Editing 1947 in television

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{{Year nav topic5|1947|television|radio|film }}

The year '''1947 in television''' involved some significant events.
Below is a list of [[television]]-related events during 1947.

__TOC__

==Events==
*January 3 – Proceedings of the [[U.S. Congress]] are televised for the first time.
*January 22 – The first commercial television station west of the [[Mississippi River]], [[KTLA]], begins operation in Hollywood.
*January 29 – [[RCA]] company demonstrates an all-electronic color television system using live images, to the US [[Federal Communications Commission]].
*January 30 – The FCC rejects [[CBS]]' color television system.
*February 10-March 11 – [[BBC]] television service in the UK is temporarily suspended due to a national fuel crisis.
*March 11 – The first successful American children's television series, ''[[Small Fry Club (television program)|Movies for Small Fry]]'' debuts on the [[DuMont Television Network|DuMont Network]].
*July 16 – RCA demonstrates the world's first all-electronic color camera to the [[Federal Communications Commission]]. (Only television receivers are present at the demonstration on January 29; the camera is at a remote studio.)
*September 30 – The opening game of the [[World Series]] is the first World Series game to be telecast. The [[1947 World Series]] is watched by an estimated 3.9 million people (many watching in bars and other public places), becoming television's first mass audience.  
*October 5 – The first telecast of a presidential address from the [[White House]]. President [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] speaks about the world food crisis. It is preceded by a [[Jell-O]] commercial, and features the president discussing his program for food rationing. The address is televised by WTVW-TV (presently [[WJLA-TV]] Channel 7 in Washington DC) as part of its inaugural broadcast. It is also simulcast by radio. It was long believed that no copy of this broadcast existed, but segments are preserved on [[kinescope]] in the Library of Congress.  (For the record, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt]]'s address broadcast over [[NBC]] experimental television W2XBS—now [[WNBC]]—at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]] preceded the 1947 Truman broadcast. However, Truman's broadcast is the first from inside the White House.)
*October 13 – The puppet show series ''Junior Jamboree'', later known as ''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]'', premieres on WBKB in Chicago, Illinois.
*November 6 – ''[[Meet the Press]]'' first appears as a local program in [[Washington, D.C.]]
*November 8 – Memorial service broadcast from the [[Cenotaph]] by the BBC, using tele-recording for the first time.
*The first Hollywood movie production for TV, ''The Public Prosecutor''.
*There are 250,000 television sets in use in the United States.

==Debuts==
*March 11 – ''[[Small Fry Club]]'' (1947–1951)
*April 3 – ''[[Juvenile Jury]]'' (1947–1954)
*May – ''[[The Swift Home Service Club]]'' (1947–?)
*May 2 – ''[[Doorway to Fame]]'' (1947–1949)
*May 7 – ''[[Kraft Television Theater]]'' on [[NBC]], the first regularly scheduled drama series on a network (1947–1958)
*May 15 – ''[[King Cole's Birthday Party]]'' (1947–1949)
*May 21 – ''[[In the Kelvinator Kitchen]]'' (1947–1948)<ref name="brooks">Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1979). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946–Present''. Ballantine Books. {{ISBN|0-345-25525-9}}.</ref>
*June 16 – ''[[The Walter Compton News]]'' (1947–1948)
*July 8 – ''[[Major League Baseball on NBC]]'' (1947–2000)
*July 25 – ''[[Musical Merry-Go-Round]]'' (1947–1949)
*October 13 – ''Junior Jamboree'' (later named ''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]''), on [[WLS-TV|WBKB]] in Chicago (1947–1957)
*October 1947 – first telecording by BBC ([[kinescope]]), showing black singer [[Adelaide Hall]] performing two songs with chorus and her guitar
*November 18 – situation comedy ''[[Mary Kay and Johnny]]'' on Dumont network (1947–1950)
*November 19 – ''[[Missus Goes a Shopping]]'' debuts on [[CBS]], becoming that network's first commercial daytime series.<ref name="mcneil">McNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television''. Penguin Books USA, Inc. {{ISBN|0-14-02-4916-8}}.</ref>
*November 20 – ''[[Meet the Press]]'', first network telecast on NBC (1947–present)
*November 27 – ''[[Charade Quiz]]'' (1947–1949)
*November – ''[[Swing Into Sports]]'' (1947–1949)
*December 4 – ''[[Television Playhouse]]'' (1947–1948)
*December 8 – ''[[Americana (game show)|Americana]]'' (1947–1949)
*December 27 – ''Puppet Television Theater'' (later called ''[[Howdy Doody]]''), a children's television program on NBC (1947–1960)
*''[[The Jack Eigen Show]]'' (1947–1951)
*''[[Café Continental]]'' (UK) on the [[BBC Television Service]]) (1947–1953)

==Television shows==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Series
! Debut
! Ended
!Network
|-
|''[[Swing Into Sports]]''
|1947
|1949
|Dumont
|-
|''[[The Jack Eigen Show]]''
|1947
|1951
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Chicagoland Mystery Players]]''
|1947
|July 23, 1950
|WGN-TV
|-
|''[[Small Fry Club]]''
|1947
|1951
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Juvenile Jury]]''
|1947
|1954
|NBC
|-
|''[[The Swift Home Service Club]]''
|May 1947
|?
|NBC
|-
|''[[Doorway to Fame]]''
|May 2, 1947
|July 4, 1949
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Kraft Television Theater]]''
|May 7, 1947
|1958
|NBC
|-
|''[[King Cole's Birthday Party]]''
|May 15, 1947
|June 23, 1949
|Dumont
|-
|''[[In the Kelvinator Kitchen]]''
|1947
|1948
|NBC
|-
|''[[The Walter Compton News]]''
|June 16, 1947
|January 1948
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Major League Baseball on NBC]]''
|July 8, 1947
|October 17, 2000
|NBC
|-
|''[[Musical Merry-Go-Round]]''
|1947
|1949
|NBC
|-
|''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]''
|October 13, 1947
|1957
|KNBH
|-
| [[Meet the Press]]
| 1947 
| Still in broadcast 
|NBC
|-
|''[[Pantomime Quiz]]''
|November 13, 1947
|October 9, 1959
|KTLA
|-
|''[[Mary Kay and Johnny]]''
|November 18, 1947
|March 11, 1950
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Charade Quiz]]''
|1947
|1949
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Television Playhouse]]''
|December 4, 1947
|April 11, 1948
|NBC
|-
|''[[Americana (game show)|Americana]]''
|1947
|1949
|NBC
|-
|''[[Howdy Doody]]''
|December 27, 1947
|September 24, 1960
|NBC
|-
|''Eye Witness''
|1947
|1948
|
|-
|''[[Know Your New York]]''
|1947
|1948
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Highway to the Stars]]''
|1947
|1947
|Dumont
|-
|''[[Look Upon a Star]]''
|1947
|1947
|Dumont
|}

==Ending this year==
{| class="wikitable"
! Date || Show || Debut
|-
| rowspan="2"| January 17  
| ''[[The Voice of Firestone]]'' 
| 1943
|-
| ''[[Let's Rhumba]]''  
| 1946
|-
| January 26 
| ''[[Face to Face (U.S. game show)|Face to Face]]''
|1946
|-
| March  
| ''[[Hour Glass (TV series)|Hour Glass]]''
|1946
|-
| May 16 
| ''[[Pinwright's Progress]]'' (UK) 
|1946
|-
| May 18
| ''[[I Love to Eat]]''
|1946
|-
| May 27 
| ''[[Serving Through Science]]''
|1945
|-
| July 1 
| ''[[Cash and Carry (TV series)|Cash and Carry]]'' 
|1946
|-
| October  
| ''[[Geographically Speaking]]''
|1946
|-
| Unknown
| ''[[Campus Hoopla]]'' 
|1946
|}

==Births==
* January 2 – [[Jack Hanna]], zookeeper
* January 8 – [[Laurie Walters]], actress (''[[Eight is Enough]]'')
* January 17 - [[Jane Elliot]], actress (''[[General Hospital]]'')
* January 19 - [[Paula Deen]], chef, cookbook author, and TV personality
* January 21 - [[Jill Eikenberry]], actress (''[[L.A. Law]]'')
* January 31
**[[Glynn Turman]], actor (''[[A Different World]]'', ''[[The Wire]]'', ''[[House of Lies]]'')
**[[Jonathan Banks]], actor
* February 2 
**[[Farrah Fawcett]], actress (''[[Charlie's Angels]]'') (d. 2009)
**[[Greg Antonacci]], actor (d. 2017)
* February 3 - [[Tonea Stewart]], actress (''[[In the Heat of the Night (TV series)|In the Heat of the Night]]'')
* February 4 - [[Dan Quayle]], politician
* February 20 – [[Peter Strauss]], actor
* February 24 – [[Edward James Olmos]], actor (''[[Miami Vice]]'', ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'')
* February 26 – [[Steve Melnyk]], golfer
* February 28 - [[Stephanie Beacham]], actress (''[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]]'', ''[[The Colbys]]'')
* March 1 – [[Alan Thicke]], actor (''[[Growing Pains]]'') (d. 2016)
* March 6 – [[Rob Reiner]], actor (''[[All in the Family]]''), producer and director
* March 7 – [[Richard Lawson (actor)|Richard Lawson]], actor
* March 12 – [[Mitt Romney]], politician
* March 19 – [[Glenn Close]], actress
* March 24 - [[Alan Sugar]], English television presenter
* March 25 - [[Elton John]], English singer, pianist and composer
* April 2 - [[Sam Anderson]], actor, ''[[Perfect Strangers (TV series)|Perfect Strangers]]'', ''[[Angel (1999 TV series)|Angel]]'', ''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]''
* April 4 
**[[Luke Halpin]], actor (''[[Flipper (1964 TV series)|Flipper]]'')
**[[Ray Fosse]], baseball player (d. 2021)
* April 6 – [[John Ratzenberger]], actor (''[[Cheers]]'')
* April 11 - [[Meshach Taylor]], actor (d. 2014)
* April 12
**[[Dan Lauria]], actor
**[[David Letterman]], comedian and talk show host (''[[Late Show with David Letterman|The Late Show]]'')
**[[Wayne Northrop]], actor (died 2024)
* April 16 - [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]], [[NBA]] basketball player
* April 18
**[[Dorothy Lyman]], actress (''[[Another World (TV series)|Another World]]'', ''[[Mama's Family]]'', ''[[Generations (U.S. TV series)|Generations]]'')
**[[Cindy Pickett]], actress (''[[Guiding Light]]'', ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'')
**[[James Woods]], actor (''[[Holocaust (miniseries)|Holocaust]]'', ''[[Shark (U.S. TV series)|Shark]]'')
* April 19 - [[Jeff Maxwell]], actor (''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'')
* April 26 - [[Boyd Matson]], former anchor of ''[[National Geographic Explorer]]''
* May 6 - [[Alan Dale]], actor (''[[The Young Doctors]]'', ''[[Neighbours]]'')
* May 10 - [[Marion Ramsey]], actress and singer (''[[Cos (TV series)|Cos]]'') (d. 2021)
* May 16 - [[Andrew Lack (executive)|Andrew Lack]], television executive
* May 25 - [[Karen Valentine]], actress (''[[Room 222]]'')
* May 29 - [[Anthony Geary]], actor (''[[General Hospital]]'')
* June 3 - [[Shuki Levy]], Israeli-American music composer 
* June 14 - [[Len Berman]], American television sportscaster
* June 16 - [[Al Cowlings]], American football player
* June 20 - [[Paul Kreppel]], actor and director (''[[It's a Living (1980 TV series)|It's a Living]]'')
* June 21
** [[Meredith Baxter]], actress (''[[Family Ties]]'')
** [[Michael Gross (actor)|Michael Gross]], actor (''[[Family Ties]]'', ''[[The Young and the Restless]]'')
* June 22 
** [[David Lander]], comedic actor (''[[Laverne & Shirley]]'') (d. 2020)
** [[Pete Maravich]], [[NBA]] basketball player (d. 1988)
* June 25 - [[Jimmie Walker]], actor (''[[Good Times]]'')
* June 26 - [[Carmen Finestra]], producer and TV writer
* June 29 - [[Richard Lewis (comedian)|Richard Lewis]], comedian and actor (''[[Anything but Love]]'')
* July 1 - [[Shirley Hemphill]], comedian and actress (''[[What's Happening!!]]'') (d. 1999)
* July 2 – [[Larry David]], actor, writer and producer (''[[Seinfeld]]'', ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'')
* July 3 – [[Betty Buckley]], actress and singer (''[[Eight is Enough]]'')
* July 5 – [[Joe Brown (judge)|Joe Brown]], judge
* July 8 - [[Kim Darby]], actress
* July 9 - [[O. J. Simpson]], actor and former [[NFL]] football player
* July 20 
**[[Carlos Santana]], guitarist
**[[Rose Ann Scamardella]], former anchorwoman
* July 22 – [[Albert Brooks]], actor (''[[The Simpsons]]''), comedian and director
* July 23 
**[[Larry Manetti]], actor (''[[Magnum, P.I.]]'')
**[[Kaity Tong]], American broadcast journalist
*July 24 - [[Robert Hays]], American actor (''[[Iron Man (TV series)|Iron Man]]'', ''[[Angie (TV series)|Angie]]'', ''[[Starman (TV series)|Starman]]'', ''[[FM (American TV series)|FM]]'')
* July 27 - [[Betty Thomas]], actress (''[[Hill Street Blues]]'')
* July 28 - [[Sally Struthers]], actress (''[[All in the Family]]'')
* July 30 
**[[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], Austrian-born American actor, bodybuilder and 38th governor of California
**[[William Atherton]], American actor
* August 8 - [[Larry Wilcox]], actor (''[[CHiPs]]'')
* August 13 - [[Gretchen Corbett]], actress, ''[[The Rockford Files]]''
* August 19 - [[Gerald McRaney]], actor (''[[Simon & Simon]]'', ''[[Major Dad]]'', ''[[Promised Land (1996 TV series)|Promised Land]]'')
* August 20 - [[Ray Wise]], actor (''[[Twin Peaks]]'')
* August 22 - [[Cindy Williams]], actress (''[[Laverne and Shirley]]'') (d. 2023)
* August 28 - [[Debra Mooney]], actress (''[[Everwood]]'')
* September 4 – [[Jane Curtin]], actress and comedian (''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', ''[[Kate and Allie]]'', ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'')
* September 6 – [[Bob Jenkins]], announcer (d. 2021)
* September 21 - [[Stephen King]], author
* September 27 
**[[Liz Torres]], actress (''[[The John Larroquette Show]]'')
**[[Denis Lawson]], actor
* October 1 
**[[Stephen Collins]], actor (''[[7th Heaven (TV series)|7th Heaven]]'')
**[[Larry Lamb]], actor
* October 12 – [[Chris Wallace]], television news anchor
* October 17 – [[Michael McKean]], actor (''[[Laverne & Shirley]]'', ''[[Better Call Saul]]'')
* October 18 – [[Joe Morton]], actor
* October 24 – [[Kevin Kline]], actor
* October 26 – [[Hillary Clinton]], politician
* October 29 – [[Richard Dreyfuss]], actor (''[[The Education of Max Bickford]]'')
* October 31 
**[[Deidre Hall]], actress (''[[Days of Our Lives]]'')
**[[Ira Joe Fisher]], broadcaster
* November 2 - [[Kate Linder]], actress (''[[The Young and the Restless]]'')
* November 3 - [[Shadoe Stevens]], actor
* November 9 - [[Robert David Hall]], actor (''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'')
* November 13 - [[Joe Mantegna]], actor (''[[Criminal Minds]]'')
* November 18 - [[Jameson Parker]], actor (''[[Simon & Simon]]'')
* November 24 – [[Dwight Schultz]], actor (''[[The A-Team]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', ''[[Chowder (TV series)|Chowder]]'')
* November 25 – [[John Larroquette]], actor (''[[Night Court]]'')
* December 2 – [[Leonard Lightfoot]], American actor
* December 11 
**[[Bonnie and Terry Turner|Terry Turner]], producer
**[[Bill Cunningham (talk show host)|Bill Cunningham]], talk show host
* December 21 – [[Kay Robertson]], American television personality
* December 23 – [[Peter Kostis]], American golf analyst
* December 29 – [[Ted Danson]], actor (''[[Cheers]]'', ''[[Becker (TV series)|Becker]]'', ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'')
* December 31 – [[Tim Matheson]], actor (''[[Jonny Quest (TV series)|Jonny Quest]]'', ''[[Space Ghost (TV series)|Space Ghost]]'', ''[[The West Wing]]'')

==Deaths==
*February 26 – [[Kálmán Tihanyi]], Hungarian physicist, major contributor to the development of the [[cathode-ray tube]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

{{Years in TV by country|1947}}
{{Years in television}}

[[Category:1947 in television| ]]