1954 in television
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The year 1954 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1954.
Events
[edit]- January 1 – NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade from Pasadena, California in NTSC color. The broadcast uses a new mobile color TV studio (truck) and the program is carried across the continent on 21 stations. RCA strategically places Color TV sets in public viewing areas such as hotel lobbies because the first sets only become available to the public in the spring.
- January 3 – Programma Nazionale began transmissions in Italy, making it the first TV network in Italian television.
- January 5 – WAYS-TV, predecessor of WCCB, signed on the air. It was North Carolina's second UHF station (after WNAO-TV in Raleigh), as well as the second television station in the Charlotte market.
- January 10 – CBMT opens in Montreal, making that city the first in Canada to have 2 stations operating. The new station uses the English language, leaving CBFT to continue entirely in French.
- January 11 – The first weather forecast with an in-vision presenter is televised in the UK.
- January 12 – Experimental television begins in Norway.
- February 28 – Telma became the first television station in Morocco. It was closed down after 15 months on the air and was left without an official TV station until 1962.
- March 28 – WKAQ-TV became the first television station in Puerto Rico.
- April – The American Broadcasting Company broadcasts the Army-McCarthy hearings live and in their entirety.
- May 1
- WAPA-TV becomes the second television station in Puerto Rico.
- Télévision suisse romande TSR is launched as the first Italian broadcaster in Switzerland.
- May 17–23 – One week (the so-called "Sandrewsveckan" or "Sandrews week") of experimental television broadcasts are aired in Sweden, the first such programs in the country.
- June 5 – The last new episode of the comic variety program, Your Show of Shows, airs.
- June 6 – The Eurovision network makes its first official transmission: it broadcasts the Narcissus Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, followed by an evening program from Rome, including a tour of the Vatican City, an address from Pope Pius XII and an apostolic blessing.[1][2]
- June 13 – Canal Nacional, predecessor of Canal 1, launched as the first Colombian television station.
- July 5 – First actual news bulletin, News and Newsreel, aired on BBC Television, replacing Television Newsreel.
- September 11 – The Miss America Beauty Contest airs for the first time on national television in the United States. 27 million viewers watched as Lee Ann Meriwether wins the title. Meriwether would later become a television actress, co-starring in Barnaby Jones (1973–1980).
- September 16 – CBET-DT began transmissions as CKLW-TV at 2:50 p.m., it was the first television station in Windsor.
- September 26 – WCAX-TV signs on the air as WMVT, making it the first television station in Vermont.
- October 2 – The Jimmy Durante Show premieres on NBC (1954–1956).
- October 29 – Sveriges Radio begins broadcasting TV in Sweden and apart from news and a weather forecast, the first Swedish TV programme is "En skål för televisionen" ("A Toast to Television") led by Lennart Hyland. For the first few months (until spring 1955), Swedish TV is broadcast one evening a week and for about an hour each time.
- November 3 – Disney's Alice in Wonderland airs on ABC in the United States.
- November 6 – LTV began broadcasting for the first time in Latvia and the oldest in the Baltic countries.
- November 19 – Télé Monte-Carlo launched in Monaco, the first microstate to have a television network.
- December 12 – BBC Television broadcasts its famous, and controversial, adaptation of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.[3]
- The Television Act 1954 authorises setting up the infrastructure for British commercial television.
- The British Academy Television Awards, the most prestigious awards of the British television industry, are first awarded.
- The RCA CT-100 and Westinghouse 15" color sets hit the market. Neither are big sellers.
Programs/programmes
[edit]Series on the air in 1954
[edit]- Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)
- American Bandstand (1952–1989)
- Bozo the Clown (1949–present)
- Buick-Berle Show (1953–1954); the show was renamed The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967) this year
- Candid Camera (1948–2014)
- Cavalcade of America (1952-1957)
- Cisco Kid (1950–1956)
- The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1955)
- Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
- Death Valley Days (1952–1975)
- Dragnet (1951–1959)
- General Motors Theatre (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
- Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960)
- Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
- Hawkins Falls (1950, 1951–1955)
- Hockey Night in Canada (1952–present)
- Howdy Doody (1947–1960)
- I Love Lucy (1951–1960)
- Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958)
- Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947–1957)
- Life is Worth Living (1952–1957)
- Life with Elizabeth (1952–1955)
- Love of Life (1951–1980)
- Meet the Press (1947–present)
- Muffin the Mule (1946–1955)[4]
- My Little Margie (1952–1955)
- Our Miss Brooks (1952-1956)
- Panorama (UK) (1953–present)
- Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
- Sky King (1951-1962)
- The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966)
- The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1955)
- The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971)[5]
- The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
- The Goldbergs (1949–1955)
- The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983)
- The Guiding Light (1952–2009)
- The Jack Benny Program (1950–1965)
- The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957)
- The Today Show (1952–present)
- The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963)
- This Is Your Life (US) (1952–1961)
- Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
- What's My Line (1950–1967)
- Where's Raymond? or The Ray Bolger Show (1953–1955)
- Your Hit Parade (1950–1959)
Debuts
[edit]- January 1 – Annie Oakley (1954–1957)
- January 4 – The Brighter Day (1954–1962)
- January 23 – Stories of the Century (1954–1955)
- February 1 - The Secret Storm (1954–1974)
- March 11 – The Public Defender on CBS (1954–1955)
- April 2 – The Grove Family, on BBC Television (1954–1957); generally considered the first British TV soap opera
- April 8 – Justice on NBC (1954–1956)
- April 18 – The Martha Wright Show on ABC
- April 26 – The Tony Martin Show on NBC
- July 5 - Concerning Miss Marlowe on NBC.
- July 16 - The Best in Mystery on NBC. (1954)
- August 5 – So You Want to Lead a Band on ABC (1954–1955)
- August 28 – The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan on NBC (1954–1955)
- September 7
- Stop the Music premiered for the second time on ABC after a two-year hiatus
- It's a Great Life on NBC (1954–1956)
- September 10 – Dear Phoebe on NBC (1954–1955)
- September 12 – Lassie on CBS (1954–1973)
- September 18 – Willy on CBS (1954–1955)
- September 27 – The Tonight Show on NBC (1954–present)
- October 2
- The Imogene Coca Show on NBC (1954–1955)
- The Jimmy Durante Show on NBC (1954–1956)
- October 3 - Father Knows Best on CBS (1954-60)
- October 5 - The Elgin Hour on ABC (1954-1955)
- October 7 – The Mail Story, subtitled Handle with Care, on ABC (1954)
- October 14 – Flash Gordon (1954–1955), starring Steve Holland
- October 15 – The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin on ABC (1954–1959)
- October 21 – The CBS anthology series, Climax! (1954–1958) airs an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel, Casino Royale, starring Barry Nelson as an Americanized version of spy James Bond; the first dramatic adaptation of a Bond novel
- October 22 - The Jack Carson Show on NBC (1954-1955)
- October 27 – The Walt Disney anthology series debuts as Disneyland (1954–present; as Disneyland 1954–1958)
- November 13 – Fabian of the Yard, the first British TV police procedural, debuts on BBC (1954–1956)
- December 21 – Zoo Quest on BBC Television (1954–1964)
- Face the Nation on CBS (1954–present)
- The Jo Stafford Show, a 15-minute primetime variety series, on CBS (1954–1955)
- The National premieres as The National News on CBC (1954–present)
- That's My Boy on CBS
Ending this year
[edit]| Date | Show | Debut |
|---|---|---|
| January 11 | Of Many Things | 1953 |
| February 5 | The Comeback Story | |
| February 24 | Answers for Americans | |
| March 9 | This Is Show Business | 1949 |
| March 28 | Jukebox Jury | 1953 |
| May 11 | Judge for Yourself | |
| June 5 | Your Show of Shows | 1950 |
| June 17 | Martin Kane, Private Eye | 1949 |
| July 2 | The Pride of the Family | 1953 |
| Television Newsreel (UK) | 1948 | |
| August 1 | Juvenile Jury | 1947 |
| August 2 | The Dennis Day Show | 1953 |
| August 21 | Bank on the Stars | |
| September 3 | The Best in Mystery | 1954 |
| October 3 | The Man Behind the Badge | 1953 |
| October 10 | Author Meets the Critics | 1947 |
| November 20 | The Paul Winchell Show | 1950 |
| December 5 | The Martha Wright Show | 1954 |
| December 26 | Rocky King Detective | 1950 |
| December 30 | The Mail Story | 1947 |
Births
[edit]| Date | Name | Notability |
|---|---|---|
| January 2 | Cynthia Sikes Yorkin | Actress (St. Elsewhere) |
| January 5 | Alex English | NBA basketball player |
| January 6 | Trudie Styler | Actress |
| January 7 | Jodi Long | Actress |
| January 8 | Jerry Vivino | American musician |
| January 12 | Howard Stern | Radio and TV personality (America's Got Talent) |
| January 17 | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | Politician[6] |
| January 19 | Katey Sagal | Actress and singer (Married... with Children, Futurama, Sons of Anarchy) |
| January 24 | William Allen Young | Actor (Moesha) |
| January 27 | Ed Schultz | Talk show host and sportscaster (d. 2018) |
| Adrian Taylor | Producer (d. 2014) | |
| January 28 | Simon Templeman | Actor |
| January 29 | Oprah Winfrey | Actress and talk-show host (The Oprah Winfrey Show) |
| February 1 | Bill Mumy | Actor and musician (Lost in Space) |
| February 2 | Christie Brinkley | Model and actress |
| February 6 | David Hart | Actor (In the Heat of the Night) |
| February 9 | René Balcer | Writer |
| February 15 | Matt Groening | Creator of The Simpsons and Futurama |
| February 17 | Rene Russo | Actress |
| February 18 | John Travolta | Actor (Welcome Back, Kotter) |
| John Mankiewicz | Director | |
| February 20 | Anthony Head | English actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) |
| Patty Hearst | Actress | |
| March 1 | Catherine Bach | Actress (Daisy Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard) |
| Ron Howard | Actor (Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, Richie Cunningham on Happy Days) and director | |
| March 3 | Robert Gossett | Actor |
| March 4 | Catherine O'Hara | Actress |
| March 5 | Marsha Warfield | Actress and comedian (Night Court) |
| Marla Pennington | Actress (Small Wonder) | |
| March 9 | Michele Marsh | Journalist (d. 2017) |
| Martin P. Robinson | Puppeteer | |
| Kevin Wade | Producer | |
| March 12 | Eugene Robinson | Journalist |
| March 13 | Robin Duke | Canadian actress and comedian (Saturday Night Live) |
| March 14 | Adrian Zmed | Actor (T.J. Hooker) |
| March 15 | Craig Wasson | Actor (One Life to Live) |
| March 17 | Lesley-Anne Down | Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful) |
| March 24 | Donna Pescow | Actress and director (Out of This World, Even Stevens) |
| Robert Carradine | Actor (Lizzie McGuire) | |
| March 29 | Dianne Kay | Actress (Eight is Enough) |
| April 3 | Glenn Gordon Caron | Writer |
| April 7 | Jackie Chan | Hong Kong-born Chinese actor, filmmaker, martial artist and stuntman |
| April 9 | Dennis Quaid | Actor |
| April 10 | Peter MacNicol | Actor (Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Numb3rs) |
| Deborah Rush | Actress | |
| April 16 | Ellen Barkin | Actress |
| April 17 | Roddy Piper | Actor (d. 2015) |
| April 18 | Cynthia Ettinger | Actress |
| April 21 | James Morrison | Actor (24) |
| Janet Zarish | Actress | |
| April 28 | John Pankow | Actor (Mad About You, Episodes) |
| April 29 | Jerry Seinfeld | Actor and comedian (Seinfeld) |
| April 30 | Thom Bray | Actor (Riptide) |
| David Bohrman | American news executive (died 2023) | |
| May 8 | Pam Arciero | American voice artist |
| David Keith | American actor | |
| Stephen Furst | American actor (Babylon 5, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, St. Elsewhere) (d. 2017)[7] | |
| May 10 | Mike Hagerty | Actor (d. 2022) |
| May 15 | John Blyth Barrymore | Actor |
| May 18 | Patrick St. Esprit | Actor |
| May 21 | Janice Karman | Actress |
| Jean Kasem | Actress | |
| May 28 | Townsend Coleman | Actor (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Tick) |
| June 2 | Dennis Haysbert | Actor (24, The Unit) |
| June 5 | Nancy Stafford | Actress (Matlock) |
| June 7 | Bobby Di Cicco | Actor |
| June 10 | Rich Hall | Writer |
| June 11 | Greta Van Susteren | Television news anchor |
| June 12 | Ella Joyce | Actress (Roc) |
| June 14 | Kim Lankford | Actress (Knots Landing) |
| Will Patton | Actor | |
| June 15 | Jim Belushi | Actor (According to Jim) |
| June 17 | Mark Linn-Baker | Actor (Larry Appleton on Perfect Strangers) |
| June 22 | Chris Lemmon | Actor (Duet) |
| Freddie Prinze | Actor and comedian (Chico and the Man) (d. 1977) | |
| June 28 | Alice Krige | Actress |
| July 2 | Wendy Schaal | Actress (It's a Living, American Dad!) |
| July 5 | Don Stark | Actor (That '70s Show) |
| Debra McGrath | Actress | |
| July 7 | Ron Jones | Composer |
| July 9 | Kevin O'Leary | Television personality |
| July 10 | Lee David Zlotoff | Producer |
| July 13 | Danitra Vance | Actress and comedian (Saturday Night Live) (d. 1994) |
| July 19 | Mark O'Donnell | Writer (d. 2012) |
| Steve O'Donnell | Writer | |
| July 22 | Dianne Houston | Screenwriter |
| July 28 | Bruce Abbott | Actor |
| Andrew Adelson | Producer | |
| July 29 | Jeannetta Arnette | Actress (Head of the Class) |
| July 30 | Ken Olin | Actor, director and producer (thirtysomething, Brothers & Sisters) |
| July 31 | Rainer Bock | Actor |
| August 2 | Lisa Brown | Actress (d. 2021) |
| August 12 | Sam J. Jones | Actor |
| August 16 | James Cameron | Canadian filmmaker |
| August 20 | Al Roker | American weather presenter |
| August 23 | Marc Vann | Actor (Early Edition, Angel, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) |
| August 30 | Jim Vallely | Writer |
| September 2 | Vance DeGeneres | Actor |
| September 7 | Corbin Bernsen | Actor and director (L.A. Law, Psych) |
| Michael Emerson | Actor (Lost, Person of Interest) | |
| September 8 | Anne Diamond | Television presenter (The Wright Stuff) |
| Joe Cipriano | Voice actor | |
| September 10 | Clark Johnson | Actor (Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire) |
| September 11 | Reed Birney | Actor |
| September 14 | Barry Shabaka Henley | Actor |
| Michael Patrick King | American director, writer, and producer of television and film | |
| September 15 | Barry Shabaka Henley | Actor |
| September 16 | Mark McEwen | TV host |
| September 21 | John Mengatti | Actor (The White Shadow) |
| September 22 | Shari Belafonte | Actress (Hotel), daughter of Harry Belafonte |
| September 29 | Cindy Morgan | Actress (Falcon Crest) (d. 2023) |
| September 30 | Barry Williams | Actor (The Brady Bunch) |
| Patrice Rushen | Singer | |
| October 1 | Richard Schlesinger | Journalist |
| October 2 | Lorraine Bracco | Actress |
| October 3 | Al Sharpton | Civil rights activist |
| October 9 | Scott Bakula | Actor (Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Enterprise, NCIS: New Orleans) |
| John O'Hurley | Actor | |
| October 14 | Elizabeth Sung | Actress (d. 2018) |
| October 15 | Ingrid Tarrant | Wife of Chris Tarrant |
| Jere Burns | Actor | |
| October 18 | Arliss Howard | Actor |
| October 24 | Doug Davidson | Actor (The Young and the Restless) |
| October 26 | D. W. Moffett | Actor (For Your Love, Friday Night Lights, Switched at Birth) |
| James Pickens, Jr. | Actor (The X-Files, Grey's Anatomy) | |
| November 3 | Kathy Kinney | Actress and comedian (The Drew Carey Show) |
| November 6 | Catherine Crier | American journalist |
| November 7 | Gil Junger | Director |
| November 12 | Rhonda Shear | TV personality, actress |
| November 13 | Chris Noth | Actor (Law & Order, Sex and the City, The Good Wife) |
| November 14 | Yanni | Composer |
| November 15 | Kevin S. Bright | Producer |
| November 19 | Kathleen Quinlan | Actress |
| November 23 | Bruce Hornsby | Composer |
| November 24 | Emir Kusturica | Actor |
| November 27 | Patricia McPherson | Actress (Knight Rider) |
| Kimmy Robertson | Actress (Twin Peaks) | |
| November 28 | Marty Grabstein | Actor (Courage the Cowardly Dog) |
| December 1 | Bob Goen | Game show host |
| Alan Dedicoat | English announcer | |
| December 2 | Dan Butler | Actor (Frasier, Hey Arnold!) |
| Patty Petersen | Actress | |
| Stone Phillips | American television reporter | |
| December 4 | Tony Todd | Actor and producer |
| December 7 | Priscilla Barnes | Actress (Three's Company) |
| December 10 | Jeff Fager | American producer |
| December 18 | Ray Liotta | Actor (d. 2022) |
| December 20 | Michael Badalucco | Actor (The Practice) |
| December 26 | Tony Rosato | Actor (Saturday Night Live, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World) (d. 2017) |
| December 28 | Gayle King | Television personality |
| Denzel Washington | Actor (St. Elsewhere, Malcolm X, Training Day) | |
| Lanny Poffo | Actor (d. 2023) |
Deaths
[edit]| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 28 | Bert Lytell | 69 | Actor (One Man's Family, 1949–52, 1954) |
Television debuts
[edit]- Lew Ayres – Omnibus
- Carroll Baker – The Web
- Angie Dickinson – The Colgate Comedy Hour
- Dennis Hopper – Cavalcade of America
- Ruby Keeler – The Jackie Gleason Show
- Jayne Mansfield – Lux Video Theatre
- Ethel Merman – The Colgate Comedy Hour
- Robert Morse – The Secret Storm
- Nell O'Day – Studio One
- Ginger Rogers – Producers' Showcase
- Gilbert Roland – Ford Theatre
- Gena Rowlands – Top Secret
- Harry Dean Stanton – Inner Sanctum
- Adam West – The Philco Television Playhouse
References
[edit]- ^ "50 Years of Eurovision" (PDF). January 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
- ^ "'Eurovision' Bows Ushering in Era". Variety. 1954-06-02. p. 1 – via Archive.org.
- ^ "George Orwell's 1984 broadcast". bbc.com. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "TV star Muffin the Mule turns 60". BBC News. 30 October 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "How Ed Sullivan Brought Culture To America". NPR.org. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ "What to know about Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr". ABC News. September 27, 2023. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "Stephen Furst, who played Flounder in the hit comedy 'Animal House', dies at 63". Washington Post. June 19, 2017. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 25, 2023.