1990 in American television

In American television in 1990, notable events included television show debuts, finales, and cancellations; channel launches, closures, and re-brandings; stations changing or adding their network affiliations; information on controversies, business transactions, and carriage disputes; and deaths of those who made various contributions to the medium.

Notable events

Date	Event
January 2	All My Children broadcasts its 20th anniversary special on ABC. Joe and Ruth Martin sit down with Erica Kane, her mother Mona, and Phoebe Wallingford as they go through scrapbook pictures which segue into memorable clips from the series's past twenty years.
January 8	Deborah Norville makes her debut as co-anchor on NBC's Today (succeeding Jane Pauley) alongside Bryant Gumbel.
January 10	Time Warner is formed.
January 13	Married... with Children star Ed O'Neill guest–hosts Saturday Night Live, becoming the first star of a Fox television program to host the NBC sketch comedy series.
	An episode of the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi High entitled "A New Start" is first broadcast on American television via PBS. The episode is notable as it was the first in the Degrassi franchise to depict abortion. In the PBS broadcast, the final scene, in which Erica and Heather are accosted by anti-abortion picketers as they make their way up to the clinic, is removed.[1][2] The episode instead, ends on a shot of the twins looking on before they do so.
January 14	The first regular episode of The Simpsons premieres on Fox, "Bart the Genius".
January 20	"Too Much, Too Late", the fourth and final "lost episode" of Miami Vice to air after its series finale, "Freefall", is first broadcast on the USA Network. It was not aired on NBC due to its strong subject matter pertaining to child molestation.
January 21	NBC broadcasts the National Hockey League All-Star Game from Pittsburgh. This was the first NHL game of any kind to be televised on American network television since Game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals on CBS.
February 6	NBC and the University of Notre Dame announce a deal that would call for the network to have exclusive rights to the Fighting Irish football team's home games, beginning in 1991.
	WZTV became a Fox affiliate in Nashville, replacing WXMT, which became an independent station. This was partly due to the fact that Michael Thompson had bought out the station from TVX, which resulted in the loss of the Fox affiliation and the move to a higher-rated station.
February 9	The Bradys, a sequel and continuation of the original 1969–1974 sitcom The Brady Bunch premieres on CBS. The Bradys involved more dramatic storytelling than that which viewers had seen in the previous Brady series such as the previous Brady Bunch sequel series, 1981's The Brady Brides.[3][4] Airing on Friday nights, The Bradys would ultimately fail in the ratings against Full House and Family Matters as part of the TGIF lineup on ABC and is canceled after one month; the last of the six episodes produced would air on March 9, 1990.
February 17	On NBC, Aerosmith appear in Wayne's World, a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live, where they perform the Wayne's World theme song.
February 24	The series finale of Mama's Family is broadcast in first-run syndication. In it, Naomi gives birth to a baby girl, who is named Tiffany Thelma.
February 25	Challenger, a made-for-television docudrama about the tragic events of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986 is broadcast on ABC. Its production is somewhat controversial[5] as the families[6][7] of the astronauts generally objected to it.[8][9][10][11]
March 4	On SportsCenter, ESPN broadcasts the graphic footage of Loyola Marymount University basketball player Hank Gathers' collapse and subsequent death from a heart condition[12] during a West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament game. The network was at the game recording advance footage for the championship game it was scheduled to televise the next night. The tournament final was ultimately canceled in wake of Gathers' death and LMU was given the league's automatic bid to that year's NCAA tournament by virtue of its regular-season league championship.
March 12	CBS affiliate in Boston, WNEV-TV changes its name to WHDH-TV.
March 13	All My Children actress Debbi Morgan quits the role of Angie Baxter Hubbard.
March 24	The season-ending cliffhanger of ALF, "Consider Me Gone", becomes an unintentional series finale when NBC gives Alien Productions a verbal commitment for a fifth season, but ultimately withdraws its support.[13][14] ABC resolved the cliffhanger on February 17, 1996, with the TV movie Project: ALF.
March 30	Radio host Rush Limbaugh makes headlines when he guest hosts The Pat Sajak Show on CBS, and, in a departure from its regular format, enters the audience to get a response about the veto of a bill in Idaho that would have restricted abortion. Directly after announcing that the bill was vetoed, Limbaugh went to the first woman who stood up and was cheering the loudest. The woman denounced Limbaugh's anti-abortion statements earlier in the show. After a verbal confrontation with the angry woman in the audience, followed by an angry man shouting, Limbaugh addresses the camera and stated that he went into the audience in an attempt to show the viewing public that there was an underlying prejudice against him. Due to this, Limbaugh decides to conduct his interview with Sydney Biddle Barrows in another studio. After a commercial break, Limbaugh attempts to address the topic of affirmative action, but was backed out again by several male audience members wearing ACT UP T-shirts. After another break, Limbaugh returned and conducted the final segment after the audience had been cleared.
April 1	CBS dismisses prominent sportscaster Brent Musburger one day before his final assignment for the network, the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Later that year, Musburger signs with ABC Sports.
	In what is dubbed "The Ultimate Challenge", The Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania VI from Toronto's SkyDome. The pay-per-view event marks the first time that WrestleMania was held outside of the United States.
April 8	The pilot episode for Twin Peaks airs on ABC. The two-hour pilot is the highest-rated movie for the 1989–1990 season with a 21.7 rating and is viewed by 34.6 million people. In Los Angeles, Twin Peaks becomes the seventh most-watched show of the week earning 29% of viewers, the most-watched show being Married... with Children which gathers 34% of viewers.[15]
April 14	CBS officially assumes the role as Major League Baseball's network broadcast partner (succeeding both ABC and NBC under a four-year deal through the end of the 1993 season) with coverage of the Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh[16] and Los Angeles at Houston.[17][18][19]
April 15	Sunday Night Baseball debuts on ESPN with coverage of the New York Mets against the Montreal Expos.
	The Living Daylights makes its network broadcast television premiere on ABC. This would be the final time that a James Bond film would make its American television debut on ABC. The next Bond film, Licence to Kill would premiere on Fox in 1993. ABC wouldn't broadcast the Bond series again until 2002 under the title The Bond Picture Show.
April 21	Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, a special program warning children about the inconvenience of drugs and featuring characters from several Saturday morning children's shows, is simultaneously simulcast by ABC, BET, CBS, Fox, NBC, USA Network, and Nickelodeon.
April 22	The Earth Day Special, a two-hour commercial-free special event, premieres on ABC.
April 27	Barbara Bel Geddes makes her final appearance on Dallas as Miss Ellie Ewing.
April 30	The long-lost pilot show for I Love Lucy is broadcast by CBS as a special.
May 4	Muppets creator Jim Henson makes what turns out to be his final public appearance when he appears as a guest on The Arsenio Hall Show. Henson would die less than two weeks later.
May 7	Stepfanie Kramer makes her final appearance as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall on Hunter.
May 12	Comedian Andrew Dice Clay guest-hosts Saturday Night Live. Cast member Nora Dunn immediately announces to the press that she was boycotting the show in protest. She stated the protest was in view of Clay's perceivably misogynistic act, and did so without informing executive producer Lorne Michaels, the cast, or most of the crew about her intent. Sinéad O'Connor was scheduled to be the musical guest for the episode, but she also boycotted the show because of Clay's involvement, forcing the producers to find two musical replacements, with one performance by Julee Cruise and a second by Spanic Boys.[20][21] NBC censors insisted that the episode be aired with a delay to compensate for anything Clay might say on air. During the live show, some audience members were pissed off at Clay but were immediately removed by the increased security detail.
May 18	The made–for–TV film Return to Green Acres, which reunited Eddie Albert, Eva Gabor, and the rest of the surviving cast of the 1965–1971 sitcom Green Acres, is broadcast on CBS.
May 21	CBS broadcasts the series finale of Newhart, in which it is revealed that the entire series was really just a dream of Bob Newhart's character, Dr. Bob Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show.
May 25	CBS begins broadcasting its daytime lineup in stereo sound, becoming the last of the three major networks to do so.
	The series finale of You Can't Do That on Television is broadcast on Nickelodeon. For its tenth and final season, only five episodes are produced (tying 1990 with 1987 as the shortest season of the series), with production ending in February. This is also one of the rare times in television where a show's cast and producer's knew they would not be coming back, allowing them to make several in-jokes and references to this being the final show of the series, despite it not being a proper "finale". Though ratings decline, Nickelodeon continues to air reruns until January 1994, at which point it is only aired on weekends.
June 1	Mariah Carey delivers her first live television performance (singing "Vision of Love") on The Arsenio Hall Show.
June 6	The character Taylor Hayes makes her first appearance on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.
June 7	The start of the Cruise of Deception storyline is broadcast on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, lasting through July 16, 1990. The story includes several of the show's most popular characters attending a masked ball on a cruise ship, which is taken over by a vengeful Ernesto Toscano, played by Charles Cioffi. The miniseries acts as the climax of several stories that had been developing previously to it, and the launching pad of several more, some of which would play out through most of the 1990s. NBC promotes the story heavily to lure kids home from school to watch the show during their summer vacation.
	Nickelodeon Studios officially opens in Orlando, Florida.
June 14	CBS concludes their 17-year run with the NBA, as the league was moving to NBC after the 1990 NBA Finals. In their goodbye montage, CBS used Marvin Gaye's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.
June 27	Genie Francis, in an attempt to shed her image as Laura Spencer on ABC's soap opera General Hospital, starts playing Irishwoman Ceara Connor on All My Children (which also airs on ABC).
	WUTV officially became a Fox affiliate in Buffalo again after Act III Broadcasting took control of the station, and acquired stronger programming and the Fox affiliation rights from WNYB-TV, which was then sold to the Tri-State Christian Television.
June 29	Pinwheel, the very first show to air on Nickelodeon as well as its Nick Jr. block, is broadcast on the network for the final time.
July 1	WPTY-TV became a Fox affiliate in Memphis, replacing WLMT. This was due to the station's higher ratings, and WLMT lost the Fox affiliation because there is a clause that Michael Thompson bought out the station from TVX in 1989, which resulted in the loss of its affiliation.
July 5	ABC airs the National Academy of Dance's first annual Gypsy Awards from the San Diego Convention Center. Taped on January 19, America's Dance Honors is notable for marking Sammy Davis Jr.'s final public appearance prior to his death on May 16. Liza Minnelli taped a special introduction to the show in light Davis' death. Later that December, Davis gave his final acting performance in the made-for-TV film The Kid Who Loved Christmas.
July 10	CBS broadcasts the first of four consecutive Major League Baseball All-Star Games. Unfortunately, the 1990 edition from Chicago's Wrigley Field, is interrupted by a rain delay in the top of the seventh inning. During the delay, CBS airs Rescue 911.
July 16	Radio DJ personality Rick Dees debuts an ABC late-night talk show, Into the Night, Starring Rick Dees.
	Johnny Depp makes his final appearance as Officer Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street. This is also the final episode to be broadcast on Fox as for its fifth and ultimately final season, 21 Jump Street would air in first–run syndication.
July 30	MovieTime, which initially launched on July 31, 1987 as a national barker service to air movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews is rebranded as E!. This name change is made to emphasize its widening coverage of the celebrity–industrial complex, contemporary film, television and music, daily Hollywood gossip, and fashion.
July 31	Memories of Murder, the first ever film to be produced for the Lifetime Television Network is broadcast.
August 10	The American Wrestling Association holds its final television taping.
August 17	CBS airs an unsold half-hour pilot that's based on the film Steel Magnolias. The cast includes Cindy Williams as M'Lynn, Sally Kirkland as Truvy, Elaine Stritch as Ouiser, Polly Bergen as Clairee, and Sheila McCarthy as Annelle.[22]
August 23	The pilot episode for Ferris Bueller, an adaptation of the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, is broadcast on NBC. In said pilot, Ferris (Charlie Schlatter) refers to the film and expresses his displeasure at Matthew Broderick portraying him, even going as far as destroying a life-size cardboard cutout of Broderick with a chainsaw.[23][24] The show would ultimately be cancelled after its first season and only 13 episodes due to its poor reception. It would also suffer from comparisons to another series, Fox's Parker Lewis Can't Lose, which proves to be more successful when it comes to ratings, lasting for three seasons.
September 8	Fox Kids, a children's programming block, debuts on Fox.
September 9	CBS debuts a brand new look for The NFL Today, front-lined by Greg Gumbel and Terry Bradshaw. Gumbel and Bradshaw replaced Brent Musburger and Irv Cross respectively. The two would remain on The NFL Today until CBS lost their NFL rights to Fox at the end of the 1993 season.
	TNT broadcasts their first Sunday night NFL game with the Philadelphia Eagles visiting the New York Giants.
September 10	The Disney Afternoon debuts as a syndicated children's block.
September 12–14	Wheel of Fortune contestant Mindy Mitola won a total of $146,014 cash & prizes accumulated for her 3-day stint in the show, setting an all-time winnings record for the program, surpassing Diane Landry's $129,370 held last year. This record would last for almost five years until Peter Argyropolous and Deborah Cohen surpassed her record on February 8–9, 1996 with $146,529. At the time, she also became the biggest winner (for any individual contestant) in the program until more than 18 years later on October 14, 2008, where Michelle Lowenstein surpassed her total with $1,026,080.
September 15	The CBN Family Channel renames itself The Family Channel. By this point, the network had grown too profitable to remain under the Christian Broadcasting Network umbrella without endangering the ministry's non-profit status.
	Captain Planet and the Planeteers, an animated environmental edutainment series that was created by created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner premieres on Turner's cable channel TBS.
September 16	WSYM in Lansing officially became a Fox television station.
September 23–27	The Ken Burns directed miniseries The Civil War is broadcast on PBS. More than 39 million viewers would tune in to at least one episode, and viewership averaged more than 14 million viewers each evening, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS.
September 26	Cop Rock, a police procedural series that mixes music and choreography throughout storylines debuts on ABC. The show is a critical and commercial failure and is canceled by ABC after 11 episodes.[25] The combination of a fusion of musical performances with serious police drama and dark humor with its high-powered production talent, make it infamous as one of the biggest television failures of the 1990s.[26][27] TV Guide Magazine would rank it #8 on its List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time list in 2002[28] and dubs it "the single most bizarre TV musical of all time".[29]
October 1	The very first edition of UWF Fury Hour airs from Reseda Country Club in Reseda, California on SportsChannel America.
October 6	All My Children star Susan Lucci guest–hosts an episode of Saturday Night Live, becoming the first daytime soap opera performer to do so.
October 13	WLAJ in Jackson, Michigan signs-on the air, giving the Lansing market its first full-time ABC affiliate.
October 20–26	CBS airs the first of four consecutive World Series. The Cinninnati Reds sweep the heavily favored and defending world champions, the Oakland Athletics in four games to win their first world title since 1976.
November 3	The NBA on NBC debuts on NBC, with its first game being the Los Angeles Lakers visiting the San Antonio Spurs.
November 10	Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Julia Sweeney join the cast of Saturday Night Live.
	The series finale of Charles in Charge airs in first-run syndication. In the finale, Sarah puts on a show to raise money, and Charles directs while preparing for an interview to get into Princeton.
November 17	ESPN broadcasts the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's college football game against the 1990 Penn State Nittany Lions. This is to date, the final time that a television network other than NBC, would broadcast Notre Dame's home games. On September 7, 1991, NBC would start televising Notre Dame's home games;[30] it would become the first Division I-A football program to have all of its home games televised exclusively by one television network.
	The last original episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse airs on CBS. In July 1991, series star Paul Reubens is arrested for exposing himself in a Sarasota, Florida, adult movie theater,[31] prompting CBS to immediately stop airing its Playhouse re-runs, which are originally intended to air until late 1991.[32][33][34] The show is replaced by reruns of The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy.
November 18–20	The two-episode television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's 1986 epic supernatural horror novel It premieres on ABC.
November 22	The Undertaker makes his World Wrestling Federation debut at the fourth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view event.
December 3	ABC attracts a great deal of controversy when it airs Madonna's infamous music video for her single "Justify My Love" on its late-night news program Nightline, as part of an interview with the singer on the video's explicit sexual content. The broadcast follows across-the-board bans of the video by MTV and other networks around the world.[35][36]
December 10	Following his broadcast of a Chicago Bears–Washington Redskins NFL game, CBS announcer Pat Summerall is hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer after vomiting on a plane during a flight. Summerall would be out for a considerable amount of time. While Verne Lundquist replaced Summerall on games with John Madden, Jack Buck (who was at CBS during the time as the network's lead Major League Baseball announcer) was added as a regular NFL broadcaster to fill-in.

Programs

Debuts

The following is a list of shows that premiered in 1990.

Date	Show	Channel
January 1	The Baby-Sitters Club	HBO
	Maya the Bee	Nickelodeon
January 5	Max Monroe: Loose Cannon	CBS
January 6	Zorro	CBN Family Channel
January 24	Peter Jennings Reporting	ABC
January 26	Pirate TV	MTV
January 28	Grand Slam	CBS
January 29	City
February 6	Rodeo Drive	Lifetime
February 9	The Bradys	CBS
February 19	Nasty Boys	NBC
February 25	A Family for Joe
March 3	H.E.L.P.	ABC
March 5	His & Hers	CBS
March 21	Normal Life
	Sydney
March 25	The Outsiders	Fox
March 27	Equal Justice	ABC
March 30	Bagdad Café	CBS
	Sugar and Spice
March 31	Carol & Company	NBC
April 1	On the Television	Nick at Nite
April 4	The Marshall Chronicles	ABC
April 8	Twin Peaks
April 9	Capital News
April 12	Down Home	NBC
April 14	In Living Color	Fox
	Major League Baseball on CBS	CBS
April 15	Sunday Night Baseball	ESPN
April 16	Working Girl	NBC
April 19	Wings	NBC
April 21	Sunset Beat	ABC
May 1	Brewster Place
	Clash!	Ha!
May 5	TaleSpin	The Disney Channel, Syndication
May 13	America's Funniest People	ABC
June 1	Great Getaway Game	The Travel Channel
June 16	Monopoly	ABC
July 4	SK8-TV	Nickelodeon
	Wild & Crazy Kids
July 5	Blossom	NBC
July 8	Dream On	HBO
July 12	Northern Exposure	CBS
July 14	The Howard Stern Show (1990 TV program)	WWOR-TV
July 16	Into the Night starring Rick Dees	ABC
July 17	Real Life with Jane Pauley	NBC
July 27	Swamp Thing	USA Network
July 29	Tim Conway's Funny America	ABC
August 8	New Attitude	ABC
August 13	Outta Here!	Nickelodeon
August 20	Parenthood	NBC
August 22	Working It Out
August 23	Ferris Bueller
August 25	Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories	The Disney Channel
August 27	Guys Next Door	NBC
September 1	Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone	Syndication
	Haywire	Fox
September 2	Parker Lewis Can't Lose
	Big Brother Jake	CBN Family Channel
	Bob Vila's Home Again	Syndication
September 3	The Challengers
	Instant Recall
	Personalities
September 4	Barnyard Commandos	Syndication
September 7	D.E.A.	Fox
	American Chronicles
September 8
	Attack of the Killer Tomatoes	Fox Kids
	Bobby's World
	Peter Pan and the Pirates
	Zazoo U
	New Kids on the Block	ABC
	Little Rosey
	The Wizard of Oz
	The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3	NBC
	The Fanelli Boys
	Tom & Jerry Kids
	Gravedale High
	Kid 'n Play
September 10	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
	The New Adventures of He-Man	USA Network
	Quiz Kids Challenge	Syndication
	Trump Card
	Lenny	CBS
	Uncle Buck
September 11	The Family Man
September 13	Law & Order	NBC
	Babes	Fox
September 14	Tiny Toon Adventures	Syndication
September 15	The Adventures of the Black Stallion	The Family Channel
	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures	CBS
	Captain Planet and the Planeteers	TBS
	Piggsburg Pigs!	Fox Kids
September 16	The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda	Syndication
	E.A.R.T.H. Force	CBS
September 17	The Trials of Rosie O'Neill
	Preview: The Best of the New	Syndication
	Wake, Rattle & Roll
September 18	Married People	ABC
September 20	American Dreamer	NBC
	The Flash	CBS
	Top Cops
September 21	Evening Shade
	Going Places	ABC
September 23	Against the Law	Fox
	Get a Life
September 24	Adam-12	Syndication
	My Talk Show
September 26	Cop Rock	ABC
September 29	Dracula: The Series	Syndication
	Widget the World Watcher
September 30	The Jesse Jackson Show
	Good Grief	Fox
October 1	America Tonight	CBS
	UWF Fury Hour	SportsChannel America
	Video Power	Syndication
October 4	Beverly Hills, 90210	Fox
October 15	Screen Scene	BET
October 24	WIOU	CBS
October 27	NBA Inside Stuff	NBC
November 2	Over My Dead Body	CBS
November 3	NBA on NBC	NBC

Entering syndication this year

A list of programs (current or canceled) that have accumulated enough episodes (between 65 and 100) or seasons (3 or more) to be eligible for off-network syndication and/or basic cable runs.

Show	Seasons
The Golden Girls	5
Perfect Strangers	5
227	5

Changes of network affiliation

The following shows aired new episodes on a different network than previous first-run episodes:

Show	Moved from	Moved to
Night Flight	USA Network	Syndication
TaleSpin	The Disney Channel
21 Jump Street	Fox
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears	ABC
Supermarket Sweep		Lifetime
The Hogan Family	NBC	CBS
The Major League Baseball Game of the Week
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles	Syndication
Let's Make a Deal		NBC
To Tell the Truth
Match Game		ABC
Father Dowling Mysteries	NBC
Fun House	Syndication	Fox

Returning this year

Show	Last aired	Previous network	New network	Returning
Supermarket Sweep	1967	ABC	Lifetime	February 5
Match Game	1982	Syndication	ABC	July 16
Let's Make a Deal	1986		NBC
To Tell The Truth	1981			September 3
The Joker's Wild	1986		Same	September 10
Tic-Tac-Dough

Ending this year

Date	Show	Debut
January 14	Free Spirit	1989
January 21	Fantastic Max	1988
January 25	Miami Vice	1984
February 24	Mission: Impossible	1988
March 5	Eyes on the Prize	1987
March 9	The Bradys	1990
March 12	Mama's Family	1983
	Freddy's Nightmares	1988
March 15	Island Son	1989
March 23	Scrabble (returned in 1993)	1984
March 24	ALF	1986
March 26	The Baby-Sitters Club	1990
March 30	Think Fast	1989
April 6	Baywatch (returned in 1991)
April 13	The Pat Sajak Show
April 14	H.E.L.P.	1990
April 24	Mancuso, F.B.I.	1989
April 28	Tour of Duty	1987
April 30	My Two Dads
May 4	Just the Ten of Us	1988
May 6	227	1985
	Booker	1989
May 7	Alien Nation
May 12	The Famous Teddy Z
May 14	War of the Worlds	1988
May 17	Falcon Crest	1981
May 21	Newhart	1982
May 25	You Can't Do That on Television	1981
May 26	Friday the 13th: The Series	1987
	The Tracey Ullman Show
June 14	NBA on CBS	1973
June 28	Wolf	1989
June 29	Hardball
July 6	Snoops
	Pinwheel	1977
July 8	Mr. Belvedere	1985
July 21	Open House	1989
July 30	Sister Kate
August 4	Beauty and the Beast	1987
August 19	Ann Jillian	1989
August 31	Rodeo Drive	1990
September 1	Monopoly
September 2	Tim Conway's Funny America
September 14	Make the Grade	1989
September 29	E.A.R.T.H. Force	1990
	SK8-TV
November 10	Charles in Charge	1984
November 17	Pee-wee's Playhouse	1986
November 19	Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers	1989
November 28	DuckTales (original series) (returned in 2017)	1987
December 1	Alvin and the Chipmunks	1983
	The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3	1990
	Gravedale High
December 7	Tic-Tac-Dough	1956
December 8	Wiseguy	1987
December 12	Working It Out	1990
December 13	Remote Control	1987
December 26	Cop Rock	1990
December 28	Quiz Kids Challenge
	The Wizard of Oz
December 30	Hull High

Made-for-TV movies

Title	Network	Date of airing
Murder in Mississippi	NBC	February 5
The Death of the Incredible Hulk		February 18
Challenger	ABC	February 25
The Incident	CBS	March 4
A Killing in a Small Town		May 22
Psycho IV: The Beginning	NBC	November 10
The Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story	NBC	December 10

Networks and services

Launches

Network	Type	Launch date	Notes	Source
International Channel	Cable television	Unknown
SportsChannel Philadelphia	Cable television	January 1
WWOR EMI Service	Cable and satellite	January 1
HA! TV Comedy Network	Cable television	April 1
Star Television Network	Broadcast television	September 29
Hollywood Premiere Network	Syndicated programming block	October 9

Conversions and rebrandings

Old network name	New network name	Type	Conversion Date	Notes	Source
The Nostalgia Channel	Nostalgia Television	Cable television	Unknown
MovieTime	E!	Cable television	July 30
CBN Family Channel	The Family Channel	Cable television	September 15

Closures

Network	Type	Closure date	Notes	Source
Sports News Network	Cable and satellite	December 17

Television stations

Station launches

Date	City of License/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Notes/Ref.
January 21	Anchorage, Alaska	KYES-TV	5	Independent
February 4	Brownsville, Texas	K64FM	64	America's Store
March 9	Richmond, Virginia	WZXK	65	Independent
March 15	Springfield, Missouri	K15CZ	15	Independent
March 29	Chattanooga, Tennessee	W39AW	39	Independent
April 2	Brunswick, Georgia (Jacksonville, Florida)	WBSG-TV	21	Independent
April 23	Cedar City/St. George, Utah	KCCZ	8	Independent
May 1	Atlanta, Georgia	W07CP	7
May 5	Fort Pierce, Florida	WTCE-TV	21	TBN
July 1	Denver, Colorado	KWHD	53	LeSEA
August 15	Knoxville, Tennessee	WKOP-TV	15	PBS	Satellite of WSJK-TV/Sneedville
August 27	Sacramento, California	KCMY	29	Independent
September 18	Toledo, Ohio	W05BZ	5	The Box
September 27	Eugene, Oregon	KEPB-TV	28	PBS	Part of the Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service (OEPBS)
September 30	Richmond, Virginia	W14BN	14	Independent
October 1	Ventura, California (Los Angeles)	KSTV-TV	57	Galavision
October 13	Lansing, Michigan	WLAJ	53	ABC
October 18	Boulder, Colorado	KSHP	50	Independent
October 22	Naples/Fort Myers, Florida	WNPT-TV	46	Independent	Not to be confused with today's WNPT of Nashville
October 31	Evansville, Indiana	W38BK	38	TBN
November	Macon, Georgia	WGNM	45	Independent
November 14	Chico/Redding, California	KBCP	20	Independent
December 5	Toledo, Ohio	W38DH	38	The Box
December 27	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	WBPH-TV	60	Religious independent
Unknown date	Atlanta, Georgia	W67CI	67	Telemundo
	Bismarck, North Dakota	K46DY	46	TBN
	Charlotte, North Carolina	W26AZ	26	Daystar
	Columbia, Missouri	K02NQ	2	unknown
	Columbia, South Carolina	W51BR	51
	Dothan, Alabama	W29BB	29	TBN
	Fort Bragg, California	KFWU	8	ABC	Satellite of KRCR-TV
	Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi	W46AV	46	TBN
	Indianapolis, Indiana	W47AZ	47	The Box
	Minneapolis, Minnesota	K13UT	13	The Box
	Monterey, California	K53DT	53	TBN
Tyler, Texas	K48DP	48	Independent

Network affiliation changes

Date	City of License/Market	Station	Channel	Old affiliation	New affiliation	Notes/Ref.
February 6	Nashville, Tennessee	WZTV	17	Independent	Fox	[37]
		WXMT	30	Fox	Independent
June 27	Buffalo, New York	WUTV	29	Independent	Fox	[38]
		WNYB	49	Fox	TCT
July 1	Memphis, Tennessee	WPTY	24	Independent	Fox	[39]
		WLMT	30	Fox	Independent
September 8	Louisville, Kentucky	WHAS-TV	11	CBS	ABC
		WLKY-TV	32	ABC	CBS
September 16	Lansing, Michigan	WSYM	47	Independent	Fox	[40]
Unknown date	Davenport, Iowa	KLJB-TV	18	Independent	Fox	Previously with Fox 1987-1988
	Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands	WSZE-TV	10	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC/Fox (secondary)	NBC (primary) CBS/ABC (secondary)	Satellite of KUAM-TV/Hagtna, Guam

Station closures

Date	City of license/Market	Station	Channel	Affiliation	Sign-on date	Notes
May 23	New Orleans, Louisiana	WCCL	49	Independent (primary) CBS (secondary)	March 19, 1989
Unknown date	Key West, Florida	WETV	13	Educational independent	1989
	Owensboro, Kentucky	WROZ-TV	61	Independent

Births

Date	Name	Notability
January 4	Michelle Mylett	Canadian actress
	Spencer Rothbell	Voice actor (Clarence)
January 6	Natalie Palamides	Actress (The Powerpuff Girls, Star vs. the Forces of Evil)
January 7	Liam Aiken	Actor
	Camryn Grimes	Actress (The Young and the Restless)
January 10	Trevante Rhodes	American television actor
January 12	Jana Duggar	American television personality
January 13	Liam Hemsworth	Australian actor (Neighbours, The Elephant Princess, The Hunger Games)
January 14	Grant Gustin	Actor (Glee, The Flash)
January 15	Chris Warren	Actor (High School Musical)
January 18	Zeeko Zaki	Actor
January 26	Christopher Massey	Actor (Zoey 101)
January 29	MacKenzie Porter	Canadian actress (Dinosapien, Hell on Wheels, Travelers)
	Jessica D. Stone	Voice actress (Stanley)
January 30	Jake Thomas	Actor (Lizzie McGuire, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Cory in the House)
February 1	Davi Santos	Actor
February 6	Dominic Sherwood	English actor (Shadowhunters)
February 8	Christian Madsen	Actor
February 9	Camille Winbush	Actress (The Bernie Mac Show)
February 14	Jake Weary	Actor (As the World Turns, Fred: The Show, Animal Kingdom)
	Brett Dier	Canadian actor (Ravenswood, Jane the Virgin)
February 16	The Weeknd	Singer
February 23	Anjli Mohindra	Actress
February 27	Lindsey Morgan	Actress (General Hospital, The 100)
February 28	Georgina Leonidas	English actress (Harry Potter)
March 4	Andrea Bowen	Actress (Desperate Housewives)
March 5	Matt Rogers	Actor
March 7	Daniel Samonas	Actor (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Wizards of Waverly Place)
March 13	Alec Medlock	Actor (Drake & Josh)
	Emory Cohen	Actor (Smash)
	Sebastian Jude	Actor (Lizzie McGuire)
March 18	Luke Tarsitano	Actor (Fudge)
March 24	Keisha Castle-Hughes	Australian actress (Game of Thrones)
March 25	Kiowa Gordon	Actor
March 26	Carly Chaikin	Actress (Suburgatory, Mr. Robot)
March 30	Cassie Scerbo	Actress (Dance Revolution, Make It or Break It, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja)
	Allie Gonino	Actress (The Lying Game)
April 2	Sawyer Fulton	Professional wrestler
April 3	Natasha Negovanlis	Canadian actress (Carmilla) and singer
April 6	Charlie McDermott	Actor (The Middle)
April 9	Kristen Stewart	Actress (The Twilight Saga)
April 10	Alex Pettyfer	English actor
	Maren Morris	Singer-songwriter
April 12	Hannah Dunne	Actress (Mozart in the Jungle)
April 14	Christian Alexander	Actor (General Hospital, The Lying Game)
April 15	Emma Watson	Actress
April 18	Britt Robertson	Actress (Swingtown, Life UneXpected, The Secret Circle, Under the Dome)
April 19	Teo Olivares	Actor (Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Hannah Montana)
April 21	Bree Essrig	YouTube personality and actress
April 22	Machine Gun Kelly	Musician
April 23	Matthew Underwood	Actor (Zoey 101)
	Dev Patel	Actor
May 1	Caitlin Stasey	Actress (Neighbours)
May 2	Kay Panabaker	Actress (Summerland, Phil of the Future, American Dragon: Jake Long, No Ordinary Family)
May 10	Lauren Potter	Actress (Glee)
May 14	Sasha Spielberg	Actress
May 16	Marc John Jefferies	Voice actor (Fatherwood)
	Thomas Brodie-Sangster	English actor (Phineas and Ferb, Game of Thrones)
May 17	Ross Butler	Actor (K.C. Undercover)
	Kree Harrison	Singer (American Idol)[41]
	Leven Rambin	Actress (All My Children, Scoundrels)
May 18	Luke Kleintank	Actor (Gossip Girl, The Young and the Restless, Bones, Pretty Little Liars, The Man in the High Castle)
May 19	Crawford Wilson	Voice actor (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
May 21	Scotty Leavenworth	Actor
May 25	Ebonée Noel	Actress
May 26	Madeleine Mantock	Actress
May 27	Chris Colfer	Actor (Glee)
May 30	Dean Collins	Actor (Jack & Bobby, The War at Home)
June 2	Brittany Curran	American actress
June 9	Lauren Socha	English actress
June 10	Tristin Mays	Actress (Gullah Gullah Island, Private)
June 13	Aaron Taylor-Johnson	English actor
June 15	Denzel Whitaker	Actor (All That, Hannah Montana)
June 19	Ashly Burch	Voice actress (Adventure Time, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes)
	Chuku Modu	Actor
June 20	Jacob Wysocki	Actor
June 28	Jasmine Richards	Canadian actress (Naturally, Sadie)
	Nick Purcell	Actor (The Troop)
July 2	Margot Robbie	Australian actress (Pan Am)
	Kayla Harrison	American professional mixed martial artist
July 6	Jeremy Suarez	Actor (The Bernie Mac Show)
July 11	Connor Paolo	Actor (Gossip Girl, Revenge)
	Kelsey Sanders	Actress (Private) and singer
July 12	Rachel Brosnahan	Actress (House of Cards, Manhattan)
July 16	James Maslow	Actor (Big Time Rush) and singer
July 19	Steven Anthony Lawrence	Actor (The Amanda Show, Even Stevens)
July 24	Daveigh Chase	Actress (Oliver Beene, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Big Love)
	Jay McGuiness	British singer (The Wanted)
July 26	Bianca Santos	Actress (The Fosters)
July 27	Indiana Evans	Australian actress and singer (Snobs, Home and Away, H2O: Just Add Water, Crownies, Secrets and Lies)
July 28	Soulja Boy	Rapper
July 29	Matt Prokop	Actor
	Munro Chambers	Canadian actor (The Latest Buzz)
July 30	Eliot Sumner	Actor
August 1	Jack O'Connell	British actor (Skins)
August 4	Chet Hanks	Actor
August 9	Adelaide Kane	Australian actress (Neighbours, Power Rangers RPM, Teen Wolf, Reign)
	Bill Skarsgård	Swedish actor (Hemlock Grove)
August 10	Lucas Till	Actor
	Sydney Lemmon	Actress
August 14	Miranda Rae Mayo	Actress
August 15	Jennifer Lawrence	Actress (The Bill Engvall Show, The Hunger Games)
August 17	Rachel Hurd-Wood	British actress (Home Fires)
August 25	Kristos Andrews	Actor
August 28	Katie Findlay	Canadian actress (The Killing, The Carrie Diaries, How to Get Away with Murder)
August 29	Laura Ashley Samuels	Actress
	Nicole Gale Anderson	Actress (Jonas, Beauty & the Beast, Ravenswood)
September 2	Merritt Patterson	Canadian actress (Ravenswood, The Royals)
September 8	Ella Rae Peck	Actress (Gossip Girl, Welcome to the Family)
September 9	Haley Reinhart	Musician (American Idol)
	Sarah Baker	Actress
September 10	Eddy Martin	Actor (Just Jordan)
	Chandler Massey	Actor (Days of Our Lives)
September 12	Wayne Dalglish	Actor (The O.C., Kickin' It)
September 14	Lolly Adefope	Actress
	Harry McEntire	English actor
September 15	Matt Shively	Actor (True Jackson, VP, The Troop)
September 20	Phillip Phillips	Singer (American Idol)[42]
September 21	Allison Scagliotti	Actress (Drake & Josh, Warehouse 13, Stitchers)
	Christian Serratos	Actress (Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, The Walking Dead)
September 25	Hannah Gross	American actress
September 27	Lola Kirke	English-American actress (Mozart in the Jungle)
September 28	Kirsten Zien	Canadian actress (Kyle XY, The Lying Game)
September 29	Doug Brochu	Actor (Sonny with a Chance, So Random!)
September 30	Swerve Strickland	Pro wrestler[43]
October 5	Myles Jeffrey	Actor (Beverly Hills, 90210, Early Edition, Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?)
October 6	Scarlett Byrne	Actress (Harry Potter, Falling Skies, The Vampire Diaries)
	Noah Robbins	Actor
October 7	Ayla Kell	Actress (Make It or Break It)
October 8	Trent Harmon	Singer (American Idol)[44]
October 13	Bailey Noble	Actress (First Day, True Blood)
October 18	Jordan Calloway	Actress (Unfabulous)
	Carly Schroeder	Actress (Port Charles, General Hospital, Lizzie McGuire)
October 19	Ciara Renée	Actress (Legends of Tomorrow)
October 20	Galadriel Stineman	Actress (The Middle)
October 22	Jonathan Lipnicki	Actor (The Jeff Foxworthy Show)
October 24	Kirby Bliss Blanton	Actress
	LaMarcus Tinker	Actor (Cougar Town)
October 28	Kianna Underwood	Actress (Little Bill, All That)
October 29	Carlson Young	Actress (As the Bell Rings, Scream)
October 31	Lil' JJ	Actor (All That, Just Jordan)
November 2	Kendall Schmidt	Actor (Big Time Rush) and singer
November 4	Jean-Luc Bilodeau	Actor
November 6	Bowen Yang	Actor
November 13	Kathleen Herles	Voice actress (Dora on Dora the Explorer (2000–07))
November 17	Shanica Knowles	Actress (Hannah Montana)
November 24	Sarah Hyland	Actress (Modern Family)
November 26	Rita Ora	Singer
November 29	Diego Boneta	Mexican actor (Underemployed, Scream Queens) and singer
December 13	Emily Peachey	Actress
December 20	JoJo	American singer
December 21	Mandeep Dhillon	Actress
December 23	Anna Maria Perez de Tagle	Actress (Hannah Montana, Cake)
December 28	David Archuleta	Singer (American Idol) and actor

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Notability
January 2	Alan Hale	68	Actor (Skipper Jonas Grumby on Gilligan's Island)
January 9	Northern Calloway	41	Actor (David on Sesame Street)
January 18	Rusty Hamer	42	Former child actor (Make Room For Daddy)
January 20	Barbara Stanwyck	82	Actress (The Barbara Stanwyck Show, The Big Valley)
March 24	Ray Goulding	68	Comedian, half of the comedy team Bob and Ray
May 9	Pauline Frederick	82	Journalist (ABC News, NBC News)
May 10	Susan Oliver	58	Actress (Peyton Place)
May 14	Franklyn Seales	37	Actor (Dexter on Silver Spoons)
May 16	Jim Henson	53	Puppeteer (The Muppets creator)
	Sammy Davis Jr.	64	Actor and singer
May 25	Vic Tayback	60	Actor (Mel Sharples on Alice)
June 4	Jack Gilford	82	Actor (Cracker Jack commercials)
July 7	Bill Cullen	70	Game show host (original host of The Price Is Right)
July 8	Howard Duff	76	Actor (Felony Squad)
July 30	Karl Weber	74	Actor (Arthur Tate in Search for Tomorrow)[45]
August 15	Viktor Tsoi	28	Soviet singer (Kino)
October 26	William S. Paley	89	Founder and longtime head of CBS
November 3	Mary Martin	76	Actress & singer (Peter Pan)
November 12	Eve Arden	82	Actress (Our Miss Brooks)
November 27	David White	74	Actor (Larry Tate on Bewitched)
December 2	Bob Cummings	80	Actor (The Bob Cummings Show)
December 28	Kiel Martin	46	Actor (Officer J.D. LaRue on Hill Street Blues)

See also

• 1990 in the United States
• List of American films of 1990

References

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3. Terrace, Vincent; Marsh, Earle F. (24 June 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing. ISBN 9780307483201.
4. Maçek III, J.C. (12 January 2017). "What Happens When Happy Shows Turn All X-Files on You?". PopMatters.
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8. "403. "Challenger" made for TV movie (February 25, 1990)". Sale into the 90s. January 2020.
9. Jicha, Tom (February 25, 1990). "McAuliffe Family Criticizes Movie on Challenger Disaster With AM-Space Shuttle". AP News.
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11. Jicha, Tom (February 25, 1990). "'CHALLENGER' MOVIE RATES THUMBS UP". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
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17. Jeff Brusnak (April 13, 1990). "ESPN Baseball More And Better". Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.
18. Steven Herbert (April 14, 1990). "Sports on Weekend TV". Los Angeles Times. p. 12.
19. Bill Plachke (April 14, 1990). "One From Heart, 6-1, for Dodgers". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
20. Vesey, Alexandra (2013). "Live Music: Mediating Musical Performance and Discord on Saturday Night Live". In Marx, Nick; Sienkiewicz, Matt; Becker, Ron (eds.). Saturday Night Live and American TV. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-253-01090-2. JSTOR j.ctt16gznsz.
21. James, Caryn (May 14, 1990). "Review/Television; 'Saturday Night Live,' With Andrew Dice Clay". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
22. "Things Even Die-Hard Steel Magnolias Fans Probably Don't Know About the Classic | Southern Living".
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24. Storm, Jonathan (1990-08-23). "High School Comedy Strictly Sophomoric In The NBC Version, 'Ferris Bueller' Has An Off Day". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
25. "ABC Cancels 'Cop Rock'". The New York Times. November 13, 1990. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
26. Weinraub, Bernard (November 11, 1991). "A Series Makes the Starting Gate". The New York Times. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
27. Tucker, Ken (June 4, 2004). "Flops 101: Lessons From The Biz". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
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29. "TV Musicals: The Highs and Lows". TV Guide. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
30. Sandomir, Richard (1991-08-25). "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Notre Dame Scored a $38 Million Touchdown on Its TV Deal". New York Times. nyyimes.com. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
31. Phillips, Stone (April 5, 2004). "Pee-wee Herman creator speaks out". NBC News. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
32. Vejnoska, Jill (July 10, 2006). "Pee-wee back with bizarre appeal intact". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. 1D.
33. "What was on TV when Rugrats started". Archived from the original on December 13, 2004.(Citation incorrectly states that this took place at a local Sarasota, FL bookstore; other points in citation are accurate, though.)
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35. Rich, Joshua (November 20, 1998). "Madonna Banned". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
36. Interviewer: Forrest Sawyer (December 3, 1990). "Madonna speaks on Nightline". Nightline. ABC.
37. Schweid, Richard (1990-02-06). "Ch. 17 owner begins chunk of Ch. 30". The Tennessean.
38. Pergament, Alan. "SHUFFLING OF CHANNELS 29, 49 TO RESULT IN SHIFT OF PROGRAMS". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
39. Walter, Tom (1990-05-30). "Fox to flip channel to WPTY-TV's 24". The Commercial Appeal.
40. Hughes, Mike (1990-08-21). "Channel 47 catches Fox, 'Simpsons'". Lansing State Journal.
41. "Kree Harrison". iHeart. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
42. "Phillip Phillips – The Vogue". Retrieved 2024-02-19.
43. "AEW Profile - Swerve Strickland". ESPN.com. 2024-01-26. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
44. Ginsberg, Gabriella (2016-03-11). "Trent Harmon". Hollywood Life. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
45. "Karl Weber; Longtime Radio Actor". Los Angeles Times. August 6, 1990. Retrieved 11 September 2016.

External links

• List of 1990 American television series at IMDb