1988 in American television

The year 1988 in television involved some significant events. This is a list of notable events in the United States.

Events

Date	Event
January 1	The season finale of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series airs in syndication with "Shredder & Splintered". The series will return for a second season in fall.
	Australia Live, a 4-hour TV special about Australia's Bicentennial, airs on A&E.
	NBC broadcasts the Rose Bowl Game for the final time, ending a 37-year partnership. ABC Sports picked up rights to broadcast the game the following year.
January 3	WFYF in Watertown, New York begins broadcasting, giving the Watertown market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
January 4	Nick Jr. begins as a block of Nickelodeon programming for younger children.
	Blackout, hosted by Bob Goen, premieres on CBS. The game show runs for only thirteen weeks, after which The $25,000 Pyramid, the show it replaced, returns to the air on April 4 while CBS develops a revival of Family Feud.
January 8	The ABC sitcom I Married Dora had low ratings and was canceled halfway into its only season. The final episode ended with a scene, known as "breaking the fourth wall," that ranked number 49 on TV Land's list of The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments. The cameras pulled back to show the entire stage as the cast and crew waved goodbye and performed curtain calls.
January 16	Due to comments he made about breeding practices during slavery leading to blacks becoming superior athletes, CBS fires Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, who had been a regular on NFL Today since 1976.
January 22	KYMA in Yuma, Arizona signs-on the air, returning ABC programming to the Yuma market for the first time since KECY-TV dropped its affiliation to rejoin CBS in 1985.
January 24	The inaugural Royal Rumble event airs live on the USA Network. The main event saw The Islanders defeat The Young Stallions in a 2 out of 3 falls match. The titular match was won by "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.
January 25	During that night's edition of the CBS Evening News; anchor Dan Rather enters a nearly 10-minute confrontation with Vice President George H. W. Bush over what Bush knew about the Iran-Contra scandal.
January 29	The Peanuts musical television special Snoopy! The Musical, based on the musical comedy of the same name, premiered on CBS.
January 31	The pilot for The Wonder Years airs following ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII.
February 5	Wrestlers Hulk Hogan and André the Giant compete on The Main Event on NBC, marking the return of professional wrestling to network prime-time for the first time since 1955.
February 6	UK animated television series for children Count Duckula (a spinoff of Danger Mouse) begins on Nickelodeon prior to airing in its homeland which will start on September 6 of the same year.
	The writers of The Facts of Life create a controversial storyline in which Natalie (Mindy Cohn) becomes the first of the girls to lose her virginity. Lisa Whelchel (Blair) refused this particular storyline that would have made her character, not Natalie, the first among the four young women in the show to lose her virginity. Having become a Christian when she was 10, Whelchel refused because of her religious convictions. Whelchel appeared in every episode but asked to be written out of "The First Time". The episode ran a parental advisory before starting and placed 22nd in the ratings for the week.
February 13	ABC broadcasts the Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympic Games from Calgary. This is ABC's tenth and final Olympic Games that they would broadcast to date.
February 21	Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, involved with a sex scandal, admits to being with prostitutes and temporarily ends his television ministry.
February 22	The Nickelodeon game show Double Dare begins its third season, airing simultaneously on Nickelodeon and Fox affiliates. Besides the presence of a new network, another big change was the stage left team now wearing blue (the stage right team would continue to wear red) so viewers and crew members could tell the teams apart more easily. Previously, both teams wore red.
February 23	Future Grammy Award-winning recording artist Lauryn Hill (The Fugees frontwoman) makes her television debut on Showtime at the Apollo as a contestant of Amateur Night, where the 13-year-old Hill performed "Who's Lovin' You" by Motown Records singer Smokey Robinson, and gets booed by the audience.
February 25	Totally Minnie, a 45-minute live-action/animated special, premiers on NBC. This marks the first time Russi Taylor voiced Minnie Mouse.
February 26	Tom Hardy marries Simone Ravelle on the ABC soap opera General Hospital, the first interracial wedding on American daytime television.
March 2	Michael Jackson performs a live, extended version of the song "Man in the Mirror" a 30th Annual Grammy Awards, having Siedah Garrett, the Winans, and the Andraé Crouch choir perform with him.
March 18	In what would turn out to be her final television appearance, Gilda Radner guest stars on It's Garry Shandling's Show.
March 19	"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" experiences a surge of popularity caused by television commercials featuring claymation raisin figures. The California Raisins' version of the song peaks at No. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100.
March 20	Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, the fifth installment of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast in syndication.
March 27	The first edition of Clash of the Champions airs on TBS opposite WrestleMania IV on pay-per-view. The main event would be Ric Flair and Sting wrestling to a time limit draw.
April 3	In Jacksonville, Florida, NBC affiliate WJKS (now CW affiliate WCWJ) and ABC affiliate WTLV swap affiliations, reversing a swap that took place in 1980. NBC will later dub this swap one of its most successful affiliation switches ever.
April 4	James Brown appears on CNN after allegedly assaulting his wife with a lead pipe and shooting at her car. During the interview with Sonya Friedman, Brown shouted song titles of his own songs instead of answering questions.
April 8	Ana Alicia's character, Melissa Agretti, dies in a house fire on the CBS drama Falcon Crest.
April 11	WYED-TV, an independent station, serving both Goldsboro, Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville launches.
	Fox affiliate WVAH-TV moves to channel 11, one of the last remaining channel allocations in the U.S., from UHF channel 23.
April 13	Geraldo Rivera's live special Murder: Live from Death Row is broadcast in syndication; a highlight is Rivera's pre-taped interview with Charles Manson.
April 18	The Disney Channel celebrates its fifth anniversary.
	Nickelodeon debuts the first Kids Choice Awards ceremony.
April 25	Lieutenant Tasha Yar is killed off in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation after actress Denise Crosby asked to be released from her contract.
May 1	Magnum, P.I. broadcasts its 2-hour series finale on CBS.
May 6	The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, the sixth installment of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast in syndication as part of the 30th anniversary of the character Huckleberry Hound. This film marks the final time Daws Butler voiced Huck, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Snagglepuss, Hokey Wolf, and Peter Potamus, as he died two and a half weeks after its telecast from a heart attack.
May 7	The series finale of The Facts of Life airs on NBC. In the two-part episode, Blair buys Eastland to prevent its closing. Blair finds that the school is in such dire financial straits that she is forced to make the school co-ed. Blair then essentially adopts the Mrs. Garrett role as she presides over the school and is forced to deal with the trouble-making students in a plot line that is highly reminiscent of the season two premiere. The new Eastland students included Seth Green, Mayim Bialik, future Oscar-nominee Juliette Lewis, and Meredith Scott Lynn.
May 13	In the season finale of the CBS drama Dallas, character J.R. Ewing pushes over the railing of his high-rise office building the character Nicholas Pierce, and Sue Ellen is so enraged that she fires three shots at Ewing.
May 15	Beverly Hills Cop makes its broadcast network television debut on ABC.
May 18	The Late Show on Fox hosts a reunion of the entire cast of Gilligan's Island. This would prove to be the last time that all of the regular cast members appeared together as Jim Backus, who was suffering from Parkinson's disease at the time, died the following year.
May 22	NBC broadcasts The Incredible Hulk Returns, a continuation of the TV series that aired on CBS from 1978 to 1982.
May 24	CBS wins the broadcasting rights to the 1992 Winter Olympics after bidding around $243 million.
May 28	The series finale of St. Elsewhere reveals that the entire series was the product of an autistic boy's imagination.
May 30	After rejecting an offer to join CBS News, Peter Mansbridge replaces Knowlton Nash as anchorman of CBC Television's series The National.
June 4	The Universal Pictures Debut Network broadcasts a special edition of the 1984 film Dune as a two-night event, with additional footage not included in the film's original release. This version totalled at 186 minutes, including a "What happened last night" recap and second credit roll. Director David Lynch disavowed this version and had his name removed from the credits, Alan Smithee being credited instead.
June 14	The CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless tops the daytime ratings (deposing longtime winner General Hospital).
June 21	Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons airs on CBS. With a 21.2 rating / 37 share, it would prove to be the highest-rated NBA game in the 17 years that CBS broadcast the NBA (1973-1990). It's also the only NBA game that scored more than 20 ratings points for the network.
July 4	Three years after its cancellation by ABC, CBS resurrects Family Feud for its daytime lineup, featuring new host Ray Combs. A syndicated nighttime version would premiere later in the autumn.
July 11	The day before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Cincinnati, TBS televised the annual All-Star Gala from the Cincinnati Zoo. Larry King hosted the broadcast with Craig Sager and Pete Van Wieren handling interviews. The broadcast's big draw would've been the Home Run Derby, which TBS intended on taping during the afternoon, and later airing it in prime time during the Gala coverage. The Gala coverage also had some canned features such as highlights from previous All-Star Games, a segment on Cincinnati's baseball history, a video recap of the season's first half and, a slow-motion highlight montage set to "This Is the Time" by Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung. Unfortunately, the derby and a skills competition were canceled due to rain. As a result, TBS scrambled to try to fill nearly an hour of now-open airtime. For example, the Gatlin Brothers, the event's musical guests, who had already played a full concert, were asked to come back out and play some more.
July 14	The first ever edition of "Shark Week" airs on Discovery Channel.
August 1	The word "Family" is incorporated into the CBN Cable Network's name to better reflect its programming format, rebranding as The CBN Family Channel; shortly after the new name was adopted, however, references to CBN within its name began to be excised in on-air continuity announcements and print promotions for its programs (with the exception of the initialized reference to its parent ministry featured within its logo), referring to it as simply "The Family Channel".
August 9	As a special prime time edition of the Game of the Week, NBC broadcasts the first official night game at Chicago's Wrigley Field between the Cubs and New York Mets.
August 27	Fox affiliate WWPC-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania (a satellite of WWCP-TV in Johnstown) breaks from its simulcast with WWCP-TV to become an ABC affiliate, returning ABC to Altoona/State College (and giving Johnstown its first full-time ABC affiliate) after Altoona/State College's previous ABC affiliate WOPC-TV went dark in 1982.
August 29	Some of the stations in markets WAXA in Greenville, South Carolina, WTOG in Tampa Bay, Florida, KMSP in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and KPTV in Portland, Oregon left Fox due to disappointments with the weak network's offerings. The replacement affiliates were WHNS in Greenville, South Carolina, WFTS in Tampa Bay, Florida, WFTC in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and KPDX in Portland, Oregon.
August 29	The World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) telecasts the inaugural SummerSlam event on pay-per-view.
September 2	Dick Clark hosts his final episode of the game show Pyramid, ending his 15-year run as host of the program. Clark would make guest appearances on both the 1991 revival hosted by John Davidson and the 2002 revival hosted by Donny Osmond.
September 5	WABC's The Morning Show makes its national syndication debut under its new title Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.
September 10	In Knoxville, Tennessee, CBS affiliate WBIR-TV swaps affiliations with NBC affiliate WTVK in time for NBC Sports' coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. Shortly after the switch, WTVK moves to channel 8, one of the last remaining VHF channel allocations in the U.S., and becomes WKXT-TV (now WVLT-TV).
September 18	Rockin' with Judy Jetson, the seventh installment of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series, is broadcast in syndication. This film marks the final time Daws Butler voiced Elroy Jetson, as it was telecast posthumously.
September 25	George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis participate in the first of the 1988 presidential debates.
October 3	TNT, the fourth cable network owned by Turner Broadcasting, commences programming with a broadcast of the movie Gone with the Wind.
	The Bonus Round in Wheel of Fortune now adopts a Three-and-a-vowel format, which was used till this day, with letters "R", "S", "T", "L", "N" and "E" provided immediately, and the time limit was reduced from 15 seconds to 10.
October 4	As did Cher, actress Shirley MacLaine calls David Letterman an "asshole" during a taping of the NBC talk show Late Night.
	As part of a television special hosted by Patrick Stewart, called The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next, the first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, called "The Cage" is broadcast in its entirety for the first time. In some markets, the airing of this special was delayed until October 15, 1988. Prior to this, footage of "The Cage" was incorporated into the Season 1 two-parter episode "The Menagerie".
	ABC under the guidance of new executive producer Geoffrey Mason, debuts fatter and wider graphics that gave off a cleaner, sharper look complete with a black border for their Major League Baseball coverage. ABC also debuts a new energetic, symphonic-pop styled musical theme, composed by Kurt Bestor, which would become an all-compassing theme of sorts for ABC Sports during this time period.
October 5	Senators Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen participate in the 1988 vice presidential debate with the line "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" becoming popular.
	Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets is broadcast on ABC. The scheduled start time is approximately 10 p.m. Eastern Time. This is due to ABC's prior commitment to broadcasting the vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen. This is the latest ever scheduled start for a League Championship Series baseball game.
October 8	A young Countess Vaughn (winner of Star Search) joins the cast of the NBC comedy 227 as Alexandria DeWitt, a young 11-year-old talented college student, whom the Jenkins' have as a houseguest for a year.
October 11	Turner Broadcasting purchases Jim Crockett Promotions and subsequently rebrands it as World Championship Wrestling. The sale would be completed on November 2, 1988. Three days later, on NWA World Championship Wrestling, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair cut a promo and pointed out a large group of Turner executives in the crowd. This was a subtle nod to Ted Turner purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions.
October 13	Bernard Shaw of CNN asks Michael Dukakis during the second presidential debate a question about his wife and the death penalty that garners controversy.
October 15	Kirk Gibson hits his now iconic walk-off home run off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics. Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola are in the broadcast booth for NBC Sports. During the same game at the second inning, NBC affiliate WMGT-TV in Macon, Georgia is hijacked for 10 seconds replacing parts of the second inning with an adult movie. The technician was later fired, and Production Manager L. A. Sturdivant reported to The Atlanta Constitution at the incident was an accident.
	CBS airs a highly anticipated college football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Miami Hurricanes, colloquially known as "Catholics vs. Convicts".
October 16	Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, the eighth installment of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast in syndication. It is also part of the Scooby-Doo animated film series.
October 18	The pilot episode for Roseanne is broadcast on ABC.
October 21	Lori Loughlin makes her first appearance as Rebecca Donaldson on Full House.
October 27	The last of Harding Lemay's "comeback" episodes are broadcast on the NBC soap opera Another World. In the final minutes of the episode, Australian actress Carmen Duncan assumed the role of the legendary bitch Iris Cory Wheeler, after the role had been vacated for many years by Beverlee McKinsey.
November 3	Talk show host Geraldo Rivera's nose is broken during a taping of his show when a fight begins on the set between guests. The theme of the episode was "Young Hate Mongers," and the fight originated between white supremacist Tom Metzger and liberal activist Roy Innis.
	Australian-made 1986 cartoon television movie of King Solomon's Mines by Warwick Gilbert debuts on American television after multiple weeks of promotion and is one of the most-watched children's television shows of the year.
November 10	Milwaukee television station WDJT-TV goes on the air.
November 12	Australian-made 1986 cartoon television movie of King Solomon's Mines by Warwick Gilbert airs for a second time and is the most watched program for children for the second Saturday in a row.
November 13	Mickey's 60th Birthday, which as the title suggests, was a television special produced for the 60th anniversary of the Mickey Mouse character, airs on NBC.
	Back to the Future makes its broadcast network television premiere on NBC.
	Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, the ninth installment of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 telefilm series, is broadcast in syndication. It is also part of the Scooby-Doo animated film series. This also is the last Scooby-Doo production to feature Scrappy-Doo (who debuted as a character in 1979's Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo) as a main protagonist.
November 20	Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, the tenth and final installment of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series, is broadcast in syndication. This film marks the final time Daws Butler voiced Yogi Bear, as it was telecast posthumously.
November 21	CBS broadcasts Inside the Sexes, a documentary produced by The Body Human's Alfred R. Kelman that features explicit content about human sexuality (including detailed visuals inside human reproductive organs), which prompts several CBS affiliates to broadcast the program with a parental warning at the beginning of the program, at a later time of the day. Some affiliates canceled their broadcast of the program.
November 24	Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs for the first time on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
December 2	NBC wins the rights to broadcast the 1992 Summer Olympics from Barcelona, Spain, bidding over $401 million.
December 8	Tichina Arnold (later of Martin and Everybody Hates Chris fame) joins the cast of the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope for what will prove to be its final season.
December 11	Roots: The Gift, the third installment of the Roots series is broadcast on ABC.
December 13	The American Wrestling Association airs its first and only pay-per-view card, SuperClash III.
December 14	CBS pays Major League Baseball approximately US$1.8 billion for exclusive over-the-air television rights for over four years (beginning in 1990). CBS paid about $265 million each year for the World Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the Saturday Game of the Week. CBS replaces ABC (which had broadcast Monday and later Thursday night baseball games from 1976 to 1989) and NBC (which had broadcast Major League Baseball in some shape or form since 1947 and the Game of the Week exclusively since 1966) as the national broadcast network television home of Major League Baseball. It was one of the largest agreements (to date) between the sport of baseball and the business of broadcasting. The cost of the deal between CBS and Major League Baseball was about 25% more than in the previous television contract with ABC and NBC. The deal with CBS was also intended to pay each team (26 in 1990 and then, 28 by 1993) $10 million a year.
December 18	A Very Brady Christmas airs on CBS and with a 25.1 rating and a 39 share, becomes the second highest rated television film of the year. Its success would soon lead to the creation of a new Brady Bunch series called The Bradys, which only lasts for six episodes.
December 26	The Young and the Restless becomes the number 1 daytime drama on television, where it remains to this very day.

Programs

Debuting this year

The following is a list of shows that premiered in 1988.

Date	Title	Network
January 2	High Mountain Rangers	CBS
January 4	Blackout
	The World of David the Gnome	Nick Jr.
January 11	T. and T.	Syndication
January 15	The Thorns	ABC
January 17	The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	The Disney Channel and ABC
January 18	Home	ABC
January 19	48 Hours	CBS
January 31	The Wonder Years	ABC
February 6	Count Duckula	Nickelodeon
February 7	America's Most Wanted	Fox
February 29	Day by Day	NBC
March 6	In the Heat of the Night
	Supercarrier	ABC
March 7	Probe
March 9	Aaron's Way	NBC
March 14	Eisenhower and Lutz	CBS
March 15	Coming of Age
	Trial and Error
March 23	HeartBeat	ABC
April 1	Denver, the Last Dinosaur	Syndication
April 6	Just in Time	ABC
April 26	China Beach
	Just the Ten of Us
May 8	Something Is Out There	NBC
June 13	Blue Skies	CBS
July 1	Don't Just Sit There	Nickelodeon
August 6	Yo! MTV Raps	MTV
August 22	Later with Bob Costas	NBC
August 27	Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers	Disney Channel
September 3	Kids' Court	Nickelodeon
September 5	Fun House	Syndication
	Relatively Speaking
September 10	A Pup Named Scooby-Doo	ABC
	The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil
	ALF Tales	NBC
	Baby Boom
	The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
	Beyond Tomorrow	Fox
	Police Academy	Syndication
September 12	Sweethearts
	USA Today: The Television Series
	Wipeout
September 17	Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop	CBN Family Channel
	Garfield and Friends	CBS
	Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
	Superman
	Fantastic Max	Syndication
September 19	C.O.P.S.	Syndication
October 1	Monsters
October 2	Marvel Action Universe
October 4	The American Experience	PBS
	High Risk	CBS
October 6	Dear John	NBC
October 8	Empty Nest
	Freddy's Nightmares	Syndication
	The Munsters Today
	Superboy
October 10	War of the Worlds
October 15	Capital Gang	CNN
October 18	Roseanne	ABC
October 23	Mission: Impossible	ABC
October 25	Midnight Caller	NBC
October 26	Tattingers
	Annie McGuire	CBS
	The Van Dyke Show
October 27	Paradise
October 29	Dirty Dancing
November 2	Murphy's Law	ABC
November 5	Raising Miranda	CBS
November 11	Knightwatch	ABC
November 14	Murphy Brown	CBS
November 24	Mystery Science Theater 3000	KTMA-TV
November 27	Almost Grown	CBS
November 29	TV 101
November 30	Good Morning, Miss Bliss	Disney Channel

Resuming this year

Title	Final aired	Previous network	Returning network	Date of return
Family Feud	1985	ABC	CBS	July 4
The Gong Show	1980	Syndication	Same	September 12
Gumby	1968	NBC	Syndication	Fall 1988

Changing networks

Show	Moved from	Moved to
Family Feud	ABC	CBS
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh	Disney Channel	ABC
Double Dare	Nickelodeon	Fox/Syndication
Finders Keepers		First-run syndication
Snorks	NBC	USA Network / First-run syndication
Heathcliff	Syndication	Nickelodeon

Entering syndication

A list of programs (current or canceled) that have accumulated enough episodes (between 65 and 100) or seasons (3 or more) to be eligible for off-network syndication and/or basic cable runs.

Show	Seasons
The Cosby Show	4
Kate & Allie	4
Night Court	4

Ending this year

Date	Title	Debut
January 2	Sable	1987
January 8	I Married Dora
January 15	Rags to Riches
February 10	The Law & Harry McGraw
February 11	The Charmings
February 12	Sledge Hammer!	1986
February 13	Mr. President	1987
February 20	Women in Prison
March 8	I'm Telling!
March 22	Frank's Place
March 25	Lingo (returned in 2002)
March 26	9 to 5	1982
	Dennis the Menace	1986
	What's Happening Now!!	1985
March 28	Yogi's Treasure Hunt
March 29	Trial and Error	1988
March 30	We Got It Made	1983
April 1	Blackout	1988
April 9	High Mountain Rangers
April 12	My Sister Sam	1986
April 14	Probe	1988
April 22	Beverly Hills Buntz	1987
May 1	Magnum, P.I. (original series) (Rebooted in 2018)	1980
	Truth or Consequences	1950
May 2	Jem	1985
May 3	Hotel	1983
May 7	The Facts of Life	1979
	Spenser: For Hire	1985
	Ohara	1987
May 6	The Highwayman
May 8	Our House	1986
May 10	Crime Story
	Dolly	1987
May 12	Max Headroom
May 14	Second Chance (aka Boys Will Be Boys)
May 16	Cagney and Lacey	1982
May 25	St. Elsewhere
	Aaron's Way	1988
May 27	Punky Brewster (returned in 2021)	1984
May 28	Marblehead Manor	1987
June 8	The Slap Maxwell Story
June 10	Houston Knights
June 20	Eisenhower and Lutz	1988
June 28	J.J. Starbuck	1987
June 29	The Bronx Zoo
July 16	Little Clowns of Happytown
July 23	Solid Gold	1980
July 24	Tales from the Darkside	1984
August 21	Werewolf	1987
September 2	Pyramid (returned in 1991)	1973
September 3	Dennis the Menace	1986
	The Flintstone Kids
September 9	High Rollers	1974
October 22	Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures	1987
October 28	The Late Show	1986
November 18	3-2-1 Contact	1980
November 22	Denver, the Last Dinosaur	1988
December 3	The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley
December 7	The Van Dyke Show
December 9	Something Is Out There
December 17	Superman
December 24	Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
December 25	The Care Bears	1985
December 28	Annie McGuire	1988
December 31	Raising Miranda

Made-for-TV movies and miniseries

Title	Network	Premiere date	Notes
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank	CBS	April 17
Case Closed	CBS	April 9
David	ABC	October 28
Goddess of Love	NBC	November 20
Inherit the Wind	NBC	March 20	Emmy Award winner
Internal Affairs	CBS	November 6
Jack the Ripper	CBS	October 21
Lincoln	NBC	March 27	Miniseries, based on Gore Vidal's novel
The Murder of Mary Phagan	NBC	January 24	Emmy Award winner
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story	NBC	May 2
War and Remembrance	ABC	November 13	Miniseries; sequel to The Winds of War

Networks and services

Launches

Network	Type	Launch date	Notes	Source
Channel America	Cable and satellite	Unknown
The Prayer Channel	Cable television	Unknown
Vision Interfaith Satellite Network	Cable television	July 1
Turner Network Television	Cable television	October 3

Conversions and rebrandings

Old network name	New network name	Type	Conversion Date	Notes	Source
CBN Cable Network	CBN Family Channel	Cable television	August 1

Closures

Network	Type	Closure date	Notes	Source
Festival	Cable television	December 31
Harmony Premiere Network	Cable television	Unknown

Television stations

Station launches

Date	Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/Ref.
January	Owensboro, Kentucky	WROZ-TV	61	Independent
January 1	Murray/Paducah, Kentucky	W46BE	46
	Tequesta/West Palm Beach, Florida	WPBF	25	ABC
	Utica, New York	W11BS	11	Independent
January 4	New York City	W57BC	57	Independent	LPTV translator of WLIG
January 6	Burlington, Iowa (Quad Cities, Illinois-Iowa)	KJMH	26	Fox
January 11	Lebanon/Nashville, Tennessee	WJFB	66	Independent
January 15	Fort Smith, Arkansas	K46BZ	46	Fox
January 22	Yuma, Arizona (El Centro, California)	KYMA-DT	11	ABC
January 27	Tuscaloosa/Birmingham, Alabama	W52AI	52	TBN
January 29	Indianapolis, Indiana	W11BV	11	Independent
February 1	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KOCR-TV	28	Fox Broadcasting Company
February 8	Honolulu, Hawaii	KFVE	9	Independent
	Jamestown/Valley City, North Dakota	KJRR	7	Fox
	Orlando, Florida	WCEU	15	PBS
February 13	Kansas City, Missouri	KMCI-TV	38	HSN
February 22	Kingman, Arizona	KMOH-TV	6	Independent
March	Heiskell/Knoxville, Tennessee	W12BU	12	Independent
March 1	Brainerd, Minnesota	KAWB	22	PBS
March 7	Greensboro, North Carolina	W14AU	14	Independent
March 11	Charlotte, North Carolina	W53AO	53
March 13	Waco, Texas	KXXV	25	NBC
March 28	Indianapolis, Indiana	W27AR	27	Independent
April 3	Wichita, Kansas	KAAS-TV	17	Fox
April 11	Raleigh, North Carolina	WYED	17	Independent
April 29	Arecibo, Puerto Rico	WATX-TV	54	Religious ind.
May	Steamboat Springs, Colorado	KSBS-TV	10	Telemundo
May 18	Houston, Texas	KUYA	22	TBN
May 20	Panama City, Florida	WPGX	28	Fox
May 25	Washington, D.C.	W14AA	14	Univision
June 1	Kenosha/Milwaukee, Wisconsin	WHKE		Religious ind.
June 8	Indianapolis, Indiana	WBUU	69	Educational ind.
July 22	Panama City, Florida	WFSG-TV	56	PBS
	South Bend, Indiana	W12BK	12	Independent	LPTV translator of WCIU-TV
August 19	Phoenix, Arizona	K69HJ	69	Independent
August 20	Denver, Colorado	KWBI-TV	41	Religious ind.
August 29	Amarillo, Texas	KACV-TV	2	PBS
September 1	Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas	KFWD	52	Telemundo
	Denton, Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas)	KDTN	2	PBS
September 24	Buffalo, New York	WTJA-TV	26	Independent
October 3	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	KSBI	52	Independent
October 15	Lexington, Kentucky	WLKT-TV	62
October 18	Odessa/Midland, Texas	KMLM-TV	42	Gods Learning Channel
November 1	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	WDJT-TV		Independent
November 28	Rapid City, South Dakota	K15AC	15	CBS
December	Orlando, Florida	WKCF	18	Independent
	Washington, D.C.	W42AJ	43	Telemundo
December 1	Denver, Colorado	KTVD	20	Independent
	Pine Bluff/Little Rock, Arkansas	KVTN-TV	25	Religious ind.
December 9	Brooklyn/New York City, New York	W54AY	54	unknown
December 17	Riverside, California (Los Angeles)	KSLD	62	Asian independent
December 23	Cheyenne, Wyoming	KLWY	27	Fox
December 27	Bloomington, Indiana	WIIB	63	HSN
December 30	Williamsport, Pennsylvania (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)	WDZA	53	Fox
December 31	Lebanon, Kentucky	K06AY	6	Independent
Unknown date	Buffalo, New York	W58AV	58	Channel America
	Key West, Florida	WETV	13	Educational independent
	Kona, Hawaii	KSHQ	6	Independent
	Manchester, New Hampshire	W13BG	13	FamilyNet
	Morehead City, North Carolina	WFXI	8	Fox
	Springfield, Massachusetts	W42AU	42	TBN
	Tampa, Florida	WBHS	62	Home Shopping Network
	West Palm Beach, Florida	W19AQ	19	Independent
	Wichita Falls, Texas	K35BO	35

Stations changing network affiliation

Market	Date	Station	Channel	Prior affiliation	New affiliation
Columbia, South Carolina	June 11	WACH	57	Independent	Fox
Concord, New Hampshire	February 1	WNHT	21	Independent	CBS
Davenport, Iowa	January 6	KLJB-TV	18	Fox	Independent
Erie, Pennsylvania	May 23	WETG	66	Independent	Fox
Greenville/Spartanburg, South Carolina (Anderson, South Carolina)	August 29	WHNS	21
		WAXA	40	Fox	Independent
Jacksonville, Florida	April 3	WTLV	12	ABC	NBC
		WJKS-TV	17	NBC	ABC
Johnstown/Altoona, Pennsylvania	August 27	WATM-TV	23	Fox	ABC
Omaha, Nebraska	August 28	KPTM	42	Independent	Fox
Knoxville, Tennessee	September 10	WBIR-TV	10	CBS	NBC
		WTVK	26	NBC	CBS
Laredo, Texas	October 31	KLDO-TV	27	ABC	Univision
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota	August 29	KMSP-TV	9	Fox	Independent
		KITN-TV	29	Independent	Fox
Portland, Oregon (Vancouver, Washington)		KPTV	12	Fox	Independent
		KPDX	49	Independent	Fox
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida		WFTS-TV	28	Independent	Fox
		WTOG	44	Fox	Independent

Station closures

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Sign-on date	Notes
April 8	Natchez, Mississippi	WNTZ-TV	33	Independent	November 16, 1985	Would return to the air in 1991 as a Fox affiliate
May 31	Hot Springs, Arkansas	KRZB-TV	26	Independent	February 7, 1986

Births

Date	Name	Notability
January 3	Karl Glusman	Actor
January 7	Haley Bennett	Actress and singer
	Robert Sheehan	Actor
January 8	Lily Nicksay	Actress (Boy Meets World)
January 12	Andrew Lawrence	Actor (Brotherly Love, Oliver Beene, Hawaii Five-0, voice of T.J. Detweiler on Recess (1998–2001))
January 18	Ashleigh Murray	Actress (Riverdale)
January 21	John Early	Actor
January 22	Nick Palatas	Actor
January 28	Alexandra Krosney	Actress (Last Man Standing)
January 30	Rob Pinkston	Actor (Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide)
February 2	Zosia Mamet	Actress
February 4	Charlie Barnett	Actor (Chicago Fire)
February 6	Bailey Hanks	Actress and singer
	David Boyd	Singer
	Anna Diop	Senegalese-American actress (Titans)
February 8	Ryan Pinkston	Actor (Quintuplets, Tower Prep)
February 11	Jazz Raycole	Actress (My Wife and Kids)
February 15	Jessica De Gouw	Australian actress (Dracula)
February 18	Maiara Walsh	Actress (Desperate Housewives, Cory in the House)
	Sarah Sutherland	Actress (Veep)
	Shane Lyons	Actor (All That)
February 19	Stacie Chan	Voice actress (Jackie Chan Adventures)
February 20	Rihanna	Singer and actress (Bates Motel)
	Tracy Spiridakos	Actress
February 22	Marieve Herington	Actress
February 24	Alexander Koch	Actor (Under the Dome)
February 29	Reilly Dolman	Actor
	Joel Kim Booster	Actor
March 1	Katija Pevec	Actress (Just for Kicks)
March 3	Josh Duggar	Actor (19 Kids and Counting) and television personality
March 8	Kendrick Sampson	Actor
March 10	Ego Nwodim	Actress
March 22	Tania Raymonde	Actress (Lost, Death Valley)
March 24	Finn Jones	English actor (Game of Thrones)
	Nick Lashaway	American actor (died 2016)
March 25	Ryan Lewis	Rapper
	Erik Knudsen	Actor
March 27	Brenda Song	Actress (100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Suite Life on Deck, Scandal, New Girl, Dads, Pure Genius), voice actress (American Dragon: Jake Long, Miles from Tomorrowland, Amphibia)
	Holliday Grainger	English actress (Where the Heart Is, The Borgias)
April 2	Francesca Catalano	Actress (Just for Kicks)
	Jesse Plemons	Actor
April 4	Maggie Geha	Actress (Gotham)
April 7	Ed Speleers	Actor
April 10	Haley Joel Osment	Actor (Thunder Alley, The Jeff Foxworthy Show)
	Molly Bernard	Actress
April 13	Allison Williams	Actress (Girls) and singer
	Katie Lucas	Actress
April 14	Chris Wood	Actor (The Vampire Diaries, Containment)
April 15	Benedict Samuel	Actor
April 18	Kayleigh McEnany	Political commentator and former White House Press Secretary (CNN, Fox News)
	Nicolette Robinson	Actress
April 21	Christoph Sanders	Actor (Ghost Whisperer, Last Man Standing)
	Robbie Amell	Canadian actor (True Jackson, VP, The Tomorrow People, The Flash)
April 23	Carla Quevedo	Argentine actress (Show Me a Hero)
April 25	Sara Paxton	Actress (SpongeBob SquarePants, Greetings from Tucson, Summerland, Darcy's Wild Life) and singer
April 27	Austin Amelio	Actor
April 30	Ana de Armas	Cuban actress (The Boarding School)
May 1	Nicholas Braun	Actor (10 Things I Hate About You)
May 4	LaRoyce Hawkins	Actor
May 5	Brooke Hogan	Actress (Hogan Knows Best)
	Adele	Singer
May 8	Trisha Paytas	Singer
May 11	Danielle Pinnock	Actress
May 16	Behati Prinsloo	Model
May 17	Nikki Reed	Actress
May 19	Zack Pearlman	Actor
May 22	Heida Reed	Actress
May 24	Kimberley Crossman	New Zealand-born actress
	Callie Hernandez	Actress
June 2	Amber Marshall	Canadian actress
	Zuri Hall	Actress
June 6	Kristen Gutoskie	Canadian actress
June 7	Michael Cera	Canadian actor (Arrested Development)
June 9	Mae Whitman	Actress (Arrested Development, Parenthood, Good Girls), voice actress (Johnny Bravo, Teacher's Pet, American Dragon: Jake Long, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Family Guy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC Super Hero Girls)
June 11	Claire Holt	Actress (H2O: Just Add Water, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Aquarius)
June 12	Cody Horn	Actress
June 13	Cody Walker	Actor
June 14	Kara Kilmer	Actress (Chicago Fire)
	Kevin McHale	Actor (Glee) and singer
June 20	Shefali Chowdhury	Actress (Harry Potter)
June 22	Portia Doubleday	Actress (Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Robot)
	Karla Crome	Actress
June 24	Candice Patton	Actress (The Game, The Flash)
June 27	Alanna Masterson	Actress (The Young and the Restless, First Day, The Walking Dead)
June 30	Sean Marquette	Actor (Titus, The Goldbergs), voice actor (Johnny Bravo, Rocket Power, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends)
July 1	Evan Ellingson	Actor (Complete Savages CSI: Miami)
July 6	Brittany Underwood	Actress (One Life to Live, Hollywood Heights) and singer
	Cody Fern	Actor
July 10	Heather Hemmens	Actress
	Katie Pavlich	American conservative commentator
July 12	Ta'Rhonda Jones	Actress (Empire) and rapper
July 13	Colton Haynes	Actor (Teen Wolf, Arrow)
	Steven R. McQueen	Actor (The Vampire Diaries, Chicago Fire)
July 14	Conor McGregor	Irish mixed martial artist and actor
July 15	Aimee Carrero	Dominican actress (Level Up, Young & Hungry, Elena of Avalor, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)
July 20	Julianne Hough	Singer and actress (Dancing with the Stars)
	Chloe Fineman	Actress
July 24	Joe Pera	Actor
July 26	Francia Raisa	Actress (The Secret Life of the American Teenager)
July 30	Nico Tortorella	Actor (Make It or Break It, Younger)
July 31	Charlie Carver	Actor (Teen Wolf)
August 1	Max Carver	Actor (Desperate Housewives, Teen Wolf)
	Sasha Jackson	British actress
August 3	Christine Ko	Actress
August 12	Leah Pipes	Actress (Life is Wild, The Deep End, The Originals) and singer
August 16	Kevin Schmidt	Actor (The Young and the Restless, Unnatural History)
	Rumer Willis	Actress (Dancing with the Stars season 20 [winner]) and daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore
	Parker Young	Actor
August 17	Brady Corbet	Actor
August 19	Cody Ross Pitts	Actor
August 23	Kim Matula	Actress (The Bold and the Beautiful)
August 26	Danielle Savre	Actress (Summerland, Heroes, Kaya, Too Close to Home)
	Evan Ross	Actor
August 27	Alexa PenaVega	Actress (Life's Work, Ladies Man, Ruby & The Rockits) and singer
August 28	Shalita Grant	Actress (NCIS: New Orleans, Mercy Street)
September 1	Angus McLaren	Australian actress (H2O: Just Add Water)
	Vaneza Pitynski	Actress (The Brothers García)
September 6	Max George	British actor (The Wanted) and singer
September 15	Chloe Dykstra	Actress
	Chelsea Kane	Actress (Jonas, Fish Hooks, Baby Daddy) and singer
September 19	Katrina Bowden	Actress (30 Rock, Public Morals)
September 20	Clark James Gable	Actor (died 2019)
September 23	Bryan Hearne	Actor (All That)
September 24	Kyle Sullivan	Actor (Malcolm in the Middle, Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?, Fillmore!, All That, The War at Home)
September 26	James Blake	Singer
September 28	Olivia Jordan	Actress, model, television host, Miss USA 2015
	Hana Mae Lee	Actress
October 1	Cariba Heine	Actress (H2O: Just Add Water)
October 2	Laura Rutledge	Reporter and host for ESPN
October 3	Alicia Vikander	Actress (Second Avenue)
October 4	Melissa Benoist	Actress (Glee, Supergirl) and singer
October 5	Bobby Edner	Actor
October 10	Rose McIver	Actress (iZombie)
October 14	MacKenzie Mauzy	Actress (Guiding Light, The Bold and the Beautiful, Forever)
	Max Thieriot	Actor
October 17	Dee Jay Daniels	Actor (The Hughleys)
October 19	Parveen Kaur	Actress
October 21	Glen Powell	Actor (Scream Queens)
	Mark Rendall	Canadian voice actor (Arthur, The Save-Ums!, Time Warp Trio, Wayside)
October 28	Devon Murray	Actor (Harry Potter)
October 29	Cherilyn Wilson	Actress (I Heart Vampires, Greetings from Home)
October 30	Janel Parrish	Actress (Pretty Little Liars)
November 2	Lindze Letherman	Actress (General Hospital)
November 3	Angus McLaren	Australian actor (Neighbours, H2O: Just Add Water)
November 6	Emma Stone	Actress (Drive)
November 7	Reid Ewing	Actor (Modern Family)
November 8	Jessica Lowndes	Actress (90210) and singer
November 9	Nikki Blonsky	Actress (Huge) and singer
November 11	Alexandra Kyle	Actress
November 22	Jamie Campbell Bower	Actor
November 25	Abby Phillip	American journalist
November 26	Tamsin Egerton	English actress (Camelot)
November 28	Scarlett Pomers	Actress (Reba)
November 29	Russell Wilson	Football quarterback
November 30	Rebecca Rittenhouse	Actress (Red Band Society, Blood & Oil)
December 1	Ashley Monique Clark	Actress (The Hughleys)
	Zoë Kravitz	Actress
	Nadia Hilker	Actress
December 2	Alfred Enoch	Actor (Harry Potter, How to Get Away With Murder)
December 3	Jamie Erdahl	Reporter
December 5	Ross Bagley	Actor
December 8	Tru Valentino	Actor
December 11	Ashley Hinshaw	Actress and model
	Allie LaForce	Model
December 14	Vanessa Hudgens	Actress (High School Musical, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) and singer
December 15	Emily Head	English actress (The Inbetweeners)
December 16	Anna Popplewell	English actress (Reign)
December 21	Teresa Ruiz	Actress
	Shelley Regner	Actress

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Notability
January 3	William Cagney	82	Actor
February 1	Heather O'Rourke	12	Actress (Poltergeist, Happy Days)
February 17	Alexander Bashlachev	27	Soviet singer
March 10	Andy Gibb	30	Singer (Solid Gold)
April 5	Alf Kjellin	68	Actor and director
April 25	Carolyn Franklin	43	Singer
April 27	David Scarboro	20	English actor (EastEnders)
May 15	Andrew Duggan	64	Character actor (Lancer)
May 21	Sammy Davis Sr.	87	Dancer
May 18	Daws Butler	71	Voice actor (The Yogi Bear Show, The Jetsons, several animated commercials)
May 27	Florida Friebus	78	Actress (The Bob Newhart Show, Dobie Gillis)
June 25	Hillel Slovak	26	Israeli-American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
July 21	Jack Clark	62	Game show announcer (Wheel of Fortune)
July 25	Judith Barsi	10	Child actress
July 31	Trinidad Silva	38	Actor (Jesus Martinez on Hill Street Blues), in a car accident
September 11	John Sylvester White	68	Actor (Welcome Back, Kotter)
September 29	Charles Addams	76	Cartoonist whose drawings inspired (The Addams Family)
October 11	Wayland Flowers	48	Puppeteer (Madame's Place)
October 31	John Houseman	86	Actor (The Paper Chase, Silver Spoons)
December 6	Timothy Patrick Murphy	29	Actor (Dallas)
December 12	Dick Clair	57	Comedy writer (The Carol Burnett Show, The Facts of Life)
December 20	Max Robinson	49	ABC World News correspondent
December 27	Jess Oppenheimer	75	Comedy writer who created (I Love Lucy)

See also

• 1988 in the United States
• List of American films of 1988

External links

• List of 1988 American television series at IMDb