# 1993 in American television

In American television in 1993, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.

## Events

| Date | Event |
| January 3 | ABC and CBS simultaneously broadcast their own movies based on Amy Fisher's life, with Fisher played by Drew Barrymore (for ABC) and Alyssa Milano (for CBS); NBC had broadcast its own version of the Fisher saga six days earlier (December 28, 1992). |
| January 8 | ABC affiliate KOUS-TV (now Fox affiliate KHMT) in Billings, Montana, which had suffered reception problems for most of its history, signs off the air (it will return to the air as KHMT in August 1995). Later that day, KSVI signs-on the air, taking KOUS-TV's intellectual unit and ABC affiliation with it. |
| January 11 | Monday Night Raw airs its first episode, live from the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center in New York City, on the USA Network. In the main event, The Undertaker defeats Damien Demento. |
| January 14 | David Letterman announces during a press conference that he will be moving his late-night program from NBC to CBS come August 1993. |
| January 15 | The series finale of Santa Barbara airs on NBC. In it, Sophia and C.C. Capwell move towards a reconciliation, Kelly finds love with Connor McCabe, and at Warren and B.J.'s wedding, unbalanced Andie Klein aims a gun at the crowd; however, she is quickly disarmed and carried away by Connor. This is then followed by a roll-call list of the cast and crew. The final shot consists of executive producer Paul Rauch standing in front of the camera, smashing a cigar under his shoe, and walking away. |
| January 16 | On NBC's Saturday Night Live, Madonna parodies Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President, as “Happy Inauguration Mr. President”. On the same episode, she imitates Sinéad O'Connor's actions from earlier in the season. |
| January 19 | Fox expands its regular prime-time schedule to seven days a week; the network celebrates by premiering two dramas on this Tuesday: Class of '96 and Key West. |
| January 20 | Warner Bros. Television Distribution launches the Prime Time Entertainment Network. |
| January 31 | The Super Bowl, broadcast by NBC, has a solo halftime performer for the first time—Michael Jackson, who performed a medley of his most successful songs. |
| February 6 | Dana Carvey makes his final appearance as a cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live. By the end of the season on May 15, Chris Rock and Robert Smigel would also make their final appearances on SNL as cast members. |
| February 10 | Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson during a live primetime special on ABC, hosted at Jackson's Neverland Ranch (Jackson's first TV interview since 1979 with Barbara Walters for 20/20). |
| February 10 | Fox gets a full-time home in Grand Junction, Colorado when KFQX signs-on the air. |
| February 24 | Michael Jackson receives a Grammy Legend Award at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards, presented by his younger sister, Janet. The ceremony is broadcast by CBS. |
| February 26 | The Days of Our Lives nighttime special Night Sins is broadcast by NBC. |
| March 2 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade makes its network television premiere on CBS. |
| March 4 | ESPN holds the first ever ESPY Awards. The highlight is Jim Valvano's speech while accepting the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. He announced the creation of The V Foundation for Cancer Research, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. Less than two months after his famous ESPY speech, Valvano died following a nearly yearlong battle with metastatic cancer. |
| March 13 | Harrison Ford appears as Indiana Jones in the bookend scenes for an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles on ABC. |
| March 28 | Through a brokered deal with ESPN, ABC begins the first of a two-year deal with the National Hockey League to televise six regional Sunday afternoon broadcasts (including the first three Sundays of the playoffs). This marked the first time that regular season National Hockey League games were broadcast on American network television since 1974–75 (when NBC was the NHL's American broadcast television partner). |
| April 4 | The ninth annual WrestleMania event is broadcast on pay-per-view. This was the first WrestleMania event to be held outdoors as it took place at Caesars Palace in Paradise, Nevada. This was also the first World Wrestling Federation event to feature Jim Ross as a commentator. The main event saw Hulk Hogan defeating Yokozuna, who had won the belt moments prior, to win the WWF Championship (Hogan actually wrestled earlier in the night, teaming up with Brutus Beefcake in a loss to Money Inc. via DQ and failed to win the WWF Tag Team Championship). |
| April 18 | The Disney Channel celebrates its 10th anniversary. |
| April 25 | Lorne Michaels chooses Conan O'Brien, who was a writer for The Simpsons at the time and a former writer for Michaels at Saturday Night Live, to fill David Letterman's old seat directly after The Tonight Show on NBC. |
| May 5 | Senior As the World Turns cast member Don Hastings hosts a memorial tribute to Douglas Marland. Marland, who died during March after an abdominal surgery procedure, had been the series' chief writer since 1985 and was responsible for several story lines on the CBS soap opera. |
| May 5 | The series finale of Quantum Leap is broadcast on NBC. Two title cards were tacked on to the end of the last episode; one read that Al's first wife Beth never remarried, so they were still married in the present day and had four daughters. The last title cards said "Sam Becket [sic] never returned home." The finale was met by viewers with mixed feelings. |
| May 8 | The intended hour long series finale of A Different World is broadcast on NBC, who would go on to air four additional episodes through July 9, 1993. Three remaining episodes would make their debuts in syndication. In the finale, Dwayne, Whitley, and their unborn child prepare to move to Japan, where Dwayne is offered a job. |
| May 13 | The fourth-season finale of the Fox cartoon-sitcom The Simpsons features guest appearances from Johnny Carson, Hugh Hefner, Bette Midler, Luke Perry, Elizabeth Taylor, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Barry White. |
| May 13 | Knots Landing airs a two-hour series finale on CBS. |
| May 14 | Jaimee Foxworth (Judy) and Telma Hopkins (Rachel) make their final regular appearances on the ABC sitcom Family Matters; though Hopkins later makes return guest appearances on the series as Rachel while Foxworth's character Judy disappears without explanation. |
| May 19 | The gang at West Beverly graduate from high school in the Season 3 finale of Beverly Hills, 90210 on Fox]. |
| May 20 | NBC airs the fourth season finale of Seinfeld, expanded to 60 minutes. The episode concludes a season-long story sequence involving a pilot show written by Jerry and George, with the pilot finally coming to fruition only to be refused by NBC executives. Immediately afterwards, 80.4 million people tune to NBC to watch the series finale of Cheers. |
| May 23 | One month after federal agents make an infamous raid on David Koresh's Waco, Texas, compound, NBC broadcasts a hastily produced television movie based on the incident, In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco; Tim Daly plays Koresh for the movie. |
| May 28 | Major League Baseball's owners overwhelmingly approve a six-year joint venture with ABC and NBC. The venture, eventually dubbed "The Baseball Network", displaces CBS as MLB's primary network television package holder. |
| June 1 | Connie Chung begins co-anchoring CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. |
| June 13 | The World Wrestling Federation holds the inaugural King of the Ring event on pay-per-view. Hulk Hogan would lose the WWF Championship against Yokozuna in what would be Hogan's final appearance on the WWF's television programming until 2002. |
| June 16 | While appearing as a guest on Yo! MTV Raps, Tupac Shakur confesses to physically assaulting film directors Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes in retaliation for his firing from the film Menace II Society. |
| June 25 | David Letterman broadcasts his last late-night talk show with NBC. |
| June 26 | The final episode of Soul Train with Don Cornelius as host airs in first-run syndication. |
| July 2 | Don Drysdale makes what turns out to be his final broadcast for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He provided play-by-play on the first six innings for a game between the Dodgers and Montreal Expos on KTLA 5, before handing it off to Vin Scully. Drysdale later died of a heart attack in his hotel's room, in Montreal, in the early hours of the following night. |
| July 13 | The Major League Baseball All-Star Game airs on CBS for the fourth consecutive year. Played in Baltimore, this is to date, the final time that CBS would broadcast Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. |
| August 3 | Gayle Gardner becomes the first woman to do televised play-by-play of a baseball game when she called the action of a game between the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds. |
| August 18 | At Clash of the Champions XXIV on TBS, the professional wrestler known as the Shockmaster botches his debut appearance in World Championship Wrestling by tripping and falling face first to the ground after crashing through a wall on Ric Flair's interview segment "A Flair for the Gold". |
| August 28 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the first Power Rangers entry, debuted on Fox Kids. It would soon become a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along with a large line of toys, action figures, and other merchandise. The show adapts stock footage from the Japanese TV series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992–1993), which is the 16th installment of Toei's Super Sentai franchise. |
| August 30 | Late Show with David Letterman premieres on CBS, with actor Bill Murray and musical guest Billy Joel. |
| August 30 | PBS introduces new branding for their children's programs featuring "The P-Pals". |
| September 3 | Sally Jessy Raphael Show airs for the last time on WABC-TV and KCAL-TV in the New York and Los Angeles areas respectively. The following Tuesday, The Les Brown Show takes over the WABC spot. Sally would move to WNBC and KNBC in said areas. |
| September 10 | The pilot episode of The X-Files airs on Fox. As the pilot, it would set up the mythology storyline for the series. The episode earns a Nielsen rating of 7.9 and is viewed by 7.4 million households and 12.0 million viewers. The episode itself is generally well received by fans and critics alike, which leads to a growing cult following for the series before it hits the mainstream. |
| September 12 | Raymond Burr dies of liver cancer at his ranch home in California at the age of 76. (The last Perry Mason movie, Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss, airs on NBC on November 29, carrying a dedication to Burr with an in memoriam tribute at the end of the movie.) |
| September 13 | Late Night with Conan O'Brien premieres on NBC, as O'Brien replaces David Letterman as host. |
| September 13 | Xuxa debuts her English program in syndication, becoming the first Brazilian person to host a TV show in US. |
| September 16 | Marc Wilmore, Reggie McFadden, Jay Leggett, Carol Rosenthal and Anne-Marie Johnson join the cast of the Fox series In Living Color for its final season. None of the Wayans Family are involved at all during the season. |
| September 16 | The pilot episode of Frasier airs on NBC. It introduces the primary characters and settings, and distances itself from its parent series Cheers. The episode also sets up a number of recurring gags for the series, such as Martin's Lazyboy recliner and the unseen character of Maris Crane, Niles' wife. For his performance in this episode, Kelsey Grammer would win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. |
| September 18 | On Beakman's World on CBS, Liza (played by Eliza Schneider) makes her debut as the new assistant/co-host. Lasting 39 episodes, Liza would be the longest tenured assistant on the show. |
| September 19 | The 45th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is broadcast on ABC. |
| September 21 | The pilot episode for NYPD Blue is broadcast on ABC. The series includes more nudity and raw language than is common on broadcast television at the time. This results in at least 30 of the network's affiliates—mostly in smaller markets—not running the series when it debuts, with the show airing in many of those markets on a Fox affiliate or independent station live or delayed. |
| September 24 | Raven-Symoné, Nell Carter and Saundra Quarterman join the cast of the series Hangin' with Mr. Cooper on ABC. |
| September 24 | The pilot episode for Boy Meets World is broadcast on ABC as part of the network's popular TGIF comedy block following Family Matters and before Step by Step. It would face competition from hour-long shows The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (Fox) and a special episode of Blossom (NBC), as well as half-hour comedy Family Album (CBS) in the same 8:30 p.m. timeslot. It would debut to 16.5 million viewers, ranking it as the fifth highest-viewed show of the night, and tied with another ABC series Matlock as the 48th ranked broadcast of the week. |
| October 23 | CBS's four-year broadcast relationship with Major League Baseball ends with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter's walk-off home run to win the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (Bob Seger's song "The Famous Final Scene" plays during the broadcast's closing credits.) |
| October 25 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show makes its TV debut on Fox; the movie is inter-cut with a live cast performance. |
| October 27 | Paramount Pictures and Chris-Craft Industries announce the formation of the United Paramount Network. |
| October 29 | The first Got Milk? commercial is broadcast on TV. Directed by Michael Bay, a guy obsessed by the history of the duel hears a voice on the radio asking a $10,000 question, "Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?", while making and eating a peanut butter sandwich. The question was transferred to the telephone, answers the correct answer "Aaron Burr", but the person on the telephone can't hear it clearly with his mouth full of peanut butter sandwich before time ends, and he only has a few drops of milk left. |
| October 30 | Michael J. Nelson makes his debut as host of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Comedy Central. Nelson replaced Joel Hodgson, who departed from the series the week prior. |
| November 2 | Warner Bros. Entertainment announces the formation of The WB Television Network, which will premiere in January 1995. |
| November 9 | On CNN, Larry King moderates a debate between Ross Perot and Al Gore on the North American Free Trade Agreement that was watched in 11.174 million households – the largest audience ever for a program on an ad-supported cable network until the October 23, 2006 New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game on ESPN's Monday Night Football. |
| November 12 | The UFC puts on their first ever pay-per-view event in Denver. |
| November 15 | Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera join the cast of the Disney Channel series The New Mickey Mouse Club. |
| November 21 | Bill Bixby dies of prostate cancer at the age of 59 (six days after his final directing job on NBC's Blossom). |
| November 22 | TV Food Network (later, just Food Network) makes its debut with two initial shows featuring David Rosengarten, Donna Hanover, and Robin Leach. The following day, TV Food Network would begin live broadcasting. One if its first shows is How to Boil Water, which is first hosted by Emeril Lagasse. |
| November 25 | Home Alone makes its network television premiere on NBC. |
| November 26 | Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT all broadcast 14 hours of animated programs as part of "The Great International Toon-In". Interstitials during the event introduced the Cartoon Network's new motion capture animated character Moxy, which would be the star of Cartoon Network's first original animated program, The Moxy Show. |
| December 18 | CBS (which had been a broadcaster of National Football League games for 38 years) loses their rights to telecast National Football Conference games to Fox. Fox wins the rights to NFC games by offering a then-record $1.58 billion to the NFL over four years, significantly more than the $290 million per year CBS was willing to pay. |

## Programs
### Debuts

| Date | Show | Network |
| January 1 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | CBS |
| January 3 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Syndication |
| January 6 | Space Rangers | CBS |
| January 8 | Hotel Room | HBO |
| January 11 | The Untouchables | Syndication |
| January 11 | WWF Monday Night Raw | USA Network |
| January 18 | Scattergories | NBC |
| January 19 | Class of '96 | Fox |
| January 19 | Key West | Fox |
| January 20 | Time Trax | PTEN |
| January 27 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | PTEN |
| January 31 | Homicide: Life on the Street | NBC |
| February 8 | Day One | ABC |
| February 28 | Bonkers | Syndication |
| March 5 | Getting By | ABC |
| March 5 | Where I Live | ABC |
| March 8 | Beavis and Butt-Head | MTV |
| March 10 | How'd They Do That? | CBS |
| March 10 | Sirens | ABC |
| March 22 | Family Secrets | NBC |
| March 22 | Real Stories of the Highway Patrol | Syndication |
| March 23 | TriBeCa | Fox |
| March 29 | 10 Seconds | The Nashville Network |
| March 31 | Home Free | ABC |
| April 2 | Good Advice | CBS |
| April 6 | ECW Hardcore TV | Syndication |
| April 10 | A League of Their Own | CBS |
| April 16 | Dudley | CBS |
| May 22 | Saved by the Bell: The College Years | NBC |
| May 24 | Equal Time | CNBC |
| June 6 | South Beach | NBC |
| June 7 | Rumor Has It | VH1 |
| June 7 | Trivial Pursuit | The Family Channel |
| June 11 | Cutters | CBS |
| June 14 | John and Leeza from Hollywood | NBC |
| June 14 | Caesar's Challenge | NBC |
| June 23 | Family Dog | CBS |
| June 25 | Johnny Bago | CBS |
| June 26 | Front Page | Fox |
| July 5 | Theodore Tugboat | PBS |
| July 10 | Brains & Brawn | NBC |
| July 11 | Danger Theatre | Fox |
| July 11 | Weinerville | Nickelodeon |
| July 25 | Politically Incorrect | Comedy Central |
| July 28 | Street Match | ABC |
| August 1 | Fallen Angels | Showtime |
| August 9 | Big Wave Dave's | CBS |
| August 18 | Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric | NBC |
| August 20 | The Building | CBS |
| August 22 | Living Single | Fox |
| August 25 | The Trouble with Larry | CBS |
| August 25 | Tall Hopes | CBS |
| August 26 | Angel Falls | CBS |
| August 27 | The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. | Fox |
| August 28 | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | Fox Kids |
| August 30 | Late Show with David Letterman | CBS |
| August 30 | Missing Persons | ABC |
| September 2 | The John Larroquette Show | NBC |
| September 5 | 2 Stupid Dogs | TBS |
| September 5 | Daddy Dearest | Fox |
| September 5 | NFL Matchup | ESPN |
| September 6 | NFL Prime Monday | ESPN |
| September 6 | Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog | Syndication |
| September 6 | American Journal | Syndication |
| September 6 | The Les Brown Show | Syndication |
| September 7 | The Chevy Chase Show | Fox |
| September 8 | Thea | ABC |
| September 10 | The X-Files | Fox |
| September 10 | Bill Nye the Science Guy | PBS/Syndication |
| September 11 | Running the Halls | TNBC |
| September 11 | Entertainers with Byron Allen | Syndication |
| September 11 | Legends of the Hidden Temple | Nickelodeon |
| September 11 | Droopy, Master Detective | Fox Kids |
| September 11 | SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron | Cartoon Network |
| September 11 | Saved by the Bell: The New Class | TNBC |
| September 12 | Baby Races | TNBC |
| September 12 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | ABC |
| September 12 | Townsend Television | Fox |
| September 12 | seaQuest DSV | NBC |
| September 13 | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | NBC |
| September 13 | Animaniacs | Fox Kids |
| September 13 | The Bertice Berry Show | Syndication |
| September 13 | Ricki Lake | Syndication |
| September 13 | Xuxa | Syndication |
| September 14 | Bakersfield P.D. | Fox |
| September 14 | Madeline | The Family Channel |
| September 14 | Phenom | ABC |
| September 15 | Moon Over Miami | ABC |
| September 16 | The Sinbad Show | Fox |
| September 16 | Frasier | NBC |
| September 16 | Cobra | Syndication |
| September 18 | Biker Mice from Mars | Syndication |
| September 18 | Exosquad | Syndication |
| September 18 | Martha Stewart Living | Syndication |
| September 18 | CityKids | ABC |
| September 18 | Cro | ABC |
| September 18 | Sonic the Hedgehog | ABC |
| September 18 | Tales from the Cryptkeeper | ABC |
| September 18 | Café Americain | NBC |
| September 18 | The Mommies | NBC |
| September 18 | Rocko's Modern Life | Nickelodeon |
| September 18 | All-New Dennis the Menace | CBS |
| September 18 | Cadillacs and Dinosaurs | CBS |
| September 18 | Marsupilami | CBS |
| September 20 | Dave's World | CBS |
| September 21 | NYPD Blue | ABC |
| September 23 | Eye to Eye with Connie Chung | CBS |
| September 24 | Boy Meets World | ABC |
| September 25 | Harts of the West | CBS |
| September 25 | Walker, Texas Ranger | CBS |
| September 28 | Acapulco H.E.A.T. | Syndication |
| September 29 | Grace Under Fire | ABC |
| September 29 | Joe's Life | ABC |
| October 1 | Against the Grain | NBC |
| October 3 | Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer | CNN |
| October 25 | The Jon Stewart Show | MTV |
| October 27 | South of Sunset | CBS |
| October 29 | Diagnosis: Murder | CBS |
| October 30 | The Paula Poundstone Show | ABC |
| November 3 | The Nanny | CBS |
| November 5 | George | ABC |
| November 23 | How to Boil Water | Food Network |
| November 28 | The Adventures of Pete & Pete | Nickelodeon |
| December 2 | Second Chances | CBS |
| December 5 | The Moxy Pirate Show | Cartoon Network |
| December 17 | Off Beat Cinema | WKBW-TV |
| December 17 | Scientific American Frontiers | PBS |
| December 17 | The State | MTV |

### Returning this year

| Show | Last aired | Previous network | New title | New network | Returning |
| Scrabble | 1990 | NBC | Same | Same | January 18 |
| Brains & Brawn | 1958 | NBC | Same | Same | July 10 |
| The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show | 1968 | NBC | Super Secret Secret Squirrel | TBS/Cartoon Network | September 5 |
| Captain Planet and the Planeteers | 1992 | TBS | The New Adventures of Captain Planet | TBS/Cartoon Network | September 12 |

### Ending this year

| Date | Show | Debut |
| January 4 | WWF Prime Time Wrestling | 1985 |
| January 8 | Hotel Room | 1993 |
| January 15 | Santa Barbara | 1984 |
| January 16 | The Powers That Be | 1992 |
| January 17 | The Ben Stiller Show | 1992 |
| February 13 | Double Dare (returned in 2000) | 1986 |
| February 26 | Camp Wilder | 1992 |
| March 24 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | 1989 |
| March 31 | Homicide: Life on the Street (returned in 1994) | 1993 |
| April 17 | Raven | 1992 |
| April 26 | Homefront | 1991 |
| April 27 | Reasonable Doubts | 1991 |
| April 30 | The Jackie Thomas Show | 1992 |
| May 5 | Quantum Leap | 1989 |
| May 12 | The Wonder Years | 1988 |
| May 13 | Knots Landing | 1979 |
| May 14 | The Golden Palace | 1992 |
| May 17 | Major Dad | 1989 |
| May 20 | Cheers | 1982 |
| May 22 | Saved by the Bell | 1989 |
| May 23 | Life Goes On | 1989 |
| May 23 | The Pirates of Dark Water | 1991 |
| May 23 | Shaky Ground | 1992 |
| May 24 | Designing Women | 1986 |
| May 25 | Class of '96 | 1993 |
| May 29 | Street Justice | 1991 |
| June 1 | FBI: The Untold Stories | 1991 |
| June 6 | The Torkelsons | 1991 |
| June 11 | Scrabble | 1984 |
| June 11 | Shining Time Station | 1989 |
| June 13 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | 1990 |
| June 18 | Harry and the Hendersons | 1991 |
| June 25 | Late Night with David Letterman | 1982 |
| July 6 | Room for Two | 1992 |
| July 7 | Sirens (returned in 1994) | 1993 |
| July 9 | A Different World | 1987 |
| August 6 | Perfect Strangers | 1986 |
| August 6 | Brooklyn Bridge | 1991 |
| August 25 | Delta | 1992 |
| September 3 | Studs | 1991 |
| October 1 | The Chevy Chase Show | 1993 |
| October 10 | American Heroes & Legends | 1992 |
| October 23 | Major League Baseball on CBS | 1990 |
| October 27 | South of Sunset | 1993 |
| October 30 | Angel Falls | 1993 |
| November 6 | The Addams Family | 1992 |
| November 20 | Where I Live | 1993 |
| December 1 | Moon Over Miami | 1993 |
| December 3 | Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog | 1993 |
| December 4 | Tom & Jerry Kids | 1990 |
| December 4 | Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa | 1992 |
| December 4 | Droopy: Master Detective | 1993 |
| December 11 | Marsupilami | 1993 |
| December 15 | Joe's Life | 1993 |
| December 24 | Against the Grain | 1993 |
| December 26 | Townsend Television | 1993 |
| December 27 | Bob | 1992 |
| December 31 | The Joan Rivers Show | 1989 |

### Entering syndication this year

| Show | Seasons | In Production | Notes |
| 1st & Ten | 6 | No | |
| Adventures in Wonderland | 1 | Yes | |
| Coach | 5 | Yes | |
| Cops | 5 | Yes | |
| Empty Nest | 5 | Yes | |
| Family Matters | 4 | Yes | |
| Garfield and Friends | 5 | Yes | |
| Major Dad | 4 | No | Cable syndication on USA Network. |
| Parker Lewis Can't Lose | 3 | No | Cable syndication on USA Network. |
| Rescue 911 | 4 | Yes | |
| Wings | 4 | Yes | Cable syndication on USA Network. |

### Network changes

| Show | Moved from | Moved to |
| Captain Planet and the Planeteers | TBS | TBS/Cartoon Network |
| Secret Squirrel | NBC | TBS/Cartoon Network |
| Beakman's World | first-run syndication | CBS |
| Getting By | ABC | NBC |
| Silk Stalkings | CBS | USA Network |

### Made-for-TV movies and miniseries

| Premiere date | Title | Channel |
| February 22 | Babylon 5 | PTEN |
| March 1 | Bloodlines: Murder in the Family | NBC |
| April 4 | Diana: Her True Story | NBC |
| April 18–20 | The Fire Next Time | CBS |
| May 3–4 | Murder in the Heartland | ABC |
| May 9–10 | The Tommyknockers | ABC |
| May 23 | Torch Song | NBC |
| May 24 | Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story | NBC |
| May 26 | Without Warning: Terror in the Towers | NBC |
| September 12 | seaQuest DSV | NBC |
| September 12 | Sherlock Holmes Returns | CBS |
| September 20 | Danielle Steel's Star | NBC |
| October 17–19 | Danielle Steel's Message from Nam | NBC |
| December | Out There | Comedy Central |
| December 6 | Gypsy: A Musical Fable | CBS |
| December 23 | A Cool Like That Christmas | Fox |

## Networks and services
### Launches

| Network | Type | Launch date |
| Daystar Television Network | Cable television | Unknown |
| National Empowerment Television | Cable television | Unknown |
| Prime Time Entertainment Network | Cable and satellite | January 20 |
| Z Music Television | Cable television | March 1 |
| Cable Health Club | Cable television | August 31 |
| ESPN2 | Cable television | October 1 |
| NewSport | Cable and satellite | October 1 |
| America's Collectibles Network | Cable television | October 15 |
| La Cadena Deportiva Prime Ticket | Cable television | November 1 |
| TV Food Network | Cable television | November 23 |
| Network One | Cable television | December 1 |

### Conversions and rebrandings

| Old network name | New network name | Type | Conversion Date | Notes | Source |
| ACIS-VISN | Faith & Values Channel | Cable and satellite | Unknown | | |

### Closures

| Network | Type | Closure date | Notes | Source |
| CNN Checkout Channel | Satellite television | March 31 | | |
| SportsChannel America | Cable and satellite | October 1 | | |

## Television stations
### Station launches

| Date | City of License/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
| January | Jellico/Knoxville, Tennessee | WPMC | 54 | HSN | |
| January 8 | Billings, Montana | KSVI | 6 | ABC | |
| February 14 | Jasper, Indiana | W27BG | 27 | Independent | |
| February 19 | Grand Island, Nebraska | KTVG | 17 | Fox | |
| March 12 | Buffalo, New York | WNGS-TV | 67 | Independent | |
| March 19 | Lake Havasu City, Arizona | K27EC | 27 | Cornerstone TV | |
| April 26 | Newton, New Jersey | WMBC-TV | 63 | FamilyNet/Main Street TV | |
| May 21 | Palm Beach, Florida | WFGC | 61 | CTN | |
| June 7 | Providence, Rhode Island | W23AS | 23 | Independent | |
| June 15 | Wailuku, Hawaii | KWHM | 21 | Independent | |
| September 3 | Buffalo, New York | W56DS | 56 | The Box | |
| September 15 | Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas | KMPX | 29 | Daystar | |
| November 3 | Houston, Texas | KNWS-TV | 51 | Independent | |
| November 10 | Boise, Idaho | K66EV | 66 | unknown | |
| November 17 | Bend, Oregon | K39DU | 39 | Fox | Translator of KPDX/Portland, Oregon |
| November 19 | Boise, Idaho | K49GX | 49 | Independent | |
| December 9 | Watertown, New York | W66CH | 66 | America One | |
| Unknown date | Detroit, Michigan | W44AR | 44 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Eugene, Oregon | K53EA | 53 | The Box | |
| Unknown date | New York City | W23BA | 23 | Independent | |
| Unknown date | Quincy, Illinois (Hannibal, Missouri/Keokuk, Iowa) | CGEM | (cable-only) | Fox | |

### Station closures

| Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes |
| April 5 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | KGSA-TV | 14 | Independent | May 19, 1981 | |
| Unknown date | Wenatchee, Washington | KCWT | 27 (UHF) | TBN | 1984 | |

## Births

| Date | Name | Notability |
| January 4 | Aaryn Doyle | Canadian voice actress (The Save-Ums!) and singer |
| January 5 | Franz Drameh | English actor (Legends of Tomorrow) |
| January 9 | Ashley Argota | Actress (True Jackson, VP, Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures, Lab Rats, The Fosters) |
| January 12 | Zayn Malik | Singer (One Direction) |
| January 13 | Tyler Barnhardt | Actor |
| January 14 | Matthew Timmons | Actor (The Suite Life on Deck) |
| January 15 | Tyler Alexander Mann | Voice actor (Carl on Phineas and Ferb) |
| January 18 | Morgan York | Actress (Hannah Montana) |
| January 19 | Dani Thorne | Actress |
| January 27 | Jon Kent Ethridge | Actor (Out of Jimmy's Head) |
| February 3 | Brandon Micheal Hall | Actor |
| February 6 | Tinashe | Actress (Out of Jimmy's Head, Two and a Half Men) and singer |
| February 7 | David Dorfman | Actor |
| February 12 | Jennifer Stone | Actress (Wizards of Waverly Place, Deadtime Stories) |
| February 12 | Taylor Dearden | Actress |
| February 13 | Alex Sawyer | British actor (House of Anubis) |
| February 14 | Shane Harper | Actor (Good Luck Charlie, Awkward) |
| February 14 | Alberto Rosende | Actor (Shadowhunters) |
| February 17 | Philip Wiegratz | German actor |
| February 19 | Victoria Justice | Actress (Zoey 101, Victorious, Eye Candy) and singer |
| February 23 | Christina Kirkman | Actress (All That) |
| February 26 | Taylor Dooley | Actress |
| March 4 | Jenna Boyd | Actress |
| March 4 | Bobbi Kristina Brown | Actress (The Houstons: On Our Own) (d. 2015) |
| March 4 | Abigail Mavity | Actress (Zeke and Luther) |
| March 21 | Suraj Sharma | Actor |
| March 29 | Joe Adler | Actor |
| April 4 | Daniela Bobadilla | Actress |
| April 10 | Sofia Carson | Actress (Descendants) and singer |
| April 14 | Ellington Ratliff | Actor and drummer (R5) |
| April 14 | Graham Phillips | Actor (The Good Wife) |
| April 14 | Vivien Cardone | Actress (Everwood) |
| April 15 | Madeleine Martin | Actress (JoJo's Circus, Californication, Adventure Time) |
| April 16 | Chance the Rapper | American hip hop |
| April 18 | Nathan Sykes | British singer (The Wanted) |
| April 19 | Sebastian de Souza | English actor (Skins, Recovery Road) |
| April 23 | Brooke Palsson | Actress (Between) |
| May 6 | Naomi Scott | English actress |
| May 10 | Halston Sage | Actress (How to Rock, Crisis) |
| May 10 | Spencer Fox | Voice actor (Kim Possible) |
| May 11 | Annabelle Attanasio | Actress |
| May 11 | Olivia Liang | Actress (Kung Fu) |
| May 13 | Debby Ryan | Actress (Barney & Friends, The Suite Life on Deck, Jessie, The Mysteries of Laura, Insatiable) and singer |
| May 13 | Cyn | Singer |
| May 14 | Miranda Cosgrove | Actress (Drake & Josh, iCarly, Crowded) and singer |
| May 24 | Bobby Lockwood | English actor (House of Anubis) |
| May 24 | Oliver Davis | Actor (ER, Rodney) |
| May 29 | Maika Monroe | Actress |
| June 6 | Jesse Carere | Actor (Between, Finding Carter) |
| June 7 | Amanda Leighton | Actress (The Fosters, The Powerpuff Girls, Trolls: The Beat Goes On!, Amphibia) |
| June 7 | Jordan Fry | Actor |
| June 9 | Danielle Chuchran | Actress |
| June 14 | Ryan McCartan | Actor (Liv and Maddie) |
| June 26 | Ariana Grande | Actress and singer (Victorious, Sam & Cat, Scream Queens) |
| June 29 | Lorenzo James Henrie | Actor (Fear the Walking Dead) |
| July 1 | Raini Rodriguez | Actress (Austin & Ally) |
| July 7 | Capital Steez | American rapper (d. 2012) |
| July 10 | Carlon Jeffery | Actor (A.N.T. Farm) |
| July 20 | Alycia Debnam-Carey | Australian actress (The 100, Fear the Walking Dead) |
| July 23 | Lili Simmons | Actress (Banshee, Hawaii Five-0, The Purge) |
| July 26 | Taylor Momsen | Actress and singer (Gossip Girl) |
| July 26 | Elizabeth Gillies | Actress (Victorious, Dynasty) and singer |
| July 26 | Chrysti Ane | Brazilian actress (Power Rangers Ninja Steel) |
| July 28 | Cher Lloyd | English singer |
| July 28 | La'Porsha Renae | Singer (American Idol) |
| August 1 | Leon Thomas III | Actor (The Backyardigans, Victorious, Insecure) |
| August 2 | Cassidy Gifford | Actress |
| August 2 | Joivan Wade | English actor (Youngers, Doom Patrol) |
| August 7 | Francesca Eastwood | Actress (Mrs. Eastwood & Company) and daughter of Clint Eastwood |
| August 8 | Stella Baker | Actress |
| August 9 | Rydel Lynch | Actress and singer (R5) |
| August 11 | Alyson Stoner | Actress (Mike's Super Short Show, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody), voice actress (Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Phineas and Ferb, Young Justice, The Legend of Korra, Milo Murphy's Law) and singer |
| August 11 | Luke Erceg | Australian actor (Mortified) |
| August 12 | Imani Hakim | Actress (Everybody Hates Chris) |
| August 13 | Johnny Gaudreau | Ice hockey player (d. 2024) |
| August 14 | Cassi Thomson | Actress (Big Love, Switched at Birth) |
| August 16 | Cameron Monaghan | Actor (Shameless, Gotham) |
| August 18 | Maia Mitchell | Australian actress (Mortified, The Fosters, Good Trouble) |
| August 20 | MK Nobilette | Singer (American Idol) |
| August 26 | Keke Palmer | Actress (True Jackson, VP, Winx Club, Scream Queens, Star, Berlin Station, Scream) and singer |
| August 29 | Liam Payne | Singer (One Direction) (d. 2024) |
| August 29 | Lucas Cruikshank | Actor (Fred: The Show, Marvin Marvin) |
| September 5 | Gage Golightly | Actress (The Troop, Ringer, Teen Wolf, Red Oaks) |
| September 7 | Taylor Gray | Actor (Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures, Star Wars Rebels) |
| September 9 | Lexis King | Pro wrestler and son of Brian Pillman |
| September 9 | Charlie Stewart | Actor (Life with Bonnie, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) |
| September 12 | Kelsea Ballerini | Singer (Greatest Hits, The Voice, CMT Music Awards) |
| September 13 | Niall Horan | Singer (One Direction) |
| September 13 | Aisha Dee | Australian actress (The Saddle Club, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Chasing Life, The Bold Type) |
| September 18 | Patrick Schwarzenegger | Actor and son of Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| September 21 | Aliocha Schneider | French-Canadian actor |
| September 22 | Carlos Knight | Actor (Supah Ninjas) |
| September 24 | Ben Platt | Actor |
| September 25 | Zach Tyler Eisen | Voice actor (Little Bill, The Backyardigans, Avatar: The Last Airbender) |
| October 2 | Elizabeth McLaughlin | Actress (First Day, Betrayal, Hand of God) |
| October 2 | Tara Lynne Barr | Actress (Aquarius) |
| October 8 | Angus T. Jones | Actor (Two and a Half Men) |
| October 8 | Molly Quinn | Actress (Winx Club, Castle) |
| October 9 | Autumn Chiklis | Actress |
| October 9 | Scotty McCreery | Singer (American Idol) |
| October 11 | Brandon Flynn | Actor (13 Reasons Why) |
| October 19 | Hunter King | Actress (The Young and the Restless) |
| October 23 | Taylor Spreitler | Actress (Days of Our Lives, Melissa & Joey) |
| October 25 | Zeno Robinson | Actor (The Owl House, Craig of the Creek, Ben 10) |
| October 27 | Troy Gentile | Actor (The Goldbergs) |
| October 29 | India Eisley | Actress (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) |
| November 1 | Dillon Lane | Actor (Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures) |
| November 6 | Jak Knight | Actor, comedian and writer (Big Mouth, Bust Down) (d. 2022) |
| November 14 | Matthew Levy | Actor (Sons of Tucson) |
| November 16 | Pete Davidson | Actor (Wild 'n Out, Guy Code, Failosophy, Saturday Night Live) |
| November 22 | Nathan McLeod | Canadian actor (Life with Boys) |
| November 24 | Zoe Levin | Actress |
| November 27 | Aubrey Peeples | Actress (Nashville) and singer |
| November 28 | Bryshere Y. Gray | Actor (Empire) and rapper |
| November 29 | David Lambert | Actor (Aaron Stone, The Fosters) |
| December 8 | AnnaSophia Robb | Actress (The Carrie Diaries, Mercy Street) |
| December 11 | Nesta Cooper | Actress |
| December 17 | Kiersey Clemons | Actress |
| December 21 | Jinger Vuolo | Actress (19 Kids and Counting, Counting On) and television personality |
| December 22 | Aliana Lohan | Actress (The Parent Trap, Living Lohan) and daughter of Michael Lohan and Dina Lohan |
| December 22 | Meghan Trainor | American singer |
| December 23 | Caleb Foote | Actor (The Kids Are Alright) |
| December 27 | Olivia Cooke | Actress (Bates Motel) |

## Deaths

| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
| January 27 | André the Giant | 46 | Wrestler (WrestleMania) |
| March 6 | Douglas Marland | 58 | Writer (As the World Turns) |
| March 17 | Helen Hayes | 92 | Actress (The Snoop Sisters) |
| March 31 | Brandon Lee | 28 | Actor |
| April 1 | Jerry Hausner | 83 | Actor (Jerry the agent on I Love Lucy, voice of Waldo in Mr. Magoo cartoons) |
| April 3 | Pinky Lee | 85 | Comedian (The Gumby Show) |
| June 11 | Ray Sharkey | 40 | Actor (Wiseguy) |
| June 22 | Pat Nixon | 81 | First Lady of the United States and spouse of President Richard Nixon |
| June 30 | George McFarland | 64 | Actor (Our Gang) |
| July 2 | Fred Gwynne | 66 | Actor (Herman on The Munsters, Muldoon on Car 54, Where Are You?) |
| August 16 | Tom Fuccello | 56 | Actor (Dave Culver on Dallas) |
| September 4 | Hervé Villechaize | 50 | Actor (Tattoo on Fantasy Island) |
| September 12 | Raymond Burr | 76 | Actor (Perry Mason, Ironside) |
| October 12 | Leon Ames | 91 | Actor (Mister Ed) |
| October 25 | Vincent Price | 82 | Actor (The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, Hollywood Squares, Batman) |
| October 31 | River Phoenix | 23 | Actor (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) |
| November 21 | Bill Bixby | 59 | Actor (My Favorite Martian, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Incredible Hulk), director, producer |
| November 28 | Garry Moore | 78 | Game show host and Television personality (I've Got a Secret) |
| December 16 | Moses Gunn | 64 | Actor (Good Times) |
| December 22 | Don DeFore | 80 | Actor (Erskin "Thorny" Thornberry on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, George "Mr. B." Baxter on Hazel) |