1953 in television

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The year 1953 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1953.

Events

• January 19 – 68% of all US television sets were tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth to little Ricky.
• February 1 –
  • Japanese television begins when JOAK-TV begins broadcasting from Tokyo.
  • General Electric Theater airs for the first time on CBS.
• February 18 – Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
• February 26 – Fulton Sheen, on his program Life Is Worth Living, reads Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, with the names of high-ranking Soviet officials replacing the main characters. At the end of the reading, Sheen intoned that "Stalin must one day meet his judgment". Stalin died one week later.
• March 17 – Patrick Troughton becomes television's first Robin Hood, playing the eponymous folk hero in the first of six half-hour episodes of Robin Hood, shown weekly until April 21 on the BBC Television Service.
• March 25 – CBS concedes victory to RCA in the war over color television standards.
• April 3 – TV Guide is published for the first time, with 10 editions and a circulation of 1,562,000.
• May 25 – KUHT in Houston becomes the first non-commercial educational TV station.
• June 2 – The Coronation of Elizabeth II is televised in the UK. Sales of TV sets rise sharply in the weeks leading up to the event. It is also one of the earliest broadcasts to be deliberately recorded for posterity and still exists in its entirety today.
• July 18 – The Quatermass Experiment, first of the famous Quatermass science-fiction serials by Nigel Kneale, begins its run on the BBC.
• The Tonight Show begins as a local New York variety show.
• August 30 – NBC's Kukla, Fran, and Ollie is the first publicly announced experimental broadcast of a program in RCA compatible color.
• October 18 – A live television adaptation of the Shakespeare play King Lear starring Orson Welles is aired on CBS as part of the Omnibus series.
• October 19 – Arthur Godfrey dismisses Julius La Rosa on the air.
• October 23 – The first television station in the Philippines, DZAQ-TV of Alto Broadcasting System begins broadcasting.
• November 22 – RCA airs (with special permission from the FCC) the first commercial color program in compatible color, the The Colgate Comedy Hour with Donald O'Connor.
• December 2 – BBC broadcasts its 'Television Symbol' for the first time, the first animated television presentation symbol.
• December 17 – The FCC reverses its 1951 decision and approves the RCA/NTSC color system.
• December 24 – NBC's crime drama Dragnet becomes the first network-sponsored television program.

Debuts

• February 10 – Romper Room premieres (1953–1994).
• July 20 – The Good Old Days begins on BBC Television (1953–1983).
• August 18 - Judge for Yourself with Fred Allen begins on NBC (1953–1954).
• September 29 – Make Room For Daddy, a comedy featuring Danny Thomas, premieres on CBS (1953–1964).
• September – The Dennis Day Show starring Dennis Day, premieres on NBC (1953–1954); it was known the previous year as The RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day.
• October 2 – The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, an anthology series, The Comeback Story, a reality show, and The Pride of the Family, a situation comedy, all premiere on ABC.
• October 5 – Of Many Things, panel discussion show with Dr. Bergen Evans, premieres on ABC (1953–1954).
• October 8 – Where's Raymond?, starring Ray Bolger with Allyn Joslyn, Betty Lynn, and Sylvia Lewis premieres on ABC. In the second season it was known as The Ray Milland Show (1953–1955).
• November 11 – The current affairs series Panorama launches on BBC Television. It is now the longest-running program on British television.
• November 11 - The public affairs series Answers for Americans began a brief run on ABC.
• December 1 – CBC Theatre begins on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is later known as General Motors Theatre (1954–1956) and General Motors Presents (1958–1961).
• Jukebox Jury premieres on ABC (1953–1954).
• Place the Face, with principal host Bill Cullen, premieres on CBS (1953–1954) and is then transferred to NBC (1954–1955).

Television series

listed by starting year

• Muffin the Mule (1946–1955)
• Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960)
• Author Meets the Critics (1947–1954).
• Juvenile Jury (1947–1954).
• Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947–1957).
• Howdy Doody (1947–1960)
• Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958)
• Meet the Press (1947–present)
• Candid Camera (1948–present)
• Television Newsreel (UK) (1948–1954)
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971)
• The Texaco Star Theater (1948–1953); the show was renamed Buick-Berle Show this year (1953–1954)
• Bozo the Clown (1949–present).
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
• Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954)
• The Goldbergs (1949–1955)
• The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963)
• Hawkins Falls (1950, 1951–1955))
• Cisco Kid (1950–1956)
• The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
• The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965)
• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
• What's My Line (1950–1967)
• Your Hit Parade (1950–1959)
• Your Show of Shows (1950–1954)
• Dragnet (1951–1959)
• I Love Lucy (1951–1960)
• Love of Life (1951–1980)
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present).
• The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957)
• American Bandstand (1952–1989)
• Life is Worth Living (1952–1957)
• My Little Margie (1952–1955)
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966)
• Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)
• Death Valley Days (1952–1975)
• The Guiding Light (1952–present)
• Hockey Night in Canada (1952–present)
• Life with Elizabeth (1952–1955)
• The Today Show (1952–present)
• This Is Your Life (U.S.; 1952–1961)
• Omnibus (1952–1961)

Ending this year

• March 26 - Biff Baker, U.S.A. (1952-1953)
• May 3 – Victory at Sea (1952–1953).
• June 26 – Kaleidoscope (UK) (1946–1953).
• December 26 - Bonino (1953)
• Café Continental (UK) (1947–1953).
• The Amos 'n Andy Show (1951–1953).
• The Ernie Kovacs Show (1952–1953).
• Leave It to Larry (1952-1953).

Births

• January 5 – Pamela Sue Martin, actress.
• February 9 – Ciarán Hinds, Irish actor
• February 11 – Philip Anglim, actor.
• February 12 – Joanna Kerns, actress.
• March 4 – Kay Lenz, actress.
• March 6 – Jacklyn Zeman, actress.
• April 19 – Ruby Wax, American-born comedian
• May 6 – Lynn Whitfield, actress.
• May 16 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
• May 30 – Colm Meaney, Irish actor.
• June 13 – Tim Allen, actor.
• August 11 – Hulk Hogan, wrestler.
• August 16 – Kathie Lee Gifford, singer and actress.
• October 9 – Tony Shalhoub, actor.
• October 27 – Robert Picardo, actor.
• October 31 – Michael J. Anderson, actor.
• November 3 – Dennis Miller, actor and stand-up comedian.
• November 19 – Robert Beltran, actor.
• December 17 – Bill Pullman, actor.
• December 30 - Meredith Vieira, game show host (Millionaire)
• December 31 – James Remar, actor.