1958 in television

The year 1958 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1958.

Events

• January 14 – TWW, the first ITV franchise for South Wales and West of England, went on the air.
• 17 February 1958 – Pope Pius XII designates St. Clare of Assisi the patron saint of television. Thereafter, placing her icon on a television set was said to improve reception.[1]
• July 1 – The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada. The CBC's microwave network between Nova Scotia and British Columbia, completed this year, makes it the longest in the world.
• August 30 – Southern Television, the ITV franchise for South Central and South East England, went on the air.
• October 17 – Fred Astaire makes his TV starring debut in the NBC special, An Evening with Fred Astaire, which goes on to win 9 Emmys and is one of the first TV specials to be preserved on videotape.
• November 30 – During the live broadcast of the Armchair Theatre play Underground on the ITV network in the UK, actor Gareth Jones suffers a fatal heart attack between two of his scenes while in make-up.
• Senator Estes Kefauver holds congressional hearings on the rising rates of juvenile crime and publishes an article in Reader's Digest called "Let's Get Rid of Tele-Violence." Kefauver held hearings on pharmaceutical companies that year. And the article cited appeared in the April 1956 issue of Reader's Digest; it was written by Don Wharton and originally appeared in Parents' Magazine. My source: I checked the actual issue in the Library of Congress's stacks.
• Ampex demonstrates their design for a color Video Tape Recorder.
• In the United Kingdom, the top-rated show of the year was the ITV game show Dotto, adapted from an American game show which in turn was based on children's Connect the dots game.
• The original American version of "Dotto" was the first game show to be implicated in the Scandals, and was abruptly cancelled in August.
• Top-rated prime-time game show "Twenty One" was abruptly dropped by NBC in October after former contestant Herb Stempel charged that the show was rigged and that he had been ordered to lose a match to the popular Charles Van Doren.
• Fall – The Scandals involving rigged network quiz shows spread, resulting in the cancellation of the original big-money game show, CBS' "The $64,000 Question", and creating havoc within the US television industry.
• DuMont sells its television manufacturing assets to Emerson. The quality drops.

Debuts

• January 4 – Sea Hunt premieres in syndication (1958–1961).
• June 19 - Jack Wyatt's Confession premieres on ABC (1958–1959).
• August 25 – Concentration premieres on NBC (1958–1973).
• September 22 – Peter Gunn premieres on NBC (1958–1961).
• September 24 – The Donna Reed Show premieres on ABC (1958–1966).
• September 30 – The Rifleman premieres on ABC (1958–1963).
• October 2 – The Huckleberry Hound Show premieres, Hanna Barbera's second television series (1958–1962).
• October 5 - Lawman premieres on ABC (1958–1962).
• October 5 - Encounter, an anthology series originating from Toronto, Canada, began a five-week run on ABC, having been cancelled after the November 2 episode.
• October 8 – Bat Masterson premieres on NBC (1958–1961).
• October 10 – 77 Sunset Strip premieres on ABC (1958–1964).
• October 10 – Grandstand (UK) debuts on BBC Television (1958–2007).
• October 16 – Blue Peter (UK), the world's longest-running children's TV programme, debuts on BBC Television (1958–present).
• October 17 - An Evening With Fred Astaire on NBC; first show prerecorded on color videotape, wins nine Emmy Awards.
• December 22 – Quatermass and the Pit (UK) premieres on BBC Television (1958–1959).
• Don Messer's Jubilee premieres (1958–1969).
• The Friendly Giant premieres (1958–1985).
• Your Life in Their Hands (UK) premieres on BBC Television (1958–1964 and many revivals).

Television shows

• Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960).
• Howdy Doody (1947–1960).
• 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).
• The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988).
• What's My Line (1950–1967).
• Your Hit Parade (1950–1959).
• Dragnet (1951–1959).
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1958–1960)
• "I Love Lucy" (1951–1960)
• 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).
• This Is Your Life (US) (1952–1961).
• Panorama (UK) (1953–present).
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983).
• Disneyland (1954–1958) ends on September 3, to resume on September 12 as Walt Disney Presents (1958–1961).
• 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).
• Jubilee USA (1955–1960)
• Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1959).
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982).
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003).
• Armchair Theatre (UK) (1956–1968).
• As the World Turns (1956–2010).
• The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford (1956–1961).
• Hancock's Half Hour (1956–1962).
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–1978).
• The Edge of Night (1956–1984).
• The Gale Storm Show, Oh! Susanna (1956–1960).
• The Price Is Right (1956–1965).
• The Steve Allen Show (1956–1960).
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–2008).
• Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963).
• The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom (1957–1960).
• The Army Game (UK) (1957–1961).
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present).
• General Motors Presents (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)

Ending this year

• April 28 – Adventures of Superman (1952–1958).
• May 31 - The Polly Bergen Show (1957–1958)
• June – Climax! (1954–1958).
• Hey, Jeannie! (1956–1957; syndication in 1958).
• Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958).
• Life of Riley (1949–1950 and 1953–1958).
• The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958).
• Club Oasis (1957–1958)

Births

• January 4 – Matt Frewer, actor
• January 20 - Lorenzo Lamas, actor, Falcon Crest.
• January 25 - Dinah Manoff, actress & director
• January 26 - Ellen DeGeneres, actress & comedienne.
• January 30 – Brett Butler, actress, Grace Under Fire.
• March 3 – Miranda Richardson, English actress.
• March 7 - Donna Murphy, actress & singer.
• March 10 – Sharon Stone, actress.
• March 21 – Gary Oldman, English actor & filmmaker.
• April 3 – Alec Baldwin, actor.
• April 29 – Michelle Pfeiffer, actress.
• April 29 – Eve Plumb, actress, The Brady Bunch.
• May 23 - Drew Carey, actor, comedian & game show host
• May 30 – Ted McGinley, actor.
• June 12 - Rebecca Holden, actress & singer.
• June 22 – Bruce Campbell, actor & director.
• July 6 – Jennifer Saunders, English actress, comedienne & singer.
• August 16 – Angela Bassett, actress.
  • Madonna, pop singer & actress.
• August 29 – Michael Jackson, pop singer (died 2009)
• August 31 – Julie Brown, actress, comedienne & singer.
• September 24 - Kevin Sorbo, actor.
• October 9 - Michael Pare, actor.
• November 16 – Marg Helgenberger, actress.
• November 22 – Jamie Lee Curtis, actress.
• December 1 - Charlene Tilton, actress & singer, Dallas