- March 6
- ABC airs the last (until 1958) Pantomime Quiz TV show. [179.757]
- March 7
- In Los Angeles, California, the 7th Annual Emmy Awards are presented.
- Best Actor Starring in a Regular Series: Danny Thomas for Make Room for Daddy
- Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series: Loretta Young for Letter to Loretta
- Best Audience Participation, Quiz or Panel Program: This Is Your Life and What's My Line?
- Best Children's Program: Lassie
- Best Daytime Program: House Party
- Best Dramatic Program: The United States Steel Hour
- Best Female Singer: Dinah Shore
- Best Individual Program of the Year: Disneyland
- Best Male Singer: Perry Como
- Best Mystery, Action, or Adventure Program: Dragnet
- Best News Reporter or Commentator: John Daly
- Best Situation Comedy: Make Room for Daddy
- Best Sports Program: Cavalcade of Sports
- Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series: Art Carney for The Jackie Gleason Show
- Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series: Audrey Meadows for The Jackie Gleason Show
- Best Variety Program: Disneyland
- Best Western or Adventure Series: Stories of the Century
- Most Outstanding New Personality: George Gobel.
[1] [170]
- Mary Martin in Peter Pan is televised. [1]
- March 27
- CBS airs the last Father Knows Best 30-minute comedy TV show. (The show resumes on the NBC network.) [179.216]
- Steve McQueen makes his network TV debut on Goodyear Playhouse. [1]
- May 9
- Sam and Friends debuts, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and the Muppets. [5]
- May 27
- Red Buttons Show last airs on NBC-TV. [1]
- June 7
- CBS premieres The $64,000 Question 30-minute TV game show. [1] [179.897]
- First American President to appear on color TV (Dwight Eisenhower). [1]
- June 18
- CBS airs the last The Jackie Gleason Show TV show. (The show resumes in the fall of 1956.) [179.485]
- July 2
- Lawrence Welk Show premieres on ABC. [1]
- July 17
- At 4:30 PM, the ABC Television network airs the 90-minute Dateline Disneyland show, broadcasting the opening of Disneyland park. An estimated 90 million people watch the show, the largest live TV broadcast to date, with over twenty cameras and a staff of hundreds. Hosts of the show are Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan. The official dedication is made by Walt Disney and California Governor Goodwin Knight. [6]
- August 26
- First color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup). [1]
- August 31
- NBC begins airing the Father Knows Best 30-minute comedy TV show. [179.316]
- First microwave TV station operated (Lufkin, Texas, USA). [1]
- September 10
- CBS premieres the Gunsmoke western TV show. (633 shows are broadcast until 1975) [1] [179.403]
- September 14
- The ABC TV network begins airing the second season of the Disneyland TV show, featuring the film Dumbo. [6]
- September 18
- CBS airs the last Toast of the Town TV show. (The show continues renamed as The Ed Sullivan Show.) [179.287]
- September 22
- Commercial TV begins in England. [1]
- September 25
- CBS premieres The Ed Sullivan Show 60-minute variety show. [179.287]
- October 1
- CBS premieres the Honeymooners comedy TV show. [1] [179.441]
- October 2
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents premieres. [1]
- October 3
- Captain Kangaroo premieres on TV. [1]
- The ABC TV network launches Disney's second TV show The Mickey Mouse Club. It is a daily one-hour series, showing cartoons and introducing the talents of the "Mouseketeers". (390 shows are produced over four years.) [6]
- October 14
- NBC premieres the Alcoa Theatre 60-minute dramatic variety TV show. [179.40]
- October 31
- NBC premieres the Matinee Theatre 60-minute live dramatic anthology TV show. [179.633]
- November 13
- First live US telecast from non-contiguous foreign country-Havana, Cuba. [1]
- December 6
- New York psychologist Joyce Brothers wins TV's "$64,000 Question" on boxing. [1]
- December 25
- NBC airs the last The Colgate Comedy Hour TV show. [179.196]
- December 26
- RKO is first to announce sale of rights to its film library for TV broadcast. [1]
1956
- February 10
- My Friend Flicka premieres on CBS TV. [1]
- March 5
- Movie King Kong is first televised. [1]
- March 17
- In Hollywood, California, the 8th Annual Emmy Awards are presented.
- Best Action or Adventure Series: Disneyland
- Best Actor Starring in a Regular Series: Phil Silvers for The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Actress Starring in a Regular Series: Lucille Ball for I Love Lucy
- Best Audience Participation Series: The $64,000 Question
- Best Children's Series: Lassie
- Best Comedian: Phil Silvers
- Best Comedienne: Nanette Fabray
- Best Contributing to Daytime Programming: Matinee Theatre
- Best Documentary Program: Omnibus
- Best Dramatic Program: Producers' Showcase
- Best Female Singer: Dinah Shore
- Best Male Singer: Perry Como
- Best MC or Program Host - Male or Female: Perry Como
- Best Music Series: Your Hit Parade
- Best News Commentator or Reporter: Edward R. Murrow
- Best Situation Comedy: The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Supporting Actor in a Regular Series: Art Carney for The Honeymooners
- Best Supporting Actress in a Regular Series: Nanette Fabray for Caesar's Hour
- Best Variety Program: Toast of the Town.
[1] [171]
- March 26
- Red Buttons debuts on TV in Studio One. [1]
- April 1
- CBS airs the last Omnibus TV show. (The show continues on the ABC TV network in the fall.) [179.736]
- April 2
- Soap operas As the World Turns and Edge of Night premiere on US TV. [1]
- April 10
- Philips broadcasts first Dutch color TV programs. [1]
- April 14
- Ampex Corp demonstrates first commercial videotape recorder at the 1956 NARTB convention in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1] [5]
- May 11
- Pinky Lee Show last airs on NBC-TV. [1]
- May 22
- Bob Hope Show last airs on NBC-TV. [1]
- June 5
- Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements. [5]
- June 24
- NBC premieres The Steve Allen Show 60-minute variety TV show. [179.929]
- July 1
- Elvis Presley, wearing a tuxedo, appears on The Steve Allen Show. [1]
- July 9
- Dick Clark's first appearance as host of American Bandstand. [1]
- August 9
- Alabama begins the first US state-wide, state-supported educational TV network. [1]
- September 9
- Elvis Presley appears on national TV for first time (Ed Sullivan Show). [1]
- September
- CBS airs the last I Love Lucy TV show. A total of 179 episodes aired. [179.462]
- September 17
- Television is first broadcast in Australia. [5]
- September 20
- NBC airs The Dinah Shore Show, formerly called The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, and expanded to 30 minutes. [179.252]
- September 21
- CBS airs the last Our Miss Brooks TV show. [179.750]
- September 22
- CBS airs the last The Honeymooners TV show. A total of 39 episodes aired. [179.441]
- September 29
- CBS resumes airing The Jackie Gleason Show 60-minute comedy variety series. [179.485]
- October 4
- CBS premieres the Playhouse 90 90-minute anthology drama TV show. [179.795]
- October 7
- ABC begins airing the Omnibus 60-minute educational TV show. [179.736]
- October 10
- CBS premieres the Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre 30-minute western anthology TV show. [179.248]
- October 23
- First video recording on magnetic tape televised in USA, coast-to-coast. [1]
- October 29
- Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, NBC News, team up. [1]
- November 3
- The Wizard of Oz film first televised (CBS-TV). [1]
- December 18
- To Tell the Truth debuts on CBS-TV. [1]
- December 24
- I Love Lucy Christmas TV show airs, never put in syndication. [1]
- December 28
- Ding Dong School on NBC-TV cancelled. [1]
1957
- January 4
- Blondie situation comedy premieres on NBC TV. [1]
- January 6
- Elvis Presley makes his 7th and final appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. [1]
- January 28
- Tonight! America After Dark premieres, with Jack Lescoulie and Al (Jazzbo) Collins on NBC (between Steve Allen and Jack Paar). [1]
- February 27
- Premiere of first prime-time network TV show beginning with an "X" Xavier Cugat Show on NBC (only one until X-Files). [1]
- March 3
- ABC airs the last Omnibus TV show. (The show continues on the NBC TV network in the fall.) [179.736]
- March 16
- In Burbank, California, the 9th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Desi Arnaz.
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series: Robert Young for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic Series: Loretta Young for Letter to Loretta
- Best Continuing Performance by a Comedian in a Series: Sid Caesar for Caesar's Hour
- Best New Program Series: Playhouse 90
- Best Public Service Series: See It Now
- Best Series Half Hour or Less: The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Series One Hour or More: Caesar's Hour
- Best Single Performance by an Actor: Jack Palance for Playhouse 90
- Best Single Performance by an Actress: Claire Trevor for Producers' Showcase
- Best Supporting Performance by an Actor: Carl Reiner for Caesar's Hour
- Best Supporting Performance by an Actress: Pat Carroll for Caesar's Hour
[1] [172] [1]
- May 4
- Alan Freed hosts Rock n' Roll Show, first prime-time network rock show. [1]
- May 6
- Last broadcast of I Love Lucy on CBS-TV. [1]
- June 3
- Howard Cosell's first TV show. [1]
- June 22
- CBS airs the last episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. (The show returns in the fall of 1958.) [179.485]
- June 24
- NBC airs the last Robert Montgomery Presents TV show. [179.840]
- NBC airs the last Producers' Showcase TV show. [179.809]
- June 25
- NBC TV airs the last The Armstrong Circle Theatre TV show in the USA. [179.69]
- July 17
- ABC airs the last Make Room For Daddy TV show. [179.606]
- July 29
- Jack Paar's Tonight show premieres. [1]
- August 5
- American Bandstand debuts on the ABC television network. [1] [5]
- August 30
- ABC airs the last Kukla, Fran, and Ollie TV show. [179.540]
- September 8
- Pope Pius XII encyclical On motion pictures, radio, TV. [1]
- September 11
- The ABC TV network begins airing the fourth season of the Disneyland TV show, celebrating the fourth anniversary of the show. [6]
- September 15
- Bachelor Father TV show with John Forsythe premieres. [1]
- September 18
- Wagon Train TV show premieres. [1]
- September 21
- CBS premieres the Perry Mason 60-minute crime drama TV show. [179.777]
- September 22
- ABC premieres the Maverick 60-minute western TV show. [179.636]
- October 2
- CBS TV begins airing The Armstrong Circle Theatre 60-minute TV show in the USA. [179.69]
- October 4
- Leave it to Beaver debuts on CBS. [1] [249.41]
- October 7
- CBS premieres The Danny Thomas Show 30-minute comedy TV show. [179.606]
- NBC changes the Alcoa Theatre show from 60 minutes to 30. [179.40]
- October 10
- The ABC TV network debuts the third Disney TV show, Zorro, in the USA. [6]
- October 20
- CBS premieres The 20th Century 30-minute documentary TV show. [179.1017]
- NBC begins airing The Dinah Shore Show expanded to 60 minutes. [179.251]
- NBC begins airing the Omnibus 60-minute educational TV show. [179.736]
- November 3
- CBS premieres The Seven Lively Arts 60-minute anthology drama TV show. [179.880]
- December 1
- Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, and Crickets debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. [1]
- December 28
- CBS states it won't broadcast baseball where minor league games are on. [1]
1958
- January 15
- New York Yankees sign million dollar plus deal to show 140 games on WPIX TV. [1]
- January 26
- Jack Smith takes over for Art Baker as TV host of You Asked for It. [1]
- January 31
- Jackpot Bowling premieres on NBC with Leo Durocher as host. [1]
- February 16
- CBS airs the last The Seven Lively Arts TV show. [179.880]
- March 11
- Charles Van Doren finally loses on TV game show 21. [1]
- April 8
- ABC resumes airing the Pantomime Quiz 30-minute TV game show. [179.757]
- April 15
- In Hollywood, California, the 10th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Danny Thomas.
- Best Comedy Series: The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Comedy Writing: The Phil Silvers Show
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Robert Young for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Jane Wyatt for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Carl Reiner for Caesar's Hour
- Best Continuing Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic or Comedy Series: Ann B. Davis for The Bob Cummings Show
- Best Dramatic Series with Continuing Characters: Gunsmoke
- Best Musical, Variety, Audience Participation or Quiz Series: The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
- Best New Program Series of the Year: The Seven Lively Arts
- Best Public Service Program or Series: Omnibus
- Best Single Performance By An Actor Lead or Supporting: Peter Ustinov for Omnibus
- Best Single Performance By An Actress Lead or Supporting: Polly Bergen for Playhouse 90.
[1] [173]
- June 17
- NBC airs the last Your Hit Parade TV show. (The show continues on the CBS TV network.) [179.1099]
- June 27
- NBC airs the last Matinee Theatre TV show. [179.633]
- July 1
- The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave. [5]
- July 3
- The Andy Williams Show premieres on ABC. [1]
- July 7
- CBS airs the last See It Now TV show. [179.877]
- August 18
- American TV game show scandal investigation starts. [1]
- September 3
- The ABC TV network airs the last Disneyland TV show. [6]
- September 5
- First color video recording on magnetic tape presented, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. [1]
- September 12
- The ABC TV network premieres the Walt Disney Presents TV show. [6]
- September 17
- NBC airs the last Father Knows Best TV show. (The show moves to the CBS network.) [179.316]
- September 22
- CBS resumes airing the Father Knows Best 30-minute comedy TV show. [179.316]
- September 25
- NBC resumes airing The Ed Wynn Show 30-minute comedy variety show, absent since 1950. [179.287]
- September 30
- ABC premieres the Naked City 30-minute crime drama TV show. [179.696]
- October 3
- CBS resumes airing The Jackie Gleason Show 30-minute comedy variety series. [179.485]
- October 8
- The NBC TV network airs the first The Kraft Music Hall 30-minute musical variety TV show in the USA. [179.535]
- October 10
- CBS begins airing the Your Hit Parade 30-minute variety TV show. [179.1099]
- November 2
- CBS airs the last The $64,000 Question TV show. [179.897]
- December 29
- TV soap Young Dr Malone debuts. [1]
1959
- January 1
- NBC airs the last The Ed Wynn Show TV show. [179.287]
- January 4
- CBS premieres The General Electric College Bowl 30-minute TV game show. [179.362]
- January 5
- Bozo the Clown live children's show premieres on TV. [1]
- January 9
- Rawhide with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS TV. [1]
- January 12
- NBC premieres The Bell Telephone Hour, a 60-minute music program. [179.99]
- January 30
- The ABC TV network airs the Walt Disney Presents TV show, entitled The Peter Tchaikovsky Story. The show is the first stereophonic broadcast of a television program. In some cities, one channel is transmitted on an AM radio station, the other channel on an FM station. [6]
- March 8
- Groucho, Chico and Harpo's final TV appearance together. [1]
- April 14
- CBS airs the last (until 1974) Your Hit Parade TV show. [179.1099]
- April 27
- Today US TV show goes abroad for the first time (Paris, France). [1]
- May 3
- NBC airs the last The Steve Allen Show TV show. [179.929]
- May 6
- In Hollywood, California, the 11th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Raymond Burr.
- Best Comedy Series: The Jack Benny Program
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jack Benny for The Jack Benny Program and Robert Young for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series: Raymond Burr for Perry Mason
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Tom Poston for The Steve Allen Show
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series: Dennis Weaver for Gunsmoke
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series: Jane Wyatt for Father Knows Best
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series: Loretta Young for Letter to Loretta
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy Series: Ann B. Davis for The Bob Cummings Show
- Best Continuing Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series: Barbara Hale for Perry Mason
- Best Dramatic Series Less Than One Hour: Alcoa Theatre
- Best Dramatic Series One Hour or Longer: Playhouse 90
- Best Musical or Variety Series: The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
- Best News Reporting Series: The Huntley-Brinkley Report
- Best Panel, Quiz or Audience Participation Series: What's My Line?
- Best Public Service Program or Series: Omnibus
- Best Single Performance by an Actor: Fred Astaire for An Evening with Fred Astaire
- Best Single Performance by an Actress: Julie Harris for Hallmark Hall of Fame
- Best Western Series: Maverick.
[1] [174]
- May 10
- NBC airs the last Omnibus TV show. [179.736]
- May 13
- Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle, last airs on NBC-TV. [1]
- June 18
- First telecast transmitted from England to US. [1]
- July 7
- CBS premieres The Andy Williams Show 60-minute musical variety TV show. [179.58]
- August 7
- Explorer 6 transmits first TV photo of Earth from space. [1]
- September 6
- NBC airs the last (until 1967) Dragnet TV show. [179.274]
- September 10
- CBS premieres the Checkmate TV show, a 60-minute mystery series. [179.182]
- September 12
- NBC premieres the Bonanza 60-minute western TV show, marking the first regularly-scheduled TV program presented in color. [1] [5] [179.134]
- September 22
- CBS airs the last The Andy Williams Show TV show. The show continues on the NBC TV network in 1962. [179.58]
- September 24
- The ABC TV network airs the last episode of the Disney-produced TV show, Zorro. ABC cancelled the show because it was cheaper to finance its own shows. 78 episodes were produced. [6]
- September 25
- The ABC TV network airs the last episode of the Mickey Mouse Club TV show. [6]
- October 2
- CBS premieres The Twilight Zone 30-minute TV show. [1] [179.1021]
- October 4
- ABC airs the last Pantomime Quiz TV show. [179.757]
- October 15
- ABC premieres the Untouchables 60-minute crime drama TV show. [1] [179.1030]
- November 2
- Charles Van Doren confesses, TV quiz show 21 was fixed. [1]
- November 11
- First episode of TV show Rocky and His Friends airs. [1]
- December 25
- Sony brings transistor TV 8-301 to the market. [1]
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