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List of years in American television: |
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1977–78 United States network television schedule |
1978–79 United States network television schedule |
List of American television programs currently in production |
This is a list of American television-related events in 1978.
Date | Event |
---|---|
January 15 | Super Bowl XII airs on CBS, the first time the NFL's championship event is played and telecast at night. The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Denver Broncos 27-10. |
January 23 | Roots One Year Later, a special examining the impact and influence of the miniseries, airs on ABC. |
January 28 | The Doobie Brothers make a guest appearance on ABC's What's Happening!! |
February 5 | ABC celebrates its silver anniversary with a retrospective special. |
February 28 | Robin Williams makes his first appearance as Mork from Ork on an episode of Happy Days on ABC. The episode proved to be such a success, that it would soon give way to a spin-off starring Williams entitled Mork & Mindy . |
March 7 | Showtime goes nationwide on the air. |
March 22 | The Beatles spoof The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash airs on NBC. |
March 26 – April 1 | CBS commemorates its golden anniversary in radio and TV broadcasting with CBS: On the Air, a 9½-hour retrospective special airing over 7 nights. |
April 16–19 | Holocaust , starring James Woods and Meryl Streep first airs on NBC. |
April 22 | The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live ; the duo of Jake & Elwood Blues (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) are introduced in a skit by Paul Shaffer (as Don Kirshner) and performs "Hey Bartender". |
April 26 | Ringo Starr's, Ringo , a musical version of The Prince and the Pauper , airs on NBC, with Starr's fellow former Beatle, George Harrison, providing the narration. |
May 1 | KDOG-TV, Houston's independent station, changes its call sign to KRIV-TV following its purchase by Metromedia. |
June 12 | WHNB-TV, NBC affiliate in New Britain/Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut, changes its name to its current WVIT-TV, shortly after Viacom purchased the station. |
June 26 | WTOP-TV changes its call sign to WDVM-TV. In return the NBC affiliate, WWJ-TV changes its call sign to WDIV-TV. |
July 1 | In Charlotte, North Carolina, NBC affiliate WSOC-TV leaves the network and joins ABC, citing a stronger affiliation (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks, while ABC is in first place). NBC eventually aligns with Ted Turner-owned independent station WRET-TV (now WCNC-TV), tempted by promises Turner made to NBC to make $2.5 million worth of upgrades, including a stronger transmitter and the launch of a news department; former ABC affiliate WCCB becomes an independent station, and eventually a charter affiliate of Fox in 1986. [1] |
July 10 | On ABC, the ABC Evening News is revamped to become ABC World News Tonight , employing a unique three-anchor setup (Frank Reynolds serving as lead anchor from Washington, Max Robinson presenting national news from Chicago, and Peter Jennings with international news from London). |
August 1 | Taking advantage of an oral escape-clause in his contract with ABC, Harry Reasoner returns to CBS, eventually rejoining 60 Minutes , the program he anchored with Mike Wallace from its 1968 premiere until he joined ABC News in 1970. |
September 17 | The ceremony formalizing the success of the peace talks between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat—the Camp David accords—is televised live from the White House East Room. |
September 19 | The chairs on which Archie and Edith Bunker sat through 8 seasons of the CBS comedy All in the Family are presented to the Smithsonian Institution. |
September 27 | Replacing Zara Cully and Damon Evans, Jay Hammer joins the cast of the CBS comedy The Jeffersons , for a short period of time. |
October 7 | On NBC's Saturday Night Live , The Rolling Stones become the first and to date, only band to serve as both hosts and musical guests in the same episode. |
October 31 | On NBC, Norma Brown wins $28,800 playing the Money Cards on Card Sharks , the first and only time a contestant has won the maximum amount. |
November 9 | Jack Soo makes his final appearance as Nick Yemana on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller prior to his death from cancer on January 11, 1979. The Season 5 finale of Barney Miller (airing later that May) would subsequently, feature the cast stepping out of character to pay tribute to Soo. |
November 12 | In Fort Smith, Arkansas, KLMN-TV (now Fox affiliate KFTA-TV) signs-on the air and takes CBS programming from KFPW-TV/KTVP. Both KFPW-TV and KTVP subsequently become full-time ABC affiliates, giving Fort Smith in-market affiliates of all three major networks. |
November 17 | The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming Star Wars sequel. |
Show | Last aired | Previous network | Retitled as/Same | Returning |
---|---|---|---|---|
High Rollers | 1976 | NBC | Same | April 24 |
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! | 1970 | CBS | September 9 | |
Jeopardy! | 1975 | NBC | The All-New Jeopardy! | October 2 |
Date | Show | Debut |
---|---|---|
March 6 | The Six Million Dollar Man | 1973 |
March 18 | Kojak | 1973 |
March 29 | The Carol Burnett Show | 1967 |
March 30 | Police Woman | 1974 |
March 31 | Tattletales | |
April 1 | The Bob Newhart Show | 1972 |
April 7 | Quark | 1977 |
April 28 | C.P.O. Sharkey | 1976 |
April 29 | Maude | 1972 |
Another Day | 1978 | |
May 13 | The Ted Knight Show | |
The Bionic Woman | 1976 | |
Columbo | 1971 | |
May 18 | Baretta | 1975 |
July 21 | Chico and the Man | 1974 |
September 1 | Fred Flintstone and Friends | 1977 |
October 28 | Laff-A-Lympics | |
Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics | ||
November 10 | The American Girls | 1978 |
December 2 | Yogi's Space Race | |
December 4 | Lucan | 1977 |
December 9 | Rhoda | 1974 |
December 16 | The New Fantastic Four | 1978 |
December 23 | The Scooby-Doo Show | 1976 |
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! | 1969 |
Title | Network | Date of airing |
---|---|---|
King | NBC | February 12–14 |
Holocaust | April 16–19 | |
Zuma Beach | September 27 | |
Centennial | October 1–February 4 | |
Donner Pass: The Road to Survival | October 24 | |
The Time Machine | November 5 | |
Someone's Watching Me! | November 29 |
Network | Type | Launch date | Notes | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Home Theater Network | Cable television | September 1 | ||
INSP | Cable television | Unknown | ||
WGN-TV | Cable television | November 9 | ||
Operation Prime Time | Cable television | Unknown |
Network | Type | Conversion date | Source | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hughes Television Network | Paramount Television Service | April | ||
Paramount Television Service | Hughes Television Network | Unknown |
There are no closures for Cable and satellite television channels in this year.
Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Old affiliation | New affiliation | Notes/Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 1 | Charlotte, North Carolina | WCCB | 18 | ABC | Independent | |
WRET-TV | 36 | Independent | NBC | |||
WSOC-TV | 9 | NBC | ABC |
Date | City of license/Market | Station | Channel | Affiliation | Sign-on date | Notes/Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 9 | Greenfield, Massachusetts | WRLP | 32 | NBC | June 29, 1957 | |
August 15 | Warrensburg/Sedalia, Missouri (Columbia/Jefferson City) | KMOS-TV | 6 | CBS | July 8, 1954 (as an independent station) | Returned to the air December 22, 1979 as a PBS member station |
Date | Name | Age | Notability |
---|---|---|---|
February 28 | Zara Cully | 86 | Actress (Mother Olivia Jefferson on The Jeffersons ) |
March 18 | Peggy Wood | 86 | Actress ( One Life to Live ) |
April 22 | Will Geer | 76 | Actor (Grandpa Walton on The Waltons ) |
May 21 | Bruce Geller | 47 | Screenwriter, producer ( Mannix ) |
June 29 | Bob Crane | 49 | Actor (Col. Hogan on Hogan's Heroes ) |
July 3 | James Daly | 59 | Actor (Dr. Paul Lochner on Medical Center ) |
September 7 | Keith Moon | 32 | English drummer (The Who) |
The year 1974 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of television-related events of that year.
The year 1975 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of television-related events which happened that year.
The year 1978 in film involved some significant events.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Paris, France, following the country's victory at the 1977 contest with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" by Marie Myriam. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Télévision Française 1 (TF1), the contest was held at the Palais des Congrès on 22 April 1978 and was directed by Bernard Lion. The contest was presented by French television presenters Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone. This was the first time that more than one presenter had hosted the contest as well as the first to have a male presenter since 1956.
Jason Nelson Robards Jr. was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accolades and is one of 24 performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting having earned competitive wins for two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, earned the National Medal of Arts in 1997, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.
Maude is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972, until April 22, 1978. The show was the first spin-off of All in the Family, on which Bea Arthur had made two appearances as Maude Findlay, Edith Bunker's favorite cousin. Like All in the Family, Maude was a sitcom with topical storylines created by producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin.
The Love Boat is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series premiered and four specials and a TV movie aired after the series ended. The series was set on the cruise ship MS Pacific Princess, and revolved around the ship's captain Merrill Stubing and a handful of his crew, with passengers played by guest actors for each episode, having romantic, dramatic and humorous adventures.
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov is a Latvian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male classical ballet dancer of the 1970s and 1980s. He subsequently became a noted dance director.
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer. He is best known for orchestrating the works of Stephen Sondheim, their collaboration starting in 1970 with Company and continuing until Sondheim's death in 2021.
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, distribution, and education. It is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and partially funded under the British Film Institute Act 1949.
Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor. In film he is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's Nashville, E. J. Bellocq in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby, and Mickey in Alan Rudolph's Choose Me. On television he is known for his roles as Wild Bill Hickok on the HBO series Deadwood, FBI agent Frank Lundy on the Showtime series Dexter, Lou Solverson in the first season of FX's Fargo, Penny's father Wyatt on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, and U.S. President Conrad Dalton on the CBS political drama Madam Secretary.
Veronica Cartwright is a British-born American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Her younger sister is actress Angela Cartwright.
Televisión Pública is a publicly owned Argentine television network, the national public broadcaster. It began broadcasting in 1951, when LR3 Radio Belgrano Televisión channel 7 in Buenos Aires, its key station and the first television station in the country, signed on the air.
Anthony Stewart Head is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, which led to major roles in several television series. He is best known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), the Prime Minister in Little Britain (2003–2006), Uther Pendragon in Merlin (2008–2012), and Rupert Mannion in Ted Lasso (2020–2023), as well as voicing Herc Shipwright in BBC Radio 4's Cabin Pressure.
1978 in television may refer to:
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films belonging to genre fiction, as well as television and home media releases. The Saturn Awards were created in 1973 and were originally referred to as Golden Scrolls.