2014 in American television
Deaths -- February
Table:
Date
Name
Age
Notability
Source

Feb. 2

Philip Seymour Hoffman

46

Actor (The Yearling, the mini-series Empire Falls and Liberty! The American Revolution)

[727]

Feb. 3

Richard Bull

89

Actor (Nels Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)

[728]

Feb. 6

Ralph Kiner

91

Major League Baseball player and TV/radio broadcaster for the New York Mets

[729]

Feb. 9

Eric Bercovici

80

Writer/producer (series work including I Spy and Hawaii Five-O, miniseries/movies including Shōgun and Noble House)

[730]

Feb. 10

Doppler the Weathercat

18

In-house cat at WSTM-TV/Syracuse, New York

[731]

Feb. 11

Shirley Temple

85

Actress (TV work includes Shirley Temple's Storybook)

[732]

Feb. 12

Sid Caesar

91

Comedic actor (Your Show of Shows, Caesar's Hour, guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and Whose Line Is It Anyway?)

[733]

Feb. 13

Ralph Waite

85

Actor (John Walton, Sr. on The Waltons; the miniseries Roots; recurring roles on NCIS, Kickin' It and Bones)

[734]

Feb. 15

Jamie Coots

42

Preacher/faith healer and reality television personality (National Geographic Channel's Snake Salvation)

[735]

Feb 17

Mary Grace Canfield

89

Actress (best known as Ralph Monroe on Green Acres; guest appearances on General Hospital, The Hathaways, and Bewitched)

[736]

Feb. 18

Nelson Frazier, Jr.

43

Professional wrestler, known by the ring names Mabel, Viscera and Big Daddy V (WWF Hardcore Champion and WWF World Tag Team Champion)

[737]

Feb. 20

Garrick Utley

74

TV journalist (worked with NBC News, ABC News and CNN)

[738]

Feb. 24

Harold Ramis

69

Writer/actor/director (TV work including writer/performer for SCTV and director on The Office)

[739]

Feb. 25

Jim Lange

81

Game show host (several shows, most notably The Dating Game) and announcer (The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show)

[740]

Feb. 26

Roger Hill

65

Actor (One Life to Live)

[741]

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Philip Seymour Hoffman ( July 23 , 1967 - February 2 , 2014 ) was an American actor , director , and producer . Known as one of the best actors of his generation , and for distinctive supporting and character roles , Hoffman acted in many films from the early 1990s until his death in 2014 . Drawn to theater as a teenager , Hoffman studied acting at New York University 's Tisch School of the Arts . He began his screen career in a 1991 episode of Law & Order and started to appear in films in 1992 . He gained recognition for his supporting work , notably in Scent of a Woman ( 1992 ) , Boogie Nights ( 1997 ) , Happiness ( 1998 ) , Patch Adams ( 1998 ) , The Big Lebowski ( 1998 ) , Magnolia ( 1999 ) , The Talented Mr. Ripley ( 1999 ) , Almost Famous ( 2000 ) , Punch-Drunk Love ( 2002 ) , and Along Came Polly ( 2004 ) . He began to occasionally play leading roles , and for his portrayal of the author Truman Capote in Capote ( 2005 ) , won multiple accolades , including the Academy Award for Best Actor . Hoffman 's profile continued to grow and he received three more Oscar nominations for his supporting work as a brutally frank CIA officer in Charlie Wilson 's War ( 2007 ) , a priest accused of pedophilia in Doubt ( 2008 ) , and the charismatic leader of a Scientology-type movement in The Master ( 2012 ) . While he mainly worked in independent films , including The Savages ( 2007 ) and Synecdoche , New York ( 2008 ) , Hoffman also appeared in Flawless ( 1999 ) , and Hollywood blockbusters such as Twister ( 1996 ) and Mission : Impossible III ( 2006 ) , and in one of his final roles , as Plutarch Heavensbee in the Hunger Games series ( 2013-15 ) . The feature Jack Goes Boating ( 2010 ) marked his debut as a filmmaker . Hoffman was also an accomplished theater actor and director . He joined the off-Broadway LAByrinth Theater Company in 1995 , where he directed , produced , and appeared in numerous stage productions . His performances in three Broadway plays - True West in 2000 , Long Day 's Journey into Night in 2003 , and Death of a Salesman in 2012 - all led to Tony Award nominations .
The Yearling is a 1994 American made-for-television coming-of-age drama film based on The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings . It was produced by RHI Entertainment , sponsored by Kraft General Foods and broadcast on CBS on April 24 , 1994 . It is also a remake of the 1946 theatrical film The Yearling starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman .
Empire Falls is a two-part American television miniseries that aired on HBO in the fall of 2005 . It is based on the eponymous 2001 novel by Richard Russo . The miniseries was nominated for and won multiple awards , including various Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards . It is directed by Fred Schepisi .
Liberty ! The American Revolution is a six-hour documentary miniseries about the Revolutionary War , and the instigating factors , that brought about the United States ' independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain . It was first broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System in 1997 . The series consists of six hour-long episodes . Each episode is introduced by Forrest Sawyer and narrated by Edward Herrmann . Period photographs and location filming are intercut with stage and screen actors in appropriate period costume reading as figures of the time , including Campbell Scott ( Thomas Jefferson ) , Philip Bosco ( Benjamin Franklin ) , Victor Garber ( John Dickinson ) , Alex Jennings ( King George III ) , Roger Rees ( Thomas Paine ) , Philip Seymour Hoffman ( Joseph Plumb Martin ) , Terrence Mann ( Gen. John Burgoyne ) , Colm Feore ( Alexander Hamilton ) , Sebastian Roché ( The Marquis de Lafayette ) , Donna Murphy ( Abigail Adams ) , Austin Pendleton ( Benjamin Rush ) and Peter Donaldson ( John Adams ) . Stephen Lang read the words of George Washington , but is not seen on camera . British and American historians and authors , including Carol Berkin , Bernard Bailyn , Ron Hoffman , Claude-Anne Lopez , Pauline Maier , George C. Neumann , Richard Norton Smith , Gordon S. Wood ( U.S. ) and Jeremy Black , Colin Bonwick , John Keegan , and N.A.M . Rodger ( U.K. ) add historical background , explaining life and society of the time while interpreting events from the perspectives of the two sides of the conflict . Historical perspectives also include the status of black slaves and freemen , the participation of American Indians , and the strivings of American women as events progress .
Richard William Bull ( June 26 , 1924 - February 3 , 2014 ) was an American film , stage and television actor . He was best known for his performances as Doc on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Nels Oleson on Little House on the Prairie .
Little House on the Prairie ( known as Little House : A New Beginning in its final season ) is an American western drama television series , starring Michael Landon , Melissa Gilbert , Karen Grassle , and Melissa Sue Anderson , about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove , Minnesota , in the 1870s , 1880s and 1890s . The show is an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder 's best-selling series of Little House books . Television producer and NBC executive Ed Friendly became aware of the story in the early 1970s . He asked Michael Landon to direct the pilot movie ; Landon agreed on the condition that he could also play Charles Ingalls . The regular series was preceded by a two-hour pilot movie , which first aired on March 30 , 1974 . The series premiered on the NBC network on September 11 , 1974 , and last aired on May 10 , 1982 . During the 1982-83 television season , with the departure of Landon and Grassle , the series was broadcast with the new title Little House : A New Beginning .
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is an American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name . Both were created by Irwin Allen , which enabled the movie 's sets , costumes , props , special effects models , and sometimes footage , to be used in the production of the television series . Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the first of Irwin Allen 's four science fiction television series ( the three others being Lost in Space , The Time Tunnel , and Land of the Giants ) , and the longest-running . The show 's theme was underwater adventure . Voyage was broadcast on ABC from September 14 , 1964 , to March 31 , 1968 , and was the decade 's longest-running American science fiction television series with continuing characters . The 110 episodes produced included 32 shot in black-and-white ( 1964-1965 ) , and 78 filmed in color ( 1965-1968 ) . The first two seasons took place in the then-future of the 1970s . The final two seasons took place in the 1980s . The show starred Richard Basehart and David Hedison .
Ralph McPherran Kiner ( October 27 , 1922 - February 6 , 2014 ) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster . An outfielder , Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Chicago Cubs , and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955 . Following his retirement , Kiner served from 1956 through 1960 as general manager of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres . He also served as an announcer for the New York Mets from the team 's inception until his death . Though injuries forced his retirement from active play after 10 seasons , Kiner 's tremendous slugging outpaced all of his National League contemporaries between the years 1946 and 1952 . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 . At the time of his death , baseball writer Marty Noble named Kiner one of baseball 's genuine and most charming gentlemen .
Major League Baseball ( MLB ) is a professional baseball organization . It is the oldest of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada . A total of 30 teams play in Major League Baseball : 15 teams in the National League ( NL ) and 15 in the American League ( AL ) . The NL and AL were formed as separate legal entities in 1876 and 1901 , respectively . Beginning in 1903 , the two leagues cooperated but remained legally separate entities . In 2000 the leagues merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball . MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises 256 teams affiliated with the major league clubs . MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament . Baseball 's first openly all-professional team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings founded in 1869 . Before that , some teams had secretly paid some players . The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another . The period before 1920 is known as the dead-ball era , during which players would rarely hit home runs .
The New York Mets are a Major League Baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens . They compete in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) as a member club of the National League ( NL ) East division . They are one of two MLB teams based in New York City , the other being the New York Yankees of the American League ( AL ) . One of baseball 's first expansion teams , the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York 's departed NL teams , the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants . The team 's colors combine the Dodgers ' blue and the Giants ' orange . For the 1962 and 1963 seasons , the Mets played home games at the Polo Grounds . From 1964 to 2008 , their home ballpark was Shea Stadium . In 2009 , they moved into their current ballpark , Citi Field . In their inaugural season , the Mets posted a record of 40-120 , the worst regular season record since MLB went to a 162-game schedule . The team never finished better than second-to-last until the Miracle Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series , one of the biggest upsets in World Series history . Since then , they have played in four World Series , including a dramatic run in 1973 that ended in a seven-game loss to the Oakland Athletics , a second championship in 1986 over the Boston Red Sox , a Subway Series loss against their cross-town rivals the New York Yankees in 2000 , and a five-game loss to the Kansas City Royals in 2015 . The Mets qualified to play in the MLB postseason in 1988 and 2006 , coming within one game of the World Series both years .
Eric Bercovici ( February 27 , 1933 - February 9 , 2014 ) was an American television and film producer and screenwriter . He was best known for producing and adapting the screenplay for the 1980 television miniseries Shōgun . Born in New York City in 1933 to screenwriter Leonardo Bercovici , he studied theater at Yale University . His career had barely begun when his father was blacklisted in 1951 through the late 1950s . Eric Bercovici then went to Europe to work on films , returning to the U.S. in 1965 . He then began writing episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , I Spy , and The Danny Thomas Hour . He wrote the screenplays for the 1968 films Hell in the Pacific and Day of the Evil Gun . In the 1970s , he wrote episodes for Hawaii Five-O and created the series Assignment Vienna and its pilot Assignment : Munich . In 1977 , he adapted John Ehrlichman 's novel , The Company , into a miniseries titled Washington : Behind Closed Doors . In 1980 , Bercovici adapted James Clavell 's 1975 novel , Shōgun , about an English seaman marooned in 17th century Japan , into a nine-hour miniseries of the same name . He was also a producer of the series . Shōgun won three of its 14 Emmy nominations , including Outstanding Miniseries , and all three of its Golden Globe nominations , including Best TV Series - Drama .
I Spy is an American secret-agent adventure television series that ran for three seasons on NBC from September 15 , 1965 to April 15 , 1968 and teamed US intelligence agents Kelly Robinson ( Robert Culp ) and Alexander Scotty Scott ( Bill Cosby ) , traveling undercover as international tennis bums . Robinson poses as an amateur with Scott as his trainer , playing against wealthy opponents in return for food and lodging . Their work involved chasing villains , spies , and beautiful women . The creative forces behind the show were writers David Friedkin and Morton Fine and cinematographer Fouad Said . Together they formed Triple F Productions under the aegis of Desilu Productions where the show was produced . Fine and Friedkin ( who previously wrote scripts for radio 's Broadway Is My Beat and Crime Classics under producer-director Elliott Lewis ) were co-producers and head writers , and wrote the scripts for 16 episodes , one of which Friedkin directed . Friedkin also dabbled in acting and appeared in two episodes in the first season . Actor-producer Sheldon Leonard , known for playing gangster roles in the 1940s and 1950s , was the executive producer ( receiving top billing before the title in the series ' opening title sequence ) . He also played a gangster-villain role in two episodes and appeared in a third show as himself in a humorous cameo . In addition , he directed one episode and served as occasional second-unit director throughout the series .
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and created by Leonard Freeman . Set in Hawaii , the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980 , and continues in reruns . At the airing of its last episode it was the longest-running police drama in American television history . Jack Lord portrayed Detective Captain Steve McGarrett , the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s . The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular . Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to Book 'em , Danno ! , sometimes specifying a charge such as murder one .
Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell , who also was the executive producer of the miniseries . It was first broadcast in the United States on NBC over five nights between September 15 and September 19 , 1980 . To date [ update ] , it is the only American television production to be filmed on location entirely in Japan , with additional sound stage filming also taking place in Japan at the Toho studio . The miniseries is loosely based on the adventures of English navigator William Adams , who journeyed to Japan in 1600 and rose to high rank in the service of the shōgun . The miniseries follows fictional Englishman John Blackthorne 's transforming experiences and political intrigues in feudal Japan in the early 17th century .
Noble House is an American action-drama television miniseries that was produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group , and broadcast by NBC on February 21 , 1988 . Based on the novel Noble House by James Clavell , it features a large cast headlined by Pierce Brosnan as business tycoon Ian Dunross and was directed by Gary Nelson . However , due to time restrictions , several of the many subplots from the book were removed . This is NBC 's second miniseries adaptation of a Clavell novel , the first being 1980 's Shōgun . Both take place in the same fictional universe with Noble House featuring connections to Shōgun and another Clavell work , Tai-Pan . For the miniseries , the timeframe of the novel was changed ; Clavell 's original novel takes place in the early 1960s , but the miniseries was updated to the 1980s . The building prominently displayed and used as Struan 's is Jardine House .
WSTM-TV , virtual channel 3 ( UHF digital channel 19 ) , is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Syracuse , New York , United States . Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group , it is a sister station to low-powered CW affiliate WSTQ-LP ( analog channel 14 , which WSTM simulcasts on its second digital subchannel ) ; Sinclair also operates CBS affiliate WTVH ( channel 5 ) through joint sales and shared services agreements ( JSA/SSA ) with owner Granite Broadcasting . The three stations share studios on James Street/NY 290 in the Near Northeast section of Syracuse ; WSTM 's transmitter is located in the town of Onondaga .
Syracuse ( /ˈsɪrəkjuːz , ˈsɛr- , -kjuːs/ ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County , New York , United States . It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City , Buffalo , Rochester , and Yonkers . At the 2010 census , the city population was 145,252 , and its metropolitan area had a population of 662,577 . It is the economic and educational hub of Central New York , a region with over one million inhabitants . Syracuse is also well-provided with convention sites , with a downtown convention complex . Syracuse was named after the classical Greek city Syracuse ( Siracusa in Italian ) , a city on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily . The city has functioned as a major crossroads over the last two centuries , first between the Erie Canal and its branch canals , then of the railway network . Today , Syracuse is at the intersection of Interstates 81 and 90 . Its airport is the largest in the region . Syracuse is home to Syracuse University , a major D-1 research university ; Le Moyne College , a nationally recognized jesuit liberal arts college ; SUNY Upstate Medical University , a public medical school ; and SUNY ESF , a public university focusing on forestry , the environment , and natural resources .
Shirley Temple Black [ note 1 ] ( April 23 , 1928 - February 10 , 2014 ) was an American actress , singer , dancer , businesswoman , and diplomat who was Hollywood 's number one box-office draw as a child actress from 1935 to 1938 . As an adult , she was named United States ambassador to Ghana and to Czechoslovakia , and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States . Temple began her film career at the age of three in 1932 . Two years later , she achieved international fame in Bright Eyes , a feature film designed specifically for her talents . She received a special Juvenile Academy Award in February 1935 for her outstanding contribution as a juvenile performer in motion pictures during 1934 . Film hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid-to-late 1930s . Temple capitalized on licensed merchandise that featured her wholesome image ; the merchandise included dolls , dishes , and clothing . Her box-office popularity waned as she reached adolescence . She appeared in 29 films from the ages of 3 to 10 but in only 14 films from the ages of 14 to 21 . Temple retired from film in 1950 at the age of 22 . In 1958 , Temple returned to show business with a two-season television anthology series of fairy tale adaptations . She made guest appearances on television shows in the early 1960s and filmed a sitcom pilot that was never released .
Shirley Temple 's Storybook is an American children 's anthology series hosted and narrated by actress Shirley Temple . The series features adaptations of fairy tales like Mother Goose and other family-oriented stories performed by well-known actors , although one episode , an adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables , was meant for older youngsters . The first season of sixteen black-and-white and colored episodes aired on NBC between January 12 , 1958 and December 21 , 1958 as Shirley Temple 's Storybook . Thirteen episodes of the first season re-ran on ABC beginning on January 12 , 1959 . The second season of twenty-five color episodes aired on NBC as The Shirley Temple Show between September 18 , 1960 and July 16 , 1961 in much the same format that it had under its original title . Temple 's three children made their acting debuts in the last episode of the first season , Mother Goose . When a stagehand began swearing during a Mother Goose rehearsal , Temple had him fired , telling the stunned cast it was a children 's show-although no children were present during the rehearsal . Three of the first season episodes were done live , and each of the three took ten days of preparation . Temple read each script and made suggestions for improvement if necessary .
Isaac Sidney Caesar ( September 8 , 1922 - February 12 , 2014 ) was an American comic actor and writer , best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series : Your Show of Shows , which was a 90-minute weekly show watched by 60 million people , and its successor , Caesar 's Hour , both of which influenced later generations of comedians . Your Show of Shows and its cast received seven Emmy nominations between the years 1953 and 1954 and tallied two wins . He also acted in movies ; he played Coach Calhoun in Grease ( 1978 ) and its sequel Grease 2 ( 1982 ) and appeared in the films It 's a Mad , Mad , Mad , Mad World ( 1963 ) , Silent Movie ( 1976 ) , History of the World , Part I ( 1981 ) , Cannonball Run II ( 1984 ) , and Vegas Vacation ( 1997 ) . Caesar was considered a sketch comic and actor , as opposed to a stand-up comedian . He also relied more on body language , accents , and facial contortions than simply dialogue . Unlike the slapstick comedy which was standard on TV , his style was considered avant garde in the 1950s . He conjured up ideas and scene and used writers to flesh out the concept and create the dialogue . Among the writers who wrote for Caesar early in their careers were Mel Brooks , Neil Simon , Larry Gelbart , Carl Reiner , Michael Stewart , Mel Tolkin , Selma Diamond , and Woody Allen . Sid 's was the show to which all comedy writers aspired . It was the place to be , said Steve Allen . His TV shows ' subjects included satires of real life events and people - and parodies of popular film genres , theater , television shows , and opera . But unlike other comedy shows at the time , the dialogue was considered sharper , funnier , and more adult-oriented .
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25 , 1950 , through June 5 , 1954 , featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca . Other featured performers were Carl Reiner , Howard Morris , Bill Hayes , baritone Jack Russell ( singer ) , Judy Johnson , The Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza . José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series . In 2002 , Your Show of Shows was ranked # 30 on TV Guide 's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time . In 2013 , it was ranked # 37 on TV Guide 's 60 Best Series of All Time . In 2013 , Your Show of Shows was ranked # 10 on Entertainment Weeklys Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time .
Caesar 's Hour is a live , hour-long American sketch-comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957 . The program starred , among others , Sid Caesar , Nanette Fabray , Carl Reiner , Howard Morris , Janet Blair , and Milt Kamen , and featured a number of cameo roles by famous entertainers such as Joan Crawford and Peggy Lee . Widely considered a continuation of Caesar 's earlier programs , the Admiral Broadway Revue and Your Show of Shows , Caesar 's Hour included most of the same writers and actors , with the notable addition of Larry Gelbart ( who went on to co-create the M*A*S*H TV series with Gene Reynolds ) in the latter show . Nanette Fabray replaced Imogene Coca , who opted to star in her own TV series in 1954 , The Imogene Coca Show . The writing staff of the show was reunited in 1996 for an event at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles called Caesar 's Hour Revisited , excerpts of which were broadcast on PBS under the title Caesar 's Writers . The full two-hour event was available on VHS as a pledge premium from PBS . It was released on DVD for the first time on December 12 , 2011 . The reunion featured Caesar with Mel Tolkin ( head writer ) , Neil Simon , Danny Simon , Mel Brooks , Carl Reiner , Woody Allen , Larry Gelbart , Sheldon Keller , Aaron Ruben , and Gary Belkin . The moderator and researcher was Bob Claster . Caesar 's Hour expanded on the format of Your Show of Shows with many sketches running a half-hour or more , including musical parodies such as There 's No Business and Towers Trot , and genre parodies such as Bullets over Broadway ( a gangster movie takeoff ) and Aggravation Boulevard ( with Caesar as a Rudolph Valentino/John Gilbert character who fails to make the transition from silents to talkies ) . Many of the sketches are centered on a domineering star who flames out , prefiguring Caesar 's postseries personal and career troubles . From July to September 1956 , NBC ran The Ernie Kovacs Show as a summer replacement series for Caesar 's Hour .
Saturday Night Live ( known as SNL ) is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol . The show premiered on NBC on October 11 , 1975 , under the original title NBC 's Saturday Night . The show 's comedy sketches , which often parody contemporary culture and politics , are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members . Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest , who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast as with featured performances by a musical guest . An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming , Live from New York , it 's Saturday Night ! , properly beginning the show . In 1980 , Michaels left the series to explore other opportunities . He was replaced by Jean Doumanian , who was replaced by Ebersol after a season of bad reviews . Ebersol ran the show until 1985 . Since Michaels ' return he has held the job of show-runner . Many SNL cast members have found national stardom while appearing on the show , and achieved success in film and television , both in front of and behind the camera . Others associated with the show , such as writers , have gone on to successful careers creating , writing , and starring in television and film . Broadcast from Studio 8H at NBC 's headquarters in the Comcast Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza , SNL has aired 884 episodes since its debut , and began its forty-fifth season on September 28 , 2019 , making it one of the longest-running network television programs in the United States .
Whose Line Is It Anyway ? ( often known as simply Whose Line ? ) is an improvisational comedy television show in the United States , an adaptation of the British show of the same name . It aired on ABC and ABC Family from August 5 , 1998 , to December 15 , 2007 , hosted by Drew Carey . A revival of the show , hosted by Aisha Tyler , began airing on The CW on July 16 , 2013 . The series features Ryan Stiles , Colin Mochrie , and Wayne Brady as its regular performers with the fourth seat occupied by a guest panelist .
Ralph Waite ( June 22 , 1928 - February 13 , 2014 ) was an American actor and political activist , best known for his role as John Walton , Sr. on The Waltons ( 1972-1981 ) , which he occasionally directed . He also had recurring roles in NCIS as Jackson Gibbs , the father of Leroy Jethro Gibbs , and Bones , as Seeley Booth 's grandfather . Waite had supporting roles in movies like Cool Hand Luke ( 1967 ) , Five Easy Pieces ( 1970 ) , The Grissom Gang ( 1971 ) , The Bodyguard ( 1992 ) , and Cliffhanger ( 1993 ) .
The Waltons is an American television series that aired for nine seasons ( 1972-1981 ) on CBS . A further six TV movies aired in the 1980s and 1990s . Below is a list of the series characters and the actors that portrayed them .
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner Jr. , based on his book Spencer 's Mountain and a 1963 film of the same name , about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II . The television movie The Homecoming : A Christmas Story was broadcast on December 19 , 1971 . Based on its success , the CBS television network ordered one season of episodes based on the same characters and that became the television series The Waltons . Beginning in September 1972 , the series subsequently aired on CBS for nine seasons . After the series was canceled by CBS in 1981 , NBC aired three television movie sequels in 1982 , with three more in the 1990s on CBS . The Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros . Domestic Television Distribution in syndication .
Roots is an American television miniseries based on Alex Haley 's 1976 novel Roots : The Saga of an American Family . The series first aired on ABC in January 1977 . Roots received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine . It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award . It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings for the finale , which still holds a record as the third-highest-rated episode for any type of television series , and the second-most watched overall series finale in U.S. television history . It was produced on a budget of $ 6.6 million . The series introduced LeVar Burton in the role of Kunta Kinte . A sequel , Roots : The Next Generations , first aired in 1979 , and a second sequel , Roots : The Gift , a Christmas TV movie , starring Burton and Louis Gossett Jr. , first aired in 1988 . A related film , Alex Haley 's Queen , is based on the life of Queen Jackson Haley , who was Alex Haley 's paternal grandmother . In 2016 , a remake of the original miniseries , with the same name , was commissioned by the History channel and screened by the channel on Memorial Day .
NCIS is an American action police procedural television series , revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service . The concept and characters were initially introduced in two episodes of the CBS series JAG ( season eight episodes 20 and 21 : Ice Queen and Meltdown ) . The show , a spin-off from JAG , premiered on September 23 , 2003 , on CBS . To date it has entered into the seventeenth full season and has gone into broadcast syndication on the USA Network . Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill are co-creators and executive producers of the premiere member of the NCIS franchise . As of 2019 , it is the second-longest-running scripted , non-animated U.S. primetime TV series currently airing , surpassed only by Law & Order : Special Victims Unit ( 1999-present ) , and is the 7th-longest-running scripted U.S. primetime TV series overall . NCIS was originally titled Navy NCIS ; Navy was later dropped from the title as it was redundant ( the N in NCIS stands for Naval ) . In season six , a two-part episode led to a spin-off series , NCIS : Los Angeles . A two-part episode during the eleventh season led to a second spin-off series , NCIS : New Orleans . While initially slow in the ratings , barely cracking the Top 30 in the first two seasons , the third season showed progress , consistently ranking in the top 20 , and by its sixth season , it became a top five hit , having remained there since . In 2011 , NCIS was voted America 's favorite television show in an online Harris Poll . The series finished its tenth season as the most-watched television series in the U.S. during the 2012-13 network television season .
Kickin ' It is an American comedy television series created by Jim O'Doherty that aired on Disney XD from June 13 , 2011 to March 25 , 2015 . The series stars Leo Howard , Dylan Riley Snyder , Mateo Arias , Olivia Holt , Alex Christian Jones , and Jason Earles .
Bones is an American crime procedural comedy-drama television series created by Hart Hanson for Fox . It premiered on September 13 , 2005 , and aired 246 episodes over twelve seasons . The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology , with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth ( David Boreanaz ) to forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Bones Brennan ( Emily Deschanel ) . It also explored the personal lives of the characters . The rest of the main cast includes Michaela Conlin , T. J. Thyne , Eric Millegan , Jonathan Adams , Tamara Taylor , John Francis Daley , and John Boyd . The series is very loosely based on the life and novels of Kathy Reichs , a forensic anthropologist , who also produced the show . Its title character , Temperance Brennan , is named after the protagonist of Reichs ' crime novel series . In the Bones universe , Dr. Brennan writes successful mystery novels featuring a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs . Bones is a joint production by Josephson Entertainment , Far Field Productions and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television . The series is the longest-running one-hour drama series produced by 20th Century Fox Television . On February 25 , 2016 , the series was renewed for a twelfth and final season , consisting of twelve episodes that premiered on January 3 , 2017 . The series finale aired on March 28 , 2017 .
National Geographic ( formerly National Geographic Channel and also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV ) is an American pay television network and flagship channel that is owned by National Geographic Partners , a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company ( 73% ) and the National Geographic Society ( 27% ) , with the operational management handled by Walt Disney Television . The flagship channel airs non-fiction television programs produced by National Geographic and other production companies . Like History and Discovery Channel , the channel features documentaries with factual content involving nature , science , culture , and history , plus some reality and pseudo-scientific entertainment programming . Its primary sister network worldwide , including the United States , is Nat Geo Wild , which focuses on animal-related programming , including the popular Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan . As of February 2015 , National Geographic is available to approximately 86,144,000 pay television households ( 74% of households with television ) in the United States .
Mary Grace Canfield ( September 3 , 1924 - February 15 , 2014 ) was an American theatre , film and television actress .
Green Acres was an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm . Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction , the series was first broadcast on CBS , from September 15 , 1965 , to April 27 , 1971 . All episodes were filmed in color . Receiving solid ratings during its six-year run , Green Acres was cancelled in 1971 as part of the rural purge by CBS . The sitcom has been in syndication and is available on DVD and VHS releases . In 1997 the two-part episode A Star Named Arnold Is Born was ranked # 59 on TV Guide 's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time .
General Hospital ( commonly abbreviated GH ) is an American daytime television medical drama . It is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running American soap opera in production and the second longest-running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light . Concurrently , it is the world 's third longest-running scripted drama series in production after British serials The Archers and Coronation Street , as well as the world 's second-longest-running televised soap opera still in production . General Hospital premiered on the ABC television network on April 1 , 1963 . General Hospital is the longest-running serial produced in Hollywood , and the longest-running entertainment program in ABC television history . It holds the record for most Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series , with 13 wins . The show was created by husband-and-wife soap writers Frank and Doris Hursley , who originally set it in a general hospital ( hence the title ) , in an unnamed fictional city . In the 1970s , the city was named Port Charles , New York . From its beginning , General Hospital starred John Beradino and Emily McLaughlin , and both actors stayed with the show until their deaths in 1996 and 1991 respectively . They were joined a year later by Rachel Ames who remains to date the longest serving actress on an ABC soap opera , having been continuously on the show from 1964 to 2007 . General Hospital was the second soap to air on ABC ( after the short-lived Road to Reality , which aired for several months during the 1960-61 season ) . In 1964 , a sister soap was created for General Hospital , The Young Marrieds ; it ran for two years , and was canceled because of low ratings .
The Hathaways is a 26-episode situation comedy , which aired on ABC from October 6 , 1961 , to March 30 , 1962 , starring Peggy Cass and Jack Weston as suburban Los Angeles parents to a trio of performing chimpanzees . Weston portrayed Walter Hathaway , a flabby real estate agent . Cass is his zany bride Elinore , mother and booking agent to the Marquis Chimps , named Candy , Charlie , and Enoch . The chimps had earlier appeared on CBS 's The Ed Sullivan Show , a Jack Benny special in 1959 and several commercials in 1960 . Supporting roles were filled by character actress Mary Grace Canfield as Mrs. Amanda Allison , a housekeeper ; Barbara Perry as Elinore 's friend and neighbor , Thelma Brockwood , and Harvey Lembeck as Jerry Roper , the theatrical agent of the chimps , Another neighbor , Mrs. Harrison was played by Belle Montrose , the mother of comedian Steve Allen . The premiere episode is entitled Love Thy Neighbor : the Brockwoods decide to purchase the house next door despite reservations about the chimps being their neighbors too . Joe Flynn , guest-starred as Freddie Winkler in the third episode Walter Takes a Partner , which aired on October 20 . Vaughn Taylor played a veterinarian Dr. Dorsey in Candy 's Tonsils ( November 10 ) . Robert Q. Lewis portrayed Barney Holt in TV or Not TV on ( November 24 ) . Other episodes were entitled The Hathaways Sleep Out , Grandma 's Lamp , TV or Not TV , The Practical Joker , Help Wanted , The Shrewd Trader , A Man for Amanda , and the series finale , Elinore 's Best Friend .
Bewitched is an American television sitcom fantasy series , originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from September 17 , 1964 , to March 25 , 1972 . It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man , and vows to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife . The show enjoyed great popularity , finishing as the number two-rated show in America during its debut season , staying in the top ten for its first three seasons , and just missing this mark with an eleventh-place ranking for both seasons four and five . The show continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication and on recorded media . Bewitched was created by Sol Saks under executive director Harry Ackerman , and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens ; Dick York ( 1964-1969 ) as Darrin Stephens , her husband ; Agnes Moorehead as Endora , Samantha 's mother ; David White as Larry Tate , Darrin 's boss ; Irene Vernon ( 1964-1966 ) and later Kasey Rogers ( 1966-1972 ) as Louise Tate , Larry 's wife ; Alice Pearce ( 1964-1966 ) as Gladys Kravitz ; George Tobias ( 1964-1971 ) as her husband Abner Kravitz ; and Erin Murphy ( 1966-1972 ) as Tabitha Stephens . Dick Sargent replaced an ailing York for the final three seasons ( 1969-1972 ) . In 1966 , Sandra Gould took over the part of Gladys Kravitz ( 1966-1971 ) when Alice Pearce died . Annual semi-regulars included Maurice Evans as Maurice , Samantha 's father ; Marion Lorne as Samantha 's Aunt Clara ( 1964-1968 ) ; Alice Ghostley as Esmeralda , Samantha 's babysitter ( 1969-1972 ) ; Paul Lynde as Samantha 's Uncle Arthur ( 1965-1971 ) ; Mabel Albertson as Darrin 's mother Phyllis Stephens ( 1964-1971 ) ; and Robert F. Simon and Roy Roberts alternating the role of Frank Stephens , Darrin 's father ( 1964-1971 ) . In 2002 , Bewitched was ranked # 50 on TV Guide 's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time . In 1997 , the same magazine ranked the season 2 episode Divided He Falls # 48 on their list of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time .
Nelson Frazier Jr. ( February 14 , 1971 - February 18 , 2014 ) was an American professional wrestler , best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWF/WWE ) in the 1990s and 2000s under the ring names Mabel , Viscera , and Big Daddy V. A former WWF World Tag Team Champion and WWF Hardcore Champion , he won the 1995 King of the Ring tournament and consequently challenged for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of that year 's SummerSlam .
A ring name is a name used for professional purposes by a professional wrestler , martial artist or boxer .
The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE ( formerly the World Wrestling Federation ) , which was contested under hardcore rules ( no disqualifications , no countouts , and pinfalls count anywhere ) . In the latter part of the title 's history , a rule was implemented allowing anyone to challenge the champion at any place or time , provided a referee was present ( dubbed the 24/7 rule ) . It was established on November 2 , 1998 , with Mankind as the inaugural champion . In 2002 , it was unified with the WWE Intercontinental Championship by Rob Van Dam , the final Hardcore Champion .
The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) promotion , and the promotion 's third tag team championship overall . Originally established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation ( WWWF ) on June 3 , 1971 ( renamed World Wrestling Federation in 1979 ) , it served as the only title for tag teams in the promotion until the then-World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) bought World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) in March 2001 , which added their tag team championship . Both titles were unified in November 2001 , retiring WCW 's championship and continuing WWF 's . In 2002 , the company was renamed WWE . Following the introduction of the WWE brand extension , where wrestlers and championships became exclusive to a WWE brand , the World Tag Team Championship became exclusive to the Raw brand , while a second WWE Tag Team Championship was established for the SmackDown brand . Both titles were unified in 2009 into the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship , but remained independently active until the World Tag Team Championship was decommissioned in 2010 in favor of continuing the newer championship . The championship was contested in professional wrestling matches . Bouts for the title headlined WWF events including In Your House 3 , Fully Loaded : In Your House , and 2001 's Backlash . The inaugural champions were the team of Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler , and the final champions were The Hart Dynasty .
Clifton Garrick Utley ( November 19 , 1939 - February 20 , 2014 ) was an American television journalist . He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent covering the war on-site .
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC . The division operates under NBCUniversal Broadcast , Cable , Sports and News , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal , which is in turn a subsidiary of Comcast . The group 's various operations report to the president of NBC News , Noah Oppenheim . NBC News aired the first , regularly scheduled news program in American broadcast television history on February 21 , 1940 . The group 's broadcasts are produced and aired from 30 Rockefeller Center , NBC 's headquarters in New York City . The division presides over America 's number-one-rated newscast , NBC Nightly News , and the longest-running television series in American history , Meet The Press , the Sunday morning program of newsmakers interviews . NBC News also offers 70 years of rare historic footage from the NBCUniversal Archives online . NBC News operates a 24-hour cable news network known as MSNBC , which includes the organization 's flagship daytime news operation , MSNBC Live . The cable network shares staff and editorial control with NBC News . In 2017 , the organization entered into a partnership and purchased a 25% stake in Euronews , a European 24-hour news network .
ABC News is the news division of the American Broadcasting Company ( ABC ) . Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ABC World News Tonight with David Muir ; other programs include morning news-talk show Good Morning America , Nightline , Primetime , and 20/20 , and Sunday morning political affairs program This Week with George Stephanopoulos .
CNN ( Cable News Network ) is an American news-based pay television channel owned by AT & T 's WarnerMedia . CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel . Upon its launch in 1980 , CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage and was the first all-news television channel in the United States . While the news channel has numerous affiliates , CNN primarily broadcasts from 30 Hudson Yards in New York City , and studios in Washington , D.C. and Los Angeles . Its headquarters at the CNN Center in Atlanta is only used for weekend programming . CNN is sometimes referred to as CNN/U.S . ( or CNN Domestic ) to distinguish the U.S. channel from its international sister network , CNN International . The network is known for its dramatic live coverage of breaking news , some of which has drawn criticism as overly sensationalistic , and for its efforts to be nonpartisan , which have led to accusations of false balance . As of September 2018 , CNN has 90.1 million television households as subscribers ( 97.7% of households with cable ) in the United States . In 2019 , CNN ranked third in viewership among cable news networks , behind rivals Fox News and MSNBC , averaging 972,000 viewers . CNN ranks 14th among all basic cable networks . Globally , CNN programming airs through CNN International , which can be seen by viewers in over 212 countries and territories .
Harold Allen Ramis ( /ˈreɪmɪs/ ; November 21 , 1944 - February 24 , 2014 ) was an American actor , comedian , director and writer . His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters ( 1984 ) and Ghostbusters II ( 1989 ) and Russell Ziskey in Stripes ( 1981 ) ; he also co-wrote those films . As a director , his films include the comedies Caddyshack ( 1980 ) , National Lampoon 's Vacation ( 1983 ) , Groundhog Day ( 1993 ) , and Analyze This ( 1999 ) . Ramis was the original head writer of the television series SCTV , on which he also performed , as well as a co-writer of Groundhog Day and National Lampoon 's Animal House ( 1978 ) . The final film that he wrote , produced , directed , and acted in was Year One ( 2009 ) . Ramis 's films influenced subsequent generations of comedians comedy writers actors and singers . Filmmakers and actors including Jay Roach , Jake Kasdan , Adam Sandler , Peter and Bobby Farrelly have cited his films as among their favorites . Along with Danny Rubin , he won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for Groundhog Day .
Second City Television , commonly shortened to SCTV , is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran between 1976 and 1984 . It was created as an offshoot from Toronto 's Second City troupe . It is a rare example of a Canadian show that moved successfully to American TV . SCTV Network is available on terrestrial network , cable , and satellite .
The Office is an American mockumentary sitcom television series that depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton , Pennsylvania , branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company . It aired on NBC from March 24 , 2005 , to May 16 , 2013 , lasting a total of nine seasons . It is an adaptation of the original BBC series of the same name and was adapted for American television by Greg Daniels , a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live , King of the Hill , and The Simpsons . It was co-produced by Daniels ' Deedle-Dee Productions , and Reveille Productions ( later Shine America ) , in association with Universal Television . The original executive producers were Daniels , Howard Klein , Ben Silverman , Ricky Gervais , and Stephen Merchant , with numerous others being promoted in later seasons . To simulate the look of an actual documentary it was filmed in a single-camera setup without a studio audience or a laugh track . The series debuted on NBC as a mid-season replacement and aired 201 episodes over the course of its run . The Office originally featured Steve Carell , Rainn Wilson , John Krasinski , Jenna Fischer , and B. J. Novak as the main cast , however , the series experienced numerous changes to its ensemble cast during its run . Notable stars outside the original main cast include Ed Helms , Mindy Kaling , Craig Robinson , James Spader , and Ellie Kemper . The Office was met with mixed reviews during its short first season , but the following seasons , especially those featuring Carell , received considerable acclaim from television critics . These seasons were included on several critics ' year-end top TV series lists , winning several awards such as a Peabody Award in 2006 , two Screen Actors Guild Awards , a Golden Globe Award for Carell 's performance , and four Primetime Emmy Awards , including one for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2006 . Later seasons were criticized for a decline in quality , with many seeing Carell 's departure in season seven as a contributing factor ; however , the final season ended the series ' run with a generally positive response .
James John Lange ( /læŋ/ ; August 15 , 1932 - February 25 , 2014 ) was an American game show host and disc jockey . He was known to listeners in the San Francisco and Los Angeles radio markets with stints at several stations in both markets , racking up over 45 years on the air . Lange was also known to television viewers as the host of several game shows , including The Dating Game .
The Dating Game is an ABC television show . It first aired on December 20 , 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s . ABC dropped the show on July 6 , 1973 , but it continued in syndication for another year ( 1973-1974 ) as The New Dating Game . The program was revived three additional times in syndication afterwards . The first revival premiered in 1978 and ran until 1980 , the second ran from 1986 until 1989 , and the last ran from 1996 until 1999 with a season of reruns following . Jim Lange hosted The Dating Game for its entire ABC network run and the 1973 and 1978 syndicated editions . The 1986 revival was hosted by Elaine Joyce for its first season and Jeff MacGregor for its remaining two seasons . When the show was revived with a different format in 1996 , Brad Sherwood was named as its host . Chuck Woolery took over in 1997 after he left The Home and Family Show when the original format was reinstated and hosted for the last two seasons . Beginning in 1966 , The Dating Game was often paired with The Newlywed Game . This was especially true when the two shows entered syndication ; in fact , in 1996 the revivals of both The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game were sold as a package called The Dating-Newlywed Hour . The program was originally broadcast in black-and-white , but when a prime-time version began in October 1966 , both it and the daytime version were broadcast in color ; the daytime version thus became the first ABC daytime series to be broadcast in color on a regular basis .
The Ford Show ( also known as The Ford Show , Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford and The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show ) is an American variety program , starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford , which aired on NBC on Thursday evenings from October 4 , 1956 , to June 29 , 1961 . The show was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company , whose founders shared a last name with the host but had no known relation . Beginning in September 1958 , the show was telecast in color . Ford first gained attention as the host of Hometown Jamboree in Los Angeles . In 1954 , he hosted a brief revival of Kay Kyser 's Kollege of Musical Knowledge , a quiz show on NBC . His subsequent The Ford Show was frequently among the Top 20 programs , finishing in the Nielsen ratings at # 19 for the 1956-1957 season , # 14 in 1957-1958 , # 20 in 1958-1959 , # 14 in 1959-1960 and # 24 in 1960-1961 . It is also one of the first places that showed Charles M. Schulz 's Peanuts characters in animated form , which , like the later specials , was directed by Bill Melendez .
Roger Hill ( July 31 , 1948 - February 20 , 2014 ) was an American actor .
One Life to Live ( often abbreviated as OLTL ) is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years , from July 15 , 1968 , to January 13 , 2012 , and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes via The Online Network from April 29 to August 19 , 2013 . Created by Agnes Nixon , the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature ethnically and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social issues . One Life to Live was expanded from 30 minutes to 45 minutes on July 26 , 1976 , and then to an hour on January 16 , 1978 . One Life to Live heavily focuses on the members and relationships of the Lord family . Actress Erika Slezak began portraying the series ' central protagonist Victoria Viki Lord in March 1971 and played the character continuously for the rest of the show 's run on ABC Daytime , winning a record six Daytime Emmy Awards for the role . In 2002 , the series won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series . One Life to Live was the last American daytime soap opera taped in New York City . After nearly 43 years on the air , ABC canceled One Life to Live on April 14 , 2011 . On July 7 , 2011 , production company Prospect Park announced that it would continue the show as a web series after its run on ABC , but later suspended the project . The show taped its final scenes for ABC on November 18 , 2011 , and its final episode on the network aired on January 13 , 2012 with a cliffhanger . On January 7 , 2013 , Prospect Park resumed its plan to continue One Life to Live as a daily 30-minute web series on Hulu and iTunes via The Online Network . The relaunched series premiered on April 29 , 2013 .