1997 in American television
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 1997. Events listed include television show 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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1996–97 United States network television schedule |
1997–98 United States network television schedule |
List of American television programs currently in production |
Events
Date | Event |
---|---|
January 1 | The television rating system, a system similar to the one used for motion pictures, goes into effect. |
WWOR-TV's WOR EMI Service is officially discontinued, re-uplinked into a local version a month later. | |
Cartoon Network gets its very first official launch for the first time in New Zealand. | |
Dexter's Laboratory Season 1 Finale on Cartoon Network. | |
The Emergency Alert System comes into effect and replaces the Emergency Broadcast System. | |
January 3 | Bryant Gumbel anchors his last Today show on NBC. The following Monday, Matt Lauer takes over alongside Katie Couric until he was fired 20 years later in November 2017. |
January 6 | Sunset Beach premieres on NBC. |
January 12 | King of the Hill premieres on Fox. |
January 22 | New World Communications is acquired by Fox. The deal makes 10 New World-owned stations that affiliated with Fox as a result of the 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment network O&O's. |
January 26 | Fox broadcasts its first Super Bowl, making it the last of the big four networks to air a Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots 35-21 in a game that gives Fox its highest ratings to date. |
February 1 | The final affiliation switch resulting from the 1994–96 United States broadcast TV realignment takes place when Allbritton Communications (owners of WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the country) converts WB affiliate WBSG in Brunswick, Georgia into a semi-satellite of new sign-on WJXX in Orange Park, Florida, which assumes the ABC affiliation for the Jacksonville market. Former ABC affiliate WJKS promptly discontinues its news operation and assumes the WB affiliation from WBSG. |
February 9 | On Fox, The Simpsons airs the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show". With this episode, The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running primetime animated series in terms of episodes aired. |
February 21 | The old trilon-style puzzle board is used for the last time on Wheel of Fortune after 22 years. Next Monday, February 24, a new digital puzzle board debuts, which allows Vanna White to reveal letters with just a simple touch of a button. |
March 17 | Toonami debuts on Cartoon Network. |
April 1 | The cable channel CBS Eye on People (later known as Discovery People) debuted. Also, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek hosts Wheel of Fortune while Pat Sajak & Vanna White play for charity and Sajak's wife Lesly in charge of the puzzleboard. In turn, Sajak hosts Jeopardy! on this date as well. |
April 7 | Disney Channel is revamped with the premiere of Pocahontas. |
April 13 | Extreme Championship Wrestling broadcasts its first ever pay-per-view dubbed "Barely Legal". |
April 30 | The Ellen episode, "The Puppy Episode" is broadcast on ABC, showing for the first time the revelation of a main character as a homosexual. |
May 7 | Disney Channel begins Playhouse Disney for preschoolers. |
CBS begins airing the two-part Knots Landing reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, airing on two non-consecutive nights, on May 7 and May 9. | |
May 9 | Bob Saget hosts his final regular episode of America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC, with the other cast members of Full House, minus The Olsen Twins. |
June 6 | Farrah Fawcett makes a bizarre appearance on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. Fawcett tells long, rambling stories without a purpose, fails to understand simple questions, and gets easily distracted by things like blinking lights on the set. |
June 21 | The Professional Bowlers Tour ends after 36 years on ABC. CBS assumes the rights to the tour and will televise several events over the next two years. |
June 30 | In Seattle, KIRO-TV (CBS) and KSTW (UPN) reverse their 1995 swap. |
The Simpsons begins airing in the Republic of Ireland for the very first time on Network 2 after not airing in the country for a long time since it first started as a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show. The series begins its Irish run with Some Enchanted Evening. | |
July 9 | NewSport ends after four years. |
July 14 | Johnny Bravo premieres on Cartoon Network. |
July 15 | |
A tribute episode of Another World is broadcast on NBC in honor of Victoria Wyndham's 25 years with the program. | |
Cow and Chicken and its secondary series I Am Weasel premiere on Cartoon Network. The Cartoon Cartoon programming block also makes its debut on the network. | |
August 25 | Rugrats returns to Nickelodeon with new regular episodes. It had been cancelled during 1994 but received a reprieve for a fourth season in 1995. (Four special episodes were broadcast during this time, but are not counted as part of the series's normal run.) |
August 31 | WFFF-TV in Burlington, Vermont signs-on the air, giving the Burlington/Plattsburgh market its first full-time Fox affiliate (prior to this, Fox programming was seen on a secondary basis on CBS affiliate WCAX-TV).[1] |
September 1 | Disney Channel converts from subscription television to a regular channel after 14 years. |
September 6 | Various networks broadcast the Princess Diana funeral; 2.7 million viewers at home watched this special. |
September 8 | Rugrats receives its very first transmission on Irish television on Network 2 with the series being shown on The Den. |
September 13 | ABC revamps its Saturday morning cartoon schedule, and adds more new series from parent company Disney to become Disney's One Saturday Morning. This, along with many other programming, was delayed one week from its originally planned debut as a result of the aforementioned Princess Diana funeral. |
September 14 | The 49th Primetime Emmy Awards presentation was broadcast on CBS. |
September 19 | After several years of being a part of ABC's successful "TGIF" sitcom programming block, Family Matters and Step by Step switch to CBS to form the basis of the "CBS Block Party", a direct competitor to TGIF. Both series, as well as the Block Party, will be cancelled after one season. |
September 25 | ER produces a live episode for its fourth season premiere. |
September 26 | Jeopardy!'s 3,000th syndicated episode airs. The categories in the Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! rounds from its debut episode in 1984 are used on this episode. |
October 1 | PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia, cease broadcasting to make way for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. |
October 25 | Chris Farley guest hosts Saturday Night Live in what would turn out to be his final television appearance before his death on December 18, 1997. |
October 26 | The Game 7 of the World Series is broadcast on NBC. The Florida Marlins defeat the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first baseball wild card team to win the world championship. |
October 31 | Detroit regional sports network PASS Sports goes off the air. |
November 2 | A third production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's version of Cinderella was aired on ABC. This version, featuring Brandy Norwood and Whitney Houston, was produced by ABC's parent company The Walt Disney Company (which made its own version of the story as an animated movie during 1950). |
November 6 | The NBC discussion show Meet the Press celebrates its 50th anniversary. |
November 9 | During a pay-per-view broadcast of the World Wrestling Federation's Survivor Series, then-WWF Champion Bret Hart loses his title to Shawn Michaels. The finish is mired in controversy when WWF chairman Vince McMahon, who had been sitting at ringside, orders Earl Hebner, the assigned referee, to end the match as Michaels is holding Hart in Hart's own finishing maneuver, the Sharpshooter, even though Hart had not submitted. The incident becomes known as the Montreal Screwjob and will mark the final appearance of Hart on WWE television until 2010.[2] |
November 17 | Rick Rude becomes the only person to appear on both USA Network's Raw and TNT's Monday Nitro on the same night. Whereas the Raw that aired that night was pre-recorded six days in advanced, Rude appeared on a live edition of Nitro about an hour earlier. |
November 23 | King of the Hill starts being screened in Australia for the first time on Seven Network. |
November 29 | The Emergency Broadcast System is replaced by the Emergency Alert System and it continues to this day. |
December 15 | World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon announces the introduction of the Attitude Era (a term used by WWF for its adult-oriented programming) on Raw Is War, during a segment entitled "The Cure for the Common Show". The WWF Attitude's scratch logo also makes its on-screen debut within the episode, replacing the New Generation's block logo. |
December 23 | Trio, a channel devoted to CBC programs, debuts for United States viewers. |
Programs
Debuts
Returning this year
Show | Last aired | Previous network | New title | New network | Returned |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Space Ghost Coast to Coast | 1996 | TBS/TNT | Same | Cartoon Network | July 18 |
Rugrats | 1994 | Nickelodeon | Same | August 23 | |
The People's Court | 1993 | Syndication | September 8 | ||
Cartoon Planet | 1996 | TBS | Cartoon Network | September 9 | |
Batman: The Animated Series | 1995 | Fox Kids | The New Batman Adventures | Kids' WB | September 13 |
Muppets Tonight | 1996 | ABC | Same | Disney Channel | |
The Wonderful World of Disney | Disney Channel | ABC | September 28 |
Ending this year
Date | Show | Debut |
---|---|---|
January 1 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | 1993 |
January 3 | Small Talk | 1996 |
January 12 | Kirk | 1995 |
January 17 | Mighty Ducks | 1996 |
January 27 | Ned & Stacey | 1995 |
Space Cases | 1996 | |
January 31 | Wait 'til You Have Kids | |
February 15 | Gargoyles | 1994 |
February 22 | C Bear and Jamal | 1996 |
Road Rovers | ||
February 24 | Savannah | |
March 8 | The Mouse and the Monster | |
March 15 | Dangerous Minds | |
March 16 | WWF on MSG Network | 1976 |
March 28 | The City | 1995 |
March 30 | Life with Roger | 1996 |
April 2 | Lost on Earth | 1997 |
EZ Streets | 1996 | |
April 3 | The Disney Channel | 1983 |
April 4 | Dragon Flyz | 1996 |
Crisis Center | 1997 | |
April 7 | Pauly | |
April 10 | Orleans | |
April 12 | The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat | 1995 |
April 14 | Relativity | 1996 |
April 16 | The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | |
April 23 | Arsenio | 1997 |
May 1 | Martin | 1992 |
May 13 | Homeboys in Outer Space | 1996 |
May 14 | Coach | 1989 |
Street Fighter | 1995 | |
May 16 | Baywatch Nights | |
May 17 | Waynehead | 1996 |
May 18 | Brotherly Love | 1995 |
May 19 | The Cape | 1996 |
Goode Behavior | ||
Ink | ||
May 20 | The Burning Zone | |
Roseanne (returned in 2018) | 1988 | |
May 21 | Wings | 1990 |
May 22 | Moloney | 1996 |
May 30 | Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends | |
May 31 | Dark Skies | |
Gun | 1997 | |
June 1 | Freakazoid! | 1995 |
June 9 | Married... with Children | 1987 |
June 14 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | 1993 |
June 17 | Deadly Games | 1995 |
June 25 | Pearl | 1996 |
MTV Sports | 1992 | |
July 2 | Chicago Sons | 1997 |
July 18 | Life... and Stuff | |
Dave's World | 1993 | |
July 22 | Edgewise | 1996 |
July 30 | Pacific Palisades | 1997 |
August 1 | Eek! The Cat | 1992 |
August 9 | Nightmare Ned | 1997 |
August 18 | The Site | 1996 |
August 22 | Pappyland | 1993 |
Spicy City | 1997 | |
August 29 | The Disney Afternoon | 1990 |
August 30 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | 1992 |
The Mask: Animated Series | 1995 | |
September 1 | Kino's Storytime | 1992 |
September 5 | The Gordon Elliott Show | 1994 |
September 6 | Duckman | |
September 7 | Family Challenge | 1995 |
September 20 | X-Men | 1992 |
September 26 | Lamb Chop's Play-Along | |
September 27 | The Legend of Calamity Jane | 1997 |
October 5 | Remember This? | 1996 |
October 12 | The Big Easy | |
October 15 | Built to Last | 1997 |
October 24 | Meego | |
October 28 | Head over Heels | |
November 4 | Over the Top | 1997 |
November 11 | Hitz | |
November 23 | The Incredible Hulk | 1996 |
November 24 | Power Rangers Turbo | 1997 |
November 25 | Mummies Alive! | |
November 28 | The Grind | 1992 |
Beavis and Butt-head (returned in 2011) | 1993 | |
What a Cartoon! (returned in 2000) | 1995 | |
December 4 | Extreme Ghostbusters | 1997 |
December 6 | The Magic School Bus | 1994 |
December 7 | Aaahh!!! Real Monsters | |
December 10 | The Tony Danza Show | 1997 |
December 12 | Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? | 1996 |
December 17 | Men Behaving Badly | |
December 21 | Weinerville | 1993 |
December 22 | Johnny Bravo (returned in 1999) | 1997 |
December 24 | Extreme Dinosaurs | |
December 26 | Shopping Spree | 1996 |
December 27 | Hee Haw | 1969 |
Made-for-TV movies
Title | Network | Date of airing |
---|---|---|
Miss Evers' Boys | HBO | February 22 |
12 Angry Men | Showtime | August 17 |
Northern Lights | Disney Channel | August 23 |
Under Wraps | October 25 | |
Don King: Only in America | HBO | November 15 |
What the Deaf Man Heard | CBS | November 23 |
Miniseries
Title | Network | Premiere |
---|---|---|
The Shining | ABC | April 27 |
Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac | CBS | May 7 |
The Last Don | May 11 | |
The Odyssey | NBC | May 18 |
George Wallace | TNT | August 24 |
Changes of network affiliation
Show | Moved from | Moved to |
---|---|---|
JAG | NBC | CBS |
Unsolved Mysteries | ||
Family Matters | ABC | |
Step by Step | ||
Muppets Tonight | Disney Channel | |
The Naked Truth | NBC | |
Clueless | UPN | |
Sweet Valley High | Syndication | |
Sliders | Fox | Syfy |
Mystery Science Theater 3000 | Comedy Central | |
Politically Incorrect | ABC | |
The Wonderful World of Disney | The Disney Channel | |
Batman: The Animated Series | Fox Kids | Kids' WB |
Dexter's Laboratory | TBS and TNT | Cartoon Network |
Cartoon Planet | ||
Space Ghost Coast to Coast | ||
The Bugs Bunny Show | ||
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | ||
G-Force: Guardians of Space | ||
Voltron | USA Network | |
Robotech | ||
Babylon 5 | PTEN | TNT |
Entering syndication this year
Show | Seasons | In Production | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Boy Meets World | 4 | Yes | |
Due South | 3 | Yes | |
Frasier | 4 | Yes | |
Grace Under Fire | 4 | Yes | |
Living Single | 4 | Yes | |
NYPD Blue | 4 | Yes | |
Walker, Texas Ranger | 5 | Yes | |
The X-Files | 4 | Yes |
Television stations
Station launches
Stations changing network affiliation
Market | Date | Station | Channel | Prior affiliation | New affiliation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Campbellsville, Kentucky | January 1 | WGRB | 34 | FOX | The WB |
Charleston, South Carolina | January 6 | WMMP | 36 | The WB | UPN |
Jacksonville, Florida | February 9 | WJKS-TV | 17 | ABC | The WB |
Binghamton, New York | April | WBGH-CA | 8 | Independent | NBC |
Seattle-Tacoma, Washington | June 30 | KIRO-TV | 7 | UPN | CBS |
KSTW | 11 | CBS | UPN | ||
Births
Date | Name | Notability |
---|---|---|
January 7 | Kyle Stanger | English actor (Lumpy on My Friends Tigger & Pooh) |
January 9 | Lauryn McClain | Actress |
January 11 | Cody Simpson | Australian actor |
January 17 | Jake Paul | Actor (Bizaardvark) |
Jazzy Williams | Actress (WITS Academy) | |
January 21 | Jeremy Shada | Actor (Incredible Crew), Voice actor (Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Adventure Time) |
January 24 | Jonah Bobo | Voice actor (Austin on The Backyardigans) |
Dylan Riley Snyder | Actor (Kickin' It) | |
February 7 | Matthew Gumley | Voice actor (Benny on Dora the Explorer (2008–14)) |
February 9 | Kathryn Newton | Actress (Gary Unmarried, Supernatural, Halt and Catch Fire) |
February 10 | Chloë Grace Moretz | Actress (My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Carrie, The 5th Wave) |
February 12 | Shane Baumel | Voice actor (Tipo on The Emperor's New School) |
February 27 | Erica Huang | Voice actress (June on Little Einsteins) |
March 11 | Matreya Fedor | Canadian actress (Mr. Young) |
March 16 | Tyrel Jackson Williams | Actor (The Backyardigans, Lab Rats) |
March 18 | Ciara Bravo | Actress (Big Time Rush, Red Band Society, Second Chance) |
April 8 | Sadie Calvano | Actress (Mom) |
April 15 | Maisie Williams | English actress (Game of Thrones) |
April 16 | Tiarnie Coupland | Australian actress (Worst Year of My Life Again) |
April 24 | Autumn Wendel | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
May 9 | Zane Huett | Actor (Desperate Housewives) |
May 21 | Kevin Quinn | Actor (Bunk'd) |
May 30 | Jake Short | Actor (A.N.T. Farm, Mighty Med, Lab Rats: Elite Force, All Night) |
June 5 | Denisea Wilson | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
June 17 | KJ Apa | New-Zealand actor (Riverdale) |
June 20 | Maria Lark | Actress (Medium) |
July 2 | Jackson Odell | Actor that appeared in The Goldbergs, iCarly, and Modern Family (d. 2018) |
July 4 | Daniela Nieves | Venezuelan-American Actress (Every Witch Way, WITS Academy) |
July 7 | Gatlin Green | Actress (Heroes Reborn) |
July 13 | Leo Howard | Actor (Kickin' It, Shake It Up) |
July 20 | Billi Bruno | Actress (According to Jim) |
July 22 | Field Cate | Actor (Pushing Daisies) |
August 2 | Christina Robinson | Actor (Dexter) |
August 5 | Olivia Holt | Actress (Kickin' It, I Didn't Do It, Cloak & Dagger) |
Adam Irigoyen | Actor (Shake It Up) | |
August 10 | Kylie Jenner | Actress (Keeping Up with the Kardashians) |
August 11 | Alexander Martella | Actor |
August 16 | Piper Curda | Actress (Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, A.N.T. Farm, I Didn't Do It) |
August 25 | Bryana Salaz | Actress (Best Friends Whenever) and singer |
August 28 | Emilia McCarthy | Canadian actress (Max & Shred) |
September 7 | Dean-Charles Chapman | English actor (Game of Thrones) |
September 16 | Elena Kampouris | Actress |
October 7 | Kira Kosarin | Actress (The Thundermans) |
October 8 | Bella Thorne | Actress (Shake It Up, Famous in Love) and singer |
October 10 | Grace Rolek | Voice actress (Connie Maheswaran on Steven Universe) |
October 23 | Zach Callison | Voice actor (Sofia the First, Steven Universe) |
October 24 | Kendall Ryan Sanders | Actor (Every Witch Way) |
October 25 | Tyler Alvarez | Actor (Every Witch Way) |
October 26 | Rhenzy Feliz | Actor (Runaways) |
October 28 | Sierra McCormick | Actress (A.N.T. Farm) |
Joy-Anna Forsyth | Actress (19 Kids and Counting, Counting On) and television personality | |
October 29 | Brynna Drummond | Canadian voice actress |
October 31 | Sydney Park | Actress (Instant Mom, Spirit Riding Free) |
November 1 | Alex Wolff | Actor (The Naked Brothers Band) and singer |
Max Burkholder | Actor (My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Parenthood) | |
November 3 | Carson Rowland | Actor (I Am Frankie) |
November 12 | Ryan Cargill | Actor (WITS Academy) |
November 26 | Aubrey Joseph | Actor (Cloak & Dagger) and rapper |
December 15 | Maude Apatow | Actress |
Deaths
Date | Name | Age | Notability |
---|---|---|---|
January 18 | Adriana Caselotti | 80 | Voice actress (Snow White) |
February 6 | Ernie Anderson | 73 | Voice actor and announcer (The Carol Burnett Show) |
February 26 | David Doyle | 67 | Actor (Bosley on Charlie's Angels and voice of Grandpa Lou Pickles on Rugrats) |
March 15 | Gail Davis | 71 | Actress (Annie on Annie Oakley) |
April 15 | Don Bexley | 87 | Actor (Bubba on Sanford and Son) |
May 4 | Alvy Moore | 75 | Actor (Hank Kimball on Green Acres) |
May 11 | Howard Morton | 71 | Character actor (Officer Ralph Simpson on Gimme a Break!) |
May 18 | Bridgette Andersen | 21 | Actress |
May 24 | Edward Mulhare | 74 | Actor (Captain Gregg on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and Miles on Knight Rider) |
June 8 | Reid Shelton | 72 | Actor (1st & Ten: The Championship) |
June 14 | Richard Jaeckel | 70 | Actor (Baywatch, Spenser for Hire) |
June 24 | Brian Keith | 75 | Actor (Uncle Bill on Family Affair) |
July 1 | Robert Mitchum | 79 | Actor |
July 2 | James Stewart | 89 | Actor |
July 4 | Charles Kuralt | 62 | Journalist (CBS News Sunday Morning) |
August 27 | Brandon Tartikoff | 48 | President of NBC |
September 9 | Burgess Meredith | 89 | Actor (The Penguin on Batman) |
September 17 | Red Skelton | 84 | Comedian (The Red Skelton Show) |
October 5 | Brian Pillman | 35 | Professional wrestler |
October 9 | Arch Johnson | 75 | Character actor (Camp Runamuck) |
October 16 | Audra Lindley | 79 | Actress (Mrs. Roper on Three's Company) |
October 24 | Don Messick | 71 | Voice actor (Scooby-Doo) |
October 30 | Sydney Newman | 80 | Producer (The Avengers, Doctor Who) |
November 25 | Charles Hallahan | 54 | Actor (Hunter) |
December 18 | Chris Farley | 33 | Comedian (Saturday Night Live) |
December 24 | Toshiro Mifune | 77 | Japanese actor |
December 25 | Denver Pyle | 77 | Actor (Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard) |
December 31 | Michael LeMoyne Kennedy | 39 | American socialite and son of Robert F. Kennedy |
References
- Fybush, Scott (September 4, 1997). "You Drive 1100 Miles And What Do You Get?". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- "WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels def. Bret "Hit Man" Hart to become new WWE Champion". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 9, 1997. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
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