since 1955. |
February 23 | Future Grammy Award-winning recording artist Lauryn Hill (The Fugees frontwoman) makes her television debut on Showtime at the Apollo as a contestant of Amateur Night, where the 13-year-old Hill performed "Who's Lovin' You" by Motown Records singer Smokey Robinson, and gets booed by the audience. |
February 26 | Tom Hardy marries Simone Ravelle on the ABC soap opera General Hospital, the first interracial wedding on American daytime television. |
March 1 | Nickelodeon debuts the first Kids Choice Awards ceremony. |
March 19 | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" experiences a surge of popularity caused by television commercials featuring claymation raisin figures. The California Raisins' version of the song peaks at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. |
April 3 | In Jacksonville, Florida, NBC affiliate WJKS (now CW affiliate WCWJ) and ABC affiliate WTLV swap affiliations, reversing a swap that took place in 1980. NBC will later dub this swap one of its most successful affiliation switches ever. |
April 8 | Ana Alicia's character, Melissa Agretti, dies in a house fire on the CBS drama Falcon Crest. |
April 13 | Geraldo Rivera's live special Murder: Live from Death Row is broadcast in syndication; a highlight is Rivera's pre-taped interview with Charles Manson. |
May 1 | Magnum, P.I. broadcasts its 2-hour series finale on CBS. |
May 13 | In the season finale of the CBS drama Dallas, character J.R. Ewing pushes over the railing of his high-rise office building the character Nicholas Pierce, and Sue Ellen is so enraged that she fires three shots at Ewing. |
May 30 | After rejecting an offer to join CBS News, Peter Mansbridge replaces Knowlton Nash as anchorman of CBC Television's series The National. |
June 14 | The CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless tops the daytime ratings (deposing longtime winner General Hospital), starting an unsurpassed series of #1 victories that still continues as of 2016.[1] |
July 4 | Three years after its cancellation by ABC, CBS resurrects Family Feud for its daytime lineup, featuring new host Ray Combs. A syndicated nighttime version would premiere later in the autumn. |
August 27 | Fox affiliate WWPC-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania (a satellite of WWCP-TV in Johnstown) breaks from its simulcast with WWCP-TV to become an ABC affiliate, returning ABC to the Altoona/State College market after its previous ABC affiliate WOPC-TV went dark in 1982. |
September 10 | In Knoxville, Tennessee, CBS affiliate WBIR-TV swaps affiliations with NBC affiliate WTVK. Shortly after the switch, WTVK moves to channel 8, one of the last remaining VHF channel allocations in the U.S., and becomes WKXT-TV (now WVLT-TV).[2] |
September 19 | Square One TV returns for its second season on PBS. |
October 3 | TNT, the fourth cable network owned by Turner Broadcasting, commences programming with a broadcast of the movie Gone with the Wind. |
October 4 | As did Cher, actress Shirley MacLaine calls David Letterman an "asshole" during a taping of the NBC talk show Late Night. |
October 8 | A young Countess Vaughn (winner of Star Search) joins the cast of the NBC comedy 227 as Alexandria DeWitt, a young 11-year-old talented college student, whom the Jenkins' have as a houseguest for a year. |
October 27 | The last of Harding Lemay's "comeback" episodes are broadcast on the NBC soap opera Another World. In the final minutes of the episode, Australian actress Carmen Duncan assumed the role of the legendary bitch Iris Cory Wheeler, after the role had been vacated for many years by Beverlee McKinsey. |
November 3 | Talk show host Geraldo Rivera's nose is broken during a taping of his show when a fight begins on the set between guests. The theme of the episode was "Young Hate Mongers," and the fight originated between white supremacist Tom Metzger and liberal activist Roy Innis. |
November 21 | CBS broadcasts Inside the Sexes, a documentary produced by The Body Human's Alfred R. Kelman that features explicit content about human sexuality (including detailed visuals inside human reproductive organs), which prompts several CBS affiliates to broadcast the program with a parental warning at the beginning of the program, at a later time of the day. Some affiliates canceled their broadcast of the program. |
December 8 | Tichina Arnold (later of Martin and Everybody Hates Chris fame) joins the cast of the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope for what will prove to be its final season. |
December 26 | The Young and the Restless becomes the number 1 daytime drama on television, a title it holds to this very day.[3] |
Programs
- 20/20 (1978–present)
- 21 Jump Street (1987-1992)
- 60 Minutes (1968–present)
- 227 (1985–1990)
- A Different World (1987–1993)
- ABC World News (1978–present)
- ALF (1986–1990)
- All My Children (1970–2011)
- Amen (1986–1991)
- America This Morning (1982–present)
- America Undercover (1983–present)
- American Bandstand (1952–1989)
- American Masters (1983–present)
- Another World (1964–1999)
- As the World Turns (1956–2010)
- Cagney & Lacey (1982–1988)
- Candid Camera (1948–2004)
- CBS News Sunday Morning (1979–present)
- Cheers (1982–1993)
- College Basketball on CBS (1981–present)
- Dallas (1978–1991)
- Days of Our Lives (1965–present)
- Derrick (1974–1998)
- Designing Women (1986–1993)
- Double Dare (1986–1993)
- Duet (1987-1989)
- Dynasty (1981–1989)
- Entertainment Tonight (1981–present)
- Face the Nation (1954–present)
- Falcon Crest (1981–1990)
- Family Ties (1982–1989)
- Frontline (1983–present)
- Full House (1987–1995)
- General Hospital (1963–present)
- Good Morning America (1975–present)
- Growing Pains (1985–1992)
- Guiding Light (1952–2009)
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
- Hee Haw (1969–1993)
- Highway to Heaven (1984–1989)
- Hotel (1983–1988)
- It's a Living (1980–1982, 1985–1989)
- Jem (1985–1988)
- Jeopardy! (1964–1975, 1984–present)
- Kate and Allie (1984–1989)
- Knots Landing (1979–1993)
- L.A. Law (1986–1994)
- Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993)
- Lingo (1987–1988, 2002–2007, 2011)
- Lou Dobbs Tonight (1980–present)
- Loving (1983–1995)
- MacGyver (1985–1992)
- Magnum, P.I. (1980–1988)
- Mama's Family (1983–1984, 1986–1990)
- Married... with Children (1987–1997)
- Masterpiece Theatre (1971–present)
- Max Headroom (1987–1998)
- Matlock (1986–1996)
- Meet the Press (1947–present)
- Miami Vice (1984–1989)
- Monday Night Football (1970–present)
- Moonlighting (1985–1989)
- Mr. Belvedere (1985–1990)
- Muppet Babies (1984–1991)
- Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996)
- Mystery! (1980–present)
- Nature (1982–present)
- NBC Nightly News (1970–present)
- Newhart (1982–1990)
- Night Court (1984–1992)
- Nightline (1979–present)
- Nova (1974–present)
- One Life to Live (1968–present)
- Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986–1991)
- Perfect Strangers (1986–1993)
- Punky Brewster (1984–1988)
- Ryan's Hope (1975–1989)
- Sally (1985–2002)
- Santa Barbara (1984–1993)
- Saturday Night Live (1975–present)
- Sesame Street (1969–present)
- Soul Train (1971–2006)
- SportsCenter (1979–present)
- St. Elsewhere (1982–1988)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996)
- The Bold and the Beautiful (1987–present)
- The Cosby Show (1984–1992)
- The Disney Sunday Movie (1986–1988) retooled as The Magical World of Disney (1988–1990) on October 9
- The Golden Girls (1985–1992)
- The McNeil/Leather Newshour (1975–present)
- The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986–2011)
- The Price Is Right (1972–present)
- The Today Show (1952–present)
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)
- The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–1990)
- The Twilight Zone (1985–1988)
- The Young and the Restless (1973–present)
- thirtysomething (1987–1991)
- This Old House (1979–present)
- This Week (1981–present)
- This Week in Baseball (1977–1998, 2000–present)
- Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
- Unsolved Mysteries (1987–1998, 2001–2002, 2008–2010)
- Webster (1983–1989)
- What's Happening Now!! (1985–1988)
- Wheel of Fortune, daytime version (1975–1991)
- Who's the Boss? (1984–1992)
- Wide World of Sports (1961–1997)
Debuting this year
The following is a list of shows that premiered in 1988.
Returning this year
Show | Last aired | Previous network | New/Same network | Return date |
---|---|---|---|---|
Family Feud | 1985 | ABC | CBS | July 4 |
The Gong Show | 1980 | Syndication | Same | September 12 |
Ending this year
Made-for-TV movies and miniseries
Title | Network | Premiere date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank | CBS | April 17 | |
Case Closed | CBS | April 9 | |
David | ABC | October 28 | |
Inherit the Wind | NBC | March 20 | Emmy Award winner |
Jack the Ripper | CBS | October 21 | |
Lincoln | NBC | March 27 | Miniseries, based on Gore Vidal’s novel |
The Murder of Mary Phagan | NBC | January 24 | Emmy Award winner |
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story | NBC | May 2 | |
War and Remembrance | ABC | November 13 | Miniseries; sequel to The Winds of War |
Births
Deaths
Date | Name | Age | Notability |
---|---|---|---|
February 1 | Heather O'Rourke | 12 | Actress (Poltergeist, Happy Days) |
March 10 | Andy Gibb | 30 | Singer (Solid Gold) |
April 5 | Alf Kjellin | 68 | Actor and director |
May 15 | Andrew Duggan | 64 | Character actor (Lancer) |
May 18 | Daws Butler | 71 | Voice actor (The Jetsons, several animated commercials) |
May 27 | Florida Friebus | 78 | Actress (The Bob Newhart Show, Dobie Gillis) |
July 21 | Jack Clark | 62 | Game show announcer (Wheel of Fortune) |
July 25 | Judith Barsi | 10 | Child actress |
July 31 | Trinidad Silva | 38 | Actor (Jesus Martinez on Hill Street Blues), in a car accident |
September 11 | John Sylvester White | 68 | Actor (Welcome Back, Kotter) |
September 29 | Charles Addams | 76 | Cartoonist whose drawings inspired (The Addams Family) |
October 11 | Wayland Flowers | 48 | Puppeteer (Madame's Place) |
October 31 | John Houseman | 86 | Actor (The Paper Chase, Silver Spoons) |
December 6 | Timothy Patrick Murphy | 29 | Actor (Dallas) |
December 12 | Dick Clair | 57 | Comedy writer (The Carol Burnett Show, The Facts of Life) |
December 20 | Max Robinson | 49 | ABC World News correspondent |
December 27 | Jess Oppenheimer | 75 | Comedy writer who created (I Love Lucy) |