In American television in 2000, notable events included television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
| Date | Event |
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| 8 | Chris-Craft Broadcasting (the 50% owner of UPN) filed a lawsuit against Viacom in the New York Supreme Court to block it's partner's merger with CBS, claiming that a pact signed between the two partners in 1997 had prevented either from owning "any interest, financial or otherwise" in "any competing network," including CBS, for a four-year period through January 2001. The following month, New York Supreme Court ruled against Chris-Craft's move for a permanent injunction to curtail the Viacom-CBS merger and the enforcement of Viacom's ultimatum. |
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| 15 | Rick Rockwell marries stranger Darva Conger watched by 22 million viewers on the Fox reality show Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? While he and Darva are honeymooning, it becomes apparent that Rockwell—who is sometimes a comedian—had a restraining order against a former girlfriend, and he was not really a multi-millionaire. As a result, Fox cancels a rerun scheduled the next week, and does not broadcast any new installments. In addition the couple end their relationship soon after the show's taping. |
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| David Legler wins a combined $1,765,000 from the six episodes he appeared on the NBC game show, Twenty One, surpassing Curtis Warren's total of $1,546,988, and becoming, at the time, the largest winner in game show winnings totals. (Warren had set the record 4 days earlier on Fox's Greed, winning $1,000,000 by correctly answering a special Million Dollar Moment question.) |
| 21 | David Letterman resumes hosting Late Show with David Letterman on CBS following his quintuple heart bypass surgery in January. On the show, Letterman (whose father died of heart failure in his 50s) brings all of the doctors that had performed the operation out on stage with him, including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis Aronne, who makes frequent appearances on the show. In an unusual show of emotion, Letterman is nearly in tears as he thanks the doctors. The episode will earn an Emmy Award nomination. |
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| 18 | Just as FCC's duopoly rules relaxed, Fox Television Stations buy out KDFI from Dallas Media Inventors, creating the first television duopoly to be owned by Fox (the same strategy was used when Fox bought the Chris-Craft company and WPWR-TV the following year). |
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| 22 | Paramount Stations Group and ACME Communications sign an agreement to broadcast shared WB and UPN affiliations in markets without competition. This results in UPN affiliates WWHO in Columbus, Ohio, WTVX in West Palm Beach, Florida and WLWC in Providence, Rhode Island taking secondary WB affiliations, and WB affiliates WBUI-TV in Champaign, Illinois, WBXX in Knoxville, Tennessee, and KPLR-TV in St. Louis, Missouri taking secondary UPN affiliations. | |
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| Date | Event |
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| 1 | The WWF receives the 2nd highest rated episode of Raw is War with a 7.4 rating, where The Rock defeated Shane McMahon.[1] |
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| 14 | After four years (since KEVN-TV left the network to join Fox in 1996), NBC returns to the Black Hills area of South Dakota when KNBN signs-on from Rapid City. |
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| 17 | 16.8 million American viewers watch the 2-hour final episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 on FOX. |
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| 19 | The 27th Daytime Emmy Awards presentation is broadcast by ABC. |
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| 24 | The WB broadcasts the third-season finale of Dawson's Creek, entitled "True Love". The episode features the first male gay kiss on American primetime television, which has been called "a milestone in the timeline of gay representation in pop culture".[2] |
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| 31 | The first season of CBS's long-running reality competition of Survivor, titled , based on Sweden's game show Expedition Robinson, premieres its first episode. Sonja Christopher was the first contestant to be eliminated. | |
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| Date | Event |
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| 3 | KNTV (channel 11) in San Jose, California drops its ABC affiliation for the Monterey Bay area and begins carrying minimal programming from The WB. (At that time, The WB affiliate for the Bay Area was KBWB channel 20). |
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| 5 | The first season of CBS's long-running reality competition of Big Brother, based on the Dutch series of the same name, premieres its first episode. It was the only televised American season to use the traditional format to eliminate contestants via televoting, however, as the season received negative reception. |
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| 11 | The Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Atlanta's Turner Field is broadcast on NBC. This ultimately proved to be NBC's final telecast of the "Midsummer Classic" to date. All subsequent Major League Baseball All-Star Games would air on Fox. |
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| 14 | After over a year of rotating guest critics, Buena Vista Television announces that Richard Roeper, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, will become permanent co-host alongside Roger Ebert on the newly renamed program Ebert & Roeper and the Movies (renamed to Ebert & Roeper the following year) as Gene Siskel's (who died from complications following his May 1998 brain surgery in early 1999) successor. |
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| 15 | CBS broadcasts its final NASCAR event, the Chevy Silverado 200. Dennis Setzer would win the race. |
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| 20 | Will & Grace moves permanently to Thursday nights, ending two years of airing the series on different nights. On July 25, Frasier moves back to Tuesday nights after two years on Thursday nights due to competition from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, confirming the swap NBC had discussed their schedule in May. |
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| 28 | Kathie Lee Gifford made her final appearance as co-host on Live!, after 17 years (eleven and a half years for national syndication). Regis Philbin will continue to serve the only host until Kelly Ripa introduced as new co-host the following year. | |
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| Date | Event |
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| 3 | Jim Lehrer moderates the first 2000 presidential debate between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush at the University of Massachusetts Boston.[4] |
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| 5 | CNN's Bernard Shaw moderates the 2000 vice presidential debate with Senator Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.[5] |
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| 11 | The second presidential debate is held at Wake Forest University.[6] |
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| 17 | NBC broadcasts Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. With Bob Costas and Joe Morgan at the call, the Yankees would defeat the Mariners 9–7, to advance to the World Series against their cross–town rivals, the Mets. As previously mentioned, this proved to be NBC's final Major League Baseball telecast until the 2022 season. |
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| 26 | The Game 5 of the World Series airs on Fox. The New York Yankees win their third consecutive title (and first three-peat since the Oakland Athletics from 1972 to 1974) and 26th in franchise history, defeating their crosstown opponent the New York Mets 4–2. |
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| 30 | Lancaster, Pennsylvania's college student Brad Rutter made his historical first appearance in the Jeopardy! game show, and he would go on set a record for its largest J! career winnings as of 2005 ($4,788,440), and as of 2020, becoming one of the largest winners in American game show history with winnings accumulating over $5,000,000, including $100,000 he won from Million Dollar Mind Game in 2014. |
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| 31 | Charles Barkley makes his debut as an analyst on TBS/TNT's Inside the NBA. | |
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| Date | Name | Notability |
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| January 7 | Marcus Scribner | Actor (Black-ish, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) |
| January 8 | Noah Cyrus | Actress (Hannah Montana) and daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus |
| January 20 | Montse Hernandez | Voice actress (Gwen Tennyson on Ben 10) |
| January 26 | Anthony Turpel | Actor (Love, Victor) |
| January 28 | Julia Lester | Actress () |
| February 1 | Paris Smith | Actress (Every Witch Way) |
| February 10 | Yara Shahidi | Actress (Black-ish, Grown-ish) |
| February 23 | Christian Martyn | Canadian actor (Anne With An E, ) |
| February 25 | Angelina Wahler | Voice actress (Fee on Harvey Beaks) |
| Tucker Albrizzi | Actor (Big Time Rush, Good Luck Charlie) |
| March 5 | Gabby Barrett | Singer (American Idol)[16] |
| March 6 | Jacob Bertrand | Actor (Bubble Guppies, Marvin Marvin, Kirby Buckets, Cobra Kai) |
| March 21 | Jace Norman | Actor (Henry Danger, The Adventures of Kid Danger, Danger Force) |
| March 27 | Sophie Nélisse | Canadian actress (Yellowjackets) |
| March 30 | Regan Mizrahi | Voice actor (Boots on Dora the Explorer (2008–12)) |
| May 4 | Amara Miller | Actress |
| May 7 | Maxwell Perry Cotton | Actor (Brothers & Sisters) |
| May 18 | Addison Holley | Actress |
| May 30 | Jared S. Gilmore | Actor (Once Upon a Time) |
| May 31 | Gable Steveson | Wrestler[17] |
| June 2 | Lilimar Hernandez | Venezuelan actress (Bella and the Bulldogs, Knight Squad)[18] |
| June 13 | Daniella Perkins | Actress (Legendary Dudas, Knight Squad) |
| June 17 | Odessa A'zion | Actress (Fam, Grand Army) |
| June 22 | Maliq Johnson | Actor (Grand Army) |
| July 8 | Benjamin Stockham | Actor (Sons of Tucson, 1600 Penn, About a Boy) |
| July 19 | Owen Joyner | Actor (100 Things to Do Before High School, Knight Squad) |
| July 25 | Mason Cook | Actor (Speechless) |
| Meg Donnelly | Actress (American Housewife) and singer |
| July 27 | Savannah Lee Smith | Actress (Gossip Girl) |
| August 3 | Landry Bender | Actress (Crash & Bernstein, Best Friends Whenever, The Lion Guard, Looking for Alaska) |
| Chandler Kinney | Actress (Zombies 2, Pretty Little Liars) |
| August 5 | Augie Isaac | Actor (Mighty Med) |
| August 12 | Savannah May | Actress (Knight Squad) |
| August 19 | Trenton Rogers | Voice actor (Leo on Little Einsteins (2007–09)) |
| August 20 | Fátima Ptacek | Voice actress (Dora the Explorer, ) |
| August 24 | Griffin Gluck | Actor (Private Practice, Red Band Society) |
| August 26 | Brady Reiter | Actress (100 Things to Do Before High School) |
| September 28 | Frankie Jonas | Actor (Jonas) |
| Brenna D'Amico | Actress () |
| September 12 | Laine Hardy | Singer (American Idol)[19] |
| September 30 | Amina Alzouma | Actress (I Am Frankie) |
| October 10 | Aedin Mincks | Actor (A.N.T. Farm) |
| October 11 | Hayden Byerly | Actor (The Fosters) |
| October 13 | Gail Soltys | Actress (Talia in the Kitchen) |
| October 14 | Mekai Curtis | Actor (Kirby Buckets, Milo Murphy's Law) |
| October 31 | Willow Smith | Actress, singer and daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith |
| November 7 | Dara Reneé | Actress () |
| November 8 | Jade Pettyjohn | Actress (School of Rock) |
| November 10 | Mackenzie Foy | Actress |
| November 11 | Kristi Beckett | Actress (I Am Frankie) |
| November 13 | Armani Barrett | Actor (I Am Frankie) |
| November 22 | Ariel Martin | Actress and singer |
| Auliʻi Cravalho | Actress and singer |
| December 16 | Lance Lim | Actor (School of Rock) |
| December 21 | Lucas Jade Zumann | Actor (Anne With An E, Sinister 2, 20th Century Women) |
| December 22 | Joshua Bassett | Actor () | |
| width=90 | Date | width=125 | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|
| January 15 | Fran Ryan | 83 | American character actress (Doris Ziffle #2 on Green Acres) |
| January 16 | By Saam | 85 | American sportscaster |
| January 18 | Nancy Coleman | 87 | American film, stage, television and radio actress |
| Jester Hairston | 98 | American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor (Amen) |
| February 10 | Jim Varney | 50 | American actor; creator of the Ernest P. Worrell character (Hey Vern, It's Ernest!) |
| February 12 | Charles M. Schulz | 77 | American cartoonist, creator of Peanuts |
| March 11 | Alex Dreier | 83 | American news reporter |
| March 15 | Durward Kirby | 88 | American television host and announcer |
| March 25 | Helen Martin | 90 | American character actress (Pearl Shay on 227) |
| April 10 | Larry Linville | 60 | American actor (Major Frank Burns on M*A*S*H) |
| April 12 | Christopher Pettiet | 24 | American television and film actor (The Young Riders) |
| May 7 | Douglas Fairbanks Jr. | 90 | American actor and producer (Douglas Fairbanks Presents), son of Douglas Fairbanks |
| May 10 | Craig Stevens | 81 | American film and television actor (Peter Gunn) |
| June 18 | Nancy Marchand | 71 | American actress (Livia Soprano on The Sopranos, Mrs. Pynchon on Lou Grant) |
| July 1 | Walter Matthau | 79 | American actor and comedian |
| July 14 | Meredith MacRae | 56 | American actress and singer (Billie Jo Bradley #3 on Petticoat Junction) |
| July 28 | Jaime Cardriche | 32 | American actor (Malcolm & Eddie) |
| August 12 | Loretta Young | 87 | American actress (The Loretta Young Show) |
| September 14 | Beah Richards | 80 | American stage, screen, and television actress |
| September 26 | Richard Mulligan | 67 | American television and film actor (Burt Campbell on Soap, Dr. Harry Weston on Empty Nest) |
| October 6 | Richard Farnsworth | 80 | American actor and stuntman |
| October 9 | David Dukes | 55 | American actor |
| October 16 | Rick Jason | 77 | American actor (Lt. Gil Hanley on Combat!) |
| October 18 | Julie London | 74 | American singer and actress (Nurse Dixie McCall on Emergency!) |
| October 30 | Steve Allen | 78 | American comedian, composer (original The Tonight Show host) |
| December 2 | Gail Fisher | 65 | American actress (Peggy Fair on Mannix) |
| December 6 | Werner Klemperer | 80 | German-American actor (Colonel Wilhelm Klink on Hogan's Heroes) |
| December 12 | George Montgomery | 84 | American actor, director, producer, writer and stuntman |
| December 23 | Victor Borge | 91 | Danish comedian and pianist |
| December 26 | Jason Robards | 78 | American stage, film and television actor (The Day After) | |
