1961 in television

List of years in television (table)
	… 1951 . 1952 . 1953 . 1954 . 1955 . 1956 . 1957 …; 1958 1959 1960 -1961- 1962 1963 1964; … 1965 . 1966 . 1967 . 1968 . 1969 . 1970 . 1971 … In radio: 1958 1959 1960 -1961- 1962 1963 1964 ; In film: 1958 1959 1960 -1961- 1962 1963 1964

The year 1961 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1961.

For the American TV schedule, see: 1961-62 American network television schedule.

Events

January 20 – John F. Kennedy is the first U.S. president to be sworn in, in a color telecast. NBC covers the inauguration in color.
February 19 – CFTM-TV, future flagship of Quebec's TVA network, opens in Montreal.
April 29 – Westward Television, the first ITV franchise for South West England, goes on air.
July 1 – The soap opera The Brighter Day airs its first episode after moving taping locations from New York City to Los Angeles. As a result, key character Babby Dennis and her love interest are mysteriously written out of the show; the actors who played them didn't want to move.
September 1 – Border Television, the ITV franchise for the English-Scottish Border and Isle of Man, goes on air.
September 30 – Grampian Television, the ITV franchise for North East Scotland, goes on air.
September – NBC begins its long-running NBC Saturday Night at the Movies participating, with an airing of the 1953 Marilyn Monroe picture How to Marry a Millionaire.
1 October – CTV is launched in Canada, the first privately owned network in the country.
November 4 – RAI's second television channel (now called Rai Due) first airs to 52% of the available households in Italy.
December 31 – RTÉ starts television broadcasts, bringing television to the Republic of Ireland for the first time.
January 25 – John F. Kennedy holds the first live televised Presidential press conference.
Danger Man (UK) (1960–1961, 1964–1966) is cancelled due to lack of interest from Australian broadcasters. The series would be revived and revamped in 1964.
May 9 – Newton Minow uncovers a "vast wasteland".
May 29 – Dave Garroway announces his decision to leave the Today show.
November 19 – Lucille Ball marries Gary Morton.
WBNB brings television to the Virgin Islands for the first time. (It would be destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.)

Debuts

January 7 – The Avengers premieres on ITV (1961–1969).
March 17 – Five Star Jubilee premieres on NBC
April 29 – ABC's Wide World of Sports debuts (1961–2006).
August 19 – Four Corners, Australia's first current affairs program, premieres (1961–present).
September 9 – The Jo Stafford Show premieres on ITV (1961).
September 17 – Car 54, Where Are You? premieres on NBC (1961–1963).
September 23 – The Stairlit Starways premieres (1961–1968).
October 1 - Bus Stop premieres on ABC (1961-1962).
October 2 – Ben Casey premieres on ABC (1961–1966). Password debuts on CBS (1961–1967). Robert Young's short-lived second series, Window on Main Street debuts on CBS (1961–1962).
October 3 – The Dick Van Dyke Show premieres on CBS (1961–1966).
October – Songs of Praise debuts on BBC (1961–present).

CTV National News premieres (1961–present).
It's Academic (1961–present).
The Mike Douglas Show premieres (1961–1981).
Mister Ed debuts (1961–1966).
Reach for the Top premieres on CBC (1961–1984).

Television shows

1940s

Meet the Press (1947–present).
Candid Camera (1948–present).
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971).
Bozo the Clown (1949–present).
Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995).
The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963).

1950s

The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
Truth or Consequences (1950–1988).
What's My Line (1950–1967).
Love of Life (1951–1980).
Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986).
Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present).
American Bandstand (1952–1989).
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966).
The Guiding Light (1952–2009).
The Today Show (1952–present).
Panorama (UK) (1953–present).
The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983).
Face the Nation (1954–present).
The Brighter Day (1954–1962).
The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967).
The Secret Storm (1954–1974).
The Tonight Show (1954–present).
Zoo Quest (UK) (1954–1964).
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962).
Captain Kangaroo (1955–1984).
Cheyenne (1955–1962).
Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–1976).
Gunsmoke (1955–1975).
The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982).
This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003).
Armchair Theatre (UK) (1956–1968).
As the World Turns (1956–2010).
Hancock's Half Hour (1956–1962).
Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–1978).
The Edge of Night (1956–1984).
The Price Is Right (1956–1965).
What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–2008).
Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963).
The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present).
Blue Peter (UK) (1958–present).
Grandstand (UK) (1958–2007).
The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966).
The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958–1962).
Walt Disney Presents (1958–1961) ends on September 17 to resume on September 24 on NBC as Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961–1969).
Bonanza (1959–1973).
Hawaiian Eye (1959–1963).
Juke Box Jury (1959–1967, 1979, 1989–1990).
The Bell Telephone Hour (1959–1968)
The Twilight Zone (1959–1964, 1985–1989, 2002–2003).

1960s

Bringing Up Buddy, 1960–1961
Coronation Street (UK) (1960–present).
Danger Man (UK) (1960–1961, 1964–1966).
Margie, 1961–1962.
My Three Sons (1960–1972).
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968).
The Flintstones (1960–1966).
Window on Main Street (1961–1962).

Ending this year

September – Peter Gunn (1958–1961).
The Army Game (UK) (1957–1961).
The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (1956-1961).
General Motors Presents (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
This Is Your Life (US) (1952–1961).
Five Star Jubilee (1961).

Changes of network affiliation

Walt Disney Presents moves from ABC to NBC to take advantage of the latter network's color broadcasting abilities. It is renamed "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Births

January 3 – Judy Flynn, actress.
January 13 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress
January 19 – Paul McCrane, actor.
February 2 – Lauren Lane, actress
February 5 – Tim Meadows, actor.
February 21 – Christopher Atkins, actor.
February 2 – Trent Lehman, actor (d. 1982)
March 3 – Mary Page Keller, actress.
March 4 – Steven Weber, actor.
March 8 – Camryn Manheim, actress.
March 17 – Casey Siemaszko, actor.
March 18 – Geoffrey Owens, actor.
April 3 – Eddie Murphy, actor, comedian.
April 6 – Gene Eugene Andrusco, actor, lead singer of Adam Again (d. 2000)
April 18 – Jane Leeves, actress.
April 21 – Nicholas Lyndhurst, actor
April 23 – George Lopez, comedian.
April 30 – Isiah Thomas, former basketball player and coach.
May 6 – George Clooney, actor.
May 12 – Lar Park Lincoln, actress
May 29 – Melissa Etheridge, singer
May 30 – Ralph Carter, actor.
May 31 – Lea Thompson, actress.
June 9 – Michael J. Fox, actor
June 25 – Ricky Gervais, actor, comedian.
June 29 – Sharon Lawrence, actress.
July 23 – Woody Harrelson, actor.
July 27 – Gabrielle Glaister, actress
August 4 – Lauren Tom, actress.
August 13 – Dawnn Lewis, actress.
August 14 – Susan Olsen, actress.
September 15 – Dan Marino, football player.
September 22 – Scott Baio, actor.
September 23 – Chi McBride, actor.
September 25 – Heather Locklear, actor.
September 30 – Crystal Bernard, actress.
October 4 – David W. Harper, actor.
November 3 – Kari Michaelsen, actress
November 4 – Jeff Probst, emcee.
December 30 – Sean Hannity, talk show host.

Deaths

February 2 – Anna May Wong, 56, American actress
February 17 – Nita Naldi, 63, American actress
March 6 – George Formby, 56, British actor, entertainer
March 12 – Belinda Lee, 25, British actress
May 4 – Anita Stewart, 66, American actress
May 13 – Gary Cooper, 60, American actor
May 22 – Joan Davis, 53, American actress
June 17 – Jeff Chandler, 42, American actor
August 4 – Maurice Tourneur, 88, French film director
August 27 – Gail Russell, 36, American actress
August 30 – Charles Coburn, 84, American actor
September 10 – Leo Carrillo, 81, American actor
September 22 – Marion Davies, 64, American actress
October 11 – Chico Marx, 74, American actor, member of the Marx Brothers
October 18 – Tsuru Aoki, 69, Japanese-born American actress
October 22 – Joseph Schenck, 82, Russian-born American pioneer motion picture executive
November 15 – Elsie Ferguson, 78, American stage and film actress
November 24 – Ruth Chatterton, 67, American actress