1985 in television

See also: 1984 in television, other events of 1985, 1986 in television and the list of 'years in television'.

Table of contents

1 Events 2 Debuts 3 Popular Television Shows 4 Ending this year 5 Births 6 Deaths

Events

• Sabado Gigante moves from Chile to Univision studios in Miami, Florida
• February 8 - After 6-1/2 years, the television series The Dukes of Hazzard goes off the air.
• May - In the UK, the World Snooker Championship Final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis draws BBC2's highest ever rating of 18 million viewers.
• August 19 - David Letterman interrupts the Today Show with a megaphone while both shows are on the air. Letterman leaned out the window of his building and announced "My name is Larry Grossman (then president of NBC News) and I'm not wearing any pants!". The Today Show was taping an interview several stories below.
• NBC becomes the first commercial television network to use satellite interconnection for its stations.
• Elmo a new character for Sesame Street is introduced.

Debuts

• EastEnders premieres on the BBC
• The Golden Girls premieres on NBC (1985-1992)
• Growing Pains premieres on ABC (1985-1992)
• MacGyver premieres on ABC (1985-1992)
• 227 premieres on NBC (1985-1990)
• What's Happening Now, a sequel to the 1970s sitcom What's Happening, premieres in syndication (1985-1988)
• Neighbours premieres in Australia (1985-present)

Popular Television Shows

• The A-Team (1983-1987)
• All My Children (1970-present)
• Benson (1979-1986)
• Cheers (1982-1993)
• The Cosby Show (1984-1992)
• Dallas (1978-1991)
• Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986)
• Doctor Who (1963-1989)
• Edge of Darkness (1985)
• The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
• Family Ties (1982-1989)
• Hill Street Blues (1981-1987)
• Knots Landing (1979-1993)
• Jeopardy (1984-present)
• Late Night with David Letterman (1982-1993)
• Miami Vice (1984-1989)
• Saturday Night Live (1975-present)
• Sesame Street (1969-present)
• The Tonight Show (1954-present)
• Wheel of Fortune (1975-present)

Ending this year

• Alice (1976-1985)
• The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985)
• The Jeffersons (1975-1985)

Births

• January 1 - Keeley Fawcett, British actress

Deaths

• February 12 - Nicholas Colasanto, actor on Cheers
• May 8 - Dolph Sweet, actor on Gimme a Break
• May 13 - Selma Diamond, actress on Night Court, supposedly the inspiration for a character on The Dick Van Dyke Show
• October 2 - Rock Hudson, actor
• November 1 - Phil Silvers, actor, comedian
• November 29 - Bill Scott, voice actor of Bullwinkle the moose
• December 31 - Ricky Nelson, actor, musician, killed in a plane crash