1997 in American television
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 1997. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures, and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
| List of years in American television: |
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| 1996–97 United States network television schedule |
| 1997–98 United States network television schedule |
| List of American television programs currently in production |
Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 1 | The television rating system, a system similar to the one used for motion pictures, goes into effect. |
| The Emergency Alert System comes into effect and replaces the Emergency Broadcast System. | |
| January 3 | Bryant Gumbel anchors his last Today show on NBC. The following Monday, Matt Lauer takes over alongside Katie Couric until he was fired 20 years later in November 2017. |
| January 22 | New World Communications is acquired by Fox. The deal makes 10 New World-owned stations that affiliated with Fox as a result of the 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment network O&O's. |
| January 26 | Fox broadcasts its first Super Bowl, making it the last of the big four networks to air a Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots 35–21 in a game that gives Fox its highest ratings to date. |
| February 1 | The final affiliation switch resulting from the 1994–96 United States broadcast TV realignment takes place when Allbritton Communications (owners of WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the country) converts WB affiliate WBSG in Brunswick, Georgia, into a semi-satellite of new sign-on WJXX in Orange Park, Florida, which assumes the ABC affiliation for the Jacksonville market. Former ABC affiliate WJKS promptly discontinues its news operation and assumes the WB affiliation from WBSG. |
| February 9 | On Fox, The Simpsons airs the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show". With this episode, The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running primetime animated series in terms of episodes aired. |
| February 21 | The old trilon-style puzzle board is used for the last time on Wheel of Fortune after 22 years. Next Monday, February 24, a new digital puzzle board debuts, which allows Vanna White to reveal letters with just a simple touch of a button. |
| February 23 | Schindler's List makes its network television debut on NBC. The film is broadcast virtually unedited and is the first telecast to receive a TV-M (now TV-MA) rating under the TV Parental Guidelines that had been established earlier in the year. |
| February 26 | Various ABC characters appeared with Las Vegas settings in the shows Grace Under Fire, Coach, The Drew Carey Show, and Ellen. |
| March 10 | The pilot episode for Buffy the Vampire Slayer airs on The WB. |
| March 17 | Toonami debuts on Cartoon Network. |
| March 23 | The 13th annual WrestleMania event airs on pay-per-view. While the event as a whole receives mixed reviews, the submission match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin is highly praised, being called one of the greatest matches in wrestling history, and has been cited by some as the beginning of the Attitude Era.[1] |
| April 6 | Disney Channel is revamped with the cable television premiere of Pocahontas. The film would have its network television premiere on ABC one year later. Disney Channel continues to convert from subscription television to a basic cable channel. |
| April 13 | Extreme Championship Wrestling broadcasts its first ever pay-per-view dubbed "Barely Legal". |
| April 25 | CBS broadcasts a reunion film featuring the surviving cast of The Dukes of Hazzard, which originally aired on the network from 1979–1985. This proved to be Denver Pyle's final performance before his death on Christmas Day, 1997.[2] |
| April 30 | The Ellen episode, "The Puppy Episode" is broadcast on ABC, showing for the first time the revelation of a main character as a homosexual. |
| May 7 | CBS begins airing the two-part Knots Landing reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, airing on two non-consecutive nights, on May 7 and May 9. |
| May 9 | Bob Saget hosts his final regular episode of America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC, with the other cast members of Full House, minus The Olsen Twins. The $100,000 season finale (his final episode) aired nine days later on May 18. |
| June 6 | Farrah Fawcett makes a bizarre appearance on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. Fawcett tells long, rambling stories without a purpose, fails to understand simple questions, and gets easily distracted by things like blinking lights on the set. |
| June 21 | The Professional Bowlers Tour ends after 36 years on ABC. CBS assumes the rights to the tour and will televise several events over the next two years. |
| June 30 | In Seattle, KIRO-TV (CBS) and KSTW (UPN) reverse their 1995 swap. |
| July 8 | KONG-TV, Seattle's independent station goes on the air. |
| Fox broadcasts the Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Cleveland, marking the first time that the network would broadcast the midsummer classic. | |
| July 15 | A tribute episode of Another World is broadcast on NBC in honor of Victoria Wyndham's 25 years with the program. |
| July 24 | George Harrison appears on a VH-1 special to promote his friend Ravi Shankar's album Chants of India. This would prove to be Harrison's final television appearance. |
| August 13 | Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park aired its first episode on Comedy Central. |
| August 31 | WFFF-TV in Burlington, Vermont, signs-on the air, giving the Burlington/Plattsburgh market its first full-time Fox affiliate (prior to this, Fox programming was seen on a secondary basis on CBS affiliate WCAX-TV).[3] |
| September 3 | Jeri Ryan makes her first appearance as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager. |
| September 5 | Joan Lunden makes her final appearance as co-anchor for ABC's Good Morning America, after being on the program since 1980. Lunden would be succeeded by Lisa McRee. |
| September 6 | Various networks broadcast the Princess Diana funeral; 2.7 million viewers at home watched this special. |
| September 8 | KDAF-TV gives up the rights on Fox Kids to KDFI, as KDFW airs news, talk shows, paid/real estate and E/I-complaint programming instead of the block (KDFI also airs said programs, as well as Fox programs, just in case for local news emergencies and sports preemptions). |
| September 13 | ABC revamps its Saturday morning cartoon schedule, and adds more new series from parent company Disney to become Disney's One Saturday Morning. This, along with many other programming, was delayed one week from its originally planned debut as a result of the aforementioned Princess Diana funeral. |
| September 14 | The 49th Primetime Emmy Awards presentation was broadcast on CBS. |
| September 19 | After several years of being a part of ABC's successful "TGIF" sitcom programming block, Family Matters and Step by Step switch to CBS to form the basis of the "CBS Block Party", a direct competitor to TGIF. Both series, as well as the Block Party, would be cancelled after one season. |
| September 25 | ER produces a live episode for its fourth season premiere. |
| September 26 | Jeopardy!'s 3,000th syndicated episode airs. The categories in the Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! rounds from its debut episode in 1984 are used on this episode. |
| October 5 | The World Wrestling Federation event Badd Blood: In Your House is broadcast on pay-per-view. Not only is the event notable for featuring the promotion's first-ever Hell in a Cell match, which pitted The Undertaker against Shawn Michaels and saw the debut of Undertaker's storyline brother Kane, it marked the last time that Vince McMahon would be featured as the chief broadcaster of the commentating team for a pay-per-view event. According to WWE, the Montreal Screwjob, which took place at Survivor Series 1997, is considered the beginning of the Attitude Era.[4] Thus, Badd Blood: In Your House was the last WWF PPV of the New Generation Era. |
| October 25 | Chris Farley guest hosts Saturday Night Live in what would turn out to be his final television appearance before his death on December 18, 1997. |
| Under Wraps, the first Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) by Disney Channel, is broadcast. | |
| October 26 | Game 7 of the World Series is broadcast on NBC. The Florida Marlins defeat the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first baseball wild card team to win the world championship. This was the first World Series that NBC would broadcast in its entirety since 1988. NBC aired only Games 2-3 and the decisive sixth game of the 1995 World Series, while ABC aired the other three and a seventh game had it been necessary. |
| November 2 | A third production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's version of Cinderella was aired on ABC. This version, featuring Brandy Norwood and Whitney Houston, was produced by ABC's parent company The Walt Disney Company (which released its own version of the story as an animated movie 1950). |
| November 6 | The NBC discussion show Meet the Press celebrates its 50th anniversary. |
| November 7 | A crossover event featuring Salem in a time ball with Sabrina appeared on all four TGIF shows around that time, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, You Wish, and Teen Angel. |
| November 9 | During a pay-per-view broadcast of the World Wrestling Federation's Survivor Series, then-WWF Champion Bret Hart loses his title to Shawn Michaels. The finish is mired in controversy when WWF chairman Vince McMahon, who had been sitting at ringside, orders Earl Hebner, the assigned referee, to end the match as Michaels is holding Hart in Hart's own finishing maneuver, the Sharpshooter, even though Hart had not submitted. The incident becomes known as the Montreal Screwjob and will mark the final appearance of Hart on WWE television until 2010.[5] |
| November 17 | Rick Rude becomes the only person to appear on both USA Network's Raw and TNT's Monday Nitro on the same night. Whereas the Raw that aired that night was pre-recorded six days in advanced, Rude appeared on a live edition of Nitro about an hour earlier. |
| November 29 | The Emergency Broadcast System is replaced by the Emergency Alert System and it continues to this day. |
| December 8 | WVIT becomes an NBC O&O for the second time, and Paramount Stations Group had purchased WLWC and WWHO, dropping off newscasts, although Paramount had to run these two as a WB affiliate until 2000, while getting UPN to secondary status. |
| December 15 | World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon announces the introduction of the Attitude Era (a term used by WWF for its adult-oriented programming) on Raw Is War, during a segment entitled "The Cure for the Common Show". The WWF Attitude's scratch logo also makes its on-screen debut within the episode, replacing the New Generation's block logo. |
| December 24 | TNT and TBS broadcast "24 Hours of A Christmas Story", consisting of 12 consecutive airings of the 1983 film from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day.[6] |
| December 28 | World Championship Wrestling's fifteenth annual Starrcade event airs on pay-per-view. The main event would see Sting defeat Hollywood Hogan to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Overall, this would become the highest grossing pay-per-view in WCW history. |
Programs
Debuts
Returning this year
| Show | Last aired | Previous network | New title | New network | Returned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugrats | 1994 | Nickelodeon | Same | Same | August 23 |
| The People's Court | 1993 | Syndication | September 8 | ||
| Batman: The Animated Series | 1995 | Fox | The New Batman Adventures | Kids' WB | September 13 |
| Muppets Tonight | 1996 | ABC | Same | Disney Channel | |
| The Wonderful World of Disney | Disney Channel | ABC | September 28 |
Ending this year
Made-for-TV movies
| Title | Network | Date of airing |
|---|---|---|
| Miss Evers' Boys | HBO | February 22 |
| 12 Angry Men | Showtime | August 17 |
| Northern Lights | Disney Channel | August 23 |
| Under Wraps | October 25 | |
| Don King: Only in America | HBO | November 15 |
| What the Deaf Man Heard | CBS | November 23 |
Miniseries
| Title | Network | Premiere |
|---|---|---|
| The Shining | ABC | April 27 |
| Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac | CBS | May 7 |
| The Last Don | May 11 | |
| The Odyssey | NBC | May 18 |
| Rough Riders | TNT | July 20 |
| George Wallace | August 24 | |
Shows changing networks
Entering syndication this year
| Show | Seasons | In Production | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boy Meets World | 4 | Yes | |
| Due South | 3 | Yes | |
| Frasier | 4 | Yes | |
| Grace Under Fire | 4 | Yes | |
| Living Single | 4 | Yes | |
| NYPD Blue | 4 | Yes | |
| Walker, Texas Ranger | 5 | Yes | |
| The X-Files | 4 | Yes |
Networks and services
Launches
| Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox Sports West 2 | Cable and satellite | January 27 | ||
| CBS Eye on People | Cable and satellite | March 31 | CBS Eye on People launches in 2 million homes with fourteen original programs supplied by CBS News, including live talk show Off 10th, 60 Minutes More, and 48 Hours Later. The channel received low carriage, and was later sold to Discovery Communications before being closed. | |
| Fox Sports Detroit | Cable and satellite | September 17 | In 1997, News Corporation it would launch a Fox Sports network in Michigan, and won a surprise bid for local cable television rights to Detroit Pistons games. Fox Sports Detroit then acquired broadcast rights to Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers games from competitor Pro-Am Sports System, and launched on September 17 in the for the NHL and MLB seasons. | |
| Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia | Cable television | October 1 | ||
| Fox Sports World | Cable and satellite | November 1 |
Conversions and rebrandings
| Old network name | New network name | Type | Conversion Date | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encore+ | Plex: Encore 1 | Cable and satellite | January 1 | Plex: Encore 1 replaced both Encore+, and Intro Television, which showed sampler blocks of different cable networks. Like Encore+, Plex aired programs from a different Encore multiplex channel each day. Plex rebranded as MoviePlex in October. |
Closures
| Network | Type | End date | Notes | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NewSport | Cable and satellite | July 9 | NewSport, a 24-hour sports news channel owned by Rainbow Programming Holdings, had struggled to receive carriage throughout its run, receiving only 10 million subscribers at its peak. NewSport's slow growth compared to competitor ESPNews resulted in Rainbow closing NewSport on July 9. | |
| PRISM | Cable television | October 1 | ||
| SportsChannel Philadelphia | Cable and satellite | October 1 | ||
| Pro-Am Sports System | Cable and satellite | November 1 | In 1997, Fox/Liberty Networks won an unexpected bid for the local cable television rights to Detroit Red Wings games from Pro-Am Sports System, then announced plans to launch a regional sports network to compete with PASS. Fox Sports Detroit won a bid for broadcast rights to the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Tigers contracts on August 26. On August 30, PASS owner Post-Newsweek sold its remaining Tigers and Pistons contracts and sportscaster John Keating's contract to Fox Sports Detroit before its launch, then shut down Pro-Am Sports System at midnight on November 1, 1997. |
Television stations
Station launches
Stations changing network affiliation
| Market | Date | Station | Channel | Prior affiliation | New affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbellsville, Kentucky | January 1 | WGRB | 34 | FOX | The WB |
| Charleston, South Carolina | January 6 | WMMP | 36 | The WB | UPN |
| Jacksonville, Florida | February 9 | WJKS-TV | 17 | ABC | The WB |
| Seattle-Tacoma, Washington | June 30 | KIRO-TV | 7 | UPN | CBS |
| KSTW | 11 | CBS | UPN | ||
| Binghamton, New York | October 23 | WBGH-CA | 8 | Independent | NBC |
Births
| Date | Name | Notability |
|---|---|---|
| January 7 | Kyle Stanger | English actor (Lumpy on My Friends Tigger & Pooh) |
| January 9 | Lauryn McClain | Actress |
| January 11 | Cody Simpson | Australian actor |
| January 17 | Jake Paul | Boxer (Bizaardvark) |
| Jazzy Williams | Actress (WITS Academy) | |
| January 21 | Jeremy Shada | Actor (Incredible Crew), Voice actor (Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Adventure Time) |
| January 24 | Jonah Bobo | Voice actor (Austin on The Backyardigans) |
| Dylan Riley Snyder | Actor (Kickin' It) | |
| February 7 | Matthew Gumley | Voice actor (Benny on Dora the Explorer (2008–14)) |
| February 9 | Kathryn Newton | Actress (Gary Unmarried, Supernatural, Halt and Catch Fire) |
| February 10 | Chloë Grace Moretz | Actress (My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Carrie, The 5th Wave) |
| February 12 | Shane Baumel | Voice actor (Tipo on The Emperor's New School) |
| February 26 | Aidan Gould | Actor |
| February 27 | Erica Huang | Voice actress (June on Little Einsteins) |
| March 3 | Camila Cabello | Singer |
| March 11 | Matreya Fedor | Canadian actress (Mr. Young) |
| March 16 | Tyrel Jackson Williams | Actor (The Backyardigans, Lab Rats) |
| March 18 | Ciara Bravo | Actress (Big Time Rush, Red Band Society, Second Chance) |
| April 8 | Evan Mock | Actor (Gossip Girl) |
| Sadie Calvano | Actress (Mom) | |
| April 15 | Maisie Williams | English actress (Game of Thrones) |
| April 16 | Tiarnie Coupland | Australian actress (Worst Year of My Life Again) |
| April 24 | Autumn Wendel | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
| May 9 | Zane Huett | Actor (Desperate Housewives) |
| May 21 | Kevin Quinn | Actor (Bunk'd) |
| May 30 | Jake Short | Actor (A.N.T. Farm, Mighty Med, Lab Rats: Elite Force, All Night) |
| June 5 | Denisea Wilson | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
| June 17 | KJ Apa | New-Zealand actor (Riverdale) |
| June 11 | Sadie Robertson | Actress |
| June 20 | Maria Lark | Actress (Medium) |
| June 21 | Rebecca Black | Singer |
| June 26 | Jacob Elordi | Australian actor (Euphoria) |
| July 2 | Jackson Odell | Actor that appeared in The Goldbergs, iCarly, and Modern Family (d. 2018) |
| July 4 | Daniela Nieves | Venezuelan-American Actress (Every Witch Way, WITS Academy) |
| July 7 | Gatlin Green | Actress (Heroes Reborn) |
| July 13 | Leo Howard | Actor (Kickin' It, Shake It Up) |
| July 20 | Billi Bruno | Actress (According to Jim) |
| July 22 | Field Cate | Actor (Pushing Daisies) |
| August 2 | Christina Robinson | Actor (Dexter) |
| August 5 | Olivia Holt | Actress (Kickin' It, I Didn't Do It, Cloak & Dagger) |
| Adam Irigoyen | Actor (Shake It Up) | |
| August 10 | Kylie Jenner | Actress (Keeping Up with the Kardashians) |
| August 11 | Alexander Martella | Actor |
| August 16 | Piper Curda | Actress (Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, A.N.T. Farm, I Didn't Do It) |
| August 25 | Bryana Salaz | Actress (Best Friends Whenever) and singer |
| August 28 | Emilia McCarthy | Canadian actress (Max & Shred) |
| September 7 | Dean-Charles Chapman | English actor (Game of Thrones) |
| September 12 | Sydney Sweeney | Actress (Everything Sucks!, Euphoria) |
| September 16 | Elena Kampouris | Actress |
| October 7 | Kira Kosarin | Actress (The Thundermans) |
| October 8 | Bella Thorne | Actress (Shake It Up, Famous in Love) and singer |
| October 10 | Grace Rolek | Voice actress (Steven Universe, Steven Universe Future) |
| October 23 | Zach Callison | Voice actor (Sofia the First, Steven Universe, Steven Universe Future) |
| October 24 | Kendall Ryan Sanders | Actor (Every Witch Way) |
| October 25 | Tyler Alvarez | Actor (Every Witch Way) |
| October 26 | Rhenzy Feliz | Actor (Runaways) |
| October 28 | Sierra McCormick | Actress (A.N.T. Farm) |
| Joy-Anna Forsyth | Actress (19 Kids and Counting, Counting On) and television personality | |
| October 29 | Brynna Drummond | Canadian voice actress |
| October 31 | Sydney Park | Actress (Instant Mom, Spirit Riding Free) |
| Holly Taylor | Actress | |
| November 1 | Alex Wolff | Actor (The Naked Brothers Band) and singer |
| Max Burkholder | Actor (My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Parenthood) | |
| November 3 | Carson Rowland | Actor (I Am Frankie) |
| November 12 | Ryan Cargill | Actor (WITS Academy) |
| November 14 | George Sear | English actor (Love, Victor) |
| November 26 | Aubrey Joseph | Actor (Cloak & Dagger) and rapper |
| Luka Sabbat | Actor and model (Grown-ish) | |
| December 5 | Maddie Poppe | Singer, American Idol (season 16) Winner |
| December 11 | Taylor Hickson | Actress (Motherland: Fort Salem) |
| December 15 | Maude Apatow | Actress (Euphoria) |
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 18 | Adriana Caselotti | 80 | Voice actress (Snow White) |
| February 6 | Ernie Anderson | 73 | Voice actor and announcer (The Carol Burnett Show) |
| February 26 | David Doyle | 67 | Actor (Bosley on Charlie's Angels and voice of Grandpa Lou Pickles on Rugrats) |
| March 15 | Gail Davis | 71 | Actress (Annie on Annie Oakley) |
| April 15 | Don Bexley | 87 | Actor (Bubba on Sanford and Son) |
| May 4 | Alvy Moore | 75 | Actor (Hank Kimball on Green Acres) |
| May 11 | Howard Morton | 71 | Character actor (Officer Ralph Simpson on Gimme a Break!) |
| May 18 | Bridgette Andersen | 21 | Actress |
| May 24 | Edward Mulhare | 74 | Actor (Captain Gregg on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir and Miles on Knight Rider) |
| June 8 | Reid Shelton | 72 | Actor (1st & Ten: The Championship) |
| June 14 | Richard Jaeckel | 70 | Actor (Baywatch, Spenser for Hire) |
| June 24 | Brian Keith | 75 | Actor (Uncle Bill on Family Affair) |
| July 1 | Robert Mitchum | 79 | Actor |
| July 2 | James Stewart | 89 | Actor |
| July 4 | Charles Kuralt | 62 | Journalist (CBS News Sunday Morning) |
| August 27 | Brandon Tartikoff | 48 | President of NBC |
| August 31 | Princess Diana | 36 | Princess of Wales |
| September 9 | Burgess Meredith | 89 | Actor (The Penguin on Batman) |
| September 17 | Red Skelton | 84 | Comedian (The Red Skelton Show) |
| October 5 | Brian Pillman | 35 | Professional wrestler |
| October 9 | Arch Johnson | 75 | Character actor (Camp Runamuck) |
| October 16 | Audra Lindley | 79 | Actress (Mrs. Roper on Three's Company) |
| October 24 | Don Messick | 71 | Voice actor (Scooby-Doo) |
| October 30 | Sydney Newman | 80 | Producer (The Avengers, Doctor Who) |
| November 25 | Charles Hallahan | 54 | Actor (Hunter) |
| December 18 | Chris Farley | 33 | Comedian (Saturday Night Live) |
| December 24 | Toshiro Mifune | 77 | Japanese actor |
| December 25 | Denver Pyle | 77 | Actor (Uncle Jesse on The Dukes of Hazzard) |
| December 31 | Michael LeMoyne Kennedy | 39 | American socialite and son of Robert F. Kennedy |
Television debuts
- James Gandolfini – Gun
- Natasha Henstridge – The Outer Limits
- Nick Offerman – ER
- Rebecca Romijn – Friends
- Octavia Spencer – 413 Hope St.
- Jason Sudeikis – Alien Avengers II
- Wanda Sykes – The Chris Rock Show
- Paz Vega – Menudo es mi padre
- Goran Visnjic – Olujne tisine 1895-1995
- Shea Whigham – Ghost Stories
- Rainn Wilson – One Life to Live
References
- Robinson, Jon. "Top 20 Matches in Wrestlemania History". Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
- "Denver Pyle; Uncle in 'Dukes of Hazzard'". Los Angeles Times. December 28, 1997. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- Fybush, Scott (September 4, 1997). "You Drive 1100 Miles And What Do You Get?". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- "A special look at the Attitude Era". WWE.
- "WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels def. Bret "Hit Man" Hart to become new WWE Champion". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 9, 1997. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
- Cooper, Matt (December 22, 2017). "TV This Week, Dec. 24-30: 'A Christmas Story' marathon and more". Los Angeles Times – via Los Angeles Times.
External links
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