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The year 1951 in television involved some significant events.

Below is a list of television-related events during 1951.

__TOC__

Events

  • March 21 – XEW-TV began transmissions, being the second oldest in Mexico City, with the first one being XHTV.
  • March 22 – RCA introduces an eight-pound (3.6&nbsp;kg) monochrome television camera with a 53-pound (24&nbsp;kg) backpack transmitter, both operated by batteries. It is the first portable television camera.
  • May 28 – The US Supreme Court upholds the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the CBS color television system.
  • May 31 – Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), as predecessor of Nederlandse Omroep Stichting Televisie (NOS), a first regular television broadcasting service started in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • June 25 – CBS presents its first commercial color telecast featuring Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson.
  • June – RCA demonstrates its new electronic color system.
  • August 11 – The first baseball game is televised in color, a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
  • September 4 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast occurs in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
  • September 29
  • The first live sporting event broadcast coast-to-coast, a college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised by NBC.
  • CBS broadcasts the first American football game in color, between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia.
  • September 30 – WXIA-TV signed on the air at 5 p.m., as WLTV on channel 8. It was the first full time ABC affiliate for Atlanta, taking it over from WSB-TV (channel 2) and WAGA-TV (channel 5).
  • October 2
  • Danish language television station, DR TV, first launched in Copenhagen. The station broadcasts for one hour a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays in an initial phase.
  • NTS, The first television network in the Netherlands was launched at 8:15 pm.
  • October 3 – The first live coast-to-coast network telecast of a World Series baseball game.
  • October 12 – The Holme Moss transmitter is initiated in Northern England, making BBC Television available to the region for the first time.
  • October 17 – Television broadcasts begin in Argentina from Primera Televisora Argentina on channel 7, Buenos Aires.
  • October 20 – The CBS Eye logo makes its television debut.
  • November 6 – Ukrainian Television commences regular broadcasts, becoming the second SSR in the USSR to introduce television.
  • November 11 – Bing Crosby Enterprises demonstrates black-and-white video recording using a modified Ampex tape recorder.
  • November 18 – Edward R. Murrow on See It Now presents a split screen view of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. It has erroneously been referred to as the first live transcontinental telecast.
  • December – TV Tupi in São Paulo (Brazil) begins broadcasting Sua Vida Me Pertence ("Your Life Belongs To Me") starring Vida Alves, pioneering the telenovela genre.
  • December 24 – The first televised opera composed for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, is broadcast by NBC.
  • Ernie Kovacs' Time for Ernie and Ernie in Kovacsland television series premiere. Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.

Programs/programmes

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Series

! Debut

! Ended

|-

|rowspan="2"|Picture Page (UK)

|October 8, 1936

|1939

|-

|1946

|1952

|-

|rowspan="2"|The Voice of Firestone Televues

|1943

|1947

|-

|1949

|1963

|-

|Kaleidoscope (UK)

|November 2, 1946

|1953

|-

|Gillette Cavalcade of Sports

|November 8, 1946

|June 24, 1960

|-

|Muffin the Mule (UK)

|1946

|1955

|-

|Kraft Television Theater

|May 7, 1947

|1958

|-

|Kukla, Fran and Ollie

|October 13, 1947

|1957

|-

|Meet the Press

|November 6, 1947

| style="text-align:center;" | —

|-

|Howdy Doody

|December 27, 1947

|September 24, 1960

|-

|Café Continental

|1947

|1953

|-

|Juvenile Jury

|1947

|1954

|-

|Small Fry Club

|1947

|1951

|-

|Television Newsreel (UK)

|January 5, 1948

|1954

|-

|The Original Amateur Hour

|January 18, 1948

|September 27, 1970

|-

|Court of Current Issues

|February 9, 1948

|June 26, 1951

|-

|Author Meets the Critics

|April 1948

|October 10, 1954

|-

|Hollywood Screen Test

|April 15, 1948

|1953

|-

|Texaco Star Theater

|June 8, 1948

|1953

|-

|The Ed Sullivan Show

|June 20, 1948

|June 6, 1971

|-

|Candid Camera

|August 10, 1948

|May 23, 2004

|-

|CBS Evening News

|August 15, 1948

| style="text-align:center;" | —

|-

|Foodini the Great

|August 23, 1948

|June 23, 1951

|-

|Ford Theatre

|October 17, 1948

|July 10, 1957

|-

|The Alan Dale Show

|1948

|1951

|-

|Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts

|1948

|January 1, 1958

|-

|Break the Bank

|1948

|1957

|-

|Celebrity Time

|1948

|September 1952

|-

|Club Seven

|1948

|1951

|-

|The Philco Television Playhouse

|1948

|1955

|-

|Winner Take All

|1948

|1952

|-

|The Goldbergs

|January 17, 1949

|1956

|-

|Captain Video

|June 27, 1949

|April 1, 1955

|-

|Mama

|July 1, 1949

|March 17, 1957

|-

|Martin Kane, Private Eye

|August 7, 1949

|June 17, 1954

|-

|The Lone Ranger

|September 15, 1949

|June 6, 1957

|-

|Come Dancing (UK)

|September 29, 1949

|1995

|-

|rowspan="2"|The Aldrich Family

|October 2, 1949

|May 29, 1953

|-

|January 2, 1953

|August 22, 1958

|-

|The Ruggles

|November 3, 1949

|June 19, 1952

|-

|rowspan="2"|One Man's Family

|November 4, 1949

|June 21, 1952

|-

|March 1, 1954

|April 1, 1955

|-

|Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

|1949

|1959

|}

Debuts

  • January 3 –
  • January 8 - Say It with Acting, game show, on NBC.
  • January 20 - Two Girls Named Smith, situation comedy, on ABC.
  • March 3 – Watch Mr. Wizard on NBC (1951–1965)
  • March 12 - Miss Susan, soap opera on NBC (1951)
  • June 2 - The daytime version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
  • June 16 – Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, variety show, with Faye Emerson and Skitch Henderson, on CBS
  • July 1 - G. E. Guest House debuts on CBS.
  • July 6 – Front Page Detective debuts on Dumont.
  • July 14 - Assignment Manhunt debuts on NBC.
  • July 16 – A British version of the What's My Line?, game show, on BBC (Like its American counterpart, it became one of the top-rated programs for the rest of the decade and made a celebrity of its host, Eamonn Andrews)
  • August 3 - The Ad-Libbers, comedy sketch game show, on CBS. (1951)
  • August 3 - Tales of Tomorrow, a science fiction anthology series on ABC (1951-1953)
  • September 3 – The first long-running soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, on CBS (1951–1986)
  • September 11 - The Bill Goodwin Show, a talk/variety program on NBC. (1951-1952)
  • September 16- Sky King
  • September 24 – Love of Life on CBS (1951–1980)
  • October 15 – Situation comedy I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, on CBS (1951–1957); produced on film in front of a studio audience, using three film cameras, instead of being broadcast live, and making Ball the world's first major female television star
  • October 28 - Out There, a science fiction program on CBS (1951-1952)
  • November 26 - [[]], musical variety series on NBC (1951-1953)
  • December 14 – Dragnet, crime drama, on NBC (1951–1959 Series One B&W, 1967-1970 Series Two Color)
  • Television version of Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
  • The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957), on NBC, starring Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans
  • Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)

Ending during 1951

{| class="wikitable"

! Date || Show || Debut

|-

| January 16

| The Alan Dale Show

| 1948

|-

| July 18

| Four Star Revue

| Unknown

|-

| August 29

| Stars Over Hollywood

|-

|July 21

|Robin Williams

|Actor and comedian (Mork & Mindy) (died 2014)

|-

|July 21

|K. T. McFarland

|American political candidate

|-

|July 24

|Lynda Carter

|Actress (Wonder Woman)

|-

|July 31

|Barry Van Dyke

|Actor (Airwolf, Diagnosis: Murder), son of Dick Van Dyke

|-

|August 3

|Jay North

|Actor (Dennis the Menace)

|-

|August 5

|Chip Fields

|Actress (Good Times)

|-

|August 6

|Catherine Hicks

|Actress (Annie Camden on 7th Heaven)

|-

|rowspan="2"|August 14

|Carl Lumbly

|Actor (Cagney & Lacey, Alias, Justice League)

|-

|Kyle Johnson

|Actor

|-

|August 17

|Robert Joy

|Canadian actor (CSI: NY)

|-

|August 19

|Randi Oakes

|Actress and model (CHiPs)

|-

|August 21

|Harry Smith

|American television journalist

|-

|August 26

|Bill Whitaker

|American television journalist

|-

|September 2

|Mark Harmon

|Actor (NCIS)

|-

|September 4

|Judith Ivey

|Actress

|-

|September 5

|Michael Keaton

|Actor

|-

|September 8

|Jeffrey Lurie

|Producer

|-

|September 9

|Tom Wopat

|Actor (The Dukes of Hazzard)

|-

|September 10

|Gary Danielson

|Football player

|-

|September 12

|Joe Pantoliano

|Actor

|-

|September 13

|Jean Smart

|Actress (Designing Women, Kim Possible)

|-

|September 16

|Janet Andrewartha

|Australian actress (Neighbours) (died 2024)

|-

|September 23

|Ron Klink

|American television broadcaster

|-

|September 25

|Mark Hamill

|Actor (Batman: The Animated Series, Time Squad, Teamo Supremo, Codename: Kids Next Door, Danny Phantom, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Avatar: The Last Airbender, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Regular Show)

|-

|October 2

|Sting

|English singer

|-

|October 18

|Pam Dawber

|Actress (Mork & Mindy)

|-

|October 30

|Harry Hamlin

|Actor (L.A. Law)

|-

|November 6

|Nigel Havers

|English actor

|-

|November 9

|Lou Ferrigno

|Actor (The Incredible Hulk)

|-

|November 16

|Miguel Sandoval

|Actor (Medium, Station 19, Jackie Chan Adventures)

|-

|November 17

|Stephen Root

|Actor (NewsRadio, King of the Hill, The X's, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls)

|-

|November 20

|Rodger Bumpass

|Voice actor (SpongeBob SquarePants, Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?, Invader Zim)

|-

|December 1

|Treat Williams

|Actor (Everwood) (died 2023)

|-

|December 4

|Patricia Wettig

|Actress (thirtysomething, Brothers & Sisters)

|-

|December 5

|Morgan Brittany

|Actress (Dallas)

|-

|December 14

|Celia Weston

|Actress

|}

Television debuts

  • Rico Alaniz – The Adventures of Kit Carson
  • Mel Brooks – The Milton Berle Show
  • Raymond Burr – Stars Over Hollywood
  • Joseph Calleia – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
  • Wendell Corey – Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
  • Robert Coote – Robert Montgomery Presents
  • James Fox – Parent-Craft
  • Ben Gazzara – Danger
  • Stacy Harris – Chesterfield Sound Off Time
  • Pat Hingle – Suspense
  • Rochelle Hudson – Racket Squad
  • Barry Kelley – Stars Over Hollywood
  • Don Knotts – Search for Tomorrow
  • Robert Loggia – Search for Tomorrow
  • Vera Miles – Fireside Theatre
  • Elizabeth Montgomery – Robert Montgomery Presents
  • Alvy Moore – Space Patrol
  • Kathleen O'Malley – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
  • Joan Plowright – Sara Crewe
  • Denver Pyle – The Cisco Kid
  • Lee Remick – Armstrong Circle Theatre
  • George C. Scott – The Bigelow Theatre
  • Lois Smith – Love of Life
  • Charles Starrett – Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre
  • Jan Sterling – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
  • Jack Weston – Out There

References