1972 in television

The year 1972 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of notable television-related events.

For the American TV schedule, see: 1972–73 United States network television schedule.

Events

• January 3 – Show Boat is aired for the first time on network television, on NBC
• January 21 – The first convention of Star Trek fans is held in New York City's Statler-Hilton hotel
• Mid-February – John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-host an entire week on The Mike Douglas Show
• February 19 – Sammy Davis Jr. makes a guest appearance on All in the Family
• March 18 – After losing a 15-year court battle over the legality of its business relationship with The Herald-Traveler, CBS' Boston, Massachusetts affiliate WHDH-TV Channel 5 signs off the air. At 3 a.m. on March 19, WCVB takes over the Channel 5 frequency, simultaneously switching affiliations to the ABC network following CBS' loss of interest in the channel during the long legal wrangle.
• April 4 – After a three-year courtship, Emily Nugent married Ernest Bishop on Coronation Street.
• May – The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson permanently relocates its production from New York City to the NBC studios in Burbank, California. (The Tonight Show would remain there until relocating back to New York in February 2014)
• July 21 – Victoria Wyndham makes her first appearance as vixen (and later, good girl) Rachel Davis on the soap opera Another World.
• August 1 – Three years after it was first filmed, the Israel Broadcasting Authority finally agrees to screen Barricades, a controversial documentary film that offered a sympathetic portrayal of Palestinians expelled from their homes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
• August 26 – Effective with this issue, TV Guide discontinues the practice of using a "C" to indicate color programs, and instead starts using a "BW" for monochrome, saving a lot of printer's ink in the process. At the time about half of the TV households in the U.S. had color sets.
• September 9 – The Lawrence Welk Show opens its 18th season on location in Hawaii.
• October 27 – The 5000th episode of Captain Kangaroo airs.
• November 8 – Home Box Office (HBO) is launched, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
• November 21 – In the second part of a two-part story which began the previous week, Beatrice Arthur's character, Maude Findlay, on the television sitcom Maude, decides to go through with an abortion, in a move that shocked CBS executives and Maude advertisers. (Rue McClanahan made her first appearance as Vivian Cavender in this two-parter; she would become a regular cast member the following season.)
• December 31 – ORTF 3ème Chaîne launches in France for the first time.

Debuts

• January 4 – Des chiffres et des lettres on ORTF 2ème Chaîne in France (1972–)
• January 13 – Me and the Chimp on CBS (1 season)
• January 14 – Sanford and Son on NBC (1972–1977)
• January 15 – Emergency! on NBC (1972–1977)
• March 13 – Number 96 on Australia's 0–10 Network (1972–1977)
• April 4 – John Craven's Newsround (now titled Newsround) on BBC1
• April 7 – Ultraman Ace on TBS in Japan (1972–73)
• June 21 – The Super (1972–1972) on ABC.
• June 22 – The first Tattslotto draw on HSV-7 Melbourne
• July 8 – Android Kikaider on TV Asahi (formerly NET) (1972–1973)
• September 4 – The New Price Is Right (1972–present), The Joker's Wild (1972–1975, 1977–1986), and Gambit (1972–1976) all on CBS. Any Number, Bonus Game, and Double Prices were the three games played on the first episode of The New Price Is Right, which loses the "New" by mid-1973, and is currently television's longest running game show in history, having started its 43rd season in September 2014.
• September 8 – Are You Being Served? (1972–1985) on BBC1
• September 9
  • Runaround on NBC (1972–1973)
  • Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972–1984) and The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972–1973) both on CBS
• September 11 – Mastermind (1972–97, 2002–) on BBC1; The Rookies (1972–1976) on ABC
• September 12
  • Maude, a spinoff of All in the Family on CBS (1972–1978)
  • Temperatures Rising on ABC (1972–1974)
• September 14 – The Waltons on CBS (1972–1981)
• September 15 – Ghost Story on NBC (1972–1973)
• September 16
  • The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) and Bridget Loves Bernie (1972–1973) on CBS
  • The Streets of San Francisco on ABC (1972–1977)
• September 17 M*A*S*H on CBS (1972–1983). Also The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972–74) on ITV.
• October 3 – 4 Country Reporter on then-CBS affiliate KDFW Channel 4 (now a Fox O&O station); in 1986, the show moves into first-run syndication under the new name Texas Country Reporter, eventually airing nationally on the RFD-TV satellite/cable channel. As of October 2007, the show will mark 35 years on television.
• October 14 – Kung Fu on ABC (1972–75)
• October 16 – Emmerdale Farm starts transmissions in the daytime on ITV (1972–)
• October 19 – Prisoner-of-war drama
  • Colditz on BBC1
  • The Beachcombers (1972–1989) and This Is the Law (1972–1976) both on CBC
  • Canada AM on CTV (1972–)
• November 4 – Great Performances on PBS (1972–)

Television shows

1940s

• Meet the Press (1947–)
• Candid Camera (1948–)
• Bozo the Clown (1949–)
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–95)

1950s

• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
• Love of Life (1951–1980)
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–)
• American Bandstand (1952–1989)
• The Guiding Light (1952–2009)
• The Today Show (1952–)
• Panorama (UK) (1953–)
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983)
• Face the Nation (1954–)
• The Secret Storm (1954–1974)
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)
• Captain Kangaroo (1955–1984)
• Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–1976)
• Gunsmoke (1955–1975)
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982)
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003)
• As the World Turns (1956–2010)
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–78)
• The Edge of Night (1956–1984)
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–)
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–)
• Blue Peter (UK) (1958–)
• Grandstand (UK) (1958–2007)
• Bonanza (1959–1973)

1960s

• Coronation Street (UK) (1960–)
• Four Corners (Australia) (1961–)
• It's Academic (1961–)
• The Mike Douglas Show (1961–1981)
• The Late Late Show (Ireland) (1962–)
• Z-Cars (UK) (1962–1978)
• Doctor Who (UK) (1963–1989, 1996, 2005–)
• General Hospital (1963–)
• The Doctors (1963–1982)
• Another World (1964–1999)
• Crossroads (UK) (1964–1988, 2001–2003)
• Jeopardy! (1964–1975, 1984–)
• Top of the Pops (UK) (1964–2006)
• Days of Our Lives (1965–)
• The Dean Martin Show (1965–1974)
• Tom and Jerry (1965–1972, 1975–1977, 1980–1982)
• Kimba the White Lion (1966-1967), re-runs
• World of Sport (UK) (1965–1985)
• Play School (1966–)
• Mission: Impossible (1966–1973)
• The Money Programme (UK) (1966–)
• The Newlywed Game (1966–1974)
• Ironside (1967–1975)
• Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–73)
• Mannix (1967–1975)
• The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978)
• 60 Minutes (1968–)
• Dad's Army (UK) (1968–1977)
• Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980)
• Here's Lucy (1968–1974)
• Laugh-In (1968–1973)
• Magpie (UK)(1968–1980)
• One Life to Live (1968–)
• The Doris Day Show (1968–1973)
• The Mod Squad (1968–1973)
• Hee Haw (1969–1993)
• Love, American Style (1969–1974)
• Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969–1976)
• Monty Python's Flying Circus (UK) (1969–1974)
• Room 222 (1969–1974)
• Sesame Street (1969–)
• The Benny Hill Show (1969–1989)
• The Brady Bunch (1969–1974)
• The Wonderful World of Disney (1969–1979)
• Where the Heart Is (1969–1973)

1970s

• All My Children (1970–)
• Mary Tyler Moore (1970–77)
• McCloud (1970–1977)
• Monday Night Football (1970–)
• Play for Today (UK) (1970–1984)
• The Flip Wilson Show (1970–1974)
• The Odd Couple (1970–75)
• The Partridge Family (1970–1974)
• All in the Family (1971–1979)
• Columbo (1971–1978)
• Masterpiece Theatre (1971–)
• McMillan & Wife (1971–1977)
• Soul Train (1971–)
• The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971–1974)
• Old Grey Whistle Test (UK) (1971–1987)
• The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971–1974)
• Kashi no Ki Mokku (Adventures of Pinocchio) (Japan) (1972)
• Devilman (Japan) (1972–1973)
• Emmerdale Farm (1972–)
• Rainbow (1972–1992)

Programs ending

Births

Deaths