1997 in American television

In American television in 1997, notable events included television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures, and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.

Events Date EventJanuary 1The TV Parental Guidelines, a television rating system, a system similar to the one used for motion pictures, goes into effect.The Emergency Alert System comes into effect and replaces the Emergency Broadcast System.January 3Bryant Gumbel anchors his last Today show on NBC. The following Monday, Matt Lauer takes over alongside Katie Couric until he was fired 20 years later in November 2017.January 12King of the Hill set to series premiere on Fox.January 22New World Communications is acquired by Fox. The deal makes 10 New World-owned stations that affiliated with Fox as a result of the 1994 United States broadcast TV realignment network O&O's.January 26Fox broadcasts its first Super Bowl, making it the last of the big four networks to air a Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots 35–21 in a game that gives Fox its highest ratings to date.February 1The final affiliation switch resulting from the 1994–96 United States broadcast TV realignment takes place when Allbritton Communications (owners of WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the country) converts WB affiliate WBSG in Brunswick, Georgia, into a semi-satellite of new sign-on WJXX in Orange Park, Florida, which assumes the ABC affiliation for the Jacksonville market. Former ABC affiliate WJKS promptly discontinues its news operation and assumes the WB affiliation from WBSG.February 9On Fox, The Simpsons airs the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show". With this episode, The Simpsons surpasses The Flintstones as the longest-running primetime animated series in terms of episodes aired.February 23Schindler's List makes its network television debut on NBC. The film is broadcast virtually unedited and is the first telecast to receive a TV-M (now TV-MA) rating under the TV Parental Guidelines that had been established earlier in the year.February 26Various ABC characters appeared with Las Vegas settings in the shows Grace Under Fire, Coach, The Drew Carey Show, and Ellen.February 28After 23 years, the game show Wheel of Fortune retires their old trilon puzzle board and replaces it with a new touch screen puzzle board.March 17The programming block Toonami debuts on Cartoon Network.March 23The 13th annual WrestleMania event airs on pay-per-view. While the event as a whole receives mixed reviews, the submission match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin, in which both wrestlers switch alignments, is highly praised, being called one of the greatest matches in wrestling history, and has been cited by some as the beginning of the Attitude Era.April 6Disney Channel changes its network branding and presents the cable television premiere of the 1995 Disney animated film Pocahontas. The film would have its network television premiere on ABC one year later. Disney Channel continues to convert from subscription television to a basic cable channel.April 13Extreme Championship Wrestling broadcasts its first ever pay-per-view dubbed "Barely Legal".April 19The 1997 Kids' Choice Awards air on Nickelodeon, hosted by Rosie O'Donnell. Television winners included Home Improvement (for "Favorite TV Show"), Tim Allen (of Home Improvement for "Favorite TV Actor"), Tia and Tamera Mowry (of Sister, Sister for "Favorite TV Actress") and Rugrats (for "Favorite Cartoon"). A half-hour sneak preview of The Angry Beavers follows the ceremony.April 25CBS broadcasts a reunion film featuring the surviving cast of The Dukes of Hazzard, which originally aired on the network from 1979 to 1985. This proved to be Denver Pyle's final performance before his death on Christmas Day, 1997.April 30The Ellen episode "The Puppy Episode" is broadcast on ABC, showing for the first time the revelation of a main character as a homosexual.May 7–9CBS broadcasts a two part miniseries that reunites the cast of the prime time soap opera Knots Landing, which originally ran on the network from 1979–1993.May 9Bob Saget hosts his final regular episode of America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC, with the other cast members of Full House, minus The Olsen Twins. The $100,000 season finale (his final episode) aired nine days later on May 18. June 6Farrah Fawcett makes a bizarre appearance on CBS's Late Show with David Letterman. Fawcett tells long, rambling stories without a purpose, fails to understand simple questions, and gets easily distracted by things like blinking lights on the set.June 21The Professional Bowlers Tour ends after 36 years on ABC. CBS assumes the rights to the tour and will televise several events over the next two years.June 30In Seattle, KIRO-TV (CBS) and KSTW (UPN) reverse their 1995 network affiliation swap.July 8KONG-TV, Seattle's independent station goes on the air.Fox broadcasts the Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Cleveland, marking the first time that the network would broadcast the midsummer classic.July 14–16Cartoon Network launches the "Cartoon Cartoons" brand with the debut of three animated series, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel, as well as the season two premiere of Dexter's Laboratory.July 15A tribute episode of Another World is broadcast on NBC in honor of Victoria Wyndham's 25 years with the program.July 24George Harrison appears on a VH-1 special to promote his friend Ravi Shankar's album Chants of India. This would prove to be Harrison's final television appearance. August 13South Park premieres on Comedy Central.August 31WFFF-TV in Burlington, Vermont, signs-on the air, giving the Burlington/Plattsburgh market its first full-time Fox affiliate (prior to this, Fox programming was seen on a secondary basis on CBS affiliate WCAX-TV).September 3Jeri Ryan makes her first appearance as Seven of Nine on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager.September 5Joan Lunden makes her final appearance as co-anchor for ABC's Good Morning America, after being on the program since 1980. Lunden would be succeeded by Lisa McRee.September 6The big three television networks, Fox, and cable networks CNN, E!, Fox News and MSNBC all broadcast the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales; more than 33 million viewers at home watched this special.September 8KDAF-TV gives up the rights on Fox Kids to KDFI, as KDFW airs news, talk shows, paid/real estate and E/I-complaint programming instead of the block (KDFI also airs said programs, as well as Fox programs, just in case for local news emergencies and sports preemptions).September 13ABC revamps its Saturday morning cartoon schedule, and adds more new series from parent company Disney to become Disney's One Saturday Morning. This, along with many other programming, was delayed one week from its originally planned debut as a result of the aforementioned Princess Diana funeral.September 14The 49th Primetime Emmy Awards presentation was broadcast on CBS.September 19After several years of being a part of ABC's successful "TGIF" sitcom programming block, Family Matters and Step by Step switch to CBS to form the basis of the "CBS Block Party", a direct competitor to TGIF. Both series, as well as the Block Party, would be cancelled after one season.September 25ER produces a live episode for its fourth season premiere on NBC.October 5The World Wrestling Federation event Badd Blood: In Your House is broadcast on pay-per-view. Not only is the event notable for featuring the promotion's first-ever Hell in a Cell match, which pitted The Undertaker against Shawn Michaels and saw the debut of Undertaker's storyline brother Kane, it marked the last time that Vince McMahon would be featured as the chief broadcaster of the commentating team for a pay-per-view event. According to WWE, the Montreal Screwjob, which took place at Survivor Series 1997, is considered the beginning of the Attitude Era. Thus, Badd Blood: In Your House was the last WWF PPV of the New Generation Era.October 20Arthur begins its second season on PBS with Fred Rogers from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood guest starring.October 25Chris Farley guest hosts NBC's Saturday Night Live in what would turn out to be his final television appearance before his death on December 18, 1997.Under Wraps, the first Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) by Disney Channel, is broadcast.October 26Game 7 of the World Series is broadcast on NBC. The Florida Marlins defeat the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first baseball wild card team to win the world championship. This was the first World Series that NBC would broadcast in its entirety since 1988. NBC aired only Games 2-3 and the decisive sixth game of the 1995 World Series, while ABC aired the other three and a seventh game had it been necessary.November 2A third production of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's version of Cinderella is aired on ABC. This version, featuring Brandy Norwood and Whitney Houston, is produced by ABC's parent company The Walt Disney Company (which released its own version of the story as an animated movie 1950).November 6The NBC discussion show Meet the Press celebrates its 50th anniversary.November 7A crossover event featuring Salem in a time ball with Sabrina appeared on all four TGIF shows around that time, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, You Wish, and Teen Angel.November 9During a pay-per-view broadcast of the World Wrestling Federation's Survivor Series, then-WWF Champion Bret Hart loses his title to Shawn Michaels. The finish is mired in controversy when WWF chairman Vince McMahon, who had been sitting at ringside, orders Earl Hebner, the assigned referee, to end the match as Michaels is holding Hart in Hart's own finishing maneuver, the Sharpshooter, even though Hart had not submitted. The incident becomes known as the Montreal Screwjob and will mark the final appearance of Hart on WWE television until 2010.November 17Rick Rude becomes the only person to appear on both USA Network's Raw and TNT's Monday Nitro on the same night. Whereas the Raw that aired that night was pre-recorded six days in advanced, Rude appeared on a live edition of Nitro about an hour earlier. November 29The Emergency Broadcast System is replaced by the Emergency Alert System and it continues to this day.December 8WVIT becomes an NBC O&O for the second time, and Paramount Stations Group had purchased WLWC and WWHO, dropping off newscasts, although Paramount had to run these two as a WB affiliate until 2000, while getting UPN to secondary status.December 15World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon announces the introduction of the Attitude Era (a term used by WWF for its adult-oriented programming) on Raw Is War, during a segment entitled "The Cure for the Common Show". The WWF Attitude's scratch logo also makes its on-screen debut within the episode, replacing the New Generation's block logo.December 24TNT and TBS broadcast "24 Hours of A Christmas Story", consisting of 12 consecutive airings of the 1983 film from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day. December 28World Championship Wrestling's fifteenth annual Starrcade event airs on pay-per-view. The main event would see Sting defeat Hollywood Hogan to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Overall, this would become the highest grossing pay-per-view in WCW history.

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Debuts