Editing 1977 in American television (section)

==Events==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date || Event
|-
|January 3
|Holly Hallstrom becomes the third model on the [[CBS]] game show ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]'' along with [[Janice Pennington]] and [[Dian Parkinson]]. This lineup would remain unchanged for the next thirteen years until [[Kathleen Bradley]] joined in 1990.
|-
|January 15
|[[Bill Murray]] joins the cast of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', replacing [[Chevy Chase]] who left the previous year.
|-
|January 30
|''[[The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries]]'', based on [[The Hardy Boys]] and [[Nancy Drew]] book series, premieres on ABC; [[Parker Stevenson]] and [[Shaun Cassidy]] star as [[Frank Hardy (The Hardy Boys)|Frank]] and [[Joe Hardy (The Hardy Boys)|Joe Hardy]], and [[Pamela Sue Martin]] stars as Nancy Drew. The series at first alternated between the two characters, with ''[[The Brady Bunch Hour]]'' airing sporadically.
|-
|February 4
|''[[American Bandstand]]'' celebrates its 25th anniversary on television with a special hosted by [[Dick Clark]] and telecast by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. An "all-star band" made up of [[Chuck Berry]], [[Seals & Crofts]], [[Gregg Allman]], [[Junior Walker]], [[Johnny Rivers]], [[the Pointer Sisters]], [[Charlie Daniels]], [[Doc Severinsen]], [[Les McCann]], [[Donald Byrd]], [[Chuck Mangione]] and three members of [[Booker T and the MGs]] perform "[[Roll Over Beethoven]]."
|-
|February 27
|Fed up with excessive violence and distorted images of sex on TV, the Reverend [[Donald Wildmon]] declares "Turn the Television Off Week." He is largely ignored.
|-
|March 1
|The [[CBS]] game show ''[[Match Game]]'' is named the #1 rated game show on television for the fifth year in a row.
|-
|March 4
|[[Freddie Prinze]] makes his [[List_of_Chico_and_the_Man_episodes#Season_3_(1976–77)|final appearance]] on the [[NBC]] sitcom ''[[Chico and the Man]]''. Prinze had actually taped the episode in question a mere hours before he fatally shot himself on January 28, 1977.
|-
|March 7 
|''[[Second Chance (game show)|Second Chance]]'', the forerunner to ''[[Press Your Luck]]'', premieres on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].
|-
|March 11
|''[[Sesame Street]]'' broadcasts its 1,000th episode.
|-
|March 15
|[[Renata Scotto]] and [[Luciano Pavarotti]] are seen in "[[La bohème]]" on [[PBS]] and heard in stereo on local (mostly NPR) stations in the first live "simulcast" from the Met.
|-
|March 19
|The [[The Last Show (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)|series finale]] of ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' is broadcast on [[CBS]].
|-
|March 27
|In [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WITI (TV)|WITI]] and [[CBS]] affiliate [[WISN-TV]] swap affiliations, reversing a swap that took place in 1961.<ref>"In Brief." ''Broadcasting'', September 27, 1976, pg. 28. [http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-09-27-BC-0028.pdf]{{dead link|date=June 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} (the text incorrectly states that WISN-TV had been a CBS affiliate since 1954, omitting the 1961 affiliation switch.)</ref><ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-10-18-BC-0036.pdf "Milwaukee connection." ''Broadcasting'', October 18, 1976, pg. 36]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|-
|March 30
|[[Esther Rolle]] departs the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[Good Times]]'' shortly after the conclusion of the two-part fourth-season finale, "Love Has a Spot On Its Lung." due to the dismissal of [[John Amos]] (who portrayed her on-screen husband James Evans) and the stereotypical behavior of its ''[[de facto]]'' star [[Jimmie Walker]] (who portrayed her son J.J. Evans). Rolle does not return until the sixth and final season in September 1978. 
|-
|April 22
|[[Cleveland]]'s [[List of former CBS television affiliates|CBS station]] [[WJW (TV) |WJW-TV]] changes its name to WJKW-TV.
|-
|June 6
|[[Lisa Peluso]] makes her first appearance on the [[CBS]] soap opera ''[[Search for Tomorrow]]'' as Wendy Wilkins, a role she would play until December 1985.
|-
|June 27
|In [[San Diego, California]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], angered over the forced loss of their affiliation from [[XETV-TDT|XETV]] in nearby [[Tijuana|Tijuana, Mexico]] in 1973, moves from the station which forced the change, [[KNSD|KCST-TV]], to [[NBC]] affiliate [[KGTV]]. KCST-TV assumes KGTV's former NBC affiliation and is now [[KNSD]], an [[NBC]] [[Owned-and-operated station|O&O]].
|-
|August 14
|[[List of former NBC television affiliates|NBC affiliate]] [[WRDC|WRDU-TV]] changes its call sign to WPTF-TV, following Durham Life's purchase of the station.
|-
|August 16
|Television stations nationwide interrupt regular programming following news of the death of [[Elvis Presley]]. As a result, ''[[Elvis in Concert]]'' airs on [[CBS]] on October 3 that year to bad reviews.
|-
|September 5
|In [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]], [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate WRBT (now [[WVLA-TV]]) and [[NBC]] affiliate [[WBRZ-TV]] swap affiliations. WBRZ-TV makes its move in search for stronger programming (ABC is, at the time, the nation's #1 rated television network, while NBC is in last place). The move is a precursor to similar events that will take place in the course of the next few years.
|-
|rowspan="2"|September 14
|A tube top-clad woman named Yolanda Bowsley is called into Contestants' Row on the [[CBS]] game show ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]'', and while running down her breasts pop out of her shirt. The incident was censored with a large blue bar but it is still remembered today.
|-
|[[Cheryl Ladd]] is introduced as [[Kris Munroe]], the younger sister of former Angel [[Jill Munroe]] ([[Farrah Fawcett|Farrah Fawcett-Majors]]) in the [[Charlie's Angels (season 2)|second season]] premiere of ''[[Charlie's Angels]]''.
|-
|September 20
|The [[List_of_Happy_Days_episodes#Season_5_(1977–78)|third part]] of the three-part [[Happy Days (season 5)|fifth season]] premiere of ''[[Happy Days]]'' airs on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. The episode is highlighted by a scene in which [[Fonzie]] literally [[Jumping the shark|jumps over a shark]] while on water-skis. 
|-
|September 21
|Eleven-year old [[Janet Jackson]] joins the cast of the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[Good Times]]'' for its final two seasons as Penny Gordon, an upstairs neighbor who is abused by her biological mother ([[Chip Fields]]), later adopted by Willona ([[Ja'Net DuBois]]), in the four-part season opener "The Evans Get Involved". Comedian [[Johnny Brown (actor)|Johnny Brown]], who recurred as the building superintendent Bookman from Seasons 2 to 4, also joins the main cast.
|-
|September 24
|[[Marla Gibbs]] joins the cast of the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[The Jeffersons]]'' as a series regular in [[List of The Jeffersons episodes|the fourth season]] as fan-favorite Florence Johnston. [[Zara Cully]], who portrayed Mother Jefferson, appears in only three episodes that season, prior to her death at age 86 in February 1978.
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|October 23
|[[CBS]] affiliates [[WTEN]] in [[Albany, New York]] and WCDC in [[Adams, Massachusetts]] swap affiliations with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WNYT (TV)|WAST]] after WTEN/WCDC's incoming owners [[Knight-Ridder]] sign an affiliation deal for the station with ABC.
|-
|October 24
|A new [[Peanuts]] special, ''[[It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown]]'', airs on [[CBS]]. It shows and names "Heather", the [[Little Red-Haired Girl]], thereupon ending the 'mystery'.
|-
|November 6
|[[KTVZ]] in [[Bend, Oregon]] signs-on as an [[NBC]] affiliate. Bend is technically still part of the [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] DMA at the time, but in 1981, it becomes its own television market.
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|November 30
|CBS commentator [[Eric Sevareid]] bade farewell in his final two-minute segment on ''[[The CBS Evening News]] with [[Walter Cronkite]]'', after 48 years at [[CBS News]].
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|December 2
|[[Billy Crystal]] sets a winner's circle record by getting the contestant to the top of the pyramid in 26 seconds on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Pyramid (game show)|The $20,000 Pyramid]]''. The record still stands today.
|-
|December 11
|In [[Huntsville, Alabama]], [[NBC]] affiliate [[WAAY-TV]] swaps affiliations with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WAFF (TV)|WYUR]] in search for stronger programming (at the time, NBC is in last place among the three major networks, and ABC is in first place).
|-
|December 17
|[[Miskel Spillman]], [[List of Saturday Night Live guests|guest hosts]] [[Saturday Night Live season 3|an episode]] of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. Spillman, who is at the time, an 80-year-old [[Germany|German]] immigrant and grandmother from [[New Orleans]], won the only "Anyone Can Host" contest. She is to date, the only non-celebrity to host an episode of ''SNL''. She was also, the oldest host in ''SNL''{{'s}} history until 88-year-old [[Betty White]] hosted on May 8, 2010. It is also in this episode that musical guest [[Elvis Costello]] halted his band the Attractions seven seconds into their scheduled performance of the song "[[Less than Zero (Elvis Costello song)|Less Than Zero]]" in favor of "[[Radio Radio]]", which was a then unreleased song that was critical of mainstream broadcasting.
|}