2005 in American television
The following is a list of events affecting American television during 2005. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
Events
January
| Date |
Event |
| 1 |
The U.S. channel package PT East, originally created by the New York, New York, company PrimeTime 24, and used by satellite TV viewers where over-the-air TV is unavailable, changes its ABC affiliate from WKRN-TV (Nashville, Tennessee) to flagship station WABC-TV (New York City). |
| DirecTV deletes the Trio channel from its lineup. The network loses two-thirds of its 20 million viewers, putting in doubt the future of the NBC Universal channel. |
| 2 |
Fox canceled the reality Who's Your Daddy? which had aired after only one episode. |
| 3 |
Craig Ferguson replaces Craig Kilborn as its new CBS The Late Late Show host. He was the first non-US host to have his own late-night talk show. |
| 5 |
The 35th anniversary episode of the series All My Children is broadcast by ABC. The special episode, which used former characters Mark Dalton (Mark LaMura) and Nick Davis (Larry Keith), was also unique in that it was the last appearance of ailing actress Ruth Warrick. She died less than two weeks after the episode was broadcast. |
| 8 |
CBS aired the first episode of the reality series The Will. Ratings for the show are so low, it was canceled after only one episode, following Fox's Who's Your Daddy would've been canceled for a week ago. |
| 17 |
After over 6 years, Big Tigger hosts Rap City: Tha Bassment for the last time. He reveals that his mother has sold the basement and forced him out to live with his father. The following day, the show is retitled as Rap City with Mad Linx taking over as the new host. |
| 22 |
Fox Box, Fox's Saturday morning programming owned by 4Kids Entertainment, is rebranded as 4Kids TV. |
February
March
| Date |
Event |
| 9 |
On the 24th anniversary of his debut, Dan Rather retires as main anchorman of the CBS Evening News and is succeeded by Face the Nation anchor Bob Schieffer on an interim basis. |
| 18 |
G4 broadcasts the final episode of the former TechTV series The Screen Savers; the series was replaced by a new show known as Attack of the Show! the following week. |
| 26 |
After a 16-year hiatus, Doctor Who returns to television in the UK. Around this time efforts are under way to get the cult program a berth on an American network, however Sci-Fi Channel rejects it for the entire first two seasons on its revival run. The following Doctor Who episodes were returned to the air on BBC America in December 2009. |
April
| Date |
Event |
| 1 |
ABC news anchorman Peter Jennings anchors what will turn out to be his final World News Tonight telecast. Four days later, Jennings informs viewers of World News Tonight, via a taped segment, that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer and beginning of chemotherapy. |
| 15 |
PBS Kids celebrates Tax Day with the first two-hour Cyberchase special "Know Your Dough". |
May
| Date |
Event |
| 1 |
Family Guy begins airing new episodes on Fox after three years off the schedule. This return was brought about after the unexpected popularity of the series' cable reruns and DVD releases. |
| 2 |
Hunter Tylo resumes playing for the series The Bold and the Beautiful after her character, Dr. Taylor Forrester, was "killed off" three years ago. The revelation that she was alive surprised many viewers as it had not been hinted by any other sources, print or online. |
| 13 |
The controversial final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise is broadcast in the United States, ending an 18-year, uninterrupted run of four consecutive or concurrent Star Trek series dating back to 1987. |
| 23 |
Tom Cruise appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which made several public pronouncements of his relationship with Katie Holmes, and most notably "the couch incident." |
| 25 |
Carrie Underwood wins season four of the popular singing competition, American Idol. |
June
July
August
September
| Date |
Event |
| 2 |
While presenting for the NBC telecast of Concert for Hurricane Relief, music producer and rapper Kanye West ignored his script and addressed what he perceived as the racism of both the government and of the media, stating: George Bush doesn't care about black people, and called for the media to stop labeling African-American families as "looters" while white families were depicted as "looking for food." |
| 10 |
Naruto marks its North American television debut for the first time on Cartoon Network's Toonami program sequence. |
| 18 |
The 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were given at the Shrine Auditorium by CBS. |
| 20 |
Maggie Ausburn is the winner of the American version of Big Brother 6, and wins the $500,000 prize. Runner-Up Ivette Corredero wins $50,000. |
| 23 |
Nicktoons is rebranded as Nicktoons Network (4 years later Nicktoons rebranded again using the same name). |
| 26 |
Comcast, a joint venture brought PBS to launch on its digital cable and Video-on-demand channel PBS Kids Sprout, a children's non-commercial network spun-off by PBS Kids. |
October
November
December
Programs
Debuts
Returning this year
Ending this year
Changes of network affiliation
Made-for-TV movies
Miniseries
Deaths
| Date | Name | Age | Notability |
| January 19 |
Lamont Bentley |
31 |
Actor (Moesha, The Parkers) |
| January 23 |
Johnny Carson |
79 |
Comedian, host of The Tonight Show |
| March 25 |
Paul Henning |
93 |
Producer (The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Green Acres) |
| April 5 |
Debralee Scott |
52 |
Actress, game show panelist (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Match Game) |
| April 26 |
Mason Adams |
86 |
Actor (Charlie Hume on Lou Grant) |
| May 17 |
Frank Gorshin |
72 |
Actor (The Riddler on Batman) |
| May 21 |
Howard Morris |
85 |
Actor, director (The Andy Griffith Show, Your Show of Shows) |
| May 22 |
Thurl Ravenscroft |
91 |
Actor (Tony the Tiger of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes commercials) |
| May 26 |
Eddie Albert |
99 |
Actor (Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres, Frank MacBride on Switch) |
| June 24 |
Paul Winchell |
82 |
Ventriloquist, actor (The Smurfs, Wacky Races, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) |
| June 25 |
John Fiedler |
80 |
Actor (The Bob Newhart Show, Buffalo Bill) |
| July 20 |
James Doohan |
85 |
Actor (Scotty on original Star Trek) |
| August 7 |
Peter Jennings |
67 |
ABC news anchor |
| August 8 |
Barbara Bel Geddes |
82 |
Actress ("Miss Ellie" on Dallas) |
| August 23 |
Brock Peters |
78 |
Actor |
| September 2 |
Bob Denver |
70 |
Actor (Gilligan on Gilligan's Island and Maynard G. Krebs on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) |
| September 25 |
Don Adams |
82 |
Actor (Get Smart, Tennessee Tuxedo, and Inspector Gadget) |
| October 2 |
Nipsey Russell |
87 |
Actor, comedian and game-show panelist |
| October 6 |
Ray Bumatai |
52 |
Actor |
| October 7 |
Charles Rocket |
56 |
Actor (Saturday Night Live) |
| November 13 |
Eddie Guerrero |
38 |
Professional wrestler and star of WWE SmackDown |
| November 24 |
Pat Morita |
73 |
Actor (Sanford and Son, Happy Days, Ohara) |
| November 29 |
Wendie Jo Sperber |
47 |
Actress (Babes, Bosom Buddies) |
| December 16 |
John Spencer |
58 |
Actor (Leo McGarry on The West Wing and Tommy Mullaney on L.A. Law) |