1957 in television

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List of years in television (table)

The year 1957 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1957.

Events

  • January 6 – Elvis Presley makes his final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.[1]
  • January 25 – Steve Allen makes his final appearance as host of NBC's The Tonight Show.[2] He is replaced by Jack Lescoulie and the show is changed from a talk/variety show format to be more like the series Today, with the title Tonight! America After Dark.[3]
  • February 16 – In the United Kingdom, the "Toddlers' Truce" (an arrangement whereby there were no TV broadcasts between 6 PM and 7 PM, to allow parents to put their children to bed) is abolished. It had been a major obstacle to the success of ITV.
  • March 7 – Portugal begins the Rádio e Televisão de Portugal television service after several months of experimentation.
  • March 31 – The first TV version of Cinderella, starring 21-year-old Julie Andrews, and with songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, is broadcast in color by CBS.
  • April 1 – In Britain, the BBC's Panorama current affairs television programme presented by Richard Dimbleby broadcasts a spaghetti tree hoax report purporting to show spaghetti being harvested in Switzerland, believed to be the first April Fool's Day joke televised.
  • April 24 – First broadcast of BBC Television astronomy series The Sky at Night in the United Kingdom presented by Patrick Moore. This will be broadcast with the same presenter until his death in December 2012.
  • June – On Tonight! America After Dark, Jack Lescoulie is unsuccessful, so NBC hires Al "Jazzbo" Collins as master of ceremonies. Collins doesn't last long; NBC is already planning to replace him and restore the original format as The Tonight Show.
  • June 24 – Front Page Challenge, television's longest continuously running panel show, starts broadcasting on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network. It runs for 38 years.
  • July 29 – Jack Paar becomes the permanent host for NBC's The Tonight Show. The format reverts to a talk/variety show.
  • August 5 – American Bandstand begins its 30-year syndicated run on US network television.
  • August 31 – Central Scotland's independent channel Scottish Television goes on air, the first 7-day-a-week ITV franchise to do so.
  • September 7 – NBC introduces an animated version of its "living color" peacock logo.
  • November 26 – WHDH-TV/5-Boston begins broadcasting. It soon becomes involved in controversy about its license. It finally loses its license in 1972.
  • December 25 – The British Royal Christmas Message is televised with the Queen (Elizabeth II) on camera for the first time.
  • When Nat King Cole's television series is unable to get a sponsor, Frankie Laine is the first artist to cross TV's color line, foregoing his usual salary of $10,000.00 to become the first white artist to appear as a guest. Other major performers follow suit, including Mel Tormé and Tony Bennett, but, despite an increase in ratings, the show still fails to acquire a national sponsor.
  • Gorni Kramer makes his first appearance on Italian television, in the program Il Musichiere.
  • Cyprus began a limited television service, serving only three hours a day, twice-weekly. By 1960 a full service will be initiated.
  • CBC Television begins nationwide broadcasting of NHL games as Canada's microwave network is completed coast-to-coast. Prior to this, broadcasts had been delayed.
  • Westinghouse introduces the first rectangular tube color TV. Due to issues with convergence (aligning the guns to get a single image), the sets were withdrawn from the market. The first successful rectangular color tubes were sold first during the mid-1960s.

Programs/Programmes

Series on the air in 1957

Debuts

Ending this year

Date Show Debut
February 24 Annie Oakley 1954
February 26 Noah's Ark 1956
April 1 I Love Lucy 1951
April 8 Life Is Worth Living 1952
April 20 The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (UK) 1956
May 1 Kukla, Fran and Ollie 1947
June 9 The Roy Rogers Show 1951
Unknown The Grove Family (UK) 1954
The Three Stooges 1934

Births

Date Name Notability
January 7 Katie Couric Journalist, talk show host (60 Minutes)
January 17 Steve Harvey Actor & comedian, host (The Steve Harvey Show)
February 16 LeVar Burton Actor, host (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Reading Rainbow)
February 18 Vanna White Game show hostess (Wheel of Fortune)
March 30 Paul Reiser Actor & comedian (Mad About You)
April 13 Gary Kroeger Actor, announcer (Saturday Night Live)
May 5 Richard E. Grant English actor
June 12 Timothy Busfield Actor & director (thirtysomething)
July 21 Jon Lovitz Actor & comedian (Saturday Night Live)
July 23 Jo Brand English comedian, actress, writer (Getting On)
July 26 Nana Visitor Actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
August 16 Laura Innes Actress (ER)
August 18 Denis Leary Actor & comedian (Rescue Me)
August 24 Stephen Fry English actor & comedian (Pocoyo)
September 23 Rosalind Chao Actress
September 29 Andrew Dice Clay Comedian, actor (Bless This House)
September 30 Fran Drescher Actress & comedienne (The Nanny)
October 5 Bernie Mac Actor (The Bernie Mac Show) & comedian (d. 2008)
October 11 Dawn French Welch-born English actress & comedienne (French and Saunders)
October 29 Dan Castellaneta Actor & comedian (Homer Simpson on The Simpsons)
November 7 Christopher Knight Actor (The Brady Bunch)
December 9 Donny Osmond Singer, actor & game show host (The Donny & Marie Show)
December 21 Ray Romano Stand-up comedian & actor (Everybody Loves Raymond)

References

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