1969 in television

For the American TV schedule, see: 1969–70 United States network television schedule.

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The year 1969 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1969.

Contents

Events

• January 4 – NBC expands the Huntley-Brinkley Report to Saturdays, with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley alternating weeks anchoring the news solo. Later, mediocre ratings prompt NBC to replace the duo with other newsmen, with the broadcast rechristened NBC Saturday News.
• January 13 – Dick York collapses on the set of Bewitched and is rushed to the hospital. He resigns from the show due to health reasons and is replaced by Dick Sargent.
• February 5 – ABC runs the one and only airing of the notorious flop Turn-On.
• February 9 – CBS presents the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, starring Diana Rigg, David Warner, and Helen Mirren.
• February 19 – At exactly 4:31 p.m. at the CBS Studio Center, with Jim Nabors saying the line "How interesting – and did she?", Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. shoots its final scene and completes its run.
• March 29 – Lulu performs "Boom Bang-a-Bang" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 in Madrid, and ends up in a four-way tie for first place, with 18 votes.
• April 4 – CBS bans the Smothers Brothers. Three days later, Walter Cronkite opens the evening newscast by confirming that the Smothers Brothers have been replaced by Hee Haw – effective immediately. But because it takes two months to assemble a typical Hee-Haw segment, CBS has to fill the time period with specials until Hee Haw premieres on June 15.
• April 11 – Rome, as only he could see it, is presented in Fellini, a Director's Notebook, an NBC special.
• April 13 – Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore are reunited for a special, Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman, on CBS.
• June 3 – The science fiction television series Star Trek airs its final new episode after being canceled by NBC. Its subsequent sale into rerun syndication soon after leads to a rise in popularity that transforms Star Trek into one of the century's most successful entertainment franchises.
• June 21 – Patrick Troughton makes his last regular appearance as the Second Doctor in the concluding moments of Episode 10 of the Doctor Who serial The War Games. It also marks the final time that the series was broadcast in black and white.
• July 3 – An elephant called Lulu runs amok on Blue Peter. The clip is subsequently repeated many times, becoming the archetypal British TV "blooper".
• July 20 – A live transmission from the Moon is viewed by 720 million people around the world, with the landing of Apollo 11: at 10:56 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the surface of the Moon, broadcast live.
• July 25 – Senator Edward Kennedy goes on TV to talk about the incident at Chappaquiddick
• August 14 – Roman Polanski goes on TV to give his take on the Tate-LaBianca murders.
• August 18 – CBS pits Merv Griffin against Johnny Carson in the late-night talk-show arena – Carson wins.
• September 1 – TV Globo launches its first news and current-affairs program, Jornal Nacional, running Monday through Saturday.
• September 8 – From now on, all daytime programs on ABC and CBS are in color.
• September 26 – The Brady Bunch premieres on ABC.
• October 5 - The first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is broadcast.
• October 15 - Radio Philippines Network ventured into television broadcasting with the successful launch of the network's flagship station KBS TV Channel 9. Properties and funding for the new TV network partly came from ABS-CBN in the form of its old headquarters along Roxas Boulevard and equipment from Toshiba enabling them to broadcast in color. As a result, on its launch it was named Accucolor 9 ("Accucolor" is the name of the color technology used) as the first Philippine television network to launch in full color.
• October 18 – The Jackson 5 make their national television debut on The Hollywood Palace.
• October 24 - After much experimentation, Televisión Nacional de Chile begins broadcasting over a network of 16 TV stations scattered all over Chile.
• November 10 - Sesame Street makes its debut on NET (later PBS) (1969-present).
• November 12 – The animated special Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert, based on Bill Cosby's stand-up comedy, airs on NBC (it would be the inspiration for the later Saturday-morning cartoon, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids).
• November 13 – Vice-President Spiro Agnew, in a televised speech from Des Moines, Iowa, stirs up a national controversy by attacking the network news commentaries.
• November 15 – Colour introduced to BBC1 and ITV in the UK.
• November 16 – The Rolling Stones make their final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
• December 2 – In tonight's episode of I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) finally becomes Mrs. Anthony Nelson
• December 12 – The Archies' Sugar Sugar Jingle Jangle Christmas Show airs on CBS. It is not a success.
• December 17 – Tiny Tim gets married on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.

Programs/programmes

• 60 Minutes (1968–present)
• Adam-12 (1968-1975)
• American Bandstand (1952–89)
• Another World (1964–99)
• As the World Turns (1956–2010)
• Bewitched (1964–1972)
• Blue Peter (UK) (1958–present)
• Bonanza (1959–73)
• Bozo the Clown (1949–present)
• Candid Camera (1948–present)
• Captain Kangaroo (1955–84)
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–95)
• Coronation Street (UK) (1960–present)
• Crossroads (UK) (1964–88, 2001–03)
• Dad's Army (UK) (1968–77)
• Daniel Boone (1964–70)
• Dark Shadows (1966–71)
• Dragnet (franchise) (1951-1959, 1967-1970)
• Days of Our Lives (1965–present)
• Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–76)
• Doctor Who (UK) (1963–89, 1996, 2005–present)
• Face the Nation (1954–present)
• Family Affair (1966–71)
• Four Corners (Australia) (1961–present)
• General Hospital (1963–present)
• Get Smart (1965–70)
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964–69)
• Grandstand (UK) (1958–2007)
• Green Acres (1965–71)
• Gunsmoke (1955–75)
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
• Hawaii Five-O (1968–80)
• Here Come the Brides (1968–70)
• Here's Lucy (1968–74)
• Hockey Night in Canada (1952–present)
• Hogan's Heroes (1965–71)
• I Dream of Jeannie (1965–70)
• Ironside (1967–75)
• It's Academic (1961–present)
• Jeopardy! (1964–75, 1984–present)
• Julia (1968–71)
• Kimba the White Lion (1966–67)
• Laugh-In (1968–73)
• Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–73)
• Love of Life (1951–80)
• Magpie (UK) (1968–80)
• Mannix (1967–75)
• Mayberry R.F.D. (a continuation of The Andy Griffith Show, 1960-68), (1968-71)
• Meet the Press (1947–present)
• Mission: Impossible (1966–73)
• Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom (1963–88, 2002–present)
• My Three Sons (1960–72)
• One Life to Live (1968–2012)
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–78)
• Panorama (UK) (1953–present)
• Petticoat Junction (1963–70)
• Play School (1966–present)
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969–70)
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–86)
• Sesame Street (1969–Present)
• Spider-Man (1967–70)
• That Girl (1966–71)
• The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–71)
• The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78)
• The Dean Martin Show (1965–74)
• The Doctors (1963–82)
• The Doris Day Show (1968–73)
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–71)
• The Edge of Night (1956–84)
• The Flying Nun (1967–70)
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–83)
• The Guiding Light (1952–2009)
• The Honeymooners (1952–70)
• The Johnny Cash Show (1969–71)
• The Late Late Show (Ireland) (1962–present)
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–82)
• The Mike Douglas Show (1961–81)
• The Mod Squad (1968–73)
• The Money Programme (UK) (1966–present)
• The Mothers-in-Law (1967–69)
• The Newlywed Game (1966–74)
• The Secret Storm (1954–74)
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present)
• The Today Show (1952–present)
• The Tonight Show (1954–present)
• The Wednesday Play (UK) (1964–70)
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003)
• Tom and Jerry (1965–72, 1975–77, 1980–82)
• Top of the Pops (UK) (1964–2006)
• Truth or Consequences (1950–88)
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961 – July 1971 under this title; has aired regularly since 1954)
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–present)
• World of Sport (UK) (1965–85)
• Z-Cars (UK) (1962–78)

Debuts

• January 3 – Der Kommissar (1969–76) on ZDF in Germany
• February 7 – This Is Tom Jones (1969–71) on ABC
• April 10 - Peanuts (1969-81) on CBS. Initially Axed after 1 Season, replaced by Hee Haw (see below)
• June 7 – The Johnny Cash Show (1969–71) on ABC
• June 15 – Hee Haw (1969–92) on CBS
• June 18 – The Main Chance (1969–75) on ITV
• September 6 – H.R. Pufnstuf (1969–71) on NBC
• September 8 – Where the Heart Is (1969–73) on CBS daytime
• September 11 – Time for Living (1969) on CBC Television
• September 13 –
  • Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969–72), Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (1969-70), and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1969-70) on CBS Saturday Morning
  • The Archie Comedy Hour (1969–70) on CBS Saturday Morning
• September 17 –
  • Room 222 (high school drama series) on ABC (1969–74)
  • The Courtship of Eddie's Father on ABC (1969–72)
• September 20 – Warner Brothers releases the final Looney Tunes animated short of the classic (1929–69) era
• September 21 – Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ITV in the UK
• September 23 – Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–76) on ABC
• September 24 – Medical Center (1969–76) on CBS
• September 26 – The Brady Bunch (1969–74) on ABC
• September 29
  • Bright Promise (1969–72), the latter of the soap operas created by Frank and Doris Hursley, on NBC daytime
  • Love, American Style (1969–74) on ABC
• October 5
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) on BBC1
  • Sazae-san (1969–present) as a kids' comedy on Fuji Television in Japan
• November 8 – NBC airs the pilot episode of Rod Serling's science fiction anthology series Night Gallery, which would be picked up as a regular series for the 1970–71 television season
• November 10 – Sesame Street on National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) (1969–present)
• November 16 – The first episode of Clangers (1969–72) (a British stop motion animated television program for children) is broadcast by the BBC
• November 19 – The Benny Hill Show (1969–89) on Thames Television (UK)
• November 23 – Paul Temple (1969–71) on the BBC

Ending this year

Date	Show	Debut
January 4	Wacky Races (returned in 2017)	1968
February 9	The Saint (UK)	1962
April 13	The Mothers-in-Law	1967
May 2	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	1964
May 14	Do Not Adjust Your Set (UK)	1967
May 21	The Avengers (UK)	1961
June 2	Peyton Place	1964
June 3	Star Trek	1966
June 8	The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour	1967
June 8	Peanuts (Returned in 1973)	1969
September 26	Match Game (Returned in 1973)	1962
December 13	The Banana Splits Adventure Hour	1968

Changes of network affiliation

Show	Moved from	Moved to
Get Smart	NBC	CBS
The Ghost & Mrs. Muir		ABC

Births

Date	Name	Notability
January 1	Mr. Lawrence	American voice actor (voice of Plankton on SpongeBob SquarePants and Filburt on Rocko's Modern Life)
	Morris Chestnut	American actor (Rosewood)
January 7	Rex Lee	American actor (Entourage, Young & Hungry)
January 8	Ami Dolenz	American actress (Ferris Bueller)
January 11	Kyle Richards	American actress (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills)
January 14	Jason Bateman	American actor (The Hogan Family, Arrested Development)
January 15	Kellita Smith	American actress (The Bernie Mac Show)
January 17	Naveen Andrews	American-British actor (Lost)
January 18	Jesse L. Martin	American actor (Law & Order, The Flash)
January 19	Wendy Moniz	American actress (Guiding Light, Nash Bridges, The Guardian)
January 22	Olivia d'Abo	English-American actress (The Wonder Years)
	Guy Fieri	American celebrity chef and game show host
January 27	Patton Oswalt	American comedian and actor (The King of Queens, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
January 28	Kathryn Morris	American actress (Cold Case)
February 1	Brian Krause	American actor (Charmed)
February 6	April Lerman	American actress (Charles in Charge)
February 8	Mary McCormack	American actress (The West Wing, In Plain Sight)
	Karl Wiedergott	American-German actor (The Simpsons)
February 11	Jennifer Aniston	American actress (Rachel on Friends)
February 22	Clinton Kelly	Panamanian-American television host
February 28	Robert Sean Leonard	American actor (House)
March 5	Paul Blackthorne	English actor (Arrow)
March 6	Andrea Elson	American actress (ALF)
	Amy Pietz	American actress (Caroline in the City)
March 10	Paget Brewster	American actress (Criminal Minds)
March 11	Terrence Howard	American actor (Sparks, Empire)
March 15	Kim Raver	American actress (Third Watch, 24, Grey's Anatomy)
March 16	Judah Friedlander	American actor (30 Rock)
March 17	Matthew St. Patrick	American actor (Six Feet Under)
March 19	Connor Trinneer	American actor (Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate Atlantis)
March 23	Kelly Perine	American actor (One on One)
March 27	Kevin Corrigan	American actor (Grounded for Life)
	Pauley Perrette	American actress (NCIS)
April 6	Ari Meyers	American actress (Kate & Allie)
	Paul Rudd	American actor
April 10	Billy Jayne	American actor (Parker Lewis Can't Lose)
April 24	Melinda Clarke	American actress (Days of Our Lives, The O.C., Nikita)
April 29	Paul Adelstein	American actor (Prison Break, Private Practice)
May 3	Amy Ryan	American actress (The Office)
May 10	Judson Mills	American actor (Walker, Texas Ranger)
May 12	Kim Fields	American actress (The Facts of Life, Living Single)
May 16	David Boreanaz	American actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Bones)
	Tracey Gold	American actress (Growing Pains)
May 24	Carl Anthony Payne II	American actor (The Cosby Show, Martin)
May 28	Justin Kirk	American actor (Weeds)
May 29	Anthony Azizi	American actor (Lost)
June 1	Teri Polo	American actress (The Fosters)
June 4	Horatio Sanz	Chilean-born American actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live)
June 7	Kim Rhodes	American actress (As the World Turns, Another World, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)
June 8	David Sutcliffe	Canadian actor (Gilmore Girls)
June 13	Laura Kightlinger	American actress and comedian (Will & Grace, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman)
	Jamie Walters	American actor and singer (Beverly Hills, 90210)
June 27	Ravi Kapoor	English actor (Crossing Jordan)
June 28	Tichina Arnold	American actress (Martin, Everybody Hates Chris)
	Danielle Brisebois	American actress (All in the Family, Archie Bunker's Place) and singer
July 3	Shawnee Smith	American actor (Becker)
July 6	Brian Van Holt	American actor (Cougar Town)
July 7	Cree Summer	American-Canadian actress (A Different World, Tiny Toon Adventures, Codename: Kids Next Door)
July 12	Lisa Nicole Carson	American actress (ER, Ally McBeal)
July 13	Ken Jeong	American actor (Community, Dr. Ken)
July 15	Reggie Hayes	American actor (Girlfriends)
July 20	Josh Holloway	American actor (Lost, Intelligence)
July 21	Godfrey	American actor and comedian (The Mr. Men Show)
July 22	James Arnold Taylor	American voice actor (Drawn Together, Johnny Test, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
July 24	Jennifer Lopez	American actress and singer (In Living Color, American Idol)
July 25	D.B. Woodside	American actor (24)
July 27	Triple H	American WWE wrestler
July 29	Timothy Omundson	American actor (Xena: Warrior Princess, Judging Amy, Psych)
July 30	Simon Baker	American actor and director (The Guardian, The Mentalist)
August 4	Michael DeLuise	American actor (21 Jump Street, seaQuest DSV)
August 17	Donnie Wahlberg	American singer (New Kids on the Block) and actor (Blue Bloods)
August 18	Christian Slater	American actor (Breaking In)
	Edward Norton	American actor
August 19	Matthew Perry	American actor (Chandler on Friends)
August 20	Billy Gardell	American actor and comedian (Mike & Molly)
August 27	Chandra Wilson	American actress (Grey's Anatomy)
August 28	Jack Black	American actor, comedian and singer
	Jason Priestley	Canadian-American actor (Beverly Hills, 90210, Call Me Fitz)
August 31	Jonathan LaPaglia	Australian actor (New York Undercover, Seven Days, The District)
September 6	Trina McGee	American actress (Boy Meets World)
September 7	Diane Farr	American actress (Rescue Me, Numb3rs)
September 17	Matthew Settle	American actor (Band of Brothers, Gossip Girl)
September 20	Victoria Dillard	American actress (Spin City)
September 23	Michelle Thomas	American actress (Family Matters) (d. 1998)
September 27	Sofia Milos	Swiss-born Italian-Greek actress (CSI: Miami)
September 29	Erika Eleniak	American actress and model (Baywatch)
September 30	Silas Weir Mitchell	American actor (Prison Break, Grimm)
October 3	Janel Moloney	American actress (The West Wing)
October 4	Abraham Benrubi	American actor (Parker Lewis Can't Lose, ER)
	Jerry Minor	American actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live, Carpoolers, Brickleberry)
October 8	Jeremy Davies	American actor (Lost)
	Dylan Neal	Canadian actor (The Bold and the Beautiful, Dawson's Creek)
October 10	Wendi McLendon-Covey	American actress (Reno 911!, Rules of Engagement, The Goldbergs)
	Manu Bennett	New Zealand-born actor (Spartacus, Arrow)
October 16	Terri J. Vaughn	American actress (The Steve Harvey Show)
October 19	Trey Parker	American actor and director (South Park)
October 23	Brooke Theiss	American actress (Just the Ten of Us)
October 25	Nika Futterman	American voice actress
November 4	Matthew McConaughey	American actor (True Detective)
November 5	Pat Kilbane	American actor and comedian (Mad TV)
November 10	Ellen Pompeo	American actress (Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy)
November 13	Melissa Hayden	American actress (Guiding Light)
November 19	Erika Alexander	American actress (The Cosby Show, Living Single)
December 9	Allison Smith	American actress (Kate & Allie, The West Wing)
December 19	Kristy Swanson	American actress (Knots Landing, Early Edition)
December 29	Patrick Fischler	American actor (Lost, Mad Men, Southland)

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Notability
January 3	Howard McNear	63	Actor (Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show)
May 27	Jeffrey Hunter	42	Actor (Temple Houston, Star Trek)
August 9	Sharon Tate	26	Actress

External links

• 1969: The Year Everything Changed (Skyhorse, 2009) The definitive history of 1969 in American society and culture