1975 in television

For the American TV schedule, see: 1975–76 United States network television schedule.

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The year 1975 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of television-related events which happened that year.

Events

• January 3, 1975
  • 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
  • The ORTF is dislocked into 7 societies: TF1, Antenne 2, FR3, INA, SFP, Radio France & TDF
• January 11 – On All in the Family, a tearful Edith says goodbye to her neighbor, Louise Jefferson as The Jeffersons moved on up to their own sitcom
• March 4 – The first People's Choice Awards presentation on CBS
• March 18 – McLean Stevenson's character dies in the M*A*S*H episode "Abyssinia, Henry", its third season finale
• April 3 – Meg Richardson (Noele Gordon) marries Hugh Mortimer (John Bentley) on the soap opera Crossroads
• 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 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 was disparagingly called "T&A" or "Jiggle television")
• September 5 – A bomb explodes in the wine bar/delicatessen on Number 96, in an attempt to shake up the cast and earn back lost viewers
• September 8
  • 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 is now CBS-owned WWJ-TV)
• September 30 – The Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier title fight from the Philippines (the "Thrilla in Manila") is sent via satellite to the U. S. and shown on HBO
• 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 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 premiered in 1976)
• November 10 – The Guiding Light 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

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)
• M*A*S*H (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 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)
• 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)
• 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
• July 7 – Ryan's Hope on ABC's daytime lineup (1975–89)
• 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)
• 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 19 – Fawlty Towers on BBC Two in the UK (1975, 1979)
• September 25 – King of Kensington on CBC (1975–80)
• September – The Fifth Estate on CBC (1975–present)
• October 1 – Arena on BBC2 in the UK (1975–present)
• October 11 – NBC's Saturday Night (later changed to Saturday Night Live) with host George Carlin and guest Andy Kaufman (1975–present)
• November 3 – Good Morning America on ABC with co-anchors David Hartman and Nancy Dussault (1975–present)
• 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

Date	Show	Debut
January 3	Jeopardy! (returned in 1984)	1964
January 4	Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers	1974
January 16	Ironside	1967
March 7	The Odd Couple	1970
March 28	Ultraman Leo (Japan)	1974
March 31	Gunsmoke	1955
April 13	Mannix	1967
April 18	How to Survive a Marriage	1974
April 26	Kung Fu	1972
May 20	Adam-12	1968
June 13	Now You See It (returned in 1989)	1974
	The Joker's Wild (returned in 1977)	1972
June 27	Split Second (returned in 1986)
	Password (returned in 1979 as Password Plus)	1961
August 1	Death Valley Days	1952
September 5	What's My Line?	1950

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
The Edge of Night	CBS	ABC

Births

Date	Name	Notability
January 29	Sara Gilbert	Actress (Roseanne)
February 22	Drew Barrymore	Actress and producer (youngest host of Saturday Night Live)
March 7	Audrey Marie Anderson	Actress (Once and Again, The Unit, Arrow)
March 15	Eva Longoria	Actress (Desperate Housewives)
March 22	Guillermo Diaz	Actor (Weeds)
March 27	Fergie	Actress and singer (Kids Incorporated, The Black Eyed Peas)
April 6	Zach Braff	Actor (Scrubs)
April 14	Amy Birnbaum	Voice Actress (Pokémon, Sonic X, Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Magical DoReMi,Yu-Gi-Oh!) and singer
April 30	Johnny Galecki	Actor (The Big Bang Theory)
May 3	Christina Hendricks	Actress (Mad Men, Another Period) and singer
May 10	Andrea Anders	Actress (Joey, Better Off Ted)
June 4	Angelina Jolie	Actress (as Gia Carangi in Gia)
June 15	Elizabeth Reaser	Actress (Grey's Anatomy, The Ex List)
June 24	Carla Gallo	Actress (Carnivàle, Bones)
June 27	Tobey Maguire	Actor
July 20	Judy Greer	Actress (Glenn Martin DDS, Two and a Half Men, Archer, Reluctantly Healthy)
August 7	Charlize Theron	Actress (2-time host of Saturday Night Live)
August 18	Kaitlin Olson	Actress (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and singer
August 21	Alicia Witt	Actress and singer (Cybill, Justified)
October 5	Kate Winslet	English Actress (Mildred Pierce)
October 12	Marion Jones	WNBA player
October 16	Kellie Martin	Actress (Life Goes On, Christy, ER)
November 21	Cherie Johnson	Actress (Punky Brewster)
December 10	Emmanuelle Chriqui	Canadian actress (Entourage, Cleaners)
December 12	Mayim Bialik	Actress (Blossom, The Big Bang Theory) and singer
December 17	Milla Jovovich	Actress
December 27	Heather O'Rourke	Actress (Happy Days; d. 1988)
December 30	Tiger Woods	Pro golfer

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Notability
January 24	Larry Fine	72	American comic actor (Three Stooges)
May 4	Moe Howard	77
June 28	Rod Serling	50	Television writer and creator of The Twilight Zone (1959–64) and Night Gallery (1969–73)

See also

• Family Viewing Hour