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The following is a list of events affecting American television during 2005. Events listed include television series debuts, finales, cancellations, and new channel initiations.
The U.S. channel package PT East, originally created by the New York, New York, company PrimeTime 24, and used by satellite TV viewers where over-the-air TV is unavailable, changes its ABC affiliate from WKRN-TV (Nashville, Tennessee) to flagship station WABC-TV (New York City).
DirecTV deletes Trio from its lineup. The network loses two-thirds of its 20 million viewers, putting in doubt the future of the NBCUniversal-owned channel.
2
Fox cancels the reality show Who's Your Daddy?after only one episode.
3
Craig Ferguson replaces Craig Kilborn as the host of The Late Late Show on CBS, becoming the first non-US host to have his own late-night talk show.
5
The 35th anniversary episode of the series All My Children is broadcast by ABC. The special episode, which used former characters Mark Dalton (Mark LaMura) and Nick Davis (Larry Keith), was also unique in that it was the last appearance of ailing actress Ruth Warrick. She died less than two weeks after the episode was broadcast.
7
Tamala Edwards resigns as co-anchor of ABC's World News Now and heads to the network's O&OWPVI/Philadelphia.
8
CBS airs the first episode of the reality series The Will. Ratings for the show are so low, it is canceled after only one episode, following Fox's Who's Your Daddy? which was cancelled six days ago.
17
After over 6 years, Big Tigger hosts Rap City: Tha Bassment for the last time on BET. He reveals that his mother has sold the basement and forced him out to live with his father. The following day, the show is retitled as Rap City with Mad Linx taking over as the new host.
Heather Cabot becomes the new co-anchor of ABC's World News Now.
22
Fox Box, Fox's Saturday morning programming block owned by 4Kids Entertainment, is rebranded as 4Kids TV.
February[]
Date
Event
2
Paramount Television and UPN announce the cancellation of the series Star Trek: Enterprise. Soon afterward, fan efforts begin in order to save the show, climaxing in a campaign that raises more than $3 million (US) towards funding further production, an offer Paramount ultimately rejects.
6
Super Bowl XXXIX is telecast by Fox. Following the game, Fox airs The Simpsons episode "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", followed by the pilot of American Dad!.
7
MTV2 revamps the two-headed dog symbol.
9
Jeopardy! held its Ultimate Tournament of Champions and concluded on May 25; Brad Rutter emerged as the champion of the tournament and won the grand prize of $2,000,000; with his career winnings of $3,270,102 (which include another $15,000 for winning a match), Rutter surpassed Ken Jennings's $3,022,700 as the new largest winner in the show's program, as well as the all-time biggest game show winner in the history of American and international television, a title which Rutter held on until October 10, 2008, where Jennings regained the status (Rutter would later top Jennings' record on May 16, 2014 after winning another Jeopardy! tournament, Battle of the Decades; Rutter would later lose the record to Jennings on January 14, 2020 after losing to another Jeopardy! tournament, The Greatest of All Time).
21
Avatar: The Last Airbender airs its hour-long series premiere on Nickelodeon.
March[]
Date
Event
9
On the 24th anniversary of his debut, Dan Rather retires as main anchorman of the CBS Evening News and is succeeded by Face the Nation anchor Bob Schieffer on an interim basis.
18
G4 broadcasts the final episode of the former TechTV series The Screen Savers; the series was replaced by a new show known as Attack of the Show! the following week.
After a 16-year hiatus, Doctor Who returns to BBC television in the UK. Around this time efforts are under way to get the cult program a berth on an American network, however Sci-Fi Channel rejects it for the entire first two seasons on its revival run. The following Doctor Who episodes were returned to the air on BBC America in December 2009.
April[]
Date
Event
1
ABC news anchorman Peter Jennings anchors what will turn out to be his final World News Tonight telecast. Four days later, Jennings informs viewers of World News Tonight, via a taped segment, that he has been diagnosed with lung cancer and beginning of chemotherapy he dies four months later at the age of 67.
15
PBS Kids Go! celebrates Tax Day with the first two-hour Cyberchase special "Know Your Dough".
May[]
Date
Event
1
Family Guy begins airing new episodes on Fox with "North by North Quahog". Initially cancelled by Fox in 2002, the unexpected popularity of the show's reruns on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block and DVD releases, as well as letters addressed to Fox, forces the network to renew the show. Fox's revival of Family Guy coincides with the launch of the network's Animation Domination block, which also debuts on this night and pairs Family Guy with King of the Hill, The Simpsons, and the official series premiere of American Dad!.
2
Hunter Tylo resumes her role as Dr. Taylor Forrester on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, after the character was "killed off" three years ago. The revelation that she was alive surprises many viewers as it had not been hinted by any other sources, print or online.
6
SpongeBob SquarePants debuts its fourth season on Nickelodeon after a 7-month hiatus. Originally set to end in 2004, the success of the third season forces Nickelodeon to renew the series for a fourth season before the development of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
13
The controversial final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise is broadcast in the United States on UPN, ending an 18-year, uninterrupted run of four consecutive or concurrent Star Trek series dating back to 1987.
23
Tom Cruise appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which made several public pronouncements of his relationship with Katie Holmes, and most notably "the couch incident."
24
CBS aired a special, Rob and Amber Get Married, featuring the marriage of Survivor and The Amazing Race contestants Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano, in The Bahamas. They were earlier engaged on May 9 last year on the live finale of Survivor: All-Stars, in which Brkich won the season.
25
On Fox, Carrie Underwood wins season four of the popular singing competition, American Idol.
June[]
Date
Event
30
Viacom launches Logo, a TV channel intended for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults. The channel space of defunct sister network VH1 Mega Hits provides the bulk of the new channel's carriage.
July[]
Date
Event
1
The PAX network is renamed as i: Independent Television.
29
After 5 years, AJ and Free retire as hosts of BET's 106 & Park and are succeeded by Big Tigger (co-host of BET Style) and Julissa (host of The Center) on an interim basis.
August[]
Date
Event
1
Current TV, a 24-hour youth-oriented news channel owned by the former U.S. vice president Al Gore, is initiated. The channel replaces Newsworld International.
7
ABC's acclaimed news anchor Peter Jennings dies of lung cancer. He is then succeeded by Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas for World News Tonight in 2006.
13
In response to Linda Vester's year-long maternity leave, Fox News Channel announces that she will not be hosting DaySide again.
29
Hurricane Katrina strikes the Greater New Orleans area, causing major disruption of the region's television broadcasts. Local television news programs relocate to other cities in order to cover the story, though most are interrupted by the storm; some continue to broadcast reports by the Internet.
September[]
Date
Event
2
While presenting for the NBC telecast of A Concert for Hurricane Relief, music producer and rapper Kanye West ignores his script and addresses what he perceives as the racism of both the government and of the media, stating: George Bush doesn't care about black people, and calls for the media to stop labeling African-American families as "looters" while white families were depicted as "looking for food."
5
In Champaign, Illinois, NBC affiliates WICS/WICD end their 46-year relationship with the network and swap affiliations with ABC affiliate WAND due to an affiliation deal between LIN Media, operators of WAND, and NBC.
10
The Naruto franchise makes its North American television debut on Cartoon Network's Toonami block.
Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy take over as new hosts of DaySide on Fox News Channel.
20
Maggie Ausburn is the winner of the American version of Big Brother 6 on CBS, and wins the $500,000 prize. Runner-Up Ivette Corredero wins $50,000.
23
Nicktoons is rebranded as Nicktoons Network (but will revert to the Nicktoons name in 2009).
26
Sprout (now Universal Kids) is launched by a joint venture between PBS, Comcast, HIT Entertainment, and Sesame Workshop. The new network replaces PBS Kids, allowing for an initial reach of 16.5 million subscribers.
October[]
Date
Event
1
NBC's Saturday Night Live begins broadcasting in HDTV format.
3
On BET, Rap City host Mad Linx temporarily leaves the show to host the BET Road Show. For the next several months his place is taken by J-Nicks, until Mad Linx returns the following February.
9
On Playhouse Disney, Now Rebranded to Disney Junior, Introduced The Little Einsteins.
20
Neon Genesis Evangelion makes its U.S. television debut on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.
22
Tina Fey returns from maternity leave to resume her duties for Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update skit.
The finalepisode of All That airs on Nickelodeon. First-run episodes of All That wouldn't be produced again for another 14 years.
November[]
Date
Event
4
On BET, Ray J resigns as host of BET.com Countdown to focus on his music.
8
Days of Our Lives celebrates its 40th anniversary on NBC.
13
Professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero dies at the age of 38 after being found unconscious in his hotel room.
22
Ted Koppel resigns as host of ABC's Nightline after 25 years. Six days later, Koppel is succeeded by a three-anchor team of Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden, and Terry Moran.
December[]
Date
Event
1
Oprah Winfrey appears on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman, making her first appearance on a David Letterman-hosted show in sixteen years.
2
A Knots Landing retrospective, Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again, is broadcast (appropriately) by CBS.
