1974 in American television

This is a list of American television-related events in 1974.

Events[]

Date	Event	Ref.
January 31	CBS broadcasts The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a multi-Emmy-winning adaptation of Ernest J. Gaines’ novel of the same name which follows the 110-year life of a former slave from the American Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. Cicely Tyson is tapped to play the title role.
February 1	KIVI-TV signs-on the air, giving the Boise market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
February 8	After 20 years and 5,195 episodes, The Secret Storm ends its run on CBS’s daytime schedule. Ten days later, the show is replaced by Tattletales, a Bert Convy-hosted game show that is devoted to celebrity gossip.
March 11	The children’s special Free to Be… You and Me, produced by comedic actress Marlo Thomas, airs on ABC.
March 13	The Execution of Private Slovik, a made-for-TV film telling the story of Pvt. Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion after the American Civil War, airs on NBC.
March 18	CBS's cancellation of Here's Lucy marks the end of the television reign of Lucille Ball, which lasted 23 consecutive years beginning with the 1951 premiere of I Love Lucy.
March	Chuck Scarbarough joined WNBC-TV and revamps its format as NewsCenter 4, signaling the debut of the NewsCenter format..	^[1]
April 5	The Dean Martin Show ends its run on NBC after 264 hour-long episodes. NBC will continue to air periodic editions of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast over the next 10 years.
April 26	KPVI signs-on the air, giving the Idaho Falls market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
August 8	U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his pending resignation live on television, effective at 12 Noon EDT the next day, at which time Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as President.
August 8	WEVU (now WZVN-TV) signs-on the air, giving the Fort Myers market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
August 25	Al Ham's music theme Part of Your Life made its debut on WBTV-TV in Charlotte.	^[2]
September 10	Born Innocent, a controversial film starring Linda Blair, airs on NBC. The film, which involved a fourteen-year-old being sent to what the television preview deemed a women's prison (when in reality it was a reform school), drew heavy criticism due to an all-female rape scene, the first ever seen on American television. The scene was deleted in subsequent re-airings after a group of girls assaulted an eight-year-old with a pop bottle, influenced by the scene in the film.
October 6	Monty Python's Flying Circus, the British sketch comedy series that aired its final episode this year, is first shown on American television when PBS member station KERA-TV in Dallas, Texas airs it at 10 p.m. Central Daylight Time.^[3]^[4]
November 28	For the fourth time this year, ABC aligns with a new station as WOPC-TV in Altoona, Pennsylvania brings full-time ABC service to the Altoona-State College market. WOPC-TV struggles for viewers and goes dark in 1982; ABC would return to Altoona (and channel 23) in 1988 when Fox affiliate WWPC-TV (then a satellite of WWCP-TV in Johnstown) breaks from its simulcast with WWCP-TV.

Other notable events[]

On the CBS soap opera Love of Life, Meg Dale (Tudi Wiggins) calls her son Ben (Christopher Reeve) a "bastard", marking the first time that a swear word is spoken on American daytime television.

Television stations[]

Sign-ons[]

Date	City of License/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/Ref.
February	South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana	WNIT	34	PBS
February 1	Nampa/Boise, Idaho	KITC	6	ABC
March 31	Orlando, Florida	WOFL	35	Independent
April 26	Pocatello, Idaho	KPVI	6	ABC
May 5	Los Angeles, California	KVST-TV	68	Non-commercial independent
July 25	South Bend, Indiana		46	Independent
August 8	Naples/Fort Myers, Florida	WEVU	26	ABC
August 11	Booneville, Mississippi	WMAE-TV	12	PBS	Part of MSETV
September 9	Grand Forks, North Dakota	KGFE	2	PBS	Part of Prairie Public Television
September 29	New York City	WBTB-TV	68	Independent
October 5	Hagerstown, Maryland	WWPB	31	PBS	Part of Maryland Public Television
October 5	Sacramento, California	KMUV-TV	31	Independent	now a CW owned-and-operated station
November 28	Johnstown, Pennsylvania	WOPC	38	ABC	Now WATM-TV on channel 23
December 1	New Haven, Connecticut	WEDY	65	PBS	Part of the Connecticut Public Television network
December 15	Waterloo/Cedar Rapids, Iowa	KRIN	32	PBS	Part of Iowa Public Television

Network affiliation changes[]

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Old affiliation	New affiliation	Notes/Ref.
August 5	Bakersfield, California	KJTV	17	ABC	CBS
October 6	Monroe, Louisiana	KNOE-TV	8	CBS (primary) NBC (secondary)	CBS (exclusive)
October 6	West Monroe/Monroe, Louisiana	KLAA	14	Independent	NBC	Was temporarily off the air from 1971 to 1974
Unknown date	Augusta, Georgia	WJBF-TV	6	ABC (primary) NBC (secondary)	ABC (exclusive)
Unknown date	Augusta, Georgia	WRDW-TV	12	CBS (primary) NBC (secondary)	CBS (exclusive)

Station closures[]

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Sign-on date
April 30	Roanoke, Virginia	WRFT-TV	27	ABC	March 4, 1966
Unknown date	Chicago, Illinois	WXXW	20	PBS	Would return to the air in February 1983 as WYCC
	Pago Pago, American Samoa		10	unknown	October 5, 1964
	Pago Pago, American Samoa		12	unknown	October 5, 1964

Television shows[]

Debuting this year[]

January 7
- How to Survive a Marriage on NBC daytime in a 90-minute special
- on NBC (1974–75)
January 15 - Happy Days on ABC (1974–84)
February 1 - Good Times (a spinoff of Maude) on CBS (1974–79)
February 10 - Apple's Way on CBS (1974–75)
February 12 - Bagpuss (February 12-May 7)
February 18 - Tattletales on CBS daytime (1974–78, 1982–84)
March 3 - Nova on PBS (1974–present)
May 6 - The $10,000 Pyramid on ABC daytime
July 1
- High Rollers on NBC (197-76, 1978–80)
- Winning Streak on NBC daytime
July 4 - Bicentennial Minute on CBS (July 4, 1974 – December 31, 1976)
July 29 - Name That Tune on NBC daytime and in nighttime syndication
September 4 - That's My Mama on CBS (1974–75)
September 7
- Land of the Lost (1974–77 on NBC)^[5]
- Valley of the Dinosaurs (1974–76 on CBS)
- Shazam! (1974–77 on CBS)
- Hong Kong Phooey (1974 on ABC)
September 9
- Rhoda (1974-78 on CBS)
- Dinah! (1974-80 in syndication)
- The $25,000 Pyramid in syndication
September 11 - Little House on the Prairie (1974–83) on NBC
September 12 - Harry O on ABC (1974–76)
September 13
- Chico and the Man (1974–78) on NBC
- The Rockford Files (1974–80) on NBC
- Police Woman (1974–78 on NBC)
- The Texas Wheelers (1974 on ABC)
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974–75 on ABC)
- Planet of the Apes (1974 on CBS)
September 14
- The New Land (1974 on ABC)
- Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers (1974-75 on CBS)
September 21
- Nakia (1974 on ABC)
December 23 on ABC daytime
- The Big Showdown
- Money Maze

Ending this year[]

January 11
- Love, American Style (1969–74)
- Room 222 (1969-1974)
February 8 - The Secret Storm (1954–74)
March 8 -- The Brady Bunch (1969–74)
March 11 - The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1971–74)
Mach 5 - Lotsa Luck (1973–74)
March 18 - Here's Lucy (1968–74)
March 23 - The Partridge Family (1970–74)
March 24 - The Dean Martin Show (1965–74)
May 7 - Bagpuss (1974)
May 29 - The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971–74)
June 27
- Audubon Wildlife Theatre (1968–74)
- The Flip Wilson Show (1970–74)
September 8 - The F.B.I. (1965–74)
October 4 - The Texas Wheelers (1974)
October 12 - Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–74)
October 19 - The New Land (1974)
December 20 - The Newlywed Game (1966–74)
December 28 - Nakia (1974)

Births[]

Deaths[]

Date	Name	Age	Notability
March 19	Edward Platt	58	Actor (Get Smart)
March 20	Chet Huntley	62	Co-anchor of the NBC evening newscast
April 7	Bobby Buntrock	21	Actor (Harold "Sport" Baxter on Hazel)
April 17	Frank McGee	52	Journalist, NBC news
April 24	Bud Abbott	76	Actor and comedian (The Abbott and Costello Show)
April 30	Agnes Moorehead	73	Actress (Endora on Bewitched)
June 28	Frank Sutton	50	Actor (Sergeant Vince Carter on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.)
July 15	Christine Chubbuck	29	News reporter on WXLT in Sarasota, Florida (on-air suicide)
July 19	Joe Flynn	49	Actor (Capt. Binghamton on McHale's Navy)
October 13	Ed Sullivan	73	Host (The Ed Sullivan Show)
November 5	Stafford Repp	56	Actor (Chief O'Hara on Batman)
December 11	Reed Hadley	63	Actor (Rocket Squad, )
December 21	Richard Long	47	Actor (The Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor)
December 26	Jack Benny	80	American comedian (The Jack Benny Program)

References[]

^ "New anchor at WNBC-TV." Broadcasting, March 18, 1974. p. 87. Archived issues available via americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
^ "WBTV's Cussed, Discussed News Theme Gets Overhaul". The Charlotte Observer. 1974-08-07.
^ Young, Bill. "Monty Python: 1969-2014". Tellyspotting: Your Brit TV Pub. KERA. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
^ McCall, Douglas (2014). Monty Python: a chronology, 1969-2012 (Second ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 36. ISBN 0-7864-7811X
^ The NBC Saturday Morning Preview Revue (1974).

[1] "New anchor at WNBC-TV." Broadcasting, March 18, 1974. p. 87. Archived issues available via americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.

[2] "WBTV's Cussed, Discussed News Theme Gets Overhaul". The Charlotte Observer. 1974-08-07.

[3] Young, Bill. "Monty Python: 1969-2014". Tellyspotting: Your Brit TV Pub. KERA. Retrieved February 27, 2015.

[4] McCall, Douglas (2014). Monty Python: a chronology, 1969-2012 (Second ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 36. ISBN 0-7864-7811X

[5] The NBC Saturday Morning Preview Revue (1974).

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1974 in American television

Contents

Events[]

Other notable events[]

Television stations[]

Sign-ons[]

Network affiliation changes[]

Station closures[]

Television shows[]

Debuting this year[]

Ending this year[]

Births[]

Deaths[]

See also[]

References[]