Editing 1978 in American television (section)

==Events==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date || Event
|-
|January 15
|[[Super Bowl XII]] airs on [[NFL on CBS|CBS]], the first time the [[National Football League|NFL's]] [[Super Bowl|championship event]] is played and telecast at night. The [[1977 Dallas Cowboys season|Dallas Cowboys]] defeat the [[1977 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos]] 27-10.
|-
|January 23
|''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]] One Year Later'', a special examining the impact and influence of the miniseries, airs on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].
|-
|January 28
|[[The Doobie Brothers]] make a guest appearance on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[What's Happening!!]]''
|-
|February 5
|[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] celebrates its silver anniversary with a retrospective special.
|-
|February 28
|[[Robin Williams]] makes his first appearance as Mork from Ork on [[My Favorite Orkan|an episode]] of ''[[Happy Days]]'' on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. The episode proved to be such a success, that it would soon give way to a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] starring Williams entitled ''[[Mork & Mindy]]''. 
|-
|March 7
|[[Showtime (TV network)|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 (TV miniseries)|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 (1978 film)|Ringo]]'', a musical version of ''[[The Prince and the Pauper]]'', airs on NBC, with Starr's fellow former [[The Beatles|Beatle]], [[George Harrison]], providing the narration.
|-
|May 1
|KDOG-TV, [[Houston]]'s [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]], changes its call sign to [[KRIV (TV)|KRIV-TV]] following its purchase by [[Metromedia]].
|-
|June 12
|WHNB-TV, [[List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state)|NBC affiliate]] in [[New Britain, Connecticut|New Britain]]/[[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]/[[New Haven, Connecticut]], changes its name to its current [[WVIT|WVIT-TV]], shortly after [[Viacom (1952–2006)|Viacom]] purchased the station.
|-
|June 26
|[[WUSA (TV)|WTOP-TV]] changes its call sign to WDVM-TV. In return the [[List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state) |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 [[American Broadcasting Company|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 (North America)|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 Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in 1986.<ref>''The Charlotte Observer'', Apr. 25 and 29, 1978.</ref>
|-
|July 10
|On [[ABC News (United States)|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, D.C.|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 News (United States)|ABC]], [[Harry Reasoner]] returns to [[CBS News|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 Bunker|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 (actor)|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 [[List of Saturday Night Live guests|hosts and musical guests]] in [[Saturday Night Live season 4|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 [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom ''[[Barney Miller]]'' prior to his death from cancer on January 11, 1979. The [[Barney Miller season 5|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 Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate [[KFTA-TV]]) signs-on the air and takes [[CBS]] programming from [[KHBS/KHOG|KFPW-TV/KTVP]]. Both KFPW-TV and KTVP subsequently become full-time [[American Broadcasting Company|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 (film)|Star Wars]]'' [[The Empire Strikes Back|sequel]].
|}