1975 in television

Events

• January 3
  • The original Jeopardy! ends its run after almost 11 years and 2,753 episodes on NBC
  • Also on NBC, the biggest prize in American daytime television game shows at the time is won on Jackpot, $38,750, split between two contestants
• January 6
  • Another World becomes the first American soap opera to start airing hour-long telecasts
  • Wheel of Fortune airs its first episode on NBC's daytime schedule with host Chuck Woolery and assistant Susan Stafford
  • ORTF is split-up into 7 companies: TF1, Antenne 2, FR3, INA, SFP, Radio France & TDF
• January 11 – On All in the Family (CBS), a tearful Edith Bunker says goodbye to her neighbor Louise Jefferson as The Jeffersons moves on up to their own sitcom
• March 1 – "C-Day" in Australia: Full-time color television production takes effect today
• March 4
  • The first People's Choice Awards presentation on CBS
  • Television cameras are first permitted in the Parliament of Canada
• March 18 – McLean Stevenson's character dies in the MASH* episode "Abyssinia, Henry", its third season finale
  • The pilot episode of The Muppet Show airs on ABC introducing Jim Henson's characters to Prime Time with adult humor.
• April 1 – The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation is dissolved; NZBC TV is renamed Television One
• April 3 – Meg Richardson (Noele Gordon) marries Hugh Mortimer (John Bentley) on British soap opera Crossroads
• April 4 - The pilot episode of "Black Bart" is aired on CBS, based on the same screenplay that became "Blazing Saddles"
• April 5 – The Super Sentai series makes its debut on TV Asahi with Himitsu Sentai Gorenger
• April 12 – On The Jeffersons, Mike Evans makes his last appearance (until 1979), with Damon Evans (no relation to Michael) joining the cast
• April 21 – Days of Our Lives becomes the second American soap opera to expand from thirty minutes to an hour in length
• April 25 – Alice Cooper: The Nightmare airs on ABC
• April 28 – Tom Snyder interviews John Lennon on NBC's The Tomorrow Show
• June 5 – Fred Silverman becomes the head of ABC Entertainment, whose programming choices resulted in ABC achieving ratings dominance (and initiating an era of what is disparagingly called "T&A" or "Jiggle television")
• June 30 – TV2 launches in New Zealand, becoming the country's second television network
• September 5 – A bomb explodes in the wine bar/delicatessen on Australian soap opera Number 96 in an attempt to shake up the cast and earn back lost viewers
• September 8 – In the United States:
  • The Price is Right is expanded to an hour in length, with six games and two Showcase Showdowns, for one week as an experiment; the format is made permanent two months later
  • Match Game starts airing weekly episodes in syndicated primetime as Match Game PM
• September 29 – WGPR-TV, channel 62 in Detroit, becomes the first television station in the U.S. to be owned and operated by blacks (It later becomes CBS-owned WWJ-TV)
• October 1 (10:00 a.m. local time; September 30 in the Americas) – Home Box Office cable television becomes the first pay-per-view television network to deliver a continuous signal via satellite by broadcasting the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing title fight (in which Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in Manila, Philippines) live to the United States. The fight is watched live by well over 100 million and perhaps as many as one billion viewers worldwide including the 500,000 on HBO and 100 million viewers watching on closed-circuit theatre television. It is broadcast in the Philippines by KBS and in the United Kingdom by the BBC
• October 11 – The premiere episode of Saturday Night Live is broadcast on NBC
• October 16 – The "Balibo Five" Australian television journalists are killed at Balibo by Indonesian Army special forces in the buildup to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor
• October 21 – NBC broadcasts the now legendary 12-inning long sixth game of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds. The game ends with Boston catcher Carlton Fisk's home run to send the series to a climatic seventh game. In what becomes an iconic baseball film highlight, the NBC left-field game camera catches Fisk wildly waving his arms to his right after hitting the ball and watching its path while drifting down the first base line, as if he is trying to coax the ball to "stay fair". The ball indeed stays fair and the Red Sox tie the Series. (According to the NBC cameraman Lou Gerard, located inside the left field wall scoreboard, cameramen at this time are instructed to follow the flight of the ball. Instead, Gerard is distracted by a rat nearby, thus he loses track of the baseball and instead decides to capture the image of Fisk "magically" waving the ball fair). The game is ranked Number 1 in MLB Network's 20 Greatest Games.
• October 25 – The classic "Chuckles Bites the Dust" episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show airs on CBS
• October 28 – A James Bond film is shown on British television for the first time, Dr. No on ITV
• November – Sony introduces the Betamax video recorder in the US, which comes in a teakwood console with a 19" color TV set and retails for $2,495
• November 7 – The New Original Wonder Woman TV movie airs as a pilot for the series Wonder Woman (which premieres in 1976)
• November 10 – The Guiding Light on CBS changes its name to Guiding Light, in an attempt to modernize the show's image (The show's announcer, however, continues to call the series The Guiding Light in his announcements until the early 1980s)
• November 23 – Memories of the "Heidi Game" return to haunt NBC as that network is forced to join Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in progress at the conclusion of an overtime NFL game
• December 1 – Top-rated As the World Turns, bowing to competition from NBC, expands to one hour in length; The Edge of Night moves to ABC
• December 25 – World television premiere of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, on BBC1

Programs

• 60 Minutes (1968–present)
• All in the Family (1971–1979)
• All My Children (1970–2011)
• American Bandstand (1952–1989)
• Another World (1964–1999)
• Are You Being Served? (UK) (1972–1985)
• As the World Turns (1956–2010)
• Aşk-ı Memnu (Turkey) (1975)
• Barnaby Jones (1973–1980)
• Blue Peter (UK) (1958–present)
• Bozo the Clown (1949–present)
• Candid Camera (1948–present)
• Captain Kangaroo (1955–1984)
• Chico and the Man (1974–1978)
• Columbo (1971–1978)
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
• Coronation Street, UK (1960–present)
• Countdown (Australia) (1974–1987)
• Crossroads, UK (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
• Dad's Army (UK) (1968–1977)
• Days of Our Lives (1965–present)
• Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1974–1984)
• Derrick (1974–1998)
• Dinah! (1974–1980)
• Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–1976)
• Doctor Who, UK (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–present)
• Emergency! (1972–1977)
• Emmerdale Farm (UK) (1972–present)
• Face the Nation (1954–present)
• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972–1984)
• Four Corners, Australia (1961–present)
• General Hospital (1963–present)
• Get Some In! (UK) (1975–78)
• Good Times (1974–1979)
• Grandstand (UK) (1958–2007)
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
• Happy Days (1974–1984)
• Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980)
• Hee Haw (1969–1993)
• Hockey Night in Canada (1952–present)
• It's Academic (1961–present)
• John Craven's Newsround (UK) (1972–present)
• Kaynanalar (Turkey) (1974–2004)
• Kojak (1973–1978, 2005–present)
• Land of the Lost (1974–1977)
• Last of the Summer Wine (UK) (1973–present)
• Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983)
• Love of Life (1951–1980)
• Magpie (UK) (1968–1980)
• Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976)
• Mary Tyler Moore (1970–1977)
• MASH* (1972–1983)
• Masterpiece Theatre (1971–present)
• Match Game (1962–1969, 1973–1984, 1990–1991, 1998–1999)
• Maude (1972–1978)
• McCloud (1970–1977)
• McMillan & Wife (1971–1977)
• Meet the Press (1947–present)
• Monday Night Football (1970–present)
• Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (1963–1988, 2002–present)
• Old Grey Whistle Test (UK) (1971–1987)
• One Life to Live (1968–2012)
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–1978)
• Panorama (UK) (1953–present)
• Play for Today (UK) (1970–1984)
• Play School (1966–present)
• Police Woman (1974–1978)
• Rhoda (1974–1978)
• Sanford and Son (1972–1977)
• Schoolhouse Rock! (1973–1986)
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
• Sesame Street (1969–present)
• Soul Train (1971–2008)
• Superstars (UK) (1973–1985, 2003–2005)
• Tattletales (1974–1978, 1982–1984)
• The Benny Hill Show (UK) (1969–1989)
• The Bionic Woman (1976–1978)
• The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978)
• The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978)
• The Doctors (1963–1982)
• The Edge of Night (1956–1984)
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983)
• The Guiding Light (1952–2009)
• The Late Late Show, Ireland (1962–present)
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982)
• The Mike Douglas Show (1961–1981)
• The Money Programme (UK) (1966–present)
• The Price Is Right (1972–present)
• The Rockford Files (1974–1980)
• The Six Million Dollar Man (1973–1978)
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present)
• The Today Show (1952–present)
• The Tomorrow Show (1973–1982)
• The Tonight Show (1954–present)
• The Waltons (1972–1981)
• The Wonderful World of Disney (1954–present; 1969–79 with this title)
• The Young and the Restless (1973–present)
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003)
• Tiswas (UK) (1974–1982)
• Tom and Jerry (1965–1972, 1975–1977, 1980–1982)
• Top of the Pops, UK (1964–2006)
• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–present)
• Wide World of Sports (1961–1997)
• Wish You Were Here...? (UK) (1974–present)
• World of Sport, UK (1965–1985)
• Z-Cars, UK (1962–1978)

Debuts

• January 2 – The Sweeney on ITV in the UK (1975–78)
• January 5 -
• January 6
  • Wheel of Fortune on NBC's daytime lineup (1975–89)
  • Blank Check the same day, also on NBC, and lasts 26 weeks
• January 17 – Baretta, starring Robert Blake, on ABC (1975–78)
• January 18 – The Jeffersons, a spinoff of All in the Family, on CBS (1975–85)
• January 23 – Barney Miller on ABC (1975–82)
• January 30 – Archer on NBC (1975)
• February 17 – S.W.A.T. on ABC (1975–76)
• April 4 – The Good Life on BBC1 in the UK (1975–78)
• April 5 – Himitsu Sentai Gorenger on TV Asahi (formerly NET) in Japan (1975–77)
• April 16 – Survivors on BBC1 (1975–77)
• April 21 – Blankety Blanks on ABC's daytime lineup
• May 8 – The Don Lane Show on the Nine Network in Australia (1975–83)
• May 31 – Jim'll Fix It on BBC1 (1975–94)
• June 16 – Spin-Off and Musical Chairs on CBS's daytime lineup
• June 30 – Showoffs on ABC's daytime lineup
• July 7
  • Ryan's Hope on ABC's daytime lineup (1975–89)
  • Rhyme and Reason the same day, also on ABC's daytime lineup
  • The Magnificent Marble Machine, on NBC's daytime lineup, from the same host who brought Blank Check
• September 2 – Runaround on ITV (1975–81)
• September 4
  • The Bobby Vinton Show on CTV in Canada and across the U.S. in syndication (1975–78)
  • Space: 1999 (syndicated 1975–77)
• September 6
  • Hanna-Barbera's The New Tom and Jerry/Grape Ape Show on ABC Saturday Morning (1975–76)
  • Supersonic, a pop music program, on London Weekend Television (1975–77)
  • Funny Farm – (CTV, 1975–80)
• September 8
  • Phyllis, a spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on CBS (1975–77)
  • Match Game PM (1975–82)
  • Give-n-Take on CBS's daytime lineup
• September 9
  • Welcome Back, Kotter on ABC (1975–79)
  • Shades of Greene on Thames Television in the UK (1975–76)
• September 14 – Three for the Road on CBS and ends promptly on November 30
• September 15 – The Fifth Estate on CBC (1975–present)
• September 19 – Fawlty Towers on BBC Two in the UK (1975, 1979)
• September 25 – King of Kensington on CBC (1975–80)
• September 29 – Three for the Money on NBC's daytime lineup and it lasts only nine weeks
• October 1 – Arena on BBC2 in the UK (1975–present)
• October 11 – Saturday Night Live (1975–present)
• November 3 – Good Morning America on ABC with co-anchors David Hartman and Nancy Dussault (1975–present)
• November 16 - Donny & Marie (1976 TV series)
• November 7 – Wonder Woman on ABC (1975–79)
• November 30 – McCoy on NBC (1975–76)
• December 16 – One Day at a Time, produced by Norman Lear, on CBS (1975–84)

Ending this year

Changes of network affiliation

Births

Deaths

Television debuts

• Armand Assante – How to Survive a Marriage
• John Belushi – Saturday Night Live
• Richard Belzer – Saturday Night Live
• Tom Berenger – One Life to Live
• Bill Cobbs – First Ladies Diaries: Rachel Jackson
• Billy Connolly – Play for Today
• Billy Crystal – Keep On Truckin'
• Jeff Goldblum – Columbo
• Patrick Gorman – Ourstory
• John Heard – Valley Forge
• Amy Irving – The Rookies
• Maurice LaMarche – Sidestreet
• Marc McClure – Emergency!
• Bill Murray – Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
• Catherine O'Hara – The Wayne & Shuster Show
• Pete Postlethwaite – Second City Firsts
• Ron Silver – McMillan & Wife
• Sylvester Stallone – Police Story
• Julie Walters – Second City Firsts
• Dianne Wiest – Zalmen: or, the Madness of God
• Tom Wilkinson – 2nd House
• Ray Winstone – You and the World

References

References

1. Parsons, Patrick. (2003). "The Evolution of the Cable-Satellite Distribution System". Broadcast Education Association.
2. (2008-01-14). "54 Facts you probably don't know about Don King". Boxing News 24.
3. Smith, Ronald A.. (2003). "Play-by-Play: Radio, Television, and Big-Time College Sport". Johns Hopkins University Press.
4. (1976). "Karriem Allah". Active Interest Media.
5. (2015-10-21). "Game Changer: How Carlton Fisk's home run altered baseball and TV".
6. Lowitt, Bruce. (1999-11-23). "Rats! Fisk's homer". St. Petersburg Times.
7. "MLB's 20 Greatest Games". MLB.
8. "Tito Ortiz Biography".
9. "Anderson Silva Biography".
10. "CeeLo Green – The Vogue".
11. Brow, Jason. (2021-09-02). "Daffney Unger: 5 Things To Know About Wrestler Who Has Died At Age 46".
12. (2022-10-04). "Liz Truss Fast Facts".
13. "Danny Cooksey".
14. David Hornsby. (April 28, 2012). "I was born 12/1/75. Put that #### in Fred C and stop being a dick.".
15. (2024-03-27). "Trish Stratus".
16. "You and the World: ITV Schools series".