Editing 1991 in American television (section)

==Events==

{| class="wikitable"
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! Date || Event
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!January 3
|The first television sets with built-in [[closed captioning|closed-caption]] display are introduced in the United States.
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!January 14
|''[[Wheel of Fortune (American game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]'' returns to [[NBC]] (but would ultimately be canceled on September 20, after a 16½ year run on daytime network television).
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!January 16
|All major television network schedules are pre-empted by [[Gulf War]] coverage right after the evening news broadcasts. The planned broadcasts included ''[[Seinfeld]]''.
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!January 19
|[[NHL on NBC|NBC]] breaks away<ref>{{cite news|title=Bush Endorses Playing of NFL Championship Games|author=Steve Berkowitz|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 20, 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hawks'all-stars all stars Roenick, Larmer, Chelios on target|author=Herb Gould|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|publisher=Sun-Times Media Group|page=1|date=January 20, 1991}}</ref> from their telecast of the [[42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game|NHL All-Star Game]] in the third period<ref>{{YouTube|title=1991 NHL All-Star Game, Chicago Stadium (second intermission, third period)|id=a8hfii3Xqfc}}</ref> to televise a briefing from [[The Pentagon]] involving the Gulf War. [[NHL on SportsChannel America|SportsChannel America]]<ref>{{cite news|title=INSIDE THE NHL U.S. Coach Has Mellowed|author=Helene Elliot|newspaper=Newsday|publisher=Cablevision Systems Corporation|page=163|date=February 17, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=NBC to replace baseball with a few NHL games|author=Rudy Martzke|newspaper=USA Today|publisher=Gannett Company|page=3C|date=March 16, 1989}}</ref> included the missing coverage in a replay of NBC's telecast (NBC owned 50%<ref>{{cite news|title=NBC plans innovative ways to fill baseball void|author=Rudy Martzke|newspaper=USA Today|publisher=Gannett Company|page=3C|date=January 31, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=NOTEBOOK; Best of the West Enter Media Twilight Zone|author=Robert Fachet|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=C08|date=March 14, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=IS RISING SON SET FOR A TV FALL?|author=Larry Jackson|newspaper=[[The Palm Beach Post]]|page=2C|date=April 7, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=NHL providing SportsChannel with a Cupful of riches|author=Steve Nidetz|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|publisher=Tribune Publishing|page=3|date=April 18, 1989}}</ref> of [[Rainbow Media|Rainbow Enterprises]], the parent of SportsChannel America).<ref>{{cite news|title=WILL THE NHL PINCH HIT? WITH SHIFT OF BASEBALL TO CBS, NBC NEEDS TO FILL HOLE IN ITS LINEUP|author=Jack Craig|newspaper=[[Boston Globe]]|page=58|date=February 12, 1989}}</ref>
|-
!January 25
|[[Steve Urkel]] of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom ''[[Family Matters]]'' makes a [[Full House (season 4)|guest appearance]] on ''[[Full House]]''.
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!January 27
|[[Whitney Houston]] delivers a [[The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston recording)|rousing rendition]] of "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]" during the pre-game ceremonies for [[Super Bowl XXV]]. During halftime, [[Monday Night Football|ABC]] broadcast a special [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] report anchored by [[Peter Jennings]] on the progress of the [[Gulf War]]. ABC eventually aired the [[List of Super Bowl halftime shows|halftime show]], headlined by [[New Kids on the Block]] on [[Broadcast delay|tape delay]] following the game.
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!February 7
|[[NBC]] broadcasts an [[He's a Crowd|episode]] of ''[[L.A. Law]]'' which features the first in a series of "[[Lesbian kiss episode|lesbian kiss episodes]]", in which a lesbian or bisexual character (in this case, C.J. Lamb) kisses a female character identified as heterosexual (here, Abby Perkins).
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!February 9
|[[Tim Meadows]] and [[Adam Sandler]] join the cast of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''. (Meadows stays with the show until [[2000 in television|2000]], while Sandler departs during [[1995 in television|1995]].)
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!February 22
|[[Deborah Norville]] co-anchors [[NBC]]'s ''[[Today (American TV program)|The Today Show]]'' for the final time. Going on maternity leave, she is replaced by [[Katie Couric]], who stays a ''Today'' anchor into the early 21st century.
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!March 3
|In [[Los Angeles]], California, African-American [[Rodney King]] is beaten severely by [[Los Angeles Police Department|police officers]] after leading them on a high-speed chase and allegedly resisting arrest. A video is made by an observer, and portions of the tape are broadcast repeatedly, resulting in massive [[1992 Los Angeles riots|rioting]] in the Los Angeles area.
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!March 16
|[[A. Whitney Brown]] makes his [[Saturday Night Live (season 16)|final appearance]] on the [[NBC]] sketch comedy program ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.
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!March 21
|An [[List_of_L.A._Law_episodes#Season_5_(1990–91)|episode]] of [[NBC]]'s ''[[L.A. Law]]'' features [[Diana Muldaur]]'s character Rosalind Shays plummeting to her death through an open elevator shaft.
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!rowspan="3"|April 1
|The premium movie channel [[Encore (TV channel)|Encore]] launches in the United States, primarily on [[Tele-Communications Inc.|TCI]] cable systems. The channel initially displayed movies from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, before eventually phasing in more recent movies by the 2000s (decade). [[Showtime Networks]] initiated [[Flix (cable network)|Flix]], a premium channel with a format identical to Encore less than a year-and-a-half later.
|-
||[[CBS]] begins broadcasting a late-night crime-investigation program block entitled ''[[Crimetime After Primetime]]''.
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|[[HBO]] and [[Viacom (1952–2005)|Viacom]] agree to merge their respective comedy channels, [[Ha! (TV channel)|Ha!]] and [[The Comedy Channel (American TV channel)|The Comedy Channel]] to create CTV: The Comedy Network, later known as [[Comedy Central]] come June 1991. 
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!April 5
|[[Katie Couric]] is designated as co-host of ''[[Today (American TV program)|The Today Show]]'' on [[NBC]] after substituting as host since February 1991.
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!rowspan="2"|April 20
|The Museum of Broadcasting, now known as [[The Paley Center for Media]], relocates into its new 17-story building, located a block from its previous location in New York City.
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|An [[Saturday Night Live (season 16)|episode]] of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' guest hosted by actor [[Steven Seagal]] immediately becomes infamous due to Seagal being difficult and uncooperative to work with among the cast and crew. Seagal is soon [[List_of_Saturday_Night_Live_incidents#Banned_performers|banned]] from ever appearing on the series again and is branded by ''SNL'' creator and producer [[Lorne Michaels]] as the "worst host ever".
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!May 3
|The [[Conundrum (Dallas)|final episode]] of ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'' is broadcast by [[CBS]]; the series is eventually [[Dallas (2012 TV series)|revived]] in 2012 on [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]].
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!May 9
|After being diagnosed with inoperable [[pancreatic cancer]] in April 1991, [[Michael Landon]] appears as a guest on [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]''. Landon would succumb to the disease seven weeks later at the age of 54. 
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!May 13
|[[Delta Burke]] makes her [[Designing Women (season 5)|final appearance]] as Suzanne Sugarbaker on the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[Designing Women]]''.
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!May 22
|[[Tulsa, Oklahoma|Tulsa]]'s television station KGCT-TV returns to the air as [[KMYT-TV|KTFO-TV]].
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!rowspan="2"|May 23
|[[WFXG]] in [[Augusta, Georgia]] signs-on as a [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate, taking that affiliation from W67BE (now [[NBC]] affiliate [[WAGT-CD]]) which becomes an [[Independent station (North America)|independent station]].
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|At an [[NBC]] [[List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state)|network affiliate]] managers meeting at [[New York City]]'s [[Carnegie Hall]], [[Johnny Carson]] announces that he will be stepping down as host of ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show]]'' within May of the following year.
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!May 25
|The [[Broadcast syndication|syndicated]] sitcom ''[[Out of This World (American TV series)|Out of This World]]'' concludes its [[Out_of_This_World_(American_TV_series)#Season_4_(1990–91)|fourth and ultimately final season]] on an unresolved [[cliffhanger]] involving Evie's alien father Troy coming to visit Earth and her mother Donna accidentally taking his place on his home planet, [[Antares]] Prime.
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!June 1
|After merging with [[Ha! (TV channel)|Ha!]] and [[The Comedy Channel]]. CTV: The Comedy Network becomes [[Comedy Central]]. This is to avoid confusion with the Canadian broadcast network known as [[CTV Television Network|CTV]].
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!June 2–12
|[[NBA on NBC|NBC]] broadcasts the [[1991 NBA Finals|NBA Finals]] for the first time after the event aired on [[NBA on CBS|CBS]] for the previous 17 years. It was [[Michael Jordan]]'s first NBA Finals appearance, [[Magic Johnson]]'s last, and the last NBA Finals for the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] until [[2000 NBA Finals|2000]]. This series would mark the end of the Lakers' [[Showtime (basketball)|Showtime]] era and the beginning of the [[Chicago Bulls]]' dynasty. 
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!rowspan="2"|June 3
|The Australian soap ''[[Neighbours]]'' makes its American debut, on [[KCOP-TV]] in [[Los Angeles]], CA. Two weeks later, [[WWOR-TV]] debuts this for its [[New York City|New York]], NY market.
|-
|[[E. W. Scripps Company|Scripps-Howard Broadcasting]] finalizes the purchase on [[Baltimore]]'s [[List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state)|NBC affiliate]] [[WMAR-TV]] from [[Gillett Communications]], which was about to be divested into SCI television.
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!July 9
|The [[1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|Major League Baseball All-Star Game]] airs on [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]] for the second consecutive year. Emanating from [[Rogers Centre|Toronto]], it is the second time that the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] is played outside of the United States, the first being the [[1982 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1982 All-Star Game]] in [[Olympic Stadium (Montreal)|Montreal, Quebec]]. CBS started their broadcast at the top of the hour with the customary pregame coverage. Because [[President of the United States|American President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush|George H.W. Bush]] and [[Prime Minister of Canada|Canadian Prime Minister]] [[Brian Mulroney]] were throwing out the first ball, there was a slight delay from the 8:30&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]] start. The game eventually started about 15–20 minutes late. 
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!July 28
|[[NBC]] airs a [[Television pilot|pilot]] for a proposed series starring [[Adam West]] and written and produced by [[Conan O'Brien]] and [[Robert Smigel]] called ''[[Lookwell]]''. While the pilot ultimately wouldn't be picked up as a series, it has since become a [[Cult film|cult classic]].
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!August 2
|[[Deidre Hall]] returns on-screen to the [[NBC]] soap opera ''[[Days of Our Lives]]'' after a four-year absence in which her character, [[Marlena Evans]] is revealed to be mysteriously alive and kept hidden outside of Salem after being presumed dead in an accident nearly four years prior.
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!rowspan="2"|August 11
|[[Nickelodeon]] introduces its series of [[Nicktoons]], with ''[[Doug (TV series)|Doug]]'', ''[[Rugrats]]'' and ''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show]]'' the first three to air.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Charity|first=Justin|date=2021-08-12|title=What's in a Nicktoon? How Nickelodeon Developed Its Eclectic Animation|url=https://www.theringer.com/tv/2021/8/12/22621062/nickelodeon-nicktoons-animation-style-history|access-date=2021-10-05|website=The Ringer|language=en}}</ref>
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|[[WGMB-TV]] in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]] signs-on the air, giving the Baton Rouge area its first full-time [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate ([[NBC]] affiliate [[WVLA]] had previously aired Fox programming on a delayed basis).
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!August 13
|The time slot for ''[[Full House]]'' was moved from Friday's [[TGIF (ABC)|TGIF]] lineup on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] to Tuesday nights (remaining there until its finale in [[1995 in American television|1995]]).
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!September 1
|KLSB-TV in [[Nacogdoches, Texas]] signs-on as a [[Broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] of the [[Tyler, Texas|Tyler]] market's [[NBC]] affiliate [[KETK-TV]]. KLSB-TV will eventually become the market's [[CBS]] affiliate in 2004 when the station is sold to [[Max Media]].
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!September 6
|KLNO (now [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate [[KBVO (TV)|KBVO]]) in [[Llano, Texas]] is signed-on by [[NBC]] affiliate [[KXAN-TV]] to improve coverage of that station in parts of the [[Texas Hill Country]].
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!September 8
|[[Minnie Pearl]] makes her final appearance on the program ''[[Hee Haw]]''.
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!September 9–13
|The 20th anniversary week of ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]'' is celebrated during this week on [[CBS]].
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!September 9
|After being fired from [[World Championship Wrestling]] following a contract dispute, [[Ric Flair]] makes his [[WWE|World Wrestling Federation]] debut on [[USA Network]]'s ''[[Prime Time Wrestling]]'' with the "[[Big Gold Belt]]".
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!September 19
|[[Michael Jackson]] (credited as John Jay Smith) [[Stark Raving Dad|guest voices]] on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]'s ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
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!September 23
|Over a year after its cancelation from [[NBC]], ''[[Baywatch]]'' is [[List_of_Baywatch_episodes#Season_2_(1991–1992)|relaunched]] in [[Broadcast syndication|first–run syndication]], where it will run for ten seasons.
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!September 25
|[[Leonardo DiCaprio]] joins the cast of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] sitcom ''[[Growing Pains]]'' for what would be its [[List_of_Growing_Pains_episodes#Season_7_(1991–92)|final season]].
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!September 29
|[[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]'s "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]" video debuts on [[MTV]]'s ''[[120 Minutes]]''.
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!October 6
|On the ''[[Major League Baseball Game of the Week]]'' on [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]], the [[1991 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] cap off their "[[1990 Atlanta Braves season|worst]] to first" season by defeating the [[1991 Houston Astros season|Houston Astros]] to clinch their first divisional title in [[1982 Atlanta Braves season|nine years]].
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!October 11
|[[Redd Foxx]] suffers a fatal heart attack on the set of the [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[The Royal Family (TV series)|The Royal Family]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|date=19 July 1999|title=Fames Comedian Redd Foxx Is Celebrated In New Book, 'The Life and Times of Redd Foxx'|journal=Jet|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|volume=96|issue=7|issn=0021-5996}}</ref><ref name="jet1991">Staff report (28 October 1991). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dbkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4 Foxx felled by a heart attack taping TV show; calls for wife and dies.] ''[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]''</ref> It was noted that initially cast mates on set thought Foxx was only fooling around after he clutched a chair and fell to the floor, since his character on ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' often faked heart attacks.<ref name="rich1998">Rich, Joshua (9 October 1998).  [https://ew.com/article/1998/10/09/sanford-and-son/ Exit Laughing.] ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''</ref>
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!October 13
|[[Jennifer Lopez]] joins the cast as one of the Fly Girls on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] sketch comedy series ''[[In Living Color]]'' (she would leave the show after the next season). Other cast additions include future [[Academy Award]] winner [[Jamie Foxx]] and [[Steve Park (comedian)|Steve Park]] (who left after the season ended). [[Shawn Wayans]], the original DJ for the show, also becomes a regular cast member (and will remain in the cast until the end of the next season). Wayans' original DJ role is assumed by [[Leroy Casey|Twist]].
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!October 19–27
|The [[1991 World Series|World Series]] between the [[1991 Minnesota Twins season|Minnesota Twins]] and [[1991 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] airs on [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]]. With five of its games decided by a single run, four decided in the final at-bat, and three going into extra innings,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/swf/mlb/anniversary/worldseries_100.html |title=The World Series 100th Anniversary – #1 1991 Minnesota Twins 4, Atlanta Braves 3 |publisher=ESPN |work=Page 2 |year=2003}}</ref> this World Series immediately became regarded as one of the greatest postseason series in baseball history. In 2003, [[ESPN]] selected this championship as the "Greatest of All Time" in their "World Series 100th Anniversary" countdown. The Series telecast drew an overall national [[World Series television ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 24.0 and a 39 share for CBS; Game&nbsp;7 drew a 32.2 rating and 49 share.
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!October 20–22
|[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] airs the four-hour [[miniseries]] ''[[Dynasty: The Reunion]]'', which continues the story of 1981–1989 [[prime time]] [[soap opera]] ''[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]]''.
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!October 24
|''[[Star Trek]]'' creator [[Gene Roddenberry]] dies at the age of 70. After his death, ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' airs a two-part episode of [[Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 5)|season five]], called "[[Unification (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Unification]]", which features a dedication to Roddenberry.<ref>{{cite web|last1=DeCandido|first1=Keith |author-link=Keith DeCandido|title=Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: 'Unification, Part I'|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/star-trek-the-next-generation-qunification-iq|publisher=[[Tor Books|Tor.com]]|date=June 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409150758/http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/06/star-trek-the-next-generation-qunification-iq|archive-date=April 9, 2015|access-date=April 15, 2015}}</ref>
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!October 25
|[[NBC]]'s [[List of NBC television affiliates (by U.S. state)|affiliate]] in [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]]/[[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]]/[[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]], WPTF-TV, changes its name to [[WRDC|WRDC-TV]].
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!October 26
|In front of a national television audience on [[Major League Baseball on CBS|CBS]], play-by-play man [[Jack Buck]] famously says "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" while calling [[1991 Minnesota Twins season|Minnesota Twins]] star [[Kirby Puckett]]'s game-winning home run to send the [[1991 World Series|World Series]] against the [[1991 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] to a decisive seventh game. 
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!October 29
|[[Turner Broadcasting System]] and [[Apollo Global Management|Apollo Investment Fund]] purchase the [[Hanna-Barbera]] library for [[United States dollar|$]]320 million.
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!October 31
|[[KLSR-TV]] in [[Eugene, Oregon]] signs-on, giving [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] a full-power home in the Eugene market. Sister station K25AS (now [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate [[KEVU-CD]]) becomes an independent station before joining [[UPN]] in 1995.
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!November 4–11
|[[Leonard Nimoy]] guest stars as [[Spock]] in a [[Unification (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|two-part episode]] of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''. The first of the two episodes earn a 15.4 household [[Nielsen rating]],<ref>[http://stng.36el.com/st-tng/episodes/ratings/ Star Track: The Next Generation episode ratings]</ref> drawing over 25 million viewers,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,309804_2,00.html |title=Star Struck |access-date=July 10, 2007 |archive-date=January 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107120857/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,309804_2,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> making it one of the most watched episodes in all seven seasons of ''The Next Generation''{{'}}s run.
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!November 6
|The fourth installment of the [[The_Gambler_(film_series)#The_Gambler_Returns:_The_Luck_of_the_Draw_(1991)|''Gambler'']] film series is broadcast on [[NBC]]. ''The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw'' features [[Kenny Rogers]]' character Brady Hawkes running across a galaxy of old TV western characters played by the original actors. This includes [[Gene Barry]] as [[Bat Masterson (TV series)|Bat Masterson]], [[Hugh O'Brian]] as [[The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp|Wyatt Earp]], [[Jack Kelly (actor)|Jack Kelly]] as [[Maverick (TV series)|Bart Maverick]], [[Clint Walker]] as [[Cheyenne (TV series)|Cheyenne Bodie]], [[David Carradine]] as ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]''{{'}}s [[Kwai Chang Caine|Caine]], [[Chuck Connors]] and [[Johnny Crawford]] from ''[[The Rifleman]]'', [[Brian Keith]] as [[The Westerner (TV series)|The Westerner]], [[James Drury]] and [[Doug McClure]] from ''[[The Virginian (TV series)|The Virginian]]'', [[Paul Brinegar]] from ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', and [[Reba McEntire]] as Burgundy Jones.
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!November 7
|In a nationally televised press conference, [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] superstar [[Magic Johnson]] announces that he is [[HIV]]-positive and is retiring from the [[Los Angeles Lakers]], effective immediately. Johnson would appear as a guest on ''[[The Arsenio Hall Show]]'' the very next night.
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!November 9
|''[[Hurricane Saturday]]'', a one-off [[Block programming|programming block]] of a three-way, two-hour [[Crossover (fiction)|crossover event]] airs on [[NBC]]. It involves three television [[sitcoms]] created by [[Susan Harris]]: ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', ''[[Empty Nest]]'' and ''[[Nurses (American TV series)|Nurses]]''. The event depicts a fictional [[Tropical cyclone|hurricane]] storming into the storylines of the three series set in [[Miami|Miami, Florida]]. 
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!November 14
|The [[music video]] for "[[Black or White]]", the first single from [[Michael Jackson]]'s forthcoming eighth album ''[[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous]]'', is first televised by [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]. Despite controversy over the video's ending, Fox, which simulcasts the video along with [[MTV]], [[VH1]], and [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]], scores its highest [[Nielsen ratings]] to date.<ref name="openstheblitz">{{cite web|last= Pareles |first= Jon |title= Review/Rock, New Video Opens the Jackson Blitz |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6DC1330F935A25752C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 |date= November 16, 1991 |work= The New York Times |access-date= March 4, 2018}}</ref>
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!rowspan="2"|November 16
|[[Ellen Cleghorne]], [[Melanie Hutsell]] and [[Beth Cahill]] join the cast of [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.
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|[[KTMF]] in [[Missoula, Montana]] signs-on the air, giving the Missoula market its first full-time [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate.
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!November 23
|An hour long [[The Bob Newhart Show: The 19th Anniversary Special|television special]] commemorating the 19th anniversary of ''[[The Bob Newhart Show]]'' airs on [[CBS]].
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!November 28
|''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' makes its broadcast network television premiere on [[CBS]].
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!December 1
|[[Britney Spears]] appears on the program ''[[Star Search]]''.
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!December 8
|[[Tim Russert]] becomes moderator of the [[NBC News|NBC]] discussion program ''[[Meet the Press]]'', a job he possesses until his sudden death in 2008.
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!December 14
|Guest host [[Steve Martin]] [[Saturday_Night_Live_season_17#Episodes|kicks off]] [[NBC]]'s ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' by singing "Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight!".
|}