1993 in American television
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 1993. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
| List of years in American television: |
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| 1992–93 United States network television schedule |
| 1993–94 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television programs currently in production |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3 | ABC and CBS simultaneously broadcast their own movies based on Amy Fisher's life, with Fisher played by Drew Barrymore (for ABC) and Alyssa Milano (for CBS); NBC had broadcast its own version of the Fisher saga six days earlier (December 28, 1992). |
| January 8 | ABC affiliate KOUS-TV (now Fox affiliate KHMT) in Billings, Montana, which had suffered reception problems for most of its history, signs off the air (it will return to the air as KHMT in August 1995). Later that day, KSVI signs-on the air, taking KOUS-TV's intellectual unit and ABC affiliation with it.[1][2] |
| January 11 | Monday Night Raw airs its first episode, live from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City, on the USA Network. |
| January 16 | On Saturday Night Live, Madonna parodies Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President, as “Happy Inauguration Mr. President”. On the same episode, she imitates Sinéad O’Connor’s actions from earlier in the season. |
| January 19 | Fox expands its regular prime-time schedule to seven days a week; the network celebrates by premiering two dramas on this Tuesday: Class of '96 and Key West. |
| January 20 | Warner Bros. Television Distribution launches the Prime Time Entertainment Network. |
| January 31 | The Super Bowl, broadcast by NBC, has a solo halftime performer for the first time—Michael Jackson, who performed a medley of his most successful songs. |
| February 10 | Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson during a live primetime special on ABC, hosted at Jackson's Neverland ranch (Jackson's first TV interview since 1979 with Barbara Walters for 20/20). |
| Fox gets a full-time home in Grand Junction, Colorado when KFQX signs-on the air. | |
| February 24 | Michael Jackson receives a Grammy Legend Award at the 35th Grammy Awards, presented by his younger sister, Janet. The ceremony is broadcast by CBS. |
| February 26 | The Days of Our Lives nighttime special Night Sins is broadcast by NBC. |
| March 4 | ESPN holds the first ever ESPY Awards. The highlight is Jim Valvano's speech while accepting the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. He announced the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.[3] Less than two months after his famous ESPY speech, Valvano died following a nearly yearlong battle with metastatic cancer. |
| March 8 | Beavis and Butt-Head premieres on MTV. |
| March 26 | CBS broadcasts the last new episode of Family Feud with host Ray Combs. The series would be broadcast as reruns until September 10. |
| March 28 | Through a brokered deal with ESPN, ABC begins the first of a two year deal with the National Hockey League to televise six regional Sunday afternoon broadcasts (including the first three Sundays of the playoffs). This marked the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television[4] since 1974–75 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). |
| March 31 | General Hospital uses Jacques Urbont's musical composition "Autumn Breeze" and the exterior shot of the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for its opening and ending credits sequence for the final time. This particular sequence had been used since April 14, 1975 and was succeeded the following day by a new opening, "Faces of the Heart" by Dave Koz. |
| April 18 | The Disney Channel celebrates its 10th anniversary. |
| May 5 | Senior As the World Turns cast member Don Hastings hosts a memorial tribute to Douglas Marland. Marland, who died during March after an abdominal surgery procedure, had been the series' chief writer since 1985 and was responsible for several story lines on the CBS soap opera. |
| May 13 | A cartoon version of Barry White appears on the fourth-season finale of the Fox cartoon-sitcom The Simpsons. |
| Knots Landing airs a two-hour series finale on CBS. | |
| May 14 | Jaimee Foxworth (Judy) and Telma Hopkins (Rachel) make their final regular appearances on the ABC sitcom Family Matters; though Hopkins and Foxworth later make return appearances on the series as Rachel and Judy. When the series' fifth season premieres the next autumn, Cherie Johnson joins the cast as fan-favorite Maxine Johnson. |
| May 19 | The gang at West Beverly graduate from high school in the Season 3 finale of Beverly Hills, 90210. |
| May 20 | NBC airs the fourth season finale of Seinfeld, expanded to 60 minutes. The episode concludes a season-long story sequence involving a pilot show written by Jerry and George, with the pilot finally coming to fruition only to be refused by NBC executives. Immediately afterwards, 80.4 million people tune to NBC to watch the series finale of Cheers. |
| May 22 | Saved by the Bell broadcasts its series finale on NBC, as the cast graduates. This leads to the debut of a spin-off, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, three months later. |
| May 23 | One month after federal agents make an infamous raid on David Koresh's Waco, Texas, compound, NBC broadcasts a hastily produced television movie based on the incident, In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco; Tim Daly plays Koresh for the movie. |
| June 1 | Connie Chung begins co-anchoring CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. |
| June 16 | While appearing as a guest on Yo! MTV Raps, Tupac Shakur confesses to physically assaulting film directors Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes in retaliation for his firing from the film Menace II Society. |
| June 25 | David Letterman broadcasts his last late-night talk show with NBC. |
| June 26 | The final episode of Soul Train with Don Cornelius as host airs. |
| July 2 | Don Drysdale makes what turns out to be his final broadcast for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He provided play-by-play on the first six innings for a game between the Dodgers and Montreal Expos on KTLA 5, before handing it off to Vin Scully. Drysdale later died of a heart attack in his hotel's room, in Montreal, in the early hours of the following night. |
| August 3 | Gayle Gardner becomes the first woman to do televised play-by-play of a baseball game when she called the action of a game between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds.[5] |
| August 18 | At Clash of the Champions XXIV, the professional wrestler known as the Shockmaster botches his debut appearance in World Championship Wrestling by tripping and falling face first to the ground after crashing through a wall on Ric Flair's interview segment "A Flair for the Gold". |
| August 28 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the first Power Rangers entry, debuted on Fox Kids. |
| August 30 | Late Show with David Letterman premieres on CBS, with guests Bill Murray and musical guest Billy Joel. |
| September 3 | Sally Jessy Raphael Show airs for the last time on WABC-TV and KCAL-TV in the New York and Los Angeles areas respectively. The following Tuesday, The Les Brown Show takes over the WABC spot. Sally would move to WNBC and KNBC in said areas. |
| September 10 | PBS introduces new on-air graphics for its children's programs; the following year, PBS will repackage their existing children's programs as a new block called PTV. |
| September 12 | Raymond Burr dies of liver cancer at his ranch home in California at the age of 76. (The last Perry Mason movie, Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss, airs on NBC on November 29, carrying a dedication to Burr with an in memoriam tribute at the end of the movie.) |
| September 13 | Late Night with Conan O'Brien premieres on NBC, as O'Brien replaces David Letterman as host. |
| Animaniacs makes its debut on Fox Kids. | |
| September 16 | Marc Wilmore, Reggie McFadden, Jay Leggett, Carol Rosenthal and Anne-Marie Johnson join the cast of the Fox series In Living Color for its final season. None of the Wayans Family are involved at all during the season. |
| September 17 | TNT and Cartoon Network both get their international channels launched in the UK for the first time. |
| September 18 | Rocko's Modern Life makes its debut on Nickelodeon, becoming the network's fourth "Nicktoon" in the line-up. |
| September 19 | The 45th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is broadcast on ABC. |
| September 24 | Raven-Symoné, Nell Carter and Saundra Quarterman join the cast of the series Hangin' with Mr. Cooper on ABC. |
| October 1 | ESPN's secondary channel, ESPN2 (known as The Deuce), debuts. |
| October 15 | Jewelry TV debuts as American Collectable Network, a home shopping network. |
| October 23 | CBS's four-year broadcast relationship with Major League Baseball ends with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter's walk-off home run to win the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (Bob Seger's song "The Famous Final Scene" plays during the broadcast's closing credits.) |
| October 25 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show makes its TV debut on Fox; the movie is inter-cut with a live cast performance. |
| October 27 | Paramount Pictures and Chris-Craft Industries announce the formation of the United Paramount Network. |
| October 29 | The first Got Milk? commercial is broadcast on TV. Directed by Michael Bay, a guy obsessed by the history of the duel hears a voice on the radio asking a $10,000 question, "Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?", while making and eating a peanut butter sandwich. The question was transferred to the telephone, answers the correct answer "Aaron Burr", but the person on the telephone can't hear it clearly with his mouth full of peanut butter sandwich before time ends, and he only has a few drops of milk left. |
| November 2 | Warner Bros. Entertainment announces the formation of The WB Television Network. |
| November 15 | Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera join the cast of the Disney Channel series The New Mickey Mouse Club. |
| November 21 | Bill Bixby dies of prostate cancer at the age of 59 (six days after his final directing job on NBC's Blossom). |
| November 22 | TV Food Network makes its debut. |
| November 26 | Cartoon Network's first original animated program, The Moxy Show, debuts. |
| December 18 | CBS (which had been a broadcaster of National Football League games for 38 years) loses their rights to telecast National Football Conference games to Fox. Fox wins the rights to NFC games by offering a then-record $1.58 billion to the NFL over four years, significantly more than the $290 million per year CBS was willing to pay. |
Programs
Debuts
The following is a list of shows that premiered in 1993.
Returning this year
| Show | Last aired | Previous network | New title | New network | Returning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble | 1990 | NBC | Same | Same | January 18 |
| Brains & Brawn | 1958 | July 10 | |||
| The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show | 1966 | Super Secret Secret Squirrel | TBS/Cartoon Network | September 5 | |
| Captain Planet and the Planeteers | 1992 | TBS | The New Adventures of Captain Planet | September 12 |
Ending this year
| Date | Show | Debut |
|---|---|---|
| January 4 | WWF Prime Time Wrestling | 1985 |
| January 8 | Hotel Room | 1993 |
| January 15 | Santa Barbara | 1984 |
| January 16 | The Powers That Be | 1992 |
| January 17 | The Ben Stiller Show | |
| February 13 | Double Dare (returned in 2000) | 1986 |
| February 26 | Camp Wilder | 1992 |
| March 24 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | 1989 |
| March 31 | Homicide: Life on the Street (returned in 1994) | 1993 |
| April 16 | Major Dad | 1989 |
| April 17 | Raven | 1992 |
| April 26 | Homefront | 1991 |
| April 27 | Reasonable Doubts | |
| April 30 | The Jackie Thomas Show | 1992 |
| May 1 | Goof Troop | |
| May 5 | Quantum Leap | 1989 |
| May 12 | The Wonder Years | 1988 |
| May 13 | Knots Landing | 1979 |
| May 14 | The Golden Palace | 1992 |
| May 20 | Cheers | 1982 |
| May 22 | Saved by the Bell | 1989 |
| May 23 | Life Goes On | |
| Designing Women | 1986 | |
| The Pirates of Dark Water | 1991 | |
| Shaky Ground | 1992 | |
| May 25 | Class of '96 | 1993 |
| May 29 | Street Justice | 1991 |
| June 1 | FBI: The Untold Stories | |
| June 6 | The Torkelsons | |
| June 11 | Scrabble | 1984 |
| Shining Time Station | 1989 | |
| June 13 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | 1990 |
| June 18 | Harry and the Hendersons | 1991 |
| June 25 | Late Night with David Letterman | 1982 |
| July 6 | Room for Two | 1992 |
| July 7 | Sirens (returned in 1994) | 1993 |
| July 9 | A Different World | 1987 |
| August 6 | Perfect Strangers | 1986 |
| Brooklyn Bridge | 1991 | |
| August 14 | Back to the Future: The Animated Series | |
| August 25 | Delta | 1992 |
| September 3 | Studs | 1991 |
| October 1 | The Chevy Chase Show | 1993 |
| October 23 | Major League Baseball on CBS | 1990 |
| October 27 | South of Sunset | 1993 |
| October 30 | Angel Falls | |
| November 6 | The Addams Family | 1992 |
| November 20 | Where I Live | 1993 |
| December 1 | Moon Over Miami | |
| December 3 | Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog | |
| December 4 | Tom & Jerry Kids | 1990 |
| Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa | 1992 | |
| December 11 | Marsupilami | 1993 |
| December 15 | Joe's Life | |
| December 24 | Against the Grain | |
| December 26 | Townsend Television | |
| December 27 | Bob | 1992 |
| December 31 | The Joan Rivers Show | 1989 |
Entering syndication this year
| Show | Seasons | In Production | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st & Ten | 6 | No | [6] |
| Adventures in Wonderland | 1 | Yes | [7] |
| Coach | 5 | Yes | [6] |
| Cops | 5 | Yes | [6] |
| Empty Nest | 5 | Yes | [6] |
| Family Matters | 4 | Yes | [6] |
| Garfield and Friends | 5 | Yes | [8] |
| Rescue 911 | 4 | Yes | [6] |
| The Ren & Stimpy Show | 2 | Yes |
Network changes
| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
|---|---|---|
| Kidsbeat | TBS Superstation | TBS/Cartoon Network |
| Captain Planet and the Planeteers | ||
| Secret Squirrel | NBC | |
| Beakman's World | first-run syndication | CBS |
| Getting By | ABC | NBC |
| Silk Stalkings | CBS | USA Network |
Made-for-TV movies and miniseries
| Premiere date | Title | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| March 1 | Bloodlines: Murder in the Family | NBC |
| April 4 | Diana: Her True Story | |
| April 18-20 | The Fire Next Time | CBS |
| May 3-4 | Murder in the Heartland | ABC |
| May 9-10 | The Tommyknockers | |
| May 23 | Torch Song | NBC |
| May 24 | Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story | |
| May 26 | Without Warning: Terror in the Towers | |
| September 12 | seaQuest DSV | |
| Sherlock Holmes Returns | CBS | |
| September 20 | Danielle Steel's Star | NBC |
| October 17-19 | Danielle Steel's Message from Nam | |
| December 6 | Gypsy: A Musical Fable | CBS |
| December 23 | A Cool Like That Christmas | Fox |
Television stations
Station launches
| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Jellico/Knoxville, Tennessee | WPMC | 54 | HSN | |
| January 8 | Billings, Montana | KSVI | 6 | ABC | |
| February 14 | Jasper, Indiana | W27BG | 27 | Independent | |
| February 19 | Grand Island, Nebraska | KTVG | 17 | Fox | |
| March 12 | Buffalo, New York | WNGS-TV | 67 | Independent | |
| March 19 | Lake Havasu City, Arizona | K27EC | 27 | Cornerstone TV | |
| April 26 | Newton, New Jersey | WMBC-TV | 63 | FamilyNet/Main Street TV | |
| May 21 | Palm Beach, Florida | WFGC | 61 | CTN | |
| June 7 | Providence, Rhode Island | W23AS | 23 | Independent | |
| June 15 | Wailuku, Hawaii | KWHM | 21 | Independent | |
| September 3 | Buffalo, New York | W56DS | 56 | The Box | |
| September 15 | Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas | KMPX | 29 | Daystar | |
| November 3 | Houston, Texas | KNWS-TV | 51 | Independent | |
| November 10 | Boise, Idaho | K66EV | 66 | unknown | |
| November 17 | Bend, Oregon | K39DU | 39 | Fox | Translator of KPDX/Portland, Oregon |
| November 19 | Boise, Idaho | K49GX | 49 | Independent | |
| December 9 | Watertown, New York | W66CH | 66 | America One | |
| Unknown date | Detroit, Michigan | W44AR | 44 | Independent | |
| Eugene, Oregon | K53EA | 53 | The Box | ||
| New York City | W23BA | 23 | Independent | ||
| Quincy, Illinois (Hannibal, Missouri/Keokuk, Iowa) |
CGEM | (cable-only) | Fox | ||
Station closures
| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | KGSA-TV | 14 | Independent | May 19, 1981 | |
| Unknown date | Wenatchee, Washington | KCWT | 27 (UHF) | TBN | 1984 | |
Births
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 27 | André the Giant | 46 | Wrestler (WrestleMania) |
| March 6 | Douglas Marland | 58 | Writer (As the World Turns) |
| March 17 | Helen Hayes | 92 | Actress (The Snoop Sisters) |
| March 31 | Brandon Lee | 28 | Actor |
| April 1 | Jerry Hausner | 83 | Actor (Jerry the agent on I Love Lucy, voice of Waldo in Mr. Magoo cartoons) |
| April 3 | Pinky Lee | 85 | Comedian (The Gumby Show) |
| June 11 | Ray Sharkey | 40 | Actor (Wiseguy) |
| June 22 | Pat Nixon | 81 | First Lady of the United States and spouse of President Richard Nixon |
| June 30 | George McFarland | 64 | Actor (Our Gang) |
| July 2 | Fred Gwynne | 66 | Actor (Herman on The Munsters, Muldoon on Car 54, Where Are You?) |
| August 16 | Tom Fuccello | 56 | Actor (Dave Culver on Dallas) |
| September 4 | Hervé Villechaize | 50 | Actor (Tattoo on Fantasy Island) |
| September 12 | Raymond Burr | 76 | Actor (Perry Mason, Ironside) |
| October 12 | Leon Ames | 91 | Actor (Mister Ed) |
| October 25 | Vincent Price | 82 | Actor (The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, Hollywood Squares, Batman) |
| October 31 | River Phoenix | 23 | Actor (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) |
| November 21 | Bill Bixby | 59 | Actor (My Favorite Martian, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Incredible Hulk), director, producer |
| November 28 | Garry Moore | 78 | Game show host and Television personality (I've Got a Secret) |
| December 16 | Moses Gunn | 64 | Actor (Good Times) |
| December 22 | Don DeFore | 80 | Actor (Erskin "Thorny" Thornberry on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, George "Mr. B." Baxter on Hazel) |
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References
- Johnson, John C. "Montana Radio and TV Photos". John in Arizona. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1994 (PDF). 1994. p. C-41. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- Nelson, John (March 5, 1993). "Valvano receives award, announces foundation plan". Free Lance-Star. (Fredericksburg, Virginia). Associated Press. p. A8.
- Jim Shea (May 7, 1993). "Select few watching NHL on ABC". Hartford Courant. p. E9.
- American Sportscasters Online Archived 2013-05-05 at WebCite, "Sportscasting Firsts - 1920-Present, by Lou Schwartz, Retrieved March 3, 2012.
- "New(est) For NATPE In A Nutshell" from Broadcasting & Cable
- Buena Vista Television ad (page 44) from Broadcasting & Cable
- The Program Exchange ad (page 50) from Broadcasting & Cable
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