1989 in American television explained

The year 1989 in television involved some significant events. This is a list of notable events in the United States.

Notable events

Date Event
January 1A complicated, six-station network affiliation swap takes place in two South Florida markets. In Miami, WTVJ moves to NBC from CBS, WCIX (now WFOR-TV) moves to CBS from Fox, and WSVN moves to Fox from NBC. Meanwhile, in West Palm Beach, WPEC switches from ABC to CBS, WTVX leaves CBS to become an independent, and ABC station WPBF signs on this day. The swaps result from NBC's acquisition of WTVJ in 1987, and CBS's acquisition of WCIX in August 1988. The switches in West Palm Beach are accomplished due to WCIX's weak signal in Broward County.[1] [2]
NBC's station in Tampa, WXFL reclaims the WFLA-TV call letters.
The Karen Carpenter Story, a made-for-television biographical film about singer Karen Carpenter and the brother-and-sister pop music duo of which she was a part, The Carpenters is broadcast on CBS. The movie was very popular in the ratings; it was the highest-rated two-hour TV movie of the year and the third highest rated such program on any network during the 1980s.
January 3The Arsenio Hall Show premieres in first-run syndication. Brooke Shields, Luther Vandross, and Leslie Nielsen appear as guests.
January 7The television version of the 1983 film Scarface premieres on ABC.[3] 32 minutes of violence, profanity and sex were edited out, and much of the dialogue was muted or replaced with less offensive alternatives.[4]
January 8Universal Pictures releases a cut of the 1985 film Brazil for airing on their syndicated film package, the Debut Network. Running 93 minutes (as opposed to the 142 minute-long theatrical cut), it was a heavily modified version that remained true to Universal's then-COO Sid Sheinberg's preferred cut of the film (which modified the dark sci-fi satire into an uplifting romance, complete with a happy ending), and was subsequently given the nickname "The Love Conquers All Cut." How this version managed to get released remains a mystery; director Terry Gilliam said that Universal asked him to make an edited-for-television cut of the film and he refused. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gilliam sarcastically complimented Sheinberg for "[getting] a chance to break into TV," but was angry that Universal didn't take his name off the TV cut and also criticized advertisements for the Debut Network premiere of Brazil which used the same critical praise that was given to his version.[5] In an interview with Jack Matthews in an updated version of his book The Battle of Brazil, Sheinberg claimed he had no idea how his cut leaked out, and said that he wasn't the one who ordered that cut to be released.
January 9Pat Sajak quits the daytime version of the series Wheel of Fortune for a CBS late night talk show while remaining host of the nighttime version. His daytime hosting role will be assumed by Rolf Benirschke, then by Bob Goen when Wheel switches networks from NBC to CBS that July.
January 15Fox airs an episode of Married... with Children called "Her Cups Runneth Over", which would soon become the main source of Terry Rakolta's moral boycott campaign against the show.
January 22Super Bowl XXII from Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium is broadcast on NBC. This would be the last outdoor Super Bowl to start earlier than 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, as it started just after 5 p.m. The halftime show was titled "Be Bop Bamboozled in 3-D" and featured Elvis Presto, played by then-Solid Gold dancer Alex Cole, and hundreds of South Florida-area dancers and performers.[6] Ironically, not one actual Elvis Presley song was performed.[7] Several scenes included computer generated 3-D images. Prior to the game, Coca-Cola distributed 3-D glasses at retailers for viewers to use. At the onset of the halftime show, primary sponsor Diet Coke aired the first commercial in 3-D. Coca-Cola had originally planned to use the 3-D Diet Coke commercial as part of the Moonlighting season finale, which was also aired in 3-D, but withdrew plans due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike.
February 5On the NBC sitcom Day by Day, six cast members from The Brady Bunch (Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, and Mike Lookinland) reunite.
The first part of the four part Western miniseries Lonesome Dove airs on CBS, drawing a huge viewing audience, earning numerous awards, and reviving both the television Western and the miniseries.
February 9The second edition of the World Wrestling Federation's prime-time series The Main Event airs on NBC. This particular episode is most notable for Randy Savage turning on his tag team partner, Hulk Hogan and thus, setting up their match for Savage's WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania V on April 2. The live broadcast of The Main Event would draw an 11.6 rating and 19.9 million viewers.[8]
February 20Jane Wyman, an actress on the CBS drama series Falcon Crest, is rushed to the hospital, after suffering from diabetes and a liver ailment.
Charlie O'Donnell returned to Wheel of Fortune as the announcer, following a nine-year absence.
February 26ABC broadcasts the made-for-television film Get Smart, Again!, which features Don Adams and Barbara Feldon reprising their characters of Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 from the 1965–1970 NBC/CBS sitcom Get Smart! The relative success of the film prompted the development of a short-lived (only seven episodes) 1995 weekly series on Fox, also titled Get Smart, with Adams and Feldon again reprising their characters.
February 27CBS airs a pilot for a proposed series called What's Alan Watching?, starring Corin Nemec as the titular Alan, a 17-year-old couch potato who views life, and his family, as if they were on television. The pilot was produced by Eddie Murphy, who also cameos in it as not only a protester decrying James Brown's incarceration, but Brown himself. While CBS ultimately passes on making it a regular series, What's Alan Watching? did win the Television Critics Association's TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials.
March 2Pepsi's controversial advertisement with Madonna and her song "Like a Prayer" airs during NBC's showing of The Cosby Show. The same ad was run on ITV in the UK, 12 minutes into The Bill.
March 10The series finale of Webster has the eponymous character being transported to the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) from . Michael Dorn guest stars as Lt. Worf.
March 13The weekday version of Yo! MTV Raps, hosted by Ed Lover and Doctor Dré debuts.
March 19Return of the Jedi makes its network broadcast television premiere on NBC.
The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 is broadcast on ABC. The broadcast is notable because Dr. Jerry Punch, who was reporting from the pit stall of Richard Petty when a fire broke out, proceeded to treat on the spot, two injured crew members. Following the incident, in which several items of Punch's clothing were singed or melted, ESPN mandated that its pit reporters wear fire-retardant suits. Other networks have since adopted the practice.[9]
March 24For the first time since 1973, NBC reruns the 1960 telecast of Peter Pan, with Mary Martin in the title role. Earlier that day, two of the network's game shows, Sale of the Century and Super Password, aired their final episodes. The following Monday, NBC will return the noon time slot to its affiliates.
March 25Elvis Costello appears as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. It's the first time that Costello appeared on SNL in 12 years. Costello had been temporarily banned from appearing on SNL in 1977 after he had abruptly switched songs live against the wishes of his record company and SNL. In 1977, he had originally been scheduled to perform his debut single "Less Than Zero", instead of "Radio Radio", which criticized the commercialization of broadcasting.
March 29The 61st Academy Awards ceremony is broadcast on ABC. Despite the best Nielsen ratings in five years, it proved to be a career disaster for producer Allan Carr, culminating in the infamous pairing of Snow White (played by Eileen Bowman) and Rob Lowe singing a parody of "Proud Mary." The telecast also included a production number featuring what was introduced as "The Stars of Tomorrow" doing a number entitled "I Wanna Be An Oscar Winner" with all the participants being actors and actresses ranging from the age group of late teens to mid-20s. Due largely to the show's opening number, and despite the show's stellar Nielsen ratings, the show became a laughing-stock and went down in history as one of the worst moments in awards show and television history. The telecast was also remembered for being the final public appearance of actress and comedian Lucille Ball, where she and co-presenter Bob Hope were given a standing ovation.[10] On April 26, almost a month after the ceremony, she died from a dissecting aortic aneurysm at age 77.[11]
April 1Nickelodeon celebrates its 10th anniversary with the debut of its new Sunday morning variety show Total Panic.
April 8Mike Myers joins the cast of the NBC series Saturday Night Live.
After a ten-month hiatus,[12] American Bandstand reemerges on the USA Network. David Hirsch took over hosting duties from Dick Clark (who remained on as executive producer) and Bandstand moved outdoors to Universal Studios Hollywood. After 26 weeks on USA, Bandstand signed off for good on October 7, 1989, with The Cover Girls as the final musical guests.
April 30, the second made-for-television reunion film that featured Lee Majors as Steve Austin and Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers is broadcast on NBC. It is also notably the first television appearance of actress Sandra Bullock and the first film which strongly featured her.
May 7The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, the second film to be based on the 1978–1982 television series, airs on NBC. As was the case with The Incredible Hulk Returns and Thor, this television movie also acted as a backdoor television pilot for a series, in this case, for Daredevil (which was also not produced).[13] [14]
May 8Top Gun makes its broadcast network television debut on NBC.
May 11In the series finale of the ABC drama Dynasty, Blake Carrington, Alexis Colby, Dex Dexter, and Fallon Carrington Colby are stuck in mortal peril.
NBC airs a pilot for a proposed spin-off of 227 centered on Jackée Harry's character Sandra Clark. The pilot however, was not picked up for a series and Jackée subsequently left 227. She would however, later guest star in seven of the final season's episodes.
May 14NBC broadcasts the series finale of Family Ties followed by the network television premiere of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
May 14–25SportsChannel America airs the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup Finals.
May 18Donna Mills makes her final regular appearance as villainess Abby Cunningham on the CBS drama Knots Landing.
May 20Original Saturday Night Live cast member, Gilda Radner succumbs to ovarian cancer at the age of 42. News of Radner's death broke as Steve Martin was rehearsing to act as the guest host for that night's season finale of SNL. Martin's planned opening monologue was scrapped; in its place a visibly upset Martin introduced a video clip of a 1978 sketch in which he and Radner had parodied Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in a well-known dance routine from The Band Wagon (1953).[15] After the clip, Martin said it reminded him of "how great she was and of how young I looked. Gilda, we miss you."
May 21The two-hour long series finale of Miami Vice airs on NBC. There would however be three "lost episodes" that would be broadcast on NBC over the course of June 1989. A fourth and final "lost episode" entitled "Too Much, Too Late" was instead first broadcast on the USA Network in January 1990, due to its graphic content and a plot vividly involving child molestation.
June 3Vin Scully does the play-by-play for the NBC Game of the Week in St. Louis, where the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs in 10 innings. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing a series in Houston, where Scully flies to be on hand to call the Sunday game of the series. However, the Saturday night game between the teams is going into extra innings when Scully arrives in town, so he goes to the Astrodome instead of his hotel. He picks up the play-by-play, helping to relieve the other Dodger announcers, who are doing both television and radio, and broadcasts the final 13 innings (after already calling 10 innings in St. Louis), as the game went 22 innings. He broadcast 23 innings in one day in two different cities.
June 5For the start of 1989 NBA Finals, CBS completely revamps their opening montage for their NBA broadcasts. The computer-generated imagery (once again set in and around a virtual arena) was made to look more realistic (live-action footage was incorporated in the backdrops). Also, the familiar theme music (an uptempo series of four notes and three bars composed by Allyson Bellink since the 1983 NBA Finals) each was rearranged[16] to sound more intricate and to have a more emotional impact, along the lines of the network's later World Series coverage. Between the 1989 NBA Finals and the 1990 NBA Finals' intros, the theme music was slightly revised; the 1989 Finals intro incorporated more of a guitar riff, while the 1990 Finals intro featured a little more usage of trumpets.
June 8After broadcasting Major League Baseball games on Monday nights since 1976, ABC launches eight weeks worth of games on Thursday nights, beginning with coverage of the New York Mets against the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres against the Houston Astros.
July 1In Rochester, New York, NBC affiliate WROC-TV and CBS affiliate WHEC-TV swap affiliations. NBC cites WROC-TV's struggling news ratings as the reason for the switch.[17]
July 4CBS airs the pilot for a proposed adaptation of the 1988 film Coming to America as an installment for the Summer Showcase anthology series.
July 5The pilot episode of Seinfeld airs on NBC.
July 7CBS airs an unsold pilot for a proposed sitcom based on the 1987 film Adventures in Babysitting.
July 11Former President of the United States Ronald Reagan joins NBC's Vin Scully on commentary for the 1st inning of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
July 17"Shades of Gray", which is the second season finale for , is broadcast in syndication. The episode is notable for being the only time that the series produced what constituted a clip show. This was done as a means of meeting a budget shortfall at season's end due to prior episodes that had cost overruns. The episode also marked the final appearance of the character Dr. Katherine Pulaski (portrayed by Diana Muldaur) and the original Type A TNG Starfleet uniforms, which were introduced in Season 1.
July 18My Sister Sam star Rebecca Schaeffer is shot and killed by Robert John Bardo, an obsessed fan who had been stalking her.
August 14Cliff and Nina Warner marry one another for the fourth (and seemingly final) time on the ABC soap opera All My Children, a record that has not been matched for soap operas.
August 23One year after acquiring the rights to broadcast the 1992 Winter Olympics from Albertville, France, CBS also wins the rights to broadcast the 1994 Winter Olympics from Lillehammer, Norway after bidding $300 million.
August 24In a press conference that is carried live on CNN and ESPN, Major League Baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti states that to preserve the integrity of the game of baseball, Pete Rose is banned from the game for life for gambling on baseball. One week after the announcement, Giamatti would die of a massive heart attack at the age of 51.
August 27The television film L.A. Takedown airs on NBC. Originally filmed as an unsuccessful pilot for a television series, producer and screenwriter Michael Mann would later use L.A. Takedown as the basis for the 1995 film Heat.
September 1WUTV in Buffalo officially dropped its Fox affiliation, and moved its Fox affiliation over to WNYB-TV. This was because it was disappointed with the network's weak prime time programming offerings.[18]
September 4The Family Channel debuts its children programming block Fun Town.
September 16A pilot for a proposed X-Men animated series is first broadcast in syndication. It would take another three years before an X-Men series would be fully realized.
September 22ABC debuts TGIF from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., a new programming block for Friday nights with four shows (Full House, Family Matters, Perfect Strangers, and Just the Ten of Us), it also includes interstitial hosts. This block would become a ratings hit throughout the 1990s, lasting until 2000.
September 24NBC broadcasts Saturday Night Lives 15th anniversary special.
September 30NBC broadcasts its final Major League Baseball Game of the Week (before the program is transferred to CBS). NBC had broadcast the Game of the Week since 1957 and exclusively since 1966. Bob Costas and Tony Kubek called the action from Toronto's SkyDome, as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles to clinch the American League Eastern Division title.
October 1NBC affiliate KPOM-TV (now KFTA-TV) in Fort Smith, Arkansas signs-on full-time satellite KFAA-TV (now KNWA-TV) in Rogers to solve transmission problems resulting from its status as an UHF station in a mountainous area. (KFTA-TV will disaffiliate from NBC and join Fox in 2006.)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom makes its network broadcast television debut on ABC.
October 6Jane Wyman's medical leave due to her diabetes and liver ailment is written into Falcon Crest, when her character, Angela Channing, is put in a coma.
October 9The San Francisco Giants defeat the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to go to the World Series for the first time since 1962. This was also NBC's final Major League Baseball telecast (with Vin Scully and Tom Seaver on the call), having broadcast the sport in some shape or form since 1947. As previously mentioned, the primary network TV package was moving to CBS beginning in 1990. NBC wouldn't broadcast baseball again until the 1994 All-Star Game.
October 17Four minutes into ABC's broadcast of Game 3 of the World Series, the Lome Prieta earthquake occurred, forcing a ten-day delay of the series. As a consequence of the Loma Prieta earthquake, ABC aired repeat episodes of Roseanne and The Wonder Years amid the initial uncertainty as to whether Game 3 would take place as scheduled; an extended ABC News Special Report – anchored by Ted Koppel from the news division's Washington, D.C. bureau, with Al Michaels (who served as the play-by-play commentator for ABC's World Series coverage that year alongside Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver) acting as a de facto reporter – on the earthquake's immediate aftermath followed those two programs.
October 19–23Contestant Diane Landry won an accumulated $129,370 cash & prizes over three episodes of air in Wheel of Fortune, which at the time set an all-time winnings record for the show. At the time, the backdrop chyron displays in only five digits due to a game show winnings cap, and host Pat Sajak taped a "$1" cardboard next to the display to accommodate the new total. This scene has been featured in various clip shows videos.
October 26WSNR-TV, an independent station launches on the air in Syracuse, New York.
October 27Jane Pauley announces that she will be stepping down as co-anchor of NBC's Today (after 13 years on the air) at the end of the year (with Pauley's last day being on December 29). Todays news reader Deborah Norville is immediately announced as Pauley's successor.
October 28The World Series finally concludes with the Oakland Athletics sweeping the San Francisco Giants in four games. This would be ABC's final baseball telecast, having covered the sport consecutively since 1976. Like NBC, ABC would lose their baseball package completely to CBS beginning in 1990. ABC would next broadcast Major League Baseball in 1994, when they formed a joint-venture with Major League Baseball and NBC called The Baseball Network.
November 4The NBA on TNT debuts.
November 7An episode of the ABC drama Thirtysomething generates a great deal of controversy because it depicts two men in bed together after having had sex. Even though the actors were forbidden to touch each other while in bed together, the controversy proves too much for a number of advertisers, who pull their commercials from the episode. ABC ultimately withdraws the episode from rotation for rebroadcast.
November 9The National Basketball Association[19] [20] and NBC[21] reaches an agreement on a four-year, US$600 million contract[22] (beginning in the 1990–1991 season), ending CBS' tenure with the NBA after 17 years.
November 16Michael Jackson makes a surprise appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show during Hall's interview with Eddie Murphy.
December 2Disney purchases Los Angeles independent station KHJ-TV from RKO General, and renames it to KCAL-TV.
December 15Steve Urkel makes his first appearance on Family Matters.
December 17Fox broadcasts the series premiere of The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which also acts as a Christmas special. The new series is a spin-off of a series of animated sketches that had previously aired on The Tracey Ullman Show. The series proves to be an early hit for Fox, scoring the network's first Nielsen top 30 entry.[23]
December 18A seldom-seen 1956 Christmas special episode of I Love Lucy is re-broadcast by CBS.

Programs

Debuting this year

The following is a list of shows that premiered in 1989.

DateTitleNetwork
January 3The Arsenio Hall ShowSyndication
January 7BordertownCBN Family Channel
USA Up All NightUSA Network
January 9Inside EditionSyndication
The Pat Sajak Show CBS
January 18A Fine Romance ABC
January 20Father Dowling MysteriesNBC
January 21Dolphin CoveCBS
Nightingales NBC
January 23Couch PotatoesSyndication
January 24Studio 5-BABC
January 28A Man Called Hawk
Long Ago and Far AwayPBS
January 29Shining Time Station
February 3UnsubNBC
February 28CoachABC
March 1Hard Time on Planet EarthCBS
March 7Anything but Love ABC
March 11COPS Fox
March 20HeartlandCBS
Live-In
March 25Men ABC
March 26Quantum LeapNBC
March 27Generations
April 2Total PanicNickelodeon
April 3Top CardTNN
April 5The Robert Guillaume ShowABC
April 10Nearly Departed NBC
April 13Dream Street
April 14The Jim Henson Hour
April 18Rescue 911 CBS
Have FaithABC
April 22Jesse HawkesCBS
May 1Think Fast!Nickelodeon
June 4McGee and Me!Syndication
Shannon's DealNBC
June 10Tales from the Crypt HBO
July 5Seinfeld NBC
July 10Knight & Daye
July 14Hey Dude Nickelodeon
August 3Primetime Live ABC
August 12Comic Strip Live Fox
August 17FMNBC
August 20Saved by the Bell
August 28Open House Fox
September 2G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Syndication
September 4Eureeka's Castle Nick Jr.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!Syndication
September 5The Joan Rivers Show
September 9American Gladiators
NBC
The Karate Kid
Beetlejuice ABC
The Byron Allen Show Syndication
September 113rd Degree
September 12Chicken Soup ABC
Life Goes On
September 13Wolf CBS
September 16The California Raisin Show
Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Island Son
Rude Dog & the Dweebs
Teen SummitBET
Ring RaidersSyndication
Camp Candy NBC
September 17Sister Kate
Major Dad CBS
September 18Alien Nation Fox
Everyday with Joan LundenSyndication
Hard Copy
The Famous Teddy Z CBS
The People Next Door
September 20Top of the Hill
A Peaceable Kingdom
Doogie Howser, M.D. ABC
The Young Riders
The Nutt House NBC
September 22Baywatch
Hardball
Family Matters ABC
Free Spirit
Snoops CBS
September 23Saturday Night with Connie Chung
September 24Booker Fox
Homeroom ABC
October 2Make the GradeNickelodeon
October 13Mancuso, F.B.I. NBC
November 26America's Funniest Home Videos ABC
November 30Ann JillianNBC
December 3True Blue
December 17The Simpsons Fox
December 18First BusinessSyndication

Resuming this year

Title Last aired Previous network New title Returning network Date of return
The Mickey Mouse Club1979SyndicationThe All-New Mickey Mouse ClubDisney ChannelApril 24
You Can't Do That on Television1987NickelodeonSameSameMay 8

Ending this year

Date Title Debut
January 71987
January 13Ryan's Hope1975
January 14Snorks1984
January 19Knightwatch1988
January 21Dirty Dancing
Simon & Simon1981
February 20Almost Grown1988
March 2A Fine Romance1989
March 9Webster1983
March 10Finders Keepers1987
March 11Dolphin Cove1989
March 18Good Morning, Miss Bliss1988
Murphy's Law
March 24Sale of the Century1969
Super Password1984
March 25TV 1011988
March 31Card Sharks (returned in 2001)1978
April 1She's the Sheriff1987
April 8It's a Living1980
April 14Unsub1989
April 26Nightingales
May 5Brothers1984
May 7Duet1989
May 11Dynasty1981
May 13A Man Called Hawk1989
May 14Family Ties1982
Moonlighting1985
May 19The Gong Show (returned in 2017)1976
May 20Small Wonder1985
May 21Miami Vice1984
May 22Kate & Allie
June 9Wipeout1988
Couch Potatoes1989
June 16Hollywood Squares (returned in 1998)1966
June 21Hard Time on Planet Earth1989
June 23Relatively Speaking1988
June 25Day by Day
July 14Now You See It1974
July 27The Cavanaughs1986
July 30The Jim Henson Hour1989
August 4Highway to Heaven1984
August 22CBS Summer Playhouse1987
August 24The Equalizer1985
September 2Police Academy1988
September 8The Dating Game (returned in 1996)1965
September 9West 57th1985
September 29ThunderCats
October 7American Bandstand1952
October 9Major League Baseball on NBC (returned in 1994)1947
October 16The People Next Door1989
October 25The Nutt House
October 28Major League Baseball on ABC (returned in 1994)1976
November 7Chicken Soup1989
November 15A Peaceable Kingdom
November 30The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Top of the Hill
December 1The Legend of Zelda
December 2The Smurfs1981
December 9The California Raisin Show1989
December 16The Karate Kid
Rude Dog & the Dweebs
December 17Homeroom1989

Entering syndication

Show Seasons In production Notes Sources
Day by Day 2 No Cable syndication on Lifetime.
The Equalizer 4 No Cable syndication on USA Network.
HeartBeat 2 No Cable syndication on Lifetime.
Highway to Heaven 5 No
Hollywood Squares 3 No Cable syndication on USA Network.
Jim Henson's Muppet Babies 5 Yes
Mr. Belvedere 5 Yes
Wipeout 1 No Cable syndication on USA Network.

Changing networks

ShowMoved from Moved to
Chip 'n Dale Rescue RangersThe Disney ChannelSyndication
The Mickey Mouse ClubSyndicationThe Disney Channel
American BandstandUSA Network
The HitchhikerHBO
Mystery Science Theater 3000KTMAThe Comedy Channel
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi BearsABC
Wheel of FortuneCBS
Remote ControlMTVSyndication/MTV

Made-for-TV movies and miniseries

Title Network Date of airing
The Karen Carpenter StoryCBSJanuary 1
The Brotherhood of the RoseNBCJanuary 22 & 23
CBS May 21

Networks and services

Launches

NetworkType Launch dateNotes Source
SportsChannel OhioCable televisionFebruary 9
Midwest Sports ChannelCable television March 1
SportsChannel Los AngelesCable televisionJune 30
Prime Sports MidwestCable televisionNovember
Prime Sports Network UtahCable televisionNovember
The Comedy ChannelCable televisionNovember 15
All News ChannelSatellite televisionNovember 30

Conversions and rebrandings

Old network nameNew network nameTypeConversion DateNotesSource
Home Shopping Club Overnight ServiceHome Shopping SPREEBroadcast and cable televisionUnknown
SuperStation WTBSTBS SuperstationCable televisionUnknown
Tempo TelevisionCNBCCable televisionApril 17

Closures

Television stations

Station launches

Date Market Station Channel Affiliation
January 1 25 ABC
January 4 23 TBN
5 The Box
45 CBS
13 The Box
22 Independent
January 15 24 PBS
January 21 49
January 23 28 Independent
January 26 67 Fox
January 2722 PBS
January 31 35
February 2 54 Community Independent
February 6 23 Independent (primary)
America One (secondary)
February 10 Bellingham, Washington, USA
24
February 12 49 Fox
February 28 W59BT 59 Independent (primary)
All News Channel (secondary)
March 7 53
March 19 49 Independent
March 30 65 Independent
April 2 64
April 3 10 Independent
April 12 33
April 13 W31AT 31
April 14 14 Independent
April 15 38 Religious independent
April 20 39 Independent
April 30 30
May 3 15
May 8 32 Independent
May 17 33
May 22 34 Independent
34
May 29 38 Independent
49 Religious independent
May 31 14 Independent
67
22
June 16 49 Independent
July 9 23 Trinity Broadcasting Network (O&O)
July 13 58 TLC
July 30 33 Independent
July 31 8 TBN
63
August 7 5 (cable-only) Independent
August 21 58
46
August 22 13 Fox
August 23 60
W29AV 29 The Box
August 28 29 ValueVision
August 31 68 The Box
September 11 East St. Louis, Illinois
46 HSN
September 27 4
October 1 33 Independent
51 NBC
14 Independent
53 Fox
October 2 22 Independent
October 6 33
October 26 51 LeSEA/World Harvest Television
20
43 Independent
October 27 31 ABC
November 1 Morehead City, North Carolina
8 Fox
November 3 23
November 16 W68CD68
November 27 10
November 30 33 Independent
26 CBS
December 5 24 TBN
December 8 38
December 18 Bowling Green, Kentucky 40 Independent
December 23 25 Religious independent
Unknown date 21 3ABN Latino
35 Independent
69 Independent
25 3ABN

Stations changing network affiliation

Market Date Station Channel Prior affiliation New affiliation
November 49 Galavision
January 1 4 NBC (O&O)
6 CBS (O&O)
7 Fox
December 10 40 CBS
July 1 8 CBS
10 NBC
Buffalo, New YorkSeptember 1WUTV29FoxIndependent
WNYB49IndependentFox
January 1 12 CBS
34 Independent

Station closures

Date Market Station Channel Affiliation
March 31 21 CBS
June 30 62 Independent
August 31 40 Independent
September 17 10 CBS
October 17 40 Independent
Unknown date WAIG 43 Independent
15 Religious Independent
WTFM-TV 27 Independent

Births

Date Name Notability
January 1Adèle HaenelFrench actress
January 3 Alex D. LinzActor (The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald, Providence, Hey Arnold!)
January 8Karan SoniActor
January 9Nina DobrevBulgarian-Canadian actress (, The Vampire Diaries)
January 10Emily MeadeActress (The Leftovers)
January 13Beau MirchoffActor
Andy AlloActress
January 16Yvonne ZimaActress (ER, The Young and the Restless)
January 19Dustin PoirierMixed martial artist[24]
January 27Brooke ButlerActress
January 30Kylie BunburyActress
February 1Margo PigossiBrazilian actor (Watercolors of Love, Tangled Hearts, Boogie Oogie, Rules of the Game)
February 2Ingrid NilsenYouTube personality
February 3Ryne SanbornActor (High School Musical)
February 5Jeremy SumpterActor (Clubhouse, Friday Night Lights)
February 11Jesse RathCanadian actor (Supergirl, Defiance, No Tomorrow)
February 13Katie VoldingActress (Teen Angel)
February 15Bonnie DennisonActress (Third Watch, Guiding Light)
February 16Elizabeth OlsenActress (The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley)
February 17Chord OverstreetActor and singer (Private, Glee)
February 19Griffin NewmanActor
February 20Jack FalaheeActor (How to Get Away with Murder, Mercy Street)
February 21Corbin BleuActor (Flight 29 Down, High School Musical)
Kristin HerreraActress (Zoey 101)
Scout Taylor-ComptonActress (Charmed)
February 24Trace CyrusAmerican musician and son of Billy Ray Cyrus
February 25Abby WildeActress (Zoey 101)
February 27Mike CastleActor
March 1Daniella MonetActress (Listen Up, Victorious, , AwesomenessTV, Baby Daddy, Paradise Run)
March 3Hayley Marie NormanActress
March 5Sterling KnightActor (Sonny with a Chance, So Random!)
March 11Anton YelchinRussian actor (Huff) (d. 2016)
March 15Caitlin WachsActress (Profiler, Family Affair, Commander in Chief)
March 17Mason MussoAmerican musician and singer
March 18Lily CollinsActress and daughter of Phil Collins
March 19Craig Lamar TraylorActor (Malcolm in the Middle)
March 25 Aly MichalkaActress (Phil of the Future, Hellcats)
April 5Lily JamesEnglish actress (Downton Abbey)
Freddie FoxActor
April 8Gabriella WildeEnglish actress
April 11Eka DarvilleAustralian actor (Power Rangers R.P.M.)
April 15Andre KinneyActor (NYPD Blue, Hannah Montana)
April 18 Alia ShawkatActress (Arrested Development)
April 19Simu LiuCanadian actor
April 20Carlos ValdesColombian-American actor (The Flash) and singer
Alex BlackAmerican actor
April 23Anastasia BaranovaRussian-American actress (Scout's Safari, Z Nation)
April 27Emily RiosActress
April 30Milo CawthorneNew Zealand actor (Power Rangers R.P.M.)
May 5Chris BrownSinger, actor
May 8Nora ArnezederFrench actress (Zoo)
Nyle DiMarcoActor
May 10Lindsey ShawActress (Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Pretty Little Liars)
May 11Jadyn WongActress
May 14Alexandra ParkAustralian actress (The Elephant Princess, Home and Away, The Royals)
May 17Olivia LuccardiActress (Orange is the New Black)
May 19Gaelan ConnellActor (Level Up)
May 23Alberto FrezzaActor (Dead to Summer, Station 19)
May 24G-EazyRapper
May 25Lisseth ChavezActress
May 29Brandon Mychal SmithActor (Phil of the Future, Hannah Montana, Sonny with a Chance, So Random!, You're the Worst, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Riley KeoughActress (The Girlfriend Experience) and granddaughter of Elvis Presley
May 30Kevin CovaisActor
May 31Justine LupeActress
June 3Imogen PootsEnglish actress and singer (Roadies)
June 5Ana VillafañeActress
June 7Bryn McAuleyActress
June 9Logan BrowningActress (Meet the Browns, Pair of Kings)
June 13Lisa TuckerActress (Zoey 101) and singer
June 14Lucy HaleActress (Pretty Little Liars, Life Sentence)
June 15Alyssa Farah GriffinCommentator (The View, CNN)
June 18 Renee OlsteadActress (Still Standing, The Secret Life of the American Teenager)
June 19Giacomo GianniottiItalian-Canadian actor (Grey's Anatomy)
Will PayneActor
June 20Eve HarlowActress (The Guard, Heroes Reborn, The 100)
Christopher Mintz-PlasseActor
June 25Chris BrochuActor (The Vampire Diaries)
June 27Matthew LewisActor
Kimiko GlennActress
Kelley JakleActress
July 1Hannah MurrayBritish actress (Game of Thrones) and singer
July 11David HenrieActor (That's So Raven, How I Met Your Mother, Wizards of Waverly Place)
July 12Phoebe TonkinAustralian actress (The Secret Circle, The Originals)
July 14Sean FlynnActor (Zoey 101)
July 21Juno TempleEnglish actress (Vinyl)
Rory CulkinActor
July 22Keegan AllenActor (Pretty Little Liars)
July 23Daniel RadcliffeActor
July 25Andrew CaldwellVoice actor ()
Noel CallahanActor (Romeo!)
July 29Jake SmollettActor (On Our Own)
July 31Alexis KnappActress (Ground Floor)
Jessica WilliamsActress (Just for Kicks, The Daily Show)
Marshall WilliamsCanadian actor
Zelda WilliamsActress and daughter of Robin Williams
Joey RichterActor
August 8Ken BaumannActor (The Secret Life of the American Teenager)
August 9Meredith DeaneActress (Once and Again)
Paige SparaActress (Kevin from Work, The Good Doctor)
August 10Brenton ThwaitesAustralian actor (Home and Away, Titans)
August 15 Carlos PenaVegaActor (Big Time Rush, Life Sentence, The Loud House) and singer
Actor (Jonas) and singer (Jonas Brothers)
Denise OliverCanadian voice actress (Wayside, Sidekick, Grojband)
August 18Anna AkanaActress
August 19 Romeo MillerActor (Romeo!) and rapper
August 21 Hayden PanettiereActress (Heroes, Nashville) and singer
August 22Langley FoxActress
August 23Breanna ConradActress ()
August 28Cassadee PopeAmerican pop and country singer
September 5Kat GrahamSwiss-born American actress (The Vampire Diaries, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
September 7Jonathan MajorsActor
September 14Jessica Brown FindlayEnglish actress (Downton Abbey)
Logan HendersonActor (Big Time Rush) and singer
September 18Lexie ContursiActress ()
September 19Lorenza IzzoActress
September 21Jason DeruloSinger
September 25Jordan GavarisCanadian actor (Unnatural History, Orphan Black)
September 26Emma RigbyEnglish actress (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland)
September 27Ava Deluca-VerleyActress
September 29Adore DelanoSinger and drag queen (American Idol, RuPaul's Drag Race)[25]
October 1 Brie LarsonActress (United States of Tara)
October 4Dakota JohnsonActress (Ben and Kate) and daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith
October 10Aimee TeegardenActress (Friday Night Lights, Aim High, Star-Crossed)
October 13Skyler PageVoice actor (Clarence)
October 14Mia WasikowskaAustralian actress (In Treatment)
October 16Jack Salvatore Jr.Actor (Zoey 101, 10 Things I Hate About You)
October 24Eliza TaylorAustralian actress (The 100)
Shenae GrimesCanadian actress (90210)
October 28Robert Bailey Jr.Actor
November 2Katelyn TarverActress (Big Time Rush, No Ordinary Family)
November 7Charlie SaxtonActor
November 10Taron EgertonBritish actor and singer (, Moominvalley)
November 14Stella MaeveActress
November 16Iamsu!Singer
November 19TygaRapper
November 20Cody LinleyActor (Hannah Montana)
November 22Alden EhrenreichActor
Candice GloverSinger (American Idol)[26] [27]
Jon RudnitskyActor (Saturday Night Live)
November 30Adelaide ClemensAustralian actress (Rectify)
December 7Nicholas HoultEnglish actor (Skins) and singer
Caleb Landry JonesActor
December 13Taylor SwiftSinger and actress (Saturday Night Live)
December 15Nichole BloomActress (Shameless, Superstore, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes)
December 18Ashley BensonActress (Pretty Little Liars)
December 22 Jordin SparksSinger (American Idol) and actress
December 28Mackenzie RosmanActress (7th Heaven)
December 29Jane LevyActress (Suburgatory)
December 30Ryan ShecklerActor (Life of Ryan)

Deaths

Date Name Age Notability
February 5 Joe Raposo51Composer (Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Three's Company theme song)
February 11George O'Hanlon76Voice actor (voice of George Jetson on The Jetsons)
April 2677Actress, comedian (of the Lucy shows I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy)
April 30Guy Williams65Actor (Zorro, Lost in Space)
May 168Soap opera actor (Mac on Another World)
May 20 Gilda Radner42Actress, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
June 15Victor French54Actor, director (Little House on the Prairie, Carter Country, Highway to Heaven)
July 3 Jim Backus76Actor (Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island and voice of Mr. Magoo)
July 4 Vic Perrin73Voice actor (original Control Voice on The Outer Limits, Hanna-Barbera cartoons)
July 10 81 Voice actor (as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and countless other characters)
July 18 21 Actress (My Sister Sam)
August 16Amanda Blake60Actress (Miss Kitty Russell on Gunsmoke)
September 17 71 Announcer (Let's Make a Deal, Sale of the Century, Scrabble)
October 6 Bette Davis81Film and television actress
November 27Bob Quigley77Game show producer (The Hollywood Squares, High Rollers, Gambit)
December 6Frances Bavier86Actress (Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show)

Television Debuts

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1987-01-17/news/8701040387_1_channel-4-s-nbc-stations NBC To Buy Miami's Channel 4
  2. News: THE MEDIA BUSINESS; CBS to Buy TV Station In Miami . The New York Times . August 9, 1988.
  3. Web site: TV Listings for – January 7, 1989 . TV Tango . January 7, 1989 . November 11, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131105212717/http://www.tvtango.com/listings/1989/01/07 . November 5, 2013 . live.
  4. Web site: Scarface Trailers from Hell. trailersfromhell.com. June 8, 2014. September 19, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140919022735/http://trailersfromhell.com/scarface/. live.
  5. Web site: 1989-01-08. Lobotomized 'Brazil'?. live. 2021-06-24. Los Angeles Times. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20201127023827/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-08-ca-117-story.html . 2020-11-27 .
  6. Web site: Oral History: The Strangest Super Bowl Halftime Show Ever . Rossen . Jake . February 4, 2018. Mental Floss . February 6, 2020 .
  7. News: Andrews . Travis . February 2, 2018 . From Elvis Presto to Michael Jackson: How the Super Bowl halftime show found its groove . The Washington Post . Washington, D.C. . January 30, 2020 .
  8. News: February 8, 1989 . Nielsen ratings . . 3D . .
  9. News: Hall . Andy . Punch's near miss led to safety gear for ESPN's NASCAR pit reporters . November 8, 2016 . . April 10, 2012.
  10. News: Coemdian Lucille Ball suffers a heart attack . October 5, 2013. . April 19, 1989. mdy-all.
  11. News: Flint . Peter B. . Lucille Ball, Spirited Doyenne of TV Comedies, Dies at 77 . October 5, 2013 . . April 27, 1989 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20131006062842/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/27/obituaries/lucille-ball-spirited-doyenne-of-tv-comedies-dies-at-77.html . October 6, 2013 . mdy-all.
  12. Web site: AB moves to USA network . TV.com . 28 October 2013.
  13. News: Superheroes' Battleground: Prime Time. New York Times. 1988-10-11. 2010-08-12 . Aljean . Harmetz.
  14. News: F.O.O.M. (Flashbacks of Ol' Marvel) #16: "I'm Free Now – The Incredible Hulk (1988-1990)". Comic Bulletin. 2010-09-09. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184156/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/foom/128355284240689.htm. 2013-10-29.
  15. Book: Saturday Night Live. Martin, Steve . Radner, Gilda. 1978. Vimeo video. March 20, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129085851/http://vimeo.com/82820975. November 29, 2014. mdy-all.
  16. Web site: NBA Finals, Music Division: NBC is great, but CBS is better. Zemek. Matt. June 1, 2015. Crossover Chronicles.
  17. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/89-OCR/BC-1989-04-10-OCR-Page-0096.pdf "In brief."
  18. Web site: . FOX NETWORK, CH. 29 SPLIT; CH. 49 IS THE NEW SUITOR. 2021-12-12. The Buffalo News. 2 May 1989 . en.
  19. Web site: November 9, 1989: The NBA signs a lucrative 4-year television deal with NBC. Sports Media Watch. November 29, 2011.
  20. News: 9 November 1989. NBA Flips Channel, Decides to Play Ball With NBC in 1990. Los Angeles Times.
  21. Web site: NBC acquires NBA broadcast rights. NBC Sports History Page.
  22. The Ball's In A New Court: NBC took the NBA away from CBS for a cool $600 million. John. Steinbreder. Sports Illustrated. November 20, 1989. November 29, 2011.
  23. Web site: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire . Simpsons World.com . September 19, 2011.
  24. Web site: 2024-06-13 . Dustin Poirier . 2024-07-05 . TheSportster . en.
  25. Web site: Adore Delano on Apple Music . 2024-02-24 . Apple Music - Web Player . en-US.
  26. Web site: Candice Glover on Apple Music . 2024-02-19 . Apple Music - Web Player . en-US.
  27. Web site: Candice Glover Rotten Tomatoes . 2024-02-19 . www.rottentomatoes.com . en.