1951 in television

List of years in television (table)
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In radio 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 In film 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 In music 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
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The year 1951 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1951.

Events

• March 21 – XEW-TV began transmissions, being the second oldest in Mexico City, with the first one being XHTV.
• March 22 – RCA introduces an eight-pound (3.6 kg) monochrome television camera with a 53-pound (24 kg) backpack transmitter, both operated by batteries. It is the first portable television camera.
• May 28 – The US Supreme Court upholds the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the CBS color television system.
• May 31 – Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), as predecessor of Nederlandse Omroep Stichting Televisie (NOS), a first regular television broadcasting service started in Amsterdam, Netherlands.^[1]
• June 25 – CBS presents its first commercial color telecast featuring Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson.
• June – RCA demonstrates its new electronic color system.
• August 11 – The first baseball game is televised in color, a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
• September 4 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast occurs in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
• September 29
  • The first live sporting event broadcast coast-to-coast, a college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised by NBC.
  • CBS broadcasts the first American football game in color, between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia.
• September 30 – WXIA-TV signed on the air at 5 p.m., as WLTV on channel 8. It was the first full time ABC affiliate for Atlanta, taking it over from WSB-TV (channel 2) and WAGA-TV (channel 5).
• October 2
  • Danish language television station, DR1, first launched in Copenhagen.^[2]
  • NTS, The first television network in the Netherlands was launched at 8:15 pm.
• October 3 – The first live coast-to-coast network telecast of a World Series baseball game.
• October 12 – The Holme Moss transmitter is initiated in Northern England, making BBC Television available to the region for the first time.
• October 17 – Television broadcasts begin in Argentina from Primera Televisora Argentina on channel 7, Buenos Aires.
• October 20 – The CBS Eye logo makes its television debut.
• November 11 – Bing Crosby Enterprises demonstrates black-and-white video recording using a modified Ampex tape recorder.
• November 18 – Edward R. Murrow on See It Now presents a split screen view of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. It has erroneously been referred to as the first live transcontinental telecast.
• December – TV Tupi in São Paulo (Brazil) begins broadcasting Sua Vida Me Pertence ("Your Life Belongs To Me") starring Vida Alves, pioneering the telenovela genre.
• December 24 – The first televised opera composed for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, is broadcast by NBC.
• Ernie Kovacs' Time for Ernie and Ernie in Kovacsland television series premiere. Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.

Programs/programmes

Series	Debut	Ended
Picture Page (UK)	October 8, 1936	1939
	1946	1952
The Voice of Firestone Televues	1943	1947
	1949	1963
Kaleidoscope (UK)	November 2, 1946	1953
Gillette Cavalcade of Sports	November 8, 1946	June 24, 1960
Muffin the Mule (UK)	1946	1955
Kraft Television Theater	May 7, 1947	1958
Kukla, Fran and Ollie	October 13, 1947	1957
Meet the Press	November 6, 1947	—
Howdy Doody	December 27, 1947	September 24, 1960
Café Continental	1947	1953
Juvenile Jury	1947	1954
Small Fry Club	1947	1951
Television Newsreel (UK)	January 5, 1948	1954
The Original Amateur Hour	January 18, 1948	September 27, 1970
Court of Current Issues	February 9, 1948	June 26, 1951
Author Meets the Critics	April 1948	October 10, 1954
Hollywood Screen Test	April 15, 1948	1953
Texaco Star Theater	June 8, 1948	1953
The Ed Sullivan Show	June 20, 1948	June 6, 1971
Candid Camera	August 10, 1948	May 23, 2004
CBS Evening News	August 15, 1948	—
Foodini the Great	August 23, 1948	June 23, 1951
Ford Theatre	October 17, 1948	July 10, 1957
The Alan Dale Show	1948	1951
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts	1948	January 1, 1958
Break the Bank	1948	1957
Celebrity Time	1948	September 1952
Club Seven	1948	1951
The Philco Television Playhouse	1948	1955
Winner Take All	1948	1952
The Goldbergs	January 17, 1949	1956
Captain Video	June 27, 1949	April 1, 1955
Mama	July 1, 1949	March 17, 1957
Martin Kane, Private Eye	August 7, 1949	June 17, 1954
The Lone Ranger	September 15, 1949	June 6, 1957
Come Dancing (UK)	September 29, 1949	1995
The Aldrich Family	October 2, 1949	May 29, 1953
	January 2, 1953	August 22, 1958
The Ruggles	November 3, 1949	June 19, 1952
One Man's Family	November 4, 1949	June 21, 1952
	March 1, 1954	April 1, 1955
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends	1949	1959

Debuts

• January 3 – Dragnet, crime drama, on NBC (1951–1959 Series One B&W, 1967-1970 Series Two Color)
• January 8 - Say It with Acting, game show, on NBC.
• January 20 - Two Girls Named Smith, situation comedy, on ABC.^[3]: 873
• March 3 – Watch Mr. Wizard on NBC (1951–1965)^[4]
• March 12 - Miss Susan, soap opera on NBC (1951)^[5]
• June 2 - The daytime version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
• June 16 – Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, variety show, with Faye Emerson and Skitch Henderson, on CBS
• July 1 - G. E. Guest House debuts on CBS.
• July 6 – Front Page Detective debuts on Dumont.^[6]
• July 16 – A British version of the What's My Line?, game show, on BBC (Like its American counterpart, it became one of the top-rated programs for the rest of the decade and made a celebrity of its host, Eamonn Andrews)
• August 3 - The Ad-Libbers, comedy sketch game show, on CBS. (1951)
• August 3 - Tales of Tomorrow, a science fiction anthology series on ABC (1951-1953)
• September 3 – The first long-running soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, on CBS (1951–1986)
• September 11 - The Bill Goodwin Show, a talk/variety program on NBC. (1951-1952)^[7]
• September 24 – Love of Life on CBS (1951–1980)
• October 15 – Situation comedy I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, on CBS (1951–1957); produced on film in front of a studio audience, using three film cameras, instead of being broadcast live, and making Ball the world's first major female television star
• October 28 - Out There, a science fiction program on CBS (1951-1952)
• Television version of Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
• The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957), on NBC, starring Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)

Ending during 1951

Date	Show	Debut
January 16	The Alan Dale Show	1948
July 18	Four Star Revue[8]	Unknown
August 29	Stars Over Hollywood[6]	1950
October 13	Two Girls Named Smith	1951[3]: 883
November 2	Vanity Fair [3]: 883	1948
December 28	Miss Susan	1951[5]
Unknown	Club Seven	1948

Births

Date	Name	Notability
January 7	Helen Worth	English actress (Coronation Street)
January 12	Kirstie Alley	Actress (Cheers, Veronica's Closet) (died 2022)
	Rush Limbaugh	Radio talk show host & commentator (died 2021)
January 15	Charo	Actress, singer, guitarist
January 26	Walt Willey	Actor
January 30	Charles S. Dutton	Actor (Roc)
	Tim Sample	New England humorist
January 31	Cristine Rose	Actress (Heroes)
February 12	Susan Page	American journalist
February 13	Ellen Bry	Actress (St. Elsewhere)
February 15	Jane Seymour	English actress (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman)
February 16	William Katt	Actor (The Greatest American Hero)
February 20	John Voldstad	Actor (Newhart)
February 23	Patricia Richardson	Actress (Home Improvement)
February 24	Debra Jo Rupp	Actress (That '70s Show)
February 25	James Brown	Sportcaster
March 12	Caren Kaye	Actress
March 17	Kurt Russell	Actor (The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters)
March 19	Fred Berry	Actor (What's Happening!!) (died 2003)
April 13	Peter Davison	Actor (Doctor Who)
April 20	Luther Vandross	Singer (died 2005)
April 21	Tony Danza	Actor (Taxi, Who's the Boss?)
April 27	Paul O'Keefe	Actor (The Patty Duke Show)
April 29	Ellen Crawford	Actress (ER)
	Dale Earnhardt	Professional NASCAR driver (died 2001)
May 8	Deborah Harmon	Actress (Just the Ten of Us)
May 9	Alley Mills	Actress (The Wonder Years)
May 15	Fred Honsberger	American radio personality (died 2009)
May 16	Laurette Spang-McCook	American actress
May 18	Denny Dillon	Actress and comedian (Saturday Night Live, Dream On)
May 25	Patti D'Arbanville	Actress (New York Undercover)
June 2	Jeanine Pirro	Television host
June 3	Jill Biden	Educator and current first lady of the United States
June 4	Derek McGrath	Actor
June 5	Ellen Foley	Singer and actress (Night Court)
	Christopher Kimball	Television host
	Mark Harelik	Television actor
June 13	Richard Thomas	Actor (The Waltons)
June 17	Joe Piscopo	Actor and comedian (Saturday Night Live)
June 20	Tress MacNeille	Voice actress (Animaniacs, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Tiny Toon Adventures, Daisy Duck from Disney)
June 26	Pamela Bellwood	Actress (Dynasty)
June 27	Julia Duffy	Actress (Newhart)
June 29	Craig Sager	American sports reporter (died 2016)
July 7	Roz Ryan	Actress (Amen, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack)
July 9	Chris Cooper	Actor
July 10	Phyllis Smith	Actress (The Office)
July 12	Cheryl Ladd	Actress (Charlie's Angels)
	Jamey Sheridan	Actor (Homeland)
July 13	Didi Conn	Actress
July 15	Jesse Ventura	Actor
July 17	Lucie Arnaz	Actress (Here's Lucy), daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
July 19	Debra Byrd	Vocal coach (American Idol, Canadian Idol, The Voice) (died 2024)[9]
July 21	Robin Williams	Actor and comedian (Mork & Mindy) (died 2014)
July 21	K. T. McFarland	American political candidate
July 24	Lynda Carter	Actress (Wonder Woman)
July 31	Barry Van Dyke	Actor (Airwolf, Diagnosis: Murder), son of Dick Van Dyke
August 3	Jay North	Actor (Dennis the Menace)
August 5	Chip Fields	Actress (Good Times)
August 6	Catherine Hicks	Actress (Annie Camden on 7th Heaven)
August 14	Carl Lumbly	Actor (Cagney & Lacey, Alias, Justice League)
	Kyle Johnson	Actor
August 17	Robert Joy	Canadian actor (CSI: NY)
August 19	Randi Oakes	Actress and model (CHiPs)
August 21	Harry Smith	American television journalist
August 26	Bill Whitaker	American television journalist
September 2	Mark Harmon	Actor (NCIS)
September 4	Judith Ivey	Actress
September 5	Michael Keaton	Actor
September 8	Jeffrey Lurie	Producer
September 9	Tom Wopat	Actor (The Dukes of Hazzard)
September 10	Gary Danielson	Football player
September 12	Joe Pantoliano	Actor
September 13	Jean Smart	Actress (Designing Women, Kim Possible)
September 16	Janet Andrewartha	Australian actress (Neighbours) (died 2024)
September 23	Ron Klink	American television broadcaster
September 25	Mark Hamill	Actor (Batman: The Animated Series, Time Squad, Teamo Supremo, Codename: Kids Next Door, Danny Phantom, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Avatar: The Last Airbender, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Regular Show)
October 2	Sting	English singer
October 18	Pam Dawber	Actress (Mork & Mindy)
October 30	Harry Hamlin	Actor (L.A. Law)
November 6	Nigel Havers	English actor
November 9	Lou Ferrigno	Actor (The Incredible Hulk)
November 16	Miguel Sandoval	Actor (Medium, Station 19, Jackie Chan Adventures)
November 17	Stephen Root	Actor (NewsRadio, King of the Hill, The X's, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls)
November 20	Rodger Bumpass	Voice actor (SpongeBob SquarePants, Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Invader Zim)
December 1	Treat Williams	Actor (Everwood) (died 2023)
December 4	Patricia Wettig	Actress (thirtysomething, Brothers & Sisters)
December 5	Morgan Brittany	Actress (Dallas)
December 14	Celia Weston	Actress

Television debuts

• Rico Alaniz – The Adventures of Kit Carson
• Mel Brooks – The Milton Berle Show
• Raymond Burr – Stars Over Hollywood
• Joseph Calleia – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
• Wendell Corey – Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
• Robert Coote – Robert Montgomery Presents
• James Fox – Parent-Craft
• Ben Gazzara – Danger
• Stacy Harris – Chesterfield Sound Off Time
• Pat Hingle – Suspense
• Rochelle Hudson – Racket Squad
• Barry Kelley – Stars Over Hollywood
• Don Knotts – Search for Tomorrow
• Robert Loggia – Search for Tomorrow
• Vera Miles – Fireside Theatre
• Elizabeth Montgomery – Robert Montgomery Presents
• Alvy Moore – Space Patrol
• Kathleen O'Malley – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
• Joan Plowright – Sara Crewe
• Denver Pyle – The Cisco Kid
• Lee Remick – Armstrong Circle Theatre
• George C. Scott – The Bigelow Theatre
• Lois Smith – Love of Life
• Charles Starrett – Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre
• Jan Sterling – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
• Jack Weston – Out There

References

1. nl:Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (Dutch language) Retrieved October 3, 2017.
2. DR1 Retrieved date on October 3, 2017.
3. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
4. "Watch Mr. Wizard at Encyclopedia of Television". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
5. Erickson, Hal (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series About Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948-2008. McFarland. p. 189. ISBN 9780786438280. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
6. Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1979). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-25525-9.
7. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 98. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
8. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television. Penguin Books USA, Inc. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
9. Paul, Larisha (2024-03-07). "Jennifer Hudson, Barry Manilow 'Heartbroken' Over Death of 'American Idol' Vocal Coach Debra Byrd". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-03-08.