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1987 in American television

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The year 1987 in television involved some significant events. This is a list of notable events in the United States.

Events

[edit]
Date Event
January 3           After being canceled by CBS at the end of the 1984–85 season, Charles in Charge resurfaces in first-run syndication, where it would run for an additional four seasons.
January 5 Remington Steele is resumed by NBC after a six-month hiatus. During the hiatus, the series' main actor Pierce Brosnan won the film role of James Bond, only to lose the role when NBC unexpectedly renewed the television series. Remington Steele adopts a TV-movie length format but only runs for a few installments before being canceled permanently.
January 17 NBC announces purchase of CBS affiliate WTVJ, and stripped off WSVN, thus the switch did not take effect until two years later.
January 22 R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a televised press conference. The decision by some companies to broadcast the footage results in a debate concerning journalistic ethics.
January 25 CBS' broadcast of Super Bowl XXI becomes the first NFL game to be broadcast in Dolby Surround sound and in stereo.[1] CBS also debuted the theme music (composed by Lloyd Landesman) that would later be used for their college football coverage during this game, as well as its open that was used through 1990.
February 2 PBS broadcasts the critically acclaimed series Eyes on the Prize.
February 7 In the very special episode of Valerie titled "Bad Timing", David and a former girlfriend debate whether to have sex.[2][3] The episode featured the first use of the word condom on a prime time television program.[4] Parental advisory warnings were issued in ads for the episode and NBC placed an advisory warning before the episode aired stating that parents may want to watch the episode with their children. Because of the episode's subject matter, some of NBC's affiliates either aired the show outside of prime time or refused to air it at all. The episode was later released to home video, especially for teachers and health educators to use as a tool to promote safe sex.
February 14 Pee-wee Herman guest stars on the NBC sitcom 227.
February 15 Amerika, the science-fiction drama miniseries, showing life ten years after the United States is defeated and occupied by the USSR, was broadcast on ABC.
February 20 David Hartman anchors ABC's Good Morning America for the final time. He would be succeeded by Charles Gibson, who would anchor the program alongside Joan Lunden.
February 24 James Coco makes his final recurring appearance as Tony Micelli's father–in–law, Nick Milano on the ABC sitcom Who's the Boss? Just one day later, Coco would die of a heart attack at the age of 56. The Season 4 episode "A Farewell to Nick" would later be produced in Coco's honor.
February 25 Frank Sinatra makes a guest appearance on Magnum P.I., in what would be his last credited screen performance.
March 9 KETK-TV in Jacksonville, Texas signs on the air, giving the Tyler market its first full-time NBC affiliate. (NBC had previously been shared on KLTV with CBS (until KLMG-TV signed on in 1984), and later ABC which KLTV retains as a full-time affiliate.)
March 12 "A, My Name is Alex", a special hour-long episode of Family Ties is broadcast on NBC. The second half-hour was broadcast without commercials. The episode would win numerous awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Humanitas Prize and a Writers Guild of America Award for writing as well as a DGA Award.
March 19 Televangelist Jim Bakker resigns as the host of The PTL Club after involvement in a sex scandal.
March 23 The first ever Soul Train Music Awards is broadcast in syndication.
The soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful debuts on CBS.
March 27 On CBS, The Price Is Right surpasses Concentration as the longest-running daytime game show in history.
March 28 The forerunner to the Kids' Choice Awards, dubbed 'The Big Ballot', airs on Nickelodeon. The Big Ballot was actually aired over four consecutive weeks (with the movie winners, TV winners, music winners, and finally sports winners being announced for each week) as part of the movie review program Rated K: For Kids by Kids.
March 29 In front of 93,173 fans Hulk Hogan retains the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 3 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan defeating his former friend André The Giant.
March 30 CBS Sports uses the song "One Shining Moment" for the first time during the highlight package at the end of their coverage of NCAA men's basketball tournament final.
March 31 On Moonlighting, Maddie and David consummate their relationship after two and a half years of romantic tension.
April 5 The Fox TV network makes its prime-time debut, marking the first time since 1955 that there were four U.S. networks with prime-time programming. The network debuted two shows, Married... with Children and The Tracey Ullman Show, which are broadcast three times each during the night so that viewers watching other networks can switch over and sample the shows.
April 6 During an episode of the ABC late-night news program Nightline devoted to the upcoming 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut in Major League Baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis makes racially insensitive comments when asked about the scarcity of black field or general managers in MLB. Campanis would be fired two days later.
April 17 Bill Murray announces a Chicago Cubs-Montreal Expos game at Wrigley Field on WGN. Working alongside color analyst Steve Stone, Murray was filling in while broadcaster Harry Caray was recovering from a stroke. Caray would eventually return to the booth on May 19.
April 19 Matt Groening's The Simpsons debuts as a series of short animated segments as part of The Tracey Ullman Show on Fox.
April 29 Independent station in New York City, WOR-TV changes its call sign to WWOR-TV.
May 4 Valerie Harper makes her final appearance as Valerie Hogan on what was initially called Valerie. After Harper was fired from the series following contractual disputes, the series was renamed Valerie's Family and finally, The Hogan Family come the fourth season.
May 6 Mr. Belvedere is canceled after three seasons; however criticism causes ABC executives to rethink the decision and renew the series for a fourth season. (Since the fall programming schedules were already set, Mr. Belvedere would not premiere until late October.)
May 7 Shelley Long makes her final regular appearance as Diane Chambers on Cheers. She would appear once more in the series finale in 1993.
May 15 Pamela Ewing's car speeds out of control, crashes into a tanker, and explodes on the season finale of the CBS drama Dallas.
Joan Rivers makes her final appearance as host of Fox's talk show The Late Show following her recent firing by the network. For the final show, the set is vandalized with toilet paper, slime, and shaving cream. Her guests are Howie Mandel, Pee-Wee Herman, then-fledgling comedian Chris Rock, Wendy O. Williams, and show stage manager Michelle Aller as her alter-ego Mavis Vegas Davis.[5][6] Soon afterward, the program is renamed The Late Show and features rotating guest hosts including Suzanne Somers, Richard Belzer, and Robert Townsend. After firing prospective guest host Frank Zappa, producer John Scura replaces him with Arsenio Hall, who would make his debut as a talk show host. Eventually, Hall is named the permanent replacement host in mid-1987.
May 17 The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, which features Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner reprising their roles as Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers respectively, airs on NBC. This would be followed by two more television movies, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989) and Bionic Ever After? (1994).
June 4 CBS becomes the last American network to cease a chime intonation at the beginning of telecasts; satellite feeds have made the tones obsolete (their function was to signal to the affiliates to start broadcasting the network feed in synchronization with the others).
June 30 U.S. daytime television was interrupted for the Iran-Contra hearings.
July 15 Genie Francis, of General Hospital fame, starts a new soap opera role as Diana Colville on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, which she will play until 1989.
July 17 The initial pilot for Good Morning, Miss Bliss airs on NBC. One year later, the series proper would air on the Disney Channel, becoming the first program to be produced by a major television network for cable TV. After one season on Disney Channel, Good Morning, Miss Bliss would be retooled into Saved by the Bell, which would air as part of NBC's Saturday morning line-up.
July 28 Actor Crispin Glover appears on Late Night with David Letterman to promote River's Edge.[7] To the surprise of Letterman and the audience, Glover appears wearing platform shoes and a wig. During the interview, Glover behaves erratically and nearly kicks Letterman in the face, causing Letterman to walk off the set.[7][8] Four years later, the film Rubin & Ed premiered, in which Glover has a starring role as titular character Rubin Farr. After the release of Rubin & Ed, some speculated that Glover was acting in-character as Rubin Farr during his appearance on Late Night.[7][8][9][10]
July 31 Movietime, forerunner to E!, goes on the air.
August 1 ABC affiliate KRCR-TV in Redding, California launches full-time satellite KAEF-TV in Arcata, California, giving the Eureka market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
August 31 CBS airs the special Michael Jackson: The Magic Returns, which features the broadcast premiere of Jackson's 18 minute long music video "Bad".
August 31 Columbus independent station WWAT-TV goes in the air.
September 5 Dick Clark's American Bandstand is broadcast for the 2,751st and last time by ABC, after 30 years on the network. (It continued in syndication, then on cable for 2 more years.)
September 7 The original series of Disney's well known animated series DuckTales begins airing on ITV in the UK before being shown in its normal country.
September 7 CBS begins broadcasting its prime time programs with stereo sound dubbed CBS StereoSound.
September 11 Dan Rather of the CBS Evening News leaves the newscast when a televised tennis match runs two minutes over. He is missing for six minutes.
September 12 The final episode of Down and Out in Beverly Hills, an adaptation of the 1986 film of the same name, airs on Fox. It has the distinction of being the first ever show to be cancelled by Fox; 5 of the 13 produced episodes did not air.[11]
September 14 Filmation's final animated series BraveStarr has its broadcast premiere in syndication.
September 18 DuckTales finally begins airing in the U.S. for the first time ever in syndication.
September 19 NBC debuts a weekday package of sitcoms for its owned-and-operated stations called "Prime Time Begins at 7:30". The shows included are Marblehead Manor (airing Mondays), She's the Sheriff (airing Tuesdays), a series adapted from the George S. Kaufman play You Can't Take It with You (airing Wednesdays), Out of This World (airing Thursdays), and a revival of the short-lived 1983 NBC series We Got It Made closing out the week on Fridays.
September 22 Long-running sitcom Full House created by Jeff Franklin debuts on ABC.
September 24 Kirstie Alley makes her debut as Rebecca Howe in the sixth-season premiere of Cheers.
September 26 The pilot episode for the sitcom Second Chance airs on Fox. In the opening scene, as a throwaway joke, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is shown being judged after his death, with the date given as July 29, 2011. In the year after the Berlin discotheque bombing and the U.S. response, the 1987 pilot was playing off Gaddafi's prominent negative perception by the American public. Twenty-four years later, by coincidence, Gaddafi's death (on October 20, 2011) occurred within three months of the "predicted" date and was from the same cause (multiple gunshot wounds).[12]
September 28 The pilot episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation premieres in syndication.
October 3 Once a Hero, the show's lowest rated program of the season holds its last aired episode on ABC. The following week, specials replaced it until the debut of Sable in its time period on November 7.
October 4 On the final day of the Major League Baseball season, the Detroit Tigers clinch the American League East title against their divisional rivals the Toronto Blue Jays. The game was broadcast on Sunday afternoon on ABC with Al Michaels, Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver on the call.
October 12 Valerie Harper files a lawsuit against NBC and Lorimar for breach of contract after being dismissed from her sitcom Valerie.
October 14 CNN quickly reports on the story of 18-month-old toddler Jessica McClure falling down a well in Midland, Texas, and the event helped make its name.
October 15 Bob Barker stops dyeing his hair brown and appears on The Price is Right for the first time with white hair. He is given a minute-long standing ovation by the audience.
October 16 Max Headroom makes its final airing on its Friday night timeslot on ABC. The previously unaired episodes will later burn off in its Thursday night time slot during the 1988 WGA strike on ABC, replacing Probe. The fourth season opener of Mr. Belvedere and the premiere of Pursuit of Happiness will replace Headroom two weeks later, on October 30 on its Friday night time period.
October 24 ABC allows Game 6 of the World Series between the Minnesota Twins and St. Louis Cardinals to be played at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) on Saturday afternoon – the only day game of the series, and the last World Series game to date to be played in the daytime (although as the game was played in the Metrodome, the game took place under artificial illumination all the same).
October 26 ABC airs a special, secondary edition of Monday Night Football for the Minneapolis and Denver markets. The game between the Vikings and Broncos was moved from Sunday, October 25 to the following Monday night because the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome was being used for Game 7 of the World Series. Gary Bender and Lynn Swann would call this special contest from Minnesota while the rest of the nation sees the Los Angeles Rams face off against the Cleveland Browns.
October 30 The third season of Punky Brewster begins after the series was off the air for over a year and a half. After NBC cancelled it at the end of the 1985–86 season, the show would continue production throughout the 1986–87 season leading up to its return to the air via first-run syndication.
November 8 ESPN broadcasts its first ever Sunday night National Football League game, a contest between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. It marked the first time that a cable television outlet broadcast an NFL game.
November 9 Fox's Salt Lake City affiliate KSTU moves its channel allocation from UHF channel 20 to VHF channel 13.[13]
November 13 Sonny & Cher reunite for a performance on NBC's late-night talk show Late Night with David Letterman.
November 15 The animated crossover The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones premieres in syndication.
November 22 During a showing of the Doctor Who story "Horror of Fang Rock", PBS member station WTTW-TV Channel 11 in Chicago is interrupted for 88 seconds by a pirate television transmitter overriding the station's transmission signal to broadcast a video of himself in a Max Headroom mask being spanked. The similar incident (for 15–20 seconds) occurred during WGN-TV's newscast when it showed the mask moving up and downwards.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back makes its network broadcast television premiere on NBC.
November 26 The very first Survivor Series professional wrestling event is broadcast on pay-per-view. That same night, the World Wrestling Federation's competitor, Jim Crockett Promotions held their fifth annual Starrcade supercard event. Jim Crockett Promotions had previously aired Starrcade only on closed-circuit television. To compete with Starrcade, the WWF introduced the Survivor Series event, and held it on the same night as Starrcade. The WWF also limited the amount of pay-per-view providers that would carry Starrcade by not allowing providers to carry WrestleMania IV if they did not carry Survivor Series exclusively. Only a small amount of providers carried Starrcade, and it drew a 3.30 buy rate while Survivor Series drew a 7.0 buy rate.
December 7 Remote Control, MTV's first original non-musical program and first game show makes its debut.
December 16 San Antonio television station KABB goes on the air.
December 27 Through a short stint with NBC Sports, Gayle Sierens became the first woman to do play-by-play for an NFL regular season football game when she called a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs.
December 28 The first ever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series premieres in syndication starting off with the first four episodes.

Programs

[edit]

Debuting this year

[edit]
Date Title Network
January 3 Unsolved Mysteries NBC
January 8 Shell Game CBS
January 17 Ohara ABC
January 22 The Tortellis NBC
January 25 Hard Copy[14] CBS
January 26 Square One TV PBS
February 2 Eyes on the Prize
March 4 Harry ABC
March 9 Rags to Riches NBC
March 11 Houston Knights CBS
March 19 The Bronx Zoo NBC
Roomies
March 20 The Charmings ABC
March 23 The Bold and the Beautiful CBS
The Popcorn Kid
March 31 Max Headroom ABC
April 1 Mariah
Roxie CBS
Take Five
April 2 Nothing in Common NBC
April 5 Married... with Children Fox
The Tracey Ullman Show
April 12 21 Jump Street
April 18 Sweet Surrender NBC
April 19 Bionic Six Syndication
Duet Fox
April 20 Hard Knocks Showtime
April 26 Down and Out in Beverly Hills Fox
May 3 Mr. President
May 21 The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd NBC
June 1 Adventures of the Little Koala Nickelodeon
June 12 CBS Summer Playhouse CBS
June 15 Home Shopping Game Syndication
July 11 Good Morning, Miss Bliss Disney Channel
Werewolf Fox
July 18 Karen's Song
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
August 8 Animal Crack-Ups ABC
August 27 First Impressions CBS
August 30 Crossbow CBN Cable Network
September Maple Town Syndication
September 12 Showtime at the Apollo ABC
I'm Telling! NBC
The New Archies
Popeye and Son CBS
September 13 Private Eye NBC
September 14 Dinosaucers Syndication
BraveStarr
Maxie's World
New Monkees
The Wil Shriner Show
Frank's Place CBS
September 16 The Oldest Rookie
Wiseguy
September 17 Out of This World Syndication
September 18 DuckTales (Original series)
September 19 The Kidsongs TV Show
Marblehead Manor
She's the Sheriff
Once a Hero ABC
Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater CBS
September 20 The Highwayman NBC
My Two Dads
September 21 Beverly Hills Teens Syndication
Spiral Zone
September 22 Full House ABC
I Married Dora
September 23 Hooperman
The Slap Maxwell Story
September 24 A Different World NBC
Tour of Duty CBS
September 25 Beauty and the Beast
September 26 Jake and the Fatman
ALF: The Animated Series NBC
J.J. Starbuck
Second Chance (aka Boys Will Be Boys) Fox
You Can't Take It With You Syndication
September 27 Dolly ABC
The Law & Harry McGraw CBS
September 28 Lingo Syndication
Star Trek: The Next Generation
September 29 thirtysomething ABC
October 3 Everything's Relative CBS
Leg Work
Friday the 13th: The Series Syndication
October 11 Women in Prison Fox
November 2 Finders Keepers Nickelodeon
November 5 Beverly Hills Buntz NBC
November 7 Sable ABC
November 30 CBS This Morning CBS
December 7 Remote Control MTV
December 11 The Wilton North Report Fox
December 14 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Syndication

Resuming this year

[edit]
Title Final aired Previous network New title Returning network Date of return
Charles in Charge 1985 CBS Same Syndication January 3
Blockbusters 1982 NBC Same January 5
Concentration 1978 Syndication Classic Concentration NBC May 4
We Got it Made 1984 NBC Same Syndication September 11
Snorks 1985 Same September 12
High Rollers 1980 Syndication September 14
Truth or Consequences 1978 Syndication
The Jetsons 1963 ABC October 19

Ending this year

[edit]
Date Title Debut
January 10 Heart of the City 1986
February 6 Dads
February 9 Gung Ho
February 7 Too Close for Comfort 1980
February 27 The Love Boat 1977
March 1 The New Adventures of Jonny Quest 1986
March 3 Silver Spoons 1982
March 7 The Berenstain Bears 1985
March 8 The A-Team 1983
March 12 The Wizard 1986
March 20 Capitol 1982
March 25 Harry 1987
March 26 The Colbys 1985
March 27 Zoobilee Zoo 1986
March 30 You Again?
Fraggle Rock 1983
April 8 Roxie 1987
April 10 Amazing Stories 1985
April 17 Remington Steele 1982
April 24 Together We Stand 1986
April 29 Easy Street
May 1 Blockbusters 1980
May 2 Starman 1986
May 8 Stingray 1985
May 12 Gimme a Break! 1981
The Tortellis 1987
May 13 The New Mike Hammer 1984
May 15 Roomies 1987
May 18 Fame 1982
May 19 Hill Street Blues 1981
May 28 Scarecrow and Mrs. King 1983
Our World 1986
May 30 Outlaws
June 3 Nothing in Common 1987
June 13 Sidekicks 1986
June 19 Nightlife
June 27 Gung Ho
July 8 Sweet Surrender 1987
August 7 Airwolf 1984
September 7 The Ellen Burstyn Show 1986
September 11 Split Second 1972
September 12 Down and Out in Beverly Hills 1987
Karen's Song
September 14 Photon 1986
September 23 My Little Pony 1984
October 1 First Impressions 1987
October 3 Once a Hero
October 25 Maxie's World
November 7 Everything's Relative
Leg Work
Teen Wolf 1986
November 11 The Transformers 1984
November 12 The Jetsons 1962
November 28 The New Adventures of Beans Baxter 1987
December 7 New Monkees
December 11 Dinosaucers
December 12 Popeye and Son
The P.T.L. Club 1976
December 18 Beverly Hills Teens 1987
Spiral Zone
December 19 My Pet Monster
Pound Puppies 1986

Changing networks

[edit]
Show Moved from Moved to
Airwolf CBS USA Network
Alfred Hitchcock Presents NBC
Candid Camera CBS
We Got it Made Syndication
High Rollers
Punky Brewster
Charles in Charge CBS
Webster ABC
American Bandstand
Concentration Syndication NBC
Inspector Gadget Nickelodeon

Made-for-TV movies and miniseries

[edit]
Title Network Premiere date
Amerika ABC February 8
The Facts of Life Down Under NBC February 15
LBJ: The Early Years February 1
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story November 16
Roman Holiday December 28

Networks and services

[edit]

Launches

[edit]
Network Type Launch date Notes Source
The Travel Channel Cable television February 8
Fox Cable television April 5 Previously had a "soft launch" on October 9, 1986
Movietime Cable television July 31
Harmony Premiere Network Cable television Unknown

Conversions and rebrandings

[edit]
Old network name New network name Type Conversion Date Notes Source
NetSpan Telemundo Cable television Unknown
Spanish International Network Univision Cable and satellite Unknown
SuperStation WTBS SuperStation TBS Cable television Unknown

Closures

[edit]
Network Type Closure date Notes Source
Home Theater Network Cable television January 31
Operation Prime Time Cable television Unknown

Television stations

[edit]

Station launches

[edit]
Date City of License/Market Station Channel Affiliation Notes/Ref.
January 11 Bartlesville/Tulsa, Oklahoma KDOR-TV 17 TBN
February Hattiesburg/Laurel, Mississippi WHLT 22 CBS Semi-satellite of WJTV/Jackson
February 2 Marshalltown/Des Moines, Iowa K39AS 39
February 7 Orlando, Florida WLSY 43 Independent
February 9 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas KDTX-TV 58 TBN (O&O)
February 13 Williamsport, Pennsylvania W39BT 39 TBN
February 14 Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi WXXV-TV 25 Fox
February 15 San Juan, Puerto Rico WSJN-TV 24 Independent
March 9 Charlotte, North Carolina WJZY 46 Independent
Tyler, Texas KETK 56 NBC
March 23 Toledo, Ohio W48AP 48 Independent
April Redwood Falls, Minnesota KRWF 43 ABC Semi-satellite of KSTP-TV
April 7 Mobile, Alabama WFGX 35 Independent
April 18 Atlanta, Georgia WNGM-TV 34 Independent
May Los Angeles, California KDDE
(recalled as KEEF-TV in June)
68 Educational independent
May 6 Springfield, Massachusetts W11BT 11 Independent
May 13 Buffalo, New York WNEQ-TV 23 PBS
May 22 Terre Haute, Indiana W65BK 65 TBN
May 25 Cleveland/Chattanooga, Tennessee WFLI-TV 53 Independent
May 29 Sioux Falls, South Dakota KTTW 7 Fox
June 18 Cocoa/Orlando, Florida WRES 68 Educational independent
June 30 Kalamazoo/Battle Creek/Grand Rapids, Michigan WLLA 64 Christian independent
July 1 Clairemore/Tulsa, Oklahoma KXON-TV 35 Educational independent
July 2 Darien, Connecticut W33BS 33 Audio-only independent Pulse 87
July 4 Frederick, Maryland
(Washington, D.C.)
WFPT 62 PBS Part of the Maryland Public Television network
July 16 Houston, Texas KETH 14 TBN (O&O)
August 1 Arcata/Eureka, California KREQ 23 Fox
August 5 Baton Rouge, Louisiana W49KG 49 Independent
August 10 Rochester, Minnesota
(Mason City, Iowa)
KXLT-TV 47 Independent Originally a satellite of KXLI/Minneapolis
August 14 Merrimack/Manchester, New Hampshire WGOT 60 Independent
August 15 Barstow/Los Angeles, California KVVT 64 Independent
August 24 Columbus, Ohio WOCB-CD
(original callsign unknown)
39 Religious independent
August 27 Bloomington, Indiana WCLJ-TV 42 TBN
August 28 Cheyenne, Wyoming KKTU 39 NBC
August 31 Columbus, Ohio WWAT 53 Independent
September Buffalo, New York WNYB-TV 49 Independent
September Silver City, New Mexico KOVT 10 ABC Satellite of KOAT-TV/Albuquerque
September 1 Bozeman/Butte, Montana KCTZ 7 ABC
September 2 Denver, Colorado KUBD 59 Independent
September 5 Albuquerque, New Mexico KLUZ 41 Univision
September 18 Rosenberg/Houston, Texas KXLN 45 Univision
September 21 New Orleans, Louisiana K59DG 59 Daystar
September 28 Bridgeport, Connecticut
(New York City)
WBCT-TV 43 Independent
October 12 Albuquerque, New Mexico KAZQ 34 Religious independent
October 18 Richland, Washington KTNW 31 PBS Satellite of KWSU-TV/Spokane
October 19 Tamuning, Guam KTGM 14 ABC (primary)
CBS (secondary)
Indianapolis, Indiana WMCC 23 Independent
October 28 Chicago, Illinois W54AP 54 Independent
W54AP 54
October 29 Tampa, Florida W57BA 57 Channel America
November 12 Stockton, California
(Sacramento/Modesto, California)
KFTL 64 Independent
November 15 Gary, Indiana
(Chicago, Illinois)
WYIN 56 PBS
December 2 South Bend, Indiana W12BK (original) 12 Independent LPTV translator of WCIU-TV/Chicago
December 7 Galveston/Houston, Texas KTMD 47 Telemundo
December 8 Chicago, Illinois W46AO 46 TBN
Lenoir City/Knoxville, Tennessee W38AQ 38 FamilyNet/America One
December 14 Albany, New York WOCD 55 Independent
December 15 Elkhart/South Bend, Indiana W24AI 24 TBN
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
(Clarksville, Tennessee)
W22CH 22
December 16 San Antonio, Texas KABB 29 Independent
Unknown date Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands WAIG 43 Independent
WVGI 17
Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands WMEG 15 Religious independent
Panama City, Florida W46AN 46 Tourist information

Network affiliation changes

[edit]
Date City of License/Market Station Channel Old affiliation New affiliation Notes/Ref.
January 19 Boston, Massachusetts WFXT 25 Independent Fox
April 5 Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities) KLJB-TV 18
Evansville, Indiana WEVV-TV 44
Memphis, Tennessee WMKW-TV 30
Nashville, Tennessee WCAY-TV 30
Tri-Cities, Tennessee/Virginia WEMT 38
July 6 Columbus, Georgia WXTX 54 [15]
Jackson, Mississippi WDBD 40
Knoxville, Tennessee WKCH-TV 43 [16]
September 7 Cape Girardeau, Missouri
(Paducah, Kentucky/Harrisburg, Illinois)
KBSI 23 [17][18]
October 19 Hagatna, Guam KUAM-TV 8 NBC (primary)
CBS/ABC/Fox (secondary)
NBC (primary)
CBS/Fox (secondary)
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands WSZE-TV 10 Satellite of KUAM-TV/Hagtna, Guam
December 5 Huntsville/Decatur/Florence, Alabama WZDX 54 Independent Fox [19][20]

Births

[edit]
Date Name Notability
January 2 Lauren Storm Actress (Flight 29 Down)
Shelley Hennig Actress (Days of Our Lives, The Secret Circle, Teen Wolf)
January 5 Kristin Cavallari Actress (Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, The Hills)
January 7 Lyndsy Fonseca Actress (The Young and the Restless, How I Met Your Mother, Nikita, Agent Carter, Turner & Hooch)
January 8 Freddie Stroma Actor
January 9 Pablo Santos Mexican actor (Greetings from Tucson) (d. 2006)
January 12 Naya Rivera Actress (The Royal Family, The Bernie Mac Show, Glee) (d. 2020)
January 17 Joy Taylor American media personality
January 18 Zane Holtz Canadian actor (Make It or Break It, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series) and model
January 20 Evan Peters Actor (Phil of the Future, American Horror Story)
Mark Wright TV personality
Pete Ploszek Actor (Teen Wolf)
January 24 Ruth Bradley Irish actress (Humans)
January 27 Kylie Sparks Actress (Squaresville)
January 28 Misha Crosby British actor (The Lying Game)
Chelsea Brummet Actress (All That)
Katie Nolan American sports television host
January 29 Alex Murrel Actress (Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County)
February 1 Heather Morris Actress (Glee) and singer
Ronda Rousey Actress and martial artist (Total Divas, UFC, WWE, 9-1-1)[21]
February 2 Martin Spanjers Actor (8 Simple Rules, Good Luck Charlie)
February 5 Darren Criss Actor (Glee, A Very Potter Musical, Transformers: Robots in Disguise) and singer
Alex Brightman Actor
February 9 Henry Cejudo Martial artist[22]
Rose Leslie Scottish actress (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey)
February 11 Julio Torres Actor
February 12 Gary LeRoi Gray Actor (The Cosby Show, Even Stevens, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Rocket Power, The Fairly OddParents, Whatever Happened to Robot Jones)
February 19 Jeffery Self Actor
February 20 Miles Teller Actor
February 21 Elliot Page Actor (Pit Pony, hosted Saturday Night Live, 2008)
Ashley Greene Actress
February 24 Ulysses Cuadra Voice actor (Rocket Power, Clifford the Big Red Dog, The Zeta Project)
February 25 Natalie Dreyfuss Actress (Rita Rocks)
February 28 Michelle Horn Actress
March 1 Kesha American singer
March 9 Bow Wow Rapper (host of 106 & Park)
March 10 Ser'Darius Blain Actor
March 17 Rob Kardashian Actor (Keeping Up with the Kardashians)
Zach Villa Actor
March 19 Josie Loren Actress
March 23 Jessica Marie Garcia Actress
March 28 Mary Kate Wiles Actress (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Squaresville) and singer
March 29 Lisandra Tena Actress
April 1 Mackenzie Davis Actress (Halt and Catch Fire)
April 2 Briga Heelan Actress
April 3 Benjamin Stone British actor (The Nine Lives of Chloe King)
Rachel Bloom Actress and singer (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend)
April 4 Sarah Gadon Canadian actress (My Dad the Rock Star, Ruby Gloom, Friends and Heroes, Total Drama)
April 7 Maria Molina American meteorologist
April 9 Jesse McCartney Actor (All My Children, Summerland, Young & Hungry, Young Justice), and singer
April 10 Jamie Renée Smith Actress (Ask Harriet)
Shay Mitchell Canadian actress (Pretty Little Liars)
April 12 Brooklyn Decker Actress (Friends with Better Lives, Grace and Frankie) and model
Mike Manning Actor (The Real World: D.C.)
Brendon Urie Singer
Ilana Glazer Actress
April 15 Samira Wiley Actress (Orange is the New Black)
April 16 Jack Cutmore-Scott Actor
April 17 Jacqueline MacInnes Wood Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful)
April 18 Rosie Huntington-Whiteley English actress
Ellen Woglom American actress
April 19 Courtland Mead Actor (Kirk, Nightmare Ned, Recess, Lloyd in Space)
April 20 John Patrick Amedori Actor
April 26 Jessica Lee Rose Actress (Lonelygirl15, Sorority Forever, Hooking Up)
April 27 William Moseley English actor (The Royals)
May 2 Pat McAfee Sports commentator (ESPN, WWE)
May 7 Aidy Bryant Actress and comedian (Saturday Night Live, Danger & Eggs)
Maya Erskine Actress and writer
May 10 Eileen April Boylan Actress (South of Nowhere, Greek)
May 12 Robbie Rogers Television producer
May 13 Candice King Actress (The Vampire Diaries) and singer
May 15 Ersan İlyasova Baseball player
May 19 Jayne Wisener Irish actress (6Degrees)
May 21 Ashlie Brillault Actress (Lizzie McGuire)
May 23 Bray Wyatt Pro wrestler (WWE) (died 2023)
May 24 Bethany C. Meyers American fitness and lifestyle entrepreneur
May 26 Brandi Cyrus Actress (Hannah Montana, Cyrus vs. Cyrus: Design and Conquer)
May 27 Bella Heathcote Australian actress (Neighbours)
May 29 Noah Reid Canadian actor (Pippi Longstocking, Franklin, Rolie Polie Olie)
Joseph Haro American actor
May 30 Javicia Leslie Actress
May 31 Curtis Williams Actor (The Parent 'Hood)
Shaun Fleming Voice actor (Teacher's Pet, Kim Possible, Fillmore!, Lilo & Stitch: The Series)
Meredith Hagner Actress (As the World Turns, Men at Work)
June 3 Lalaine Actress (Lizzie McGuire)
Michelle Keegan Actress
June 9 Rheagan Wallace Actress
June 12 Chris Galya Actor (Jessie)
June 16 Diana DeGarmo Actress (The Young and the Restless)
Kelly Blatz Actor (Aaron Stone, Glory Daze)
Abby Elliott Actress (Saturday Night Live, Odd Mom Out) and daughter of Chris Elliott
June 17 Rebecca Breeds Australian actress (The Originals)
June 18 Niels Schneider French-Canadian actor
June 19 Chelsea J. Wilson Actress (Lizzie McGuire)
June 22 Joe Dempsie English actor (Skins, Game of Thrones)
Jerrod Carmichael Comedian
June 23 Haley Strode Actress (Wendell & Vinnie)
June 27 India de Beaufort Actress
Ed Westwick English actor (Gossip Girl)
July 3 Chris Hunter Actor (South of Nowhere)
July 5 Charles Rogers Actor
July 6 Matt O'Leary Actor (Spy Kids)
July 7 Julianna Guill Actress (My Alibi, Glory Daze, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce)
July 11 Cristina Vee Voice actress (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, Sailor Moon)
July 12 Tilian Pearson Singer
July 14 Charly Arnolt Sports broadcaster and TV personality (WWE, ESPN, Fox News)
Sara Canning Canadian actress (The Vampire Diaries)
Dan Reynolds Singer
July 16 AnnaLynne McCord Actress (American Heiress, 90210)
Kate Berlant Actress
July 19 Jon Jones Mixed martial artist[23]
July 21 Peter Doocy TV journalist
July 22 Bre-Z Actress
July 24 Mara Wilson Actress
July 25 Michael Welch Actor
July 28 Asher Grodman Actor
July 29 Genesis Rodriguez Actress (Dame Chocolate, Big Hero 6: The Series)
July 31 Brittany Byrnes Australian actress (H2O: Just Add Water)
August 4 Sam Underwood Actor
August 8 Katie Leung Actress
Jenn Proske Actress
August 10 Ari Boyland New Zealand actor (Power Rangers RPM)
August 11 Jemima West Anglo-American actress (15/Love, Maison Close, Indian Summers)
August 14 James Buckley Actor
August 17 Manny Jacinto Actor
August 18 Mika Boorem Actress (The Tom Show)
August 21 Cody Kasch Actor (Desperate Housewives)
August 25 Blake Lively Actress (Gossip Girl)
August 26 Nieves Zuberbühler Argentine journalist
August 27 Tiffany Boone Actress
August 30 Johanna Braddy Actress (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Greek, Video Game High School, UnREAL, Quantico)
September 2 Mazin Elsadig Actor (Degrassi: The Next Generation, Stoked)
September 3 Megan Amram Writer
September 5 Jeremy Vuolo Player
Jenny Taft American sports television personality
September 7 Evan Rachel Wood Actress (Once and Again, Westworld) and singer
Lily Cowles Actress
September 8 Wiz Khalifa Actor and rapper
September 9 Clayton Snyder Actor (Lizzie McGuire)
Taylor Bagley Actress
September 10 Alex Saxon Actor (The Fosters, Finding Carter, Nancy Drew)
September 11 Elizabeth Henstridge Actress (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Tyler Hoechlin Actor (7th Heaven, Teen Wolf)
September 13 Erin Way Actress (I Heart Vampires, Alphas)
September 16 Daren Kagasoff Actor (The Secret Life of the American Teenager)
September 17 Augustus Prew English actor (Prison Break)
September 19 Danielle Panabaker Actress (Shark, The Flash)
September 20 Sarah Natochenny Voice actress (Ash Ketchum on Pokémon)
September 22 Teyonah Parris Actress (Mad Men, WandaVision)
September 23 Skylar Astin Actor (Ground Floor, Graves, Trolls: The Beat Goes On!)
September 24 Grey Damon Actor (Friday Night Lights, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Twisted, Star-Crossed, Aquarius)
Spencer Treat Clark Actor (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Animal Kingdom)
September 28 Hilary Duff Actress (Lizzie McGuire, Younger) and singer
September 29 David Del Rio Actor (The Troop)
October 1 Matthew Daddario Actor (Shadowhunters)
October 2 Christopher Larkin Actor (The 100)
Erika Lauren Wasilewski Actress (The Real World: D.C.)
October 8 Griffin Frazen Actor (Grounded for Life)
October 9 Melissa Villaseñor Actress (Saturday Night Live)
October 13 Ashley Newbrough Actress (Privileged)
October 14 Jay Pharoah Actor (Saturday Night Live)
October 15 Chantal Strand Canadian voice actress (Dragon Tales, Sabrina: The Animated Series, Pucca)
October 18 Zac Efron Actor (Summerland, High School Musical, Down to Earth with Zac Efron)
October 23 Leah Van Dale Pro wrestler (WWE, Total Divas)[24]
October 29 Cleopatra Coleman Australian actress (The Last Man on Earth)
November 5 Kevin Jonas Actor (Jonas, Married to Jonas) and singer (Jonas Brothers)
November 7 Rachele Brooke Smith Actress
November 9 Emily Tyra Actress
November 10 Jessica Tovey Australian actress (Home and Away)
November 11 Giles Matthey British-Australian actor (True Blood, Once Upon a Time)
November 19 Jake Abel Actor
Jared Abrahamson Actor
November 20 Amelia Rose Blaire Actress (True Blood, Blue Bloods)
November 23 Snooki American reality television personality
November 25 Dolla American rapper (d. 2009)
November 28 Karen Gillan Scottish actress (Doctor Who)
November 30 Christel Khalil Actress (The Young and the Restless)
Lauren Zima American television personality
December 1 Sarah Snook Actress
December 3 Michael Angarano Actor (Cover Me, Will & Grace)
Dree Hemingway Actress
December 4 Orlando Brown Actor (Family Matters, Two of a Kind, That's So Raven, Waynehead, The Proud Family, Fillmore!, Clifford's Puppy Days) and rapper
December 6 Jack DeSena Actor (All That, 100 Things to Do Before High School, Avatar: The Last Airbender)
December 7 Aaron Carter Actor (House of Carters), singer and brother of Nick Carter (died 2022)
December 11 Alex Russell Australian actor
December 12 Kate Todd Canadian actress
December 13 Michael Socha English actor (Once Upon a Time)
December 16 Hallee Hirsh Actress (ER, Flight 29 Down)
December 28 Taylor Ball Actor (Still Standing)
Hannah Tointon English actress (Kerching!, Dream Team, Hollyoaks) and sister of Kara Tointon
Thomas Dekker Actor (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Secret Circle, Backstrom)
Adam Gregory Actor (90210, Winx Club, The Bold and the Beautiful)
December 29 Iain De Caestecker Actor (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Deaths

[edit]
Date Name Age Notability
January 1 Lloyd Haynes 52 Actor (Room 222)
February 4 Liberace 67 American pianist, singer and actor
February 22 David Susskind 66 Commentator and producer (The David Susskind Show)
February 25 James Coco 56 Actor
March 3 Danny Kaye 76 Actor & comedian (The Danny Kaye Show)
March 21 Dean Paul Martin 35 Actor (Misfits of Science) and singer (Dino, Desi & Billy)
March 28 Patrick Troughton 67 Actor (the Second Doctor on Doctor Who from 1966 to 1969)
April 17 Dick Shawn 63 Actor
April 19 Milt Kahl 78 Animator
May 4 Cathryn Damon 56 Actress (Mary on Soap)
May 14 Rita Hayworth 68 Actress and singer
May 31 Roy Winsor 75 Soap opera writer (Search for Tomorrow)
June 22 Fred Astaire 88 Actor and singer
June 24 Jackie Gleason 71 Actor (The Honeymooners, The Jackie Gleason Show)
August 11 Clara Peller 85 Wendy's spokesperson (Where's the Beef? ad campaign)
August 19 Hayden Rorke 76 Actor (Dr. Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie)
September 5 Quinn Martin 65 Executive producer (The Fugitive and many others)
September 11 Lorne Greene 72 Actor (Ben Cartwright on Bonanza)
September 22 Dan Rowan 65 Comedian (co-host of Laugh-In)
Carman Maxwell 84 Voice actor (Bosko on Looney Tunes)
September 25 Mary Astor 81 Actress[25]

Television debuts

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See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Small-format video technology pictured for 1987" (PDF). Broadcasting Magazine. January 5, 1987. pp. 178–180. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  2. ^ "Albany TV station cancels NBC show over condom issue". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 8, 1987. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  3. ^ Lewin, Tamar (March 8, 1987). "New sex mores are chilling TV ardor". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  4. ^ Rettenmund, Matthew (October 15, 1996). Totally Awesome 80s: A Lexicon of the Music, Videos, Movies, TV Shows, Stars, and Trends of that Decadent Decade. Macmillan. ISBN 9780312144364 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "Rivers Says Goodbye Not A Minute Too Soon". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Name Is Fake But The Songs Are Her Own". Philly.com. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Crispin Glover Goes Back to the Crazy – Top 10 Disastrous Letterman Interviews". Time. February 13, 2009. Archived from the original on April 13, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Reed, Ryan (20 May 2021). "David Letterman's Most Memorable Late-Night Moments". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  9. ^ Smith, Lory (1999). Party in a Box: The Story of the Sundance Film Festival. Gibbs Smith. p. 3. ISBN 978-0879058616. The movie starred Crispin Glover as Rubin - he was actually in the Rubin character the infamous night he nearly karate-kicked off David Letterman's nose.
  10. ^ Yamato, Jen (20 January 2015). "Bill Hader To Narrate Cult Film Documentary 'Beaver Trilogy Part IV' – Sundance". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Down and out in Beverly Hills: 13 episodes" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, TV.com
  12. ^ Moaba, Alex (October 20, 2011). "Matthew Perry Sitcom 'Second Chance' Predicted Gaddafi Would Die in 2011". AOL TV. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved 2011-10-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. 1987-06-29. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  14. ^ Jicha, Tom (January 25, 1987). "'Hard Copy' doesn't get the facts straight". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. Cox News Service. p. 2-D. Retrieved March 14, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Trotting With Fox". Ledger-Enquirer. June 19, 1987. p. 15.
  16. ^ Carter, Reon (June 25, 1987). "WKCH joins fourth network". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. Knoxville, Tennessee. p. B7. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "KBSI to air Fox Network programs". The Paducah Sun. August 5, 1987. p. A12. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  18. ^ Weil, Nancy (August 16, 1987). "KBSI joins Fox; debuts Sept. 7". Southern Illinoisan. p. Television 2. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Kaylor, Mike (October 31, 1987). "WZDK [sic] to join Fox network in December". The Huntsville Times. p. 2A. Archived from the original on February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "Briefly Noted". Electronic Media. December 7, 1987. p. 46.
  21. ^ "Ronda Rousey Actress, Producer, Writer". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  22. ^ Iole, Kevin (2018-08-03). "How a near-death experience inspired Henry Cejudo to reach for greatness". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  23. ^ "Jon Jones Biography". ESPN. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  24. ^ "Carmella WWE (Corey Graves' Wife) | News, Latest Updates & More @ Sportskeeda". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  25. ^ "Mary Astor - American actress". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
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