1966 in television.html



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The year 1966 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1966.

For the American TV schedule, see: 1966-67 American network television schedule.

Events

• January 3 - Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out".
• January 8 - Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who.
• January 13 - Tabitha is born on the Bewitched episode entitled, "And Then There Were Three."
• February 5 - ABC Scope begins to devote itself exclusively to coverage of the Vietnam war.
• February 15 - Fred Friendly resigns from CBS News, due to circumstances beyond his control.
• February 23 - Television is first broadcast in Greece when ERT went on the air.
• May 15 - First Japanese popular Owarai variety show program Shoten on air by Nippon Television Network, this program watching more than 25 million Japanese every week.
• June 5 - A taped appearance by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. The band debuts their music videos for "Rain" and "Paperback Writer".
• July 1 - First Canadian color television broadcast.
• July 10 - Ultraman makes his debut on television in Japan. The character would spawn over 16 television adaptions over the next 40 years.
• August 6 - In a post-fight interview, Howard Cosell honors Muhammad Ali's wishes to no longer be referred to as Cassius Clay. This contrasts with most other sports reporters at the time.
• Summer - Patrick McGoohan quits the popular spy series Danger Man (aired in the US as Secret Agent) after filming only two episodes of the fourth season, in order to produce and star in The Prisoner, which begins filming in September.
• October 2 - The four-part serial Talking to a Stranger, acclaimed as one of the finest British television dramas of the 1960s, begins transmission in the Theatre 625 strand on BBC2.
• October 27 - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs for the first time on CBS.
• October 29 - Actor William Hartnell makes his last regular appearance as the First Doctor in the concluding moments of Episode 4 of the Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet. Actor Patrick Troughton briefly appears as the Second Doctor at the conclusion of the serial.
• November 5 - Actor Patrick Troughton appears in his first full Doctor Who serial The Power of the Daleks as the Second Doctor.
• November 16 - Cathy Come Home, possibly the best-known play ever to be broadcast on British television, is presented in BBC1's The Wednesday Play anthology strand.
• November 19 - First live 2-way satellite telecasts between Hawaii (KHVH-TV, now KITV) and the Mainland (ABC), via the Lani Bird satellite.
• December 21 - A Christmas Memory, Truman Capote's childhood experiences, captured in the 1956 memoir, adapted for television and narrated by Capote himself. Directed by Frank Perry on ABC Stage 67 and featuring Geraldine Page in an Emmy Award-winning performance.
• December 18: CBS airs the television adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the first time.
• The 1951-1953 CBS sitcom Amos & Andy is pulled from circulation due to complaints from civil rights organizations.
• Macdonald Carey starts reciting the epigram "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" at the beginning of his dramatic serial, Days of our Lives, a tradition that continues today, over a decade after his passing.
• October 17 - As of this date, all of NBC's newscasts are in color.

Debuts

• January 12 - Batman debuts on ABC (1966-1968).
• April 5 - The Money Programme debuts on BBC2 (1966-present).
• June 6 - Till Death Do Us Part debuts on BBC1.
• June 27 - Dark Shadows premieres on ABC (1966-1971).
• July 11 - The Newlywed Game premieres on ABC (1966-1974).
• September 8 - Star Trek premieres on NBC (1966-1969); That Girl premieres on ABC (1966-1971).
• September 12 - The Monkees premieres on NBC (1966-1968); Family Affair premieres on CBS (1966-1971); The Iron Horse and The Rat Patrol premiere on ABC (both 1966-1968).
• September 17 - Mission: Impossible premieres on CBS (1966-1973).
• September 20 - Rue des Pignons premieres on SRC (1966-1977).
• October 9 - Rocket Robin Hood premieres (1966-1969).
• October 11 - SRC launches its first made-in-Quebec sitcom, Moi et l'autre (1966-1971).
• October 17 - The Hollywood Squares premieres on NBC daytime (1966-1980).
• December 23 - Hoolihan & Big Chuck premieres on WJW-TV, Cleveland, Ohio, United States (1966-1979)
• Play School premieres (1966-present).
• The 700 Club premieres (1966-present).
• W-FIVE premieres (1966-present).
• Wojeck premieres (1966-1968).

Television shows

1940s

• Meet the Press (1947-present).
• Candid Camera (1948-present).
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948-1971).
• Bozo the Clown (1949-present).
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949-1995).

1950s

• Truth or Consequences (1950-1988).
• What's My Line (1950-1967).
• Love of Life (1951-1980).
• Search for Tomorrow (1951-1986).
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951-present).
• American Bandstand (1952-1989).
• The Guiding Light (1952-present).
• The Honeymooners (1952-1970).
• The Today Show (1952-present).
• Panorama (UK) (1953-present).
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953-1983).
• Face the Nation (1954-present).
• The Milton Berle Show (1954-1967).
• The Secret Storm (1954-1974).
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992).
• Captain Kangaroo (1955-1984).
• Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955-1976).
• Gunsmoke (1955-1975).
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955-1982).
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955-2003).
• Armchair Theatre (UK) (1956-1968).
• As the World Turns (1956-present).
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956-1978).
• The Edge of Night (1956-1984).
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956-present).
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957-present).
• Perry Mason (1957-1966)
• Blue Peter (UK) (1958-present).
• Grandstand (UK) (1958-2007).
• Bonanza (1959-1973).
• Juke Box Jury (1959-1967, 1979, 1989-1990).
• The Bell Telephone Hour (1959-1968).

1960s

• My Three Sons (1960-1972).
• The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968).
• Four Corners (Australia) (1961-present).
• The Mike Douglas Show (1961-1981).
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color(1961-1969).
• Combat! (1962-1967).
• Match Game (1962-1969, 1973-1984, 1990-1991, 1998-1999).
• The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971).
• The Late Late Show (Ireland) (1962-present).
• The Lucy Show (1962-1968).
• General Hospital (1963-present).
• Petticoat Junction (1963-1970).
• The Doctors (1963-1982).
• Another World (1964-1999).
• Bewitched (1964-1972).
• Daniel Boone (1964-1970).
• Flipper (1964-1967)
• Gilligan's Island (1964-1967).
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964-1970).
• Jeopardy! (1964-1975, 1984-present).
• Peyton Place (1964-1969).
• Days of our Lives (1965-present).
• Get Smart (1965-1970).
• Green Acres (1965-1971).
• Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971).
• I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1970).
• Lost In Space (1965-1968).
• The Dean Martin Show (1965-1974).
• Tom and Jerry (1965-1972, 1975-1977, 1980-1982).

Ending this year

• January 4 - Rawhide (1959-1966)
• January 8 - Shindig! (1964-1966). Replaced by Batman.
• February 6 - Mister Ed (1961-1966).
• March 19 - The Donna Reed Show (1958-1966).
• April 1 - The Flintstones (1960-1966).
• April 7 - Danger Man (UK) (1960-1961; 1964-1966).
• April 8 - The Addams Family (1964-1966).
• April 12 - McHale's Navy (1962-1966).
• May 12 - The Munsters (1964-1966).
• June 1 - The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966).
• August 29 - Hullabaloo (1965-1966). Replaced by The Monkees.
• September 3 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966).
• December 16 - WJW-TV's Shock Theater (1963-1966). Replaced by Hoolihan & Big Chuck Show
• Ben Casey (1961-1966).
• Ready Steady Go! (1963-1966).
• This Hour Has Seven Days (1964-1966).

Births

• January 2 - Rosie Millard, UK television news reporter.
• January 9 - Giselle Blondet, Puerto Rican actress and show host.
• February 19 - Justine Bateman, actress on Family Ties.
• May 20 - Mindy Cohn, actress on The Facts of Life.
• June 26 - Sara Stewart, actress.
• July 11 - Debbe Dunning, actress.
• August 14 - Halle Berry, actress.
• September 9 - Adam Sandler, actor.
• November 2 - David Schwimmer, actor, Friends.
• December 21 - Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor 24
• December 27 - Bill Goldberg, wrestler

Deaths

• March 3 - William Frawley, actor who co-starred in I Love Lucy and My Three Sons.
• March 3 - Alice Pearce, actress (Gladys Kravitz #1 on Bewitched)
• June 19 - Ed Wynn, comedian
• September 14 - Gertrude Berg, actress (The Goldbergs)
• December 15 - Walt Disney.