| Date | Event |
|---|
| January 1 | The season finale of the originalTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series airs insyndication with "Shredder & Splintered". The series will return for asecond season in fall. |
| Australia Live, a 4-hour TV special aboutAustralia's Bicentennial, airs onA&E. |
| NBCbroadcasts theRose Bowl Game for thefinal time, ending a 37-year partnership.ABC Sports picked up rights to broadcast the gamethe following year. |
| January 3 | WFYF inWatertown, New York begins broadcasting, giving the Watertown market its first full-timeABC affiliate. |
| January 4 | Nick Jr. begins as a block ofNickelodeon programming for younger children. |
| Blackout, hosted byBob Goen, premieres onCBS. The game show runs for only thirteen weeks, after whichThe $25,000 Pyramid, the show it replaced, returns to the air on April 4 while CBS develops a revival ofFamily Feud. |
| January 8 | TheABC sitcomI Married Dora had lowratings and was canceled halfway into its only season. The final episode ended with a scene, known as "breaking thefourth wall," that ranked number 49 onTV Land's list ofThe 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments. The cameras pulled back to show the entire stage as the cast and crew waved goodbye and performedcurtain calls. |
| January 16 | Due to comments he made about breeding practices during slavery leading to blacks becoming superior athletes,CBS firesJimmy "The Greek" Snyder, who had been a regular onNFL Today since1976. |
| January 22 | KYMA inYuma, Arizona signs-on the air, returningABC programming to the Yuma market for the first time sinceKECY-TV dropped its affiliation to rejoinCBS in 1985. |
| January 24 | The inauguralRoyal Rumble event airs live on theUSA Network. Themain event sawThe Islanders defeatThe Young Stallions in a 2 out of 3 falls match. Thetitular match was won by"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. |
| January 25 | During that night's edition of theCBS Evening News; anchorDan Rather enters a nearly 10-minute confrontation withVice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush over what Bush knew about theIran-Contra scandal. |
| January 29 | ThePeanuts musical television specialSnoopy! The Musical, based on themusical comedy of the same name, premiered onCBS. |
| January 31 | Thepilot forThe Wonder Years airs followingABC's coverage ofSuper Bowl XXII. |
| February 5 | WrestlersHulk Hogan andAndré the Giant compete onThe Main Event onNBC, marking the return ofprofessional wrestling to network prime-time for the first time since 1955. |
| February 6 | UK animated television series for childrenCount Duckula (a spinoff ofDanger Mouse) begins onNickelodeon prior to airing in its homeland which will start on September 6 of the same year. |
| The writers ofThe Facts of Life create a controversialstoryline in which Natalie (Mindy Cohn) becomes the first of the girls to lose hervirginity.Lisa Whelchel (Blair) refused this particular storyline that would have made her character, not Natalie, the first among the four young women in the show to lose her virginity. Having become aChristian when she was 10, Whelchel refused because of her religious convictions. Whelchel appeared in every episode but asked to be written out of "The First Time".[1] The episode ran a parental advisory before starting and placed 22nd in the ratings for the week.[2] |
| February 13 | ABC broadcasts the Opening Ceremonies for theWinter Olympic Games fromCalgary. This is ABC's tenth and final Olympic Games that they would broadcast to date. |
| February 21 | TelevangelistJimmy Swaggart, involved with a sex scandal, admits to being with prostitutes and temporarily ends his television ministry. |
| February 22 | TheNickelodeon game showDouble Dare begins its third season, airing simultaneously on Nickelodeon andFox affiliates. Besides the presence of a new network, another big change was the stage left team now wearing blue (the stage right team would continue to wear red) so viewers and crew members could tell the teams apart more easily. Previously, both teams wore red. |
| February 23 | FutureGrammy Award-winningrecording artistLauryn Hill (The Fugees frontwoman) makes her television debut onShowtime at the Apollo as a contestant ofAmateur Night, where the 13-year-old Hill performed "Who's Lovin' You" byMotown Records singerSmokey Robinson, and gets booed by the audience. |
| February 25 | Totally Minnie, a 45-minute live-action/animated special, premiers onNBC. This marks the first timeRussi Taylor voicedMinnie Mouse. |
| February 26 | Tom Hardy marriesSimone Ravelle on theABC soap operaGeneral Hospital, the first interracial wedding on American daytime television. |
| February 29 | CBS airs aspecial (produced byLorne Michaels and hosted byDana Carvey) celebrating the 50th anniversary of comic book superheroSuperman'sdebut. Later in September of this same year, CBS will begin airing aRuby-Spears producedSuperman animated series, which will ultimately last for a single, 13 episode long season. |
| March 2 | Michael Jackson performs a live, extended version of the song "Man in the Mirror" at the30th Annual Grammy Awards onCBS, havingSiedah Garrett,the Winans, and theAndraé Crouch choir perform with him. |
| March 18 | In what would turn out to be her final television appearance,Gilda Radnerguest stars onShowtime'sIt's Garry Shandling's Show. |
| March 19 | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" experiences a surge of popularity caused by television commercials featuringclaymation raisin figures.The California Raisins' version of the song peaks at No. 84 on theBillboard Hot 100. |
| March 20 | Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, the fifth installment of theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast insyndication. |
| March 27 | The first edition ofClash of the Champions airs onTBS oppositeWrestleMania IV onpay-per-view. Themain event would beRic Flair andSting wrestling to a time limit draw. |
| April 3 | InJacksonville, Florida,NBC affiliateWJKS (nowCW affiliateWCWJ) andABC affiliateWTLV swap affiliations,[3] reversing a swap that took place in 1980.[4] NBC will later dub this swap one of its most successful affiliation switches ever. |
| April 4 | James Brown appears onCNN after allegedly assaulting his wife with a lead pipe and shooting at her car. During the interview withSonya Friedman, Brown shouted song titles of his own songs instead of answering questions. |
| April 8 | Ana Alicia's character,Melissa Agretti, dies in a house fire on theCBS dramaFalcon Crest. |
| April 11 | WYED-TV, anindependent station, serving bothGoldsboro,Raleigh,Durham andFayetteville launches. |
| Fox affiliateWVAH-TV moves to channel 11, one of the last remaining channel allocations in the U.S., from UHF channel 23.[5] |
| April 13 | Geraldo Rivera's live specialMurder: Live from Death Row is broadcast in syndication; a highlight is Rivera's pre-taped interview withCharles Manson. |
| April 18 | The Disney Channel celebrates its fifth anniversary. |
| Nickelodeon debuts thefirstKids Choice Awards ceremony. |
| April 25 | LieutenantTasha Yar is killed off inan episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generation after actressDenise Crosby asked to be released from her contract. |
| May 1 | Magnum, P.I. broadcasts its2-hour series finale onCBS. |
| May 6 | The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, the sixth installment of theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast insyndication as part of the 30th anniversary of the characterHuckleberry Hound. This film marks the final timeDaws Butler voiced Huck,Quick Draw McGraw andBaba Looey,Snagglepuss,Hokey Wolf, andPeter Potamus, as he died two and a half weeks after its telecast from a heart attack. |
| May 7 | Theseries finale ofThe Facts of Life airs onNBC. In the two-part episode,Blair buys Eastland to prevent its closing. Blair finds that the school is in such dire financial straits that she is forced to make the school co-ed. Blair then essentially adopts the Mrs. Garrett role as she presides over the school and is forced to deal with the trouble-making students in a plot line that is highly reminiscent of the season two premiere. The new Eastland students includedSeth Green,Mayim Bialik, futureOscar-nomineeJuliette Lewis, andMeredith Scott Lynn. |
| May 13 | In the season finale of theCBS dramaDallas, characterJ.R. Ewing pushes over the railing of his high-rise office building the character Nicholas Pierce, andSue Ellen is so enraged that she fires three shots at Ewing. |
| May 15 | Beverly Hills Cop makes its broadcast network television debut onABC. |
| May 18 | The Late Show onFox hosts a reunion of the entire cast ofGilligan's Island. This would prove to be the last time that all of the regular cast members appeared together asJim Backus, who was suffering fromParkinson's disease at the time, died the following year. |
| May 18–26 | TheStanley Cup Finals between theEdmonton Oilers andBoston Bruins is broadcast onESPN. This was the final year under ESPN national three-year deal with theNational Hockey League. Under the U.S. TV contracts that would take effect beginningnext season,SportsChannel America would take over as the NHL's American television partner. ESPN's coverage of the 1988 Cup Finals is blacked out locally in the Boston area due toWSBK andNESN'slocal rights to Bruins games. |
| May 22 | NBC broadcastsThe Incredible Hulk Returns, a continuation of theTV series that aired onCBS from 1978 to 1982. The film also serves as abackdoor pilot for a potential series centering on theMarvel Comics superheroThor. |
| May 24 | CBS wins the broadcasting rights to the1992 Winter Olympics after bidding around $243 million. |
| May 28 | Theseries finale ofNBC'sSt. Elsewhere reveals that the entire series was the product of anautistic boy's imagination. |
| May 30 | After rejecting an offer to joinCBS News,Peter Mansbridge replacesKnowlton Nash as anchorman ofCBC Television's seriesThe National. |
| June 4 | TheUniversal Pictures Debut Network broadcasts a special edition of the 1984 filmDune[6] as a two-night event, with additional footage not included in the film's original release.[7] This version totalled at 186 minutes, including a "What happened last night" recap and second credit roll. DirectorDavid Lynch disavowed this version and had his name removed from the credits,Alan Smithee being credited instead. |
| June 14 | TheCBS soap operaThe Young and the Restless tops the daytime ratings (deposing longtime winnerGeneral Hospital).[8] |
| June 21 | Game 7 of theNBA Finals between theLos Angeles Lakers and theDetroit Pistons airs onCBS. With a 21.2rating / 37 share, it would prove to be thehighest-rated NBA game in the 17 years that CBSbroadcast the NBA (1973-1990). It's also the only NBA game that scored more than 20 ratings points for the network. |
| July 4 | Three years after its cancellation byABC,CBS resurrectsFamily Feud for its daytime lineup, featuring new hostRay Combs. A syndicated nighttime version would premiere later in the autumn. |
| July 11 | The day before theMajor League Baseball All-Star Game fromCincinnati,TBS televised the annual All-Star Gala[9] from theCincinnati Zoo.Larry King hosted the broadcast withCraig Sager andPete Van Wieren handling interviews. The broadcast's big draw would've been theHome Run Derby, which TBS intended on taping during the afternoon, and later airing it inprime time during the Gala coverage. The Gala coverage also had some canned features such as highlights from previous All-Star Games, a segment onCincinnati's baseball history, a video recap of theseason's first half and, a slow-motion highlight montage set to "This Is the Time" byStyx frontmanDennis DeYoung. Unfortunately, the derby and a skills competition were canceled due to rain. As a result, TBS scrambled to try to fill nearly an hour of now-open airtime. For example, theGatlin Brothers, the event's musical guests, who had already played a full concert, were asked to come back out and play some more. |
| July 12 | TheMajor League Baseball All-Star Game is broadcast onABC. This would be the last time that ABC would televise theMidsummer's Classic until the1995 game fromArlington, Texas. |
| July 14 | The first ever edition of "Shark Week" airs onDiscovery Channel. |
| August 1 | The word "Family" is incorporated into theCBN Cable Network's name to better reflect its programming format,rebranding asThe CBN Family Channel; shortly after the new name was adopted, however, references to CBN within its name began to be excised in on-aircontinuity announcements and print promotions for its programs (with the exception of the initialized reference to its parent ministry featured within its logo), referring to it as simply "The Family Channel". |
| August 9 | As a specialprime time edition of theGame of the Week,NBC broadcasts the first officialnight game atChicago'sWrigley Field between theCubs andNew York Mets. |
| August 27 | Fox affiliateWWPC-TV inAltoona, Pennsylvania (a satellite ofWWCP-TV inJohnstown) breaks from its simulcast with WWCP-TV to become anABC affiliate, returning ABC to Altoona/State College (and giving Johnstown its first full-time ABC affiliate) after Altoona/State College's previous ABC affiliate WOPC-TV went dark in 1982. |
| August 29 | Some of the stations in marketsWAXA inGreenville, South Carolina,KMSP inMinneapolis/St. Paul, andKPTV inPortland, Oregon leftFox due to disappointments with the weak network's offerings. The replacement affiliates wereWHNS in Greenville, South Carolina,WFTC in Minneapolis/St. Paul, andKPDX in Portland, Oregon. In addition,WTOG already quitted Fox on August 8, withWFTS being the network's new affiliate inTampa Bay, Florida.[10] |
| August 29 | The World Wrestling Federation (nowWWE) telecasts theinauguralSummerSlam event onpay-per-view. |
| September 2 | Dick Clark hosts his final episode of the game showPyramid, ending his 15-year run as host of the program. Clark would make guest appearances on both the 1991 revival hosted byJohn Davidson and the 2002 revival hosted byDonny Osmond. |
| September 5 | WABC'sThe Morning Show makes its nationalsyndication debut under its new titleLive with Regis and Kathie Lee. |
| September 10 | InKnoxville, Tennessee,CBS affiliateWBIR-TV swaps affiliations withNBC affiliateWTVK in time forNBC Sports' coverage of the1988 Summer Olympic Games. Shortly after the switch, WTVK moves to channel 8, one of the last remaining VHF channel allocations in the U.S., and becomes WKXT-TV (nowWVLT-TV).[11] |
| September 18 | Rockin' with Judy Jetson, the seventh installment of theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series, is broadcast insyndication. This film marks the final timeDaws Butler voiced Elroy Jetson, as it was telecast posthumously. |
| September 25 | George H. W. Bush andMichael Dukakis participate in the first of the1988 presidential debates.[12] |
| September 28 | Univision broadcasts the final of the11th National OTI Festival live from theFontainebleau Hilton Hotel inMiami Beach. |
| October 3 | TNT, the fourth cable network owned byTurner Broadcasting, commences programming with a broadcast of the movieGone with the Wind. |
| The Bonus Round inWheel of Fortune now adopts aThree-and-a-vowel format, which was used till this day, with letters "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" and "E" provided immediately, and the time limit was reduced from 15 seconds to 10. |
| October 4 | As didCher, actressShirley MacLaine callsDavid Letterman an "asshole" during a taping of theNBC talk showLate Night. |
| As part of atelevision special hosted byPatrick Stewart, calledThe Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next, the first pilot episode ofStar Trek: The Original Series, called"The Cage" is broadcast in its entirety for the first time. In some markets, the airing of this special was delayed until October 15, 1988. Prior to this, footage of "The Cage" was incorporated into theSeason 1 two-parter episode"The Menagerie". |
| ABC under the guidance of new executive producerGeoffrey Mason,[13] debuts fatter and wider graphics that gave off a cleaner, sharper look complete with a black border for theirMajor League Baseballcoverage. ABC also debuts a new energetic,symphonic-pop styled musical theme,[14][15] composed byKurt Bestor,[16] which would become an all-compassing theme of sorts forABC Sports during this time period. |
| October 5 | SenatorsDan Quayle andLloyd Bentsen participate in the 1988 vice presidential debate with the line "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" becoming popular.[17] |
| Game 2 of theNational League Championship Series between theLos Angeles Dodgers andNew York Mets is broadcast onABC. The scheduled start time is approximately 10 p.m.Eastern Time. This is due toABC's prior commitment to broadcasting thevice presidential debate betweenDan Quayle andLloyd Bentsen. This is the latest ever scheduled start for aLeague Championship Seriesbaseball game. |
| October 8 | A youngCountess Vaughn (winner ofStar Search) joins the cast of theNBC comedy227 as Alexandria DeWitt, a young 11-year-old talentedcollege student, whom the Jenkins' have as a houseguest for a year. |
| October 11 | Turner Broadcasting purchasesJim Crockett Promotions and subsequently rebrands it asWorld Championship Wrestling. The sale would be completed on November 2, 1988. Three days later, onNWA World Championship Wrestling,"Nature Boy" Ric Flair cut a promo and pointed out a large group of Turner executives in the crowd. This was a subtle nod toTed Turner purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions. |
| October 13 | Bernard Shaw ofCNN asksMichael Dukakis duringthe second presidential debate a question abouthis wife and thedeath penalty that garners controversy.[18] |
| October 15 | Kirk Gibson hits his now iconicwalk-off home run off ofDennis Eckersley in Game 1 of theWorld Series between theLos Angeles Dodgers andOakland Athletics.Vin Scully andJoe Garagiola are in the broadcast booth forNBC Sports. During the same game at the second inning, NBC affiliateWMGT-TV inMacon, Georgia was hijacked after a technician spliced ten seconds of coverage with ablack-and-whitepornographic movie.[19] The technician was later fired, and WMGT Production Manager L. A. Sturdivant reported toThe Atlanta Constitution at the hijack was reported as an accident.[20] |
| CBS airs a highly anticipatedcollege football game between theNotre Dame Fighting Irish and theMiami Hurricanes, colloquially known as "Catholics vs. Convicts". |
| October 16 | Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, the eighth installment of theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast insyndication. It is also part of theScooby-Doo animated film series. |
| October 18 | Thepilot episode forRoseanne is broadcast onABC. |
| October 21 | Lori Loughlin makes herfirst appearance asRebecca Donaldson onABC'sFull House. |
| October 27 | The last ofHarding Lemay's "comeback" episodes are broadcast on theNBC soap operaAnother World. In the final minutes of the episode, Australian actressCarmen Duncan assumed the role of the legendarybitch Iris Cory Wheeler, after the role had been vacated for many years byBeverlee McKinsey. |
| November 3 | Talk show hostGeraldo Rivera's nose is broken during a taping ofhis show when a fight begins on the set between guests. The theme of the episode was "Young Hate Mongers," and the fight originated betweenwhite supremacistTom Metzger and liberal activistRoy Innis. |
| Australian-made 1986 cartoon television movie ofKing Solomon's Mines by Warwick Gilbert debuts on American television after multiple weeks of promotion and is one of the most-watched children's television shows of the year.[21] |
| November 10 | Milwaukeetelevision stationWDJT-TV goes on the air. |
| November 12 | Australian-made 1986 cartoon television movie ofKing Solomon's Mines by Warwick Gilbert airs for a second time and is the most watched program for children for the second Saturday in a row.[22] |
| November 13 | Mickey's 60th Birthday, which as the title suggests, was atelevision special produced for the 60th anniversary of theMickey Mouse character, airs onNBC. |
| Back to the Future makes its broadcast network television premiere onNBC. |
| Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, the ninth installment of theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast insyndication. It is also part of theScooby-Doo animated film series. This is also the lastScooby-Doo production to featureScrappy-Doo (who debuted as a character in 1979'sScooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo) as a main protagonist. |
| November 20 | Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, the tenth and final installment of theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series, is broadcast insyndication. This film marks the final timeDaws Butler voicedYogi Bear, as it was telecast posthumously. |
| November 21 | CBS broadcastsInside the Sexes, a documentary produced byThe Body Human'sAlfred R. Kelman that features explicit content about human sexuality (including detailed visuals inside human reproductive organs), which prompts several CBS affiliates to broadcast the program with a parental warning at the beginning of the program, at a later time of the day. Some affiliates canceled their broadcast of the program. |
| November 24 | Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs for thefirst time onKTMA-TV inMinneapolis,Minnesota. |
| December 2 | NBC wins the rights tobroadcast the1992 Summer Olympics fromBarcelona,Spain, bidding over $401 million. |
| December 8 | Tichina Arnold (later ofMartin andEverybody Hates Chris fame) joins the cast of theABC soap operaRyan's Hope for what will prove to be its final season. |
| December 11 | Roots: The Gift, the third installment of theRoots series is broadcast onABC. |
| December 13 | TheAmerican Wrestling Association airs its first and onlypay-per-view card,SuperClash III. |
| December 14 | CBS paysMajor League Baseball approximately US$1.8 billion[23] for exclusive over-the-air television rights for over four years (beginning in1990). CBS paid about $265 million each year[24] for theWorld Series,League Championship Series,All-Star Game, and the SaturdayGame of the Week. CBS replacesABC (which had broadcastMonday and laterThursday night baseball games from1976 to1989) and NBC (which had broadcast Major League Baseball in some shape or form since 1947 and theGame of the Week exclusively since1966) as the national broadcast network television home of Major League Baseball.[25] It was one of the largest agreements[26] (to date) between the sport of baseball and the business ofbroadcasting. The cost of the deal between CBS and Major League Baseball was about 25% more[27] than in the previous television contract with ABC and NBC.[28] The deal with CBS was also intended to pay each team (26 in1990 and then, 28 by1993) $10 million a year. |
| December 18 | A Very Brady Christmas airs onCBS and with a 25.1rating and a 39 share, becomes the second highest rated television film of the year. Its success would soon lead to the creation of a newBrady Bunch series calledThe Bradys, which only lasts for six episodes. |
| December 26 | CBS'The Young and the Restless becomes the number 1 daytime drama on television, where it remains to this very day.[29] |
