| List of years in television (table) |
|---|
| … 1978 . 1979 . 1980 . 1981 . 1982 . 1983 . 1984 … 1985 1986 1987 -1988- 1989 1990 1991 … 1992 . 1993 . 1994 . 1995 . 1996 . 1997 . 1998 … In radio: 1985 1986 1987 -1988- 1989 1990 1991 In film: 1985 1986 1987 -1988- 1989 1990 1991 |
| Related time period or subjects |
| … 1985 . 1986 . 1987 - 1988 - 1989 . 1990 . 1991 … … 1950s . 1960s . 1970s -1980s- 1990s . 2000s . 2010s |
| Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Science +... |
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.
For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.
Contents |
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 4 | The Nick Jr. programming block begins airing on Nickelodeon. |
| February | Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, the focus of a sex scandal, admits to being with prostitutes and temporarily steps back from his television ministry. |
| February 5 | Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant compete on The Main Event on NBC, the first professional wrestling broadcast in network prime-time since 1955. |
| 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 on Amateur Night, where a 13-year-old Hill sung "Who's Lovin' You" by Motown star Smokey Robinson, and gets booed by the audience. |
| February 26 | Tom Hardy marries Simone Ravelle on General Hospital, a milestone event for American daytime television as it is the first interracial wedding. |
| March 1 | Nickelodeon debuted The First Annual Kids Choice Awards. |
| March 19 | The song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" experiences a surge in popularity sparked by television commercials featuring claymation raisin figures. The California Raisins version of the song peaks at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. |
| April | Ana Alicia's character, Melissa Agretti, dies in a house fire on Falcon Crest. |
| April 13 | Geraldo Rivera's live special Murder: Live from Death Row airs in syndication; a highlight is Rivera's pre-taped interview with Charles Manson. |
| May 1 | Thomas Magnum and his red Ferrari head into the sunset as Magnum, P.I. airs its 2-hour series finale on CBS. |
| May 13 | J.R. Ewing pushes Nicholas Pierce over the railing of his high-rise office building, and Sue Ellen is so enraged that she fires three shots at him, on the season finale of Dallas. |
| May 30 | After rejecting an offer to join CBS News, Peter Mansbridge replaces Knowlton Nash as anchor of CBC Television's The National. |
| June 14 | The Young and the Restless tops the daytime ratings (deposing longtime winner General Hospital), starting an unbeaten streak of #1 victories that still continue to this day. |
| July 4 | Three years after its cancellation by ABC, CBS resurrects the hit game show Family Feud for its daytime lineup, featuring new host Ray Combs. A syndicated nighttime version would premiere in the fall. |
| September | A young Countess Vaughn joins the cast of 227 as Alexandria DeWitt, a young 11-year old talented college student, whom the Jenkins' have as a houseguest for a year. |
| October 3 | TNT, the fourth cable network owned by Turner Broadcasting, commences programming with an airing of Gone with the Wind. |
| October 4 | Following in Cher's footsteps, actress Shirley MacLaine calls David Letterman an "asshole", on the air during a taping of Late Night. |
| October 27 | The last of Harding Lemay's "comeback" episodes air on Another World. In the final minutes of the episode, Australian actress Carmen Duncan took over 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 erupts on the set between guests. The theme of the episode was "Young Hate Mongers," and the fight originated between white supremacist Tom Metzger and civil rights activist Roy Innis. |
| November 21 | CBS airs Insides 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 leads to several CBS affiliates deciding to air the program at a later hour or not at all (despite a parental warning at the beginning of the show). |
| December 8 | Tichina Arnold (of Martin and Everybody Hates Chris fame) joins the cast for the final season of Ryan's Hope on ABC. |
| Date | Show |
|---|---|
| January 3 | The Wonder Years on ABC |
| January 17 | The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on Disney Channel |
| February 7 | America's Most Wanted on Fox |
| March 6 | In the Heat of the Night on NBC |
| April 26 | China Beach on ABC |
| August 6 | Yo! MTV Raps on MTV |
| September 5 | Fun House in Syndication |
| September 10 | A Pup Named Scooby Doo on ABC |
| Baby Boom on NBC | |
| September 17 | Garfield and Friends on CBS |
| Hey Vern, It's Ernest! on NBC | |
| October 4 | The American Experience on PBS |
| October 8 | Empty Nest on NBC |
| October 18 | Roseanne on ABC |
| October 21 | Something Is Out There on NBC |
| October 23 | Mission: Impossible on ABC |
| October 27 | Paradise on CBS |
| October 29 | Dirty Dancing on CBS |
| November 2 | Murphy's Law on ABC |
| November 11 | Knightwatch on ABC |
| November 14 | Murphy Brown on CBS |
| November 23 | Raising Miranda on CBS |
| November 29 | TV 101 on CBS |