1960 in television

The year 1960 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1960.

For the American TV schedule, see: 1960–61 United States network television schedule.

Events

• February 10 – Jack Paar temporarily quits his television program in the United States because his monologue had been edited the night before, in favor of a three-minute news update. Parr walks out to the audience at the beginning of the show, announces that he is quitting, says "There's got to be a better way to make a living," and then walks off the stage. After network executives apologize personally, Parr resumed hosting the program a month later. His first show back starts with the words "As I was saying before I was interrupted...".^[1]
• February and Late August through September - In a first for US Audiences, CBS broadcasts the 1960 Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics, on an exclusive basis, for $60,000. From Squaw Valley, American viewers are treated to 31 hours of coverage, which includes a mix of alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating, and ski jumping. The Winter Olympic broadcast is hosted by Walter Cronkite while a young Jim McKay, who will go on to host ABC's Olympic coverage, does the Rome Games.
• March 2 - Lucille Ball files for divorce from Desi Arnaz, ending their 20-year marriage and the I Love Lucy franchise on CBS.
• June 20 – Nan Winton becomes the first national female newsreader on BBC television in the United Kingdom.^[2]
• June 29 – The BBC Television Centre is opened in London.
• September 24 – After thirteen seasons of entertaining American children, NBC children's show Howdy Doody ends with Clarabell the Clown saying the final two words of the show ("Goodbye Kids") after being assumed to only be mute.
• September 25 – First Japanese colour television broadcast.
• September 26 – American presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live by television. The candidates behavior and/or appearance during the debate may have altered the outcome of the election. In addition to being the first presidential debates to be televised, the debates also marked the first time "split screen" images were used by a network.
• October 12 – Inejiro Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, is assassinated by Otoya Yamaguchi using a wakizashi (samurai sword) during a political debate in Tokyo being taped by Japanese television broadcaster NHK.
• December 9 – The first episode of soap opera Coronation Street, made by Granada Television in Manchester, England, is aired on ITV.^[3] Intended as a 13-week pilot and disfavored by critics, it continues to air past its 55th anniversary as Britain's longest running soap.
• December 31 – Norma Zimmer officially becomes Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Undated

• Frank and Doris Hursley start their soap opera writing career, taking the jobs of joint head writers for the series Search for Tomorrow.
• Nearly 90% of homes in the United States now have a television set, and over one hundred million television sets are in use worldwide.

Debuts

• January 25 – Series The Kate Smith Show begins a six-month run on CBS.
• February 7 – Series Overland Trail begins a four-month run on NBC.
• June 1 – TV One is initiated in Auckland. This was the first television transmission in New Zealand.
• September 11 – Series Danger Man premieres on ITV in UK; broadcast also by CBS in USA (1960-1961, 1964-1966).
• September 17 – Series Checkmate premieres on CBS (1960-1962).
• September 29 – Series My Three Sons premieres (1960-1972).
• September 30 – Hanna Barbera's series The Flintstones debut on ABC (1960-1966).
• October 3 – Series The Andy Griffith Show premieres on CBS (1960-1968).
• October 7 – Series Route 66 premieres on CBS (1960-1964).
• December 9 – Soap opera Coronation Street premieres on Granada Television in UK (1960-present).
• Comedy show Radio Rochela (previously the La Cruzada del Buen Humor segment of El Show de las Doce) debuts on RCTV in Venezuela (1960-2010).

Television shows

1940s

• Meet the Press (1947–present).
• Howdy Doody (1947–1960).
• Candid Camera (1948–present).
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971).
• Bozo the Clown (1949–present).
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995).
• The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963).

1950s

• The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
• Men Into Space (1959–1960).
• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988).
• What's My Line (1950–1967).
• Love of Life (1951–1980).
• I Love Lucy (1951–1960)
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986).
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present).
• American Bandstand (1952–1989).
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966).
• The Guiding Light (1952–2009).
• The Today Show (1952–present).
• This Is Your Life (US) (1952–1961).
• Panorama (UK) (1953–present).
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983).
• Face the Nation (1954–present).
• The Brighter Day (1954–1962).
• The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967).
• The Secret Storm (1954–1974).
• The Tonight Show (1954–present).
• Zoo Quest (UK) (1954–1964).
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962).
• Captain Kangaroo (1955–1984).
• Cheyenne (1955–1962).
• Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–1976).
• Gunsmoke (1955–1975).
• Jubilee USA (1955-1960).
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982).
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003).
• Armchair Theatre (UK) (1956–1968).
• As the World Turns (1956–2010).
• Hancock's Half Hour (1956–1962).
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–1978).
• The Edge of Night (1956–1984).
• The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (1956-1961).
• The Price Is Right (1956–1965).
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–2008).
• Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963).
• The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom (1957-1960).
• The Army Game (UK) (1957–1961).
• Perry Mason (1957–1966).
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present).
• Blue Peter (UK) (1958–present).
• General Motors Presents (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
• Grandstand (UK) (1958-2007).
• Peter Gunn (1958–1961).
• The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966).
• The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958–1962).
• Walt Disney Presents (1958–1961).
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1958–1960)
• Bonanza (1959–1973).
• Hawaiian Eye (1959–1963).
• Juke Box Jury (1959–1967, 1979, 1989–1990).
• The Bell Telephone Hour (1959–1968).
• The Twilight Zone (1959-1964, 1985–1988, 2002).
• The Rebel (1959–1961).

Births

References