For the first time ever, the Super Bowl is televised by ABC, who join the annual broadcast rotation of the game with CBS and NBC. This also marked the first time that a Super Bowl had closed captioning provided in real-time. In this game, the San Francisco 49ers would defeat the Miami Dolphins 38-16.
January 24
The first part of a two part Family Tiesepisode airs on NBC concerning Elyse Keaton going into labor while performing on-air at her husband, Steven's TV station.
February 4
NBC becomes the first commercial television network to use satellite interconnection for its stations; as a result, it is the first network to discontinue use of chime intonations at the beginning of each telecast, to signal to its affiliates to start broadcasting the network feed.
CBS airs the first part of a two part miniseries that examines the so-called "Atlanta child murders" of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Atlanta officials criticized[1][2]The Atlanta Child Murders, claiming that it distorted[3] the facts[4] of the case.[5] After a series of negotiations, CBS executives agreed[6] to insert a disclaimer[7] alerting viewers that the film is based on fact but contains fictional elements.[8]
Capital Cities Communications, a station owner group based in Albany, New York, stuns the broadcast industry by announcing that it is acquiring ABC for $3.5 billion. The move will prompt the company to sell off several of its television and radio stations to satisfy FCC ownership limits. The deal will be finalized on January 3, 1986.[9][10]
KXXV signs on the air in Waco as an NBC affiliate. However, the NBC affiliate didn't last long, and it moved to ABC.
March 31
The World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) telecasts WrestleMania to select pay-per-view areas (and to a greater extent, closed-circuit locations across the country). The event is wildly successful (drawing over a million viewers on closed-circuit) and marks the beginning of the annual series of WrestleMania events which continue to air on pay-per-view to this day. There is, however, a near-riot in Pittsburgh when a technical glitch prematurely ends the feed at the Civic Arena, prompting the WWF to appease angry fans by showing the event in its entirely on ABC affiliate WTAE-TV two weeks later.[11][12][13]
April 1
Financial News Network stopped airing on broadcast stations, and began a 24-hour cable feed, with the introduction of Score.
KMSS commences broadcasting in Shreveport, Louisiana, making it the first station in the market to sign on the air since KTBS signed on in 1955 and the first independent station in the market. It would later become one of the few charter affiliates of Fox in Louisiana.
The first episode of Saturday Night's Main Event is broadcast by NBC, the first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast by network television since the 1950s.
On The CBS Morning News, co–anchor Phyllis George interviews false rape accuser Cathleen Mae Webb and the man whom she had falsely accused, Gary Dotson. In an effort to get the two to make amends to each other, George makes a simple suggestion: "How about a hug?" Both Webb and Dotson graciously refuse. That infamous interview alienates audiences and is blasted by critics, helping to put an unpleasant close to George's television career at this initial mark.
The season finale of Dallas on CBS finds character Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) on his deathbed after his crazed ex-sister-in-law Katherine Wentworth (Morgan Brittany) runs him down with her car.
ABC broadcasts its 2,311th and last daytime episode of Family Feud after 9 years. Richard Dawson gives an emotional speech at the end of the broadcast. Dawson would return to the series during 1994 for one more season. Meanwhile, on CBS, Press Your Luck broadcasts the episode in which all three contestants would be invited back after a mistake on a question about the cartoon character Sylvester was corrected by Mel Blanc telephoning Peter Tomarken at the end of the show.
June 24
Kathie Lee Johnson (later Gifford) officially joins Regis Philbin as his co-host on WABC's The Morning Show. Their chemistry proves to be successful as The Morning Show soon becomes number 1 in the market[18] and goes on to debut in national syndication on September 5, 1988, when the title is changed to Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.
July 1
Nick at Nite, a nighttime program service with an emphasis on classic television reruns, is launched in the United States, being broadcast on the same channel as Nickelodeon. At the same time, A&E, which previously shared Nickelodeon's channel, begins broadcasting as its own 24-hour cable channel in January of that year on a separate satellite transponder.
July 2
The final episode of The Jeffersons airs on CBS. It is not without controversy though, as CBS abruptly canceled the series without allowing for a proper series finale. The cast was not informed until after the July 2, 1985, episode, "Red Robins"; actor Sherman Hemsley, who portrayed George Jefferson, said he learned that the show was canceled by reading it in the newspaper.[19]Isabel Sanford (Louise Jefferson), who heard about the cancellation through her cousin who read it in the tabloids, publicly stated that she found the cancellation with no proper finale to be disrespectful on the network's part.[20] Per an article in the May 8, 1985, Los Angeles Times, the series was cancelled by announcement at the CBS network "upfront" presentation the day before, nearly two months before the airing of the final episode. Actor Franklin Cover, who played Tom Willis, also heard about the cancellation while watching Entertainment Tonight.
Rock Hudson joined his old friend Doris Day for a Hollywood press conference announcing the launch of her new TV cable show Doris Day's Best Friends in which Hudson was videotaped visiting Day's ranch in Carmel, California, a few days earlier. He appeared gaunt and his speech was nearly incoherent; during the segment, Hudson did very little speaking, with most of it consisting of Day and Hudson walking around as Day's recording of "My Buddy" played in the background, with Hudson noting he had quickly tired out. His appearance was enough of a shock that the reunion was broadcast repeatedly over national news shows that night and for days to come.
A taping of an outdoor interview for NBC's Today is interrupted by David Letterman, who, while taping his own Late Night, leans out of an office window and announces, "My name is Larry Grossman (then-president of NBC News) and I'm not wearing any pants!"
September 2
NBC becomes the first broadcast network in the U.S. to broadcast its prime time programs with stereo sound.
In part one of a three-part season premiere of The Facts of Life on NBC, Edna's Edibles, which had been the main locale of the long-running series since 1983, is burned to the ground. Edna Garrett and the girls would rebuild and replace it with an ice cream and gift shop named Over Our Heads.
Broadcast on NBC two nights before the start of Family Ties' fourth season, the Keatons take a vacation to England in television film Family Ties Vacation. The movie was later split into four individual episodes when the series entered syndication.
Three years after being canceled by ABC following its second season, the sitcom It's a Living is relaunched for the first-run syndication market. It would continue for four more seasons before its conclusion in 1989.
CBS broadcasts the made-for-televisiondrama filmStone Pillow. It stars Lucille Ball, in an attempt to make a dramatic "breakout" from her years in comedy, as an older homeless woman with few resources and even fewer options. The film received rather mixed reviews, but was a ratings success. The telecast ranked 9th out of 68 programs airing that week, and brought in a 23.3 rating and a 33 share.[24] The success of the film led Ball to make one last attempt to return to her comedy roots with Life with Lucy the next year.
The final episode of The Price Is Right with Johnny Olson as announcer is broadcast by CBS. Olson had died on October 12; the show was broadcast as an "in memoriam" tribute to him on October 29.
Elmo, a new character for Sesame Street, is introduced on PBS. In the same episode, the adult cast of Sesame Street come face-to-face with Aloysius Snuffleupagus for the first time since the character's 1971 introduction.
Courteney Cox uses the word "period" (referring to menstruation) on U.S. television for the first time, in a commercial for Tampax brand tampons.
December 5
A Wheel of Fortune contestant Terry Wharton missolves a puzzle "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat" (a quote from Jim McKay), leaving $62,400 cash unclaimed. This was to date, the largest cash unclaimed for a round in the history of the show, which, at the time, would have set then the biggest winnings record during the maingame alone.[25]
December 12
General Electric announces plans to purchase RCA, owner of NBC for $6.3 billion, and eventually wants to convert General Electric's TV station KCNC into an NBC owned and operated station. The deal would be finalized on June 9, 1986.
ABC acquires Capital Cities Communications, and the purchase was finalized on January 3, 1986, making the station an ABC owned-and-operated station.[22]
KFSN-TV was purchased by Capital Cities Communications, the then-parent of ABC. The purchase was finalized on January 3, 1986, making the station an ABC owned-and-operated station.[28]
The swap was given, because of WSAV's weak performance of ABC's network programming, especially Thursday nights, which had bogged down its stronger syndicated slate.[23]
^The Valley Independent. Monday, April 1, 1985. This mishap is mistakenly attributed to WrestleMania 2 in the "True Story of WrestleMania" DVD and Blu-ray release.
^"LIVE with Kelly and Michael". Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. "LIVE" originated more than twenty years ago with former host Regis Philbin and WABC's "The Morning Show"; it soon became the number one show in the market. Kathie Lee Gifford joined Philbin in June 1985...
