# 1987 in American television

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

## Events

| 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 23 | After being dropped by CBS following its third season, Airwolf is resurfaces on the USA Network, who funded the fourth season, to be produced in Canada by Atlantis and The Arthur Company (owned by Arthur L. Annecharico) in association with MCA. This was intended to increase the number of episodes to make the show eligible for broadcast syndication. The principal cast is deemed too expensive to hire, so entirely new cast is created. Jan-Michael Vincent (Stringfellow Hawke) however, appears in the first transitional episode. This particular iteration of Airwolf would last for a single, 24 episode long season, concluding on August 7, 1987. |
| January 25 | CBS' broadcast of Super Bowl XXI becomes the first NFL game to be broadcast in Dolby Surround sound and in stereo. 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. The episode featured the first use of the word condom on a prime time television program. 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. |
| March 23 | 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. |
| May 15 | 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. 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. 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. 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 21 | Following its cancellation by ABC after four seasons, the sitcom Webster is relaunched in first-run syndication, where it would run for two additional seasons. |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| November 22 | 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 16 | SuperStation WTBS airs the 1983 film A Christmas Story for the very first time. Turner Broadcasting (as both an independent company and, from 1996 onward, as a subsidiary of the company presently operating as Warner Bros. Discovery) would maintain ownership of the broadcast rights to A Christmas Story. Beginning in the mid-1990s, they would air the film increasingly on both TBS and TNT throughout the holiday season annually. |
| 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
### Debuting this year

| 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 | CBS |
| January 26 | Square One TV | PBS |
| February 2 | Eyes on the Prize | PBS |
| March 4 | Harry | ABC |
| March 9 | Rags to Riches | NBC |
| March 11 | Houston Knights | CBS |
| March 19 | The Bronx Zoo | NBC |
| March 19 | Roomies | NBC |
| March 20 | The Charmings | ABC |
| March 23 | The Bold and the Beautiful | CBS |
| March 23 | The Popcorn Kid | CBS |
| March 31 | Max Headroom | ABC |
| April 1 | Mariah | ABC |
| April 1 | Roxie | CBS |
| April 1 | Take Five | CBS |
| April 2 | Nothing in Common | NBC |
| April 5 | Married... with Children | Fox |
| April 5 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Fox |
| April 12 | 21 Jump Street | Fox |
| April 18 | Sweet Surrender | NBC |
| April 19 | Bionic Six | Syndication |
| April 19 | Duet | Fox |
| April 20 | Hard Knocks | Showtime |
| April 26 | Down and Out in Beverly Hills | Fox |
| May 3 | Mr. President | Fox |
| 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 |
| July 11 | Werewolf | Fox |
| July 18 | Karen's Song | Fox |
| July 18 | The New Adventures of Beans Baxter | Fox |
| 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 |
| September 12 | I'm Telling! | NBC |
| September 12 | The New Archies | NBC |
| September 12 | Popeye and Son | CBS |
| September 13 | Private Eye | NBC |
| September 14 | Dinosaucers | Syndication |
| September 14 | BraveStarr | Syndication |
| September 14 | Maxie's World | Syndication |
| September 14 | New Monkees | Syndication |
| September 14 | The Wil Shriner Show | Syndication |
| September 14 | Frank's Place | CBS |
| September 16 | The Oldest Rookie | CBS |
| September 16 | Wiseguy | CBS |
| September 17 | Out of This World | Syndication |
| September 18 | DuckTales (Original series) | Syndication |
| September 19 | The Kidsongs TV Show | Syndication |
| September 19 | Marblehead Manor | Syndication |
| September 19 | She's the Sheriff | Syndication |
| September 19 | Once a Hero | ABC |
| September 19 | Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater | CBS |
| September 20 | The Highwayman | NBC |
| September 20 | My Two Dads | NBC |
| September 20 | Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light | Syndication |
| September 21 | Beverly Hills Teens | Syndication |
| September 21 | Spiral Zone | Syndication |
| September 22 | Full House | ABC |
| September 22 | I Married Dora | ABC |
| September 23 | Hooperman | ABC |
| September 23 | The Slap Maxwell Story | ABC |
| September 24 | A Different World | NBC |
| September 24 | Tour of Duty | CBS |
| September 25 | Beauty and the Beast | CBS |
| September 26 | Jake and the Fatman | CBS |
| September 26 | ALF: The Animated Series | NBC |
| September 26 | J.J. Starbuck | NBC |
| September 26 | Second Chance (aka Boys Will Be Boys) | Fox |
| September 26 | You Can't Take It With You | Syndication |
| September 27 | Dolly | ABC |
| September 27 | The Law & Harry McGraw | CBS |
| September 28 | Lingo | Syndication |
| September 28 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Syndication |
| September 29 | thirtysomething | ABC |
| October 3 | Everything's Relative | CBS |
| October 3 | Leg Work | CBS |
| October 3 | 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

| 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 | Same | January 5 |
| Concentration | 1978 | Syndication | Classic Concentration | NBC | May 4 |
| We Got it Made | 1984 | NBC | Same | Syndication | September 11 |
| Snorks | 1985 | NBC | Same | Same | September 12 |
| High Rollers | 1980 | NBC | Same | Syndication | September 14 |
| Truth or Consequences | 1978 | Syndication | Same | Syndication | September 14 |
| The Jetsons | 1963 | ABC | Same | Syndication | October 19 |

### Ending this year

| Date | Title | Debut |
| January 10 | Heart of the City | 1986 |
| February 6 | Dads | 1986 |
| February 9 | Gung Ho | 1986 |
| 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? | 1986 |
| March 30 | 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 | 1986 |
| May 1 | Blockbusters | 1980 |
| May 2 | Starman | 1986 |
| May 8 | Stingray | 1985 |
| May 12 | Gimme a Break! | 1981 |
| May 12 | 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 |
| May 28 | Our World | 1986 |
| May 30 | Outlaws | 1986 |
| June 3 | Nothing in Common | 1987 |
| June 13 | Sidekicks | 1986 |
| June 19 | Nightlife | 1986 |
| June 27 | Gung Ho | 1986 |
| 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 |
| September 12 | Karen's Song | 1987 |
| September 14 | Photon | 1986 |
| September 23 | My Little Pony | 1984 |
| October 1 | First Impressions | 1987 |
| October 3 | Once a Hero | 1987 |
| October 25 | Maxie's World | 1987 |
| November 7 | Everything's Relative | 1987 |
| November 7 | Leg Work | 1987 |
| November 7 | 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 | 1987 |
| December 11 | Dinosaucers | 1987 |
| December 12 | Popeye and Son | 1987 |
| December 12 | The P.T.L. Club | 1976 |
| December 18 | Beverly Hills Teens | 1987 |
| December 18 | Spiral Zone | 1987 |
| December 19 | My Pet Monster | 1987 |
| December 19 | Pound Puppies | 1986 |

### Changing networks

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

### Made-for-TV movies and miniseries

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

## Networks and services
### Launches

| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes |
| The Travel Channel | Cable television | February 8 | |
| Fox | Broadcast 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

| Old network name | New network name | Type | Conversion Date |
| NetSpan | Telemundo | Cable television | Unknown |
| Spanish International Network | Univision | Cable and satellite | Unknown |
| SuperStation WTBS | SuperStation TBS | Cable television | Unknown |

### Closures

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

## Television stations
### Station launches

| 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 | |
| March 9 | 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) | |
| October 19 | Indianapolis, Indiana | WMCC | 23 | Independent | |
| October 28 | Chicago, Illinois | W54AP | 54 | Independent | |
| October 28 | Chicago, Illinois | W54AP | 54 | Independent | |
| 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 | |
| December 8 | 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 | |
| December 15 | Hopkinsville, Kentucky (Clarksville, Tennessee) | W22CH | 22 | TBN | |
| December 16 | San Antonio, Texas | KABB | 29 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands | WAIG | 43 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands | WVGI | 17 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands | WMEG | 15 | Religious independent | |
| Unknown date | Panama City, Florida | W46AN | 46 | Tourist information | |

### Network affiliation changes

| 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 | Independent | Fox | |
| April 5 | Evansville, Indiana | WEVV-TV | 44 | Independent | Fox | |
| April 5 | Memphis, Tennessee | WMKW-TV | 30 | Independent | Fox | |
| April 5 | Nashville, Tennessee | WCAY-TV | 30 | Independent | Fox | |
| April 5 | Tri-Cities, Tennessee/Virginia | WEMT | 38 | Independent | Fox | |
| July 6 | Columbus, Georgia | WXTX | 54 | Independent | Fox | |
| July 6 | Jackson, Mississippi | WDBD | 40 | Independent | Fox | |
| July 6 | Knoxville, Tennessee | WKCH-TV | 43 | Independent | Fox | |
| September 7 | Cape Girardeau, Missouri (Paducah, Kentucky/Harrisburg, Illinois) | KBSI | 23 | Independent | Fox | |
| October 19 | Hagatna, Guam | KUAM-TV | 8 | NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/Fox (secondary) | NBC (primary) CBS/Fox (secondary) | |
| October 19 | Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands | WSZE-TV | 10 | NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/Fox (secondary) | NBC (primary) CBS/Fox (secondary) | Satellite of KUAM-TV/Hagtna, Guam |
| December 5 | Huntsville/Decatur/Florence, Alabama | WZDX | 54 | Independent | Fox | |

## Births

| Date | Name | Notability |
| January 2 | Lauren Storm | Actress (Flight 29 Down) |
| January 2 | 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) |
| January 20 | Mark Wright | TV personality |
| January 20 | 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) |
| January 28 | Chelsea Brummet | Actress (All That) |
| January 28 | 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 |
| February 1 | Ronda Rousey | Actress and martial artist (Total Divas, UFC, WWE, 9-1-1) |
| 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 |
| February 5 | Alex Brightman | Actor |
| February 9 | Henry Cejudo | Martial artist |
| February 9 | 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) |
| February 21 | 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) |
| March 17 | 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) |
| April 3 | 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) |
| April 10 | Shay Mitchell | Canadian actress (Pretty Little Liars) |
| April 12 | Brooklyn Decker | Actress (Friends with Better Lives, Grace and Frankie) and model |
| April 12 | Mike Manning | Actor (The Real World: D.C.) |
| April 12 | Brendon Urie | Singer |
| April 12 | 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 |
| April 18 | 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) |
| May 7 | 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) |
| May 29 | Joseph Haro | American actor |
| May 30 | Javicia Leslie | Actress |
| May 31 | Curtis Williams | Actor (The Parent 'Hood) |
| May 31 | Shaun Fleming | Voice actor (Teacher's Pet, Kim Possible, Fillmore!, Lilo & Stitch: The Series) |
| May 31 | Meredith Hagner | Actress (As the World Turns, Men at Work) |
| June 3 | Lalaine | Actress (Lizzie McGuire) |
| June 3 | Michelle Keegan | Actress |
| June 9 | Rheagan Wallace | Actress |
| June 12 | Chris Galya | Actor (Jessie) |
| June 16 | Diana DeGarmo | Actress (The Young and the Restless) |
| June 16 | Kelly Blatz | Actor (Aaron Stone, Glory Daze) |
| June 16 | 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) |
| June 22 | Jerrod Carmichael | Comedian |
| June 23 | Haley Strode | Actress (Wendell & Vinnie) |
| June 27 | India de Beaufort | Actress |
| June 27 | 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) |
| July 14 | Sara Canning | Canadian actress (The Vampire Diaries) |
| July 14 | Dan Reynolds | Singer |
| July 16 | AnnaLynne McCord | Actress (American Heiress, 90210) |
| July 16 | Kate Berlant | Actress |
| July 19 | Jon Jones | Mixed martial artist |
| 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 (H$_2$O: Just Add Water) |
| August 4 | Sam Underwood | Actor |
| August 8 | Katie Leung | Actress |
| August 8 | 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 |
| September 5 | Jenny Taft | American sports television personality |
| September 7 | Evan Rachel Wood | Actress (Once and Again, Westworld) and singer |
| September 7 | Lily Cowles | Actress |
| September 8 | Wiz Khalifa | Actor and rapper |
| September 9 | Clayton Snyder | Actor (Lizzie McGuire) |
| September 9 | 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.) |
| September 11 | 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) |
| September 24 | 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) |
| October 2 | 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 10 | Carla Esparza | Mixed martial artist |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| November 19 | 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 | Trinity Fatu | Pro Wrestler (Total Divas) |
| November 30 | Christel Khalil | Actress (The Young and the Restless) |
| November 30 | Lauren Zima | American television personality |
| December 1 | Sarah Snook | Actress |
| December 3 | Michael Angarano | Actor (Cover Me, Will & Grace) |
| December 3 | 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) |
| December 28 | Hannah Tointon | English actress (Kerching!, Dream Team, Hollyoaks) and sister of Kara Tointon |
| December 28 | Thomas Dekker | Actor (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Secret Circle, Backstrom) |
| December 28 | 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

| 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) |
| September 22 | Carman Maxwell | 84 | Voice actor (Bosko on Looney Tunes) |
| September 25 | Mary Astor | 81 | Actress |

## Television debuts

* Patricia Arquette – Daddy
* Billy Crudup – General College
* Chris Elliott – Miami Vice
* Juliette Lewis – Home Fires
* Brad Pitt – Another World
* Joely Richardson – Kin of the Castle
* Chris Rock – Miami Vice