Date |
Event |
January 3 |
ABC and CBS simultaneously broadcast their own movies based on Amy Fisher's life, with Fisher played by Drew Barrymore (for ABC) and Alyssa Milano (for CBS); NBC had broadcast its own version of the Fisher saga six days earlier (December 28, 1992). |
January 19 |
Fox expands its regular prime-time schedule to seven days a week; the network premieres two dramas on this Tuesday: Class of '96 and Key West. |
January 20 |
Warner Bros. Television Distribution launches the Prime Time Entertainment Network. |
January 31 |
The Super Bowl, broadcast by NBC, has a solo halftime performer for the first time—Michael Jackson, who performs a medley of his successful songs. |
February 10 |
Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson during a live prime-time special, hosted at Jackson's Neverland ranch. This was Jackson's first TV interview since a 1979 conversation with Barbara Walters for the program 20/20. The 90-minute special is the highest-rated special of the 1992–93 TV season. |
February 24 |
Michael Jackson receives a Grammy Legend Award at the 35th Grammy Awards, presented by his younger sister, Janet. |
February 26 |
The Days of Our Lives nighttime special Night Sins is broadcast by NBC. |
March 26 |
CBS broadcasts the last new episode of Family Feud with host Ray Combs. The series would be broadcast as reruns until September 10. |
April 29 |
A cartoon version of Barry White appears on the fourth-season finale of The Simpsons. |
May 5 |
Senior As the World Turns cast member Don Hastings hosts a memorial tribute to Douglas Marland. Marland, who died during March after an abdominal surgery procedure, had been the series' chief writer since 1985 and was responsible for several story lines of the show. |
May 14 |
Jaimee Foxworth (Judy) and Telma Hopkins (Rachel) make their final regular appearances on the series Family Matters; though Hopkins later makes return appearances on the series as Rachel, Judy's disappearance from the show is never resolved. Michelle Thomas would join the cast as fan-favorite antagonist Myra Monkhouse in the series' fifth season the next autumn. |
May 20 |
Seinfeld's season-four finale, expanded to 60 minutes, concludes a season-long story sequence involving a pilot show written by Jerry and George, with the pilot finally coming to fruition only to be refused by NBC executives. |
80.4 million people watch the series finale of Cheers. |
May 22 |
Saved by the Bell broadcasts its graduation episode for the series finale on NBC. It broadcast this final episode before a spin-off, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, debuted three months later. |
May 23 |
One month after federal agents make an infamous raid on David Koresh's Waco, Texas, compound, NBC broadcasts a hastily produced television movie based on the incident, In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco; Tim Daly plays Koresh for the movie. |
June 25 |
David Letterman has his last late-night talk show with NBC. |
July 11 |
PTV (later PBS Kids) debuts. |
August 30 |
Late Show with David Letterman premieres, with guests Bill Murray and musical guest Billy Joel. |
September 12 |
Raymond Burr dies of liver cancer at his ranch home in California at the age of 76. (The last Perry Mason movie, Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss, aired on NBC on November 29, and was dedicated to Raymond Burr, with an in memoriam tribute at the end of the movie.) |
September 13 |
Late Night with Conan O'Brien premieres on NBC, replacing David Letterman as host. |
September 16 |
Marc Wilmore, Reggie McFadden, Jay Leggett, Carol Rosenthal and Anne-Marie Johnson join the cast of the series In Living Color for its final season. None of the Wayans Family are involved at all during the season. |
September 19 |
The 45th Primetime Emmy Awards presentation is broadcast on ABC. |
September 24 |
Raven-Symoné, Nell Carter and Saundra Quarterman join the cast of the series Hangin' with Mr. Cooper on ABC. |
October 1 |
ESPN's secondary channel, ESPN2 (known as The Deuce), debuts. |
October 15 |
Jewelry TV debuts as American Collectable Network, a home shopping network. |
October 23 |
CBS's four-year broadcast relationship with Major League Baseball ends with Blue Jay Joe Carter's walk-off home run to win the World Series. (Bob Seger's song "The Famous Final Scene" plays during the broadcast's closing credits.) |
October 25 |
The Rocky Horror Picture Show makes its TV debut on Fox; the movie is inter-cut with a live cast performance. |
October 29 |
The first Got Milk? commercial is broadcast on TV. Directed by Michael Bay, a guy obsessed by the history of the duel hears a voice on the radio asking a $10,000 question, "Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?", while making and eating a peanut butter sandwich. The question was transferred to the telephone, answers the correct answer "Aaron Burr", but the person on the telephone can't hear it clearly with his mouth full of peanut butter sandwich before time ends, and he only has a few drops of milk left. |
November 15 |
Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera join the cast of the series The New Mickey Mouse Club. |
November 21 |
Bill Bixby dies of prostate cancer at the age of 59 (six days after his final directing job on Blossom). |
November 23 |
Food Network makes its debut. |
December 18 |
CBS (which had been a broadcaster of National Football League games for 38 years) loses their rights to the then-new Fox Network. Fox offered a then-record $1.58 billion to the NFL over four years for the rights to the National Football Conference games, significantly more than the $290 million per year CBS was willing to pay. |
The following is a list of shows that premiered in 1993.
Date |
Name |
Notability |
January 9 |
Ashley Argota |
Actress (True Jackson, VP, Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures) |
January 18 |
Morgan York |
Actress (Hannah Montana) |
February 12 |
Jennifer Stone |
Actress (Wizards of Waverly Place, Deadtime Stories) |
February 19 |
Victoria Justice |
Actress and singer (Zoey 101, Victorious) |
February 26 |
Taylor Dooley |
American actress |
March 4 |
Jenna Boyd |
Actress |
April 14 |
Vivien Cardone |
Actress (Everwood) |
May 10 |
Halston Sage |
Actress (How to Rock, Crisis) |
May 13 |
Debby Ryan |
Actress and singer (The Suite Life on Deck, Jessie) |
May 14 |
Miranda Cosgrove |
Actress and singer (Drake & Josh, iCarly) |
May 29 |
Maika Monroe |
Actress |
June 9 |
Danielle Chuchran |
American actress |
June 26 |
Ariana Grande |
Actress and singer (Victorious, Sam & Cat, Scream Queens) |
July 1 |
Raini Rodriguez |
Actress (Austin & Ally) |
July 10 |
Carlon Jeffery |
Actor (A.N.T. Farm) |
July 26 |
Elizabeth Gillies |
Actress (Winx Club, Victorious) and singer |
Taylor Momsen |
Actress and singer (Gossip Girl) |
August 1 |
Leon Thomas III |
Actor (Victorious) |
August 2 |
Cassidy Gifford |
Actress |
August 7 |
Francesca Eastwood |
Actress (Mrs. Eastwood & Company) and daughter of Clint Eastwood |
August 11 |
Alyson Stoner |
Actress and singer (Phineas and Ferb) |
August 14 |
Cassi Thomson |
Actress (Big Love, Switched at Birth) |
August 18 |
Maia Mitchell |
Actress (The Fosters) |
August 26 |
Keke Palmer |
Actress (Winx Club) |
August 29 |
Lucas Cruikshank |
Actor (Fred: The Show, Marvin Marvin) |
September 5 |
Gage Golightly |
Actress (The Troop) |
September 7 |
Taylor Gray |
Actor (Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures) |
September 21 |
Carlos Knight |
Actor (Supah Ninjas) |
September 25 |
Zach Tyler Eisen |
Actor (Avatar: The Last Airbender) |
October 2 |
Elizabeth McLaughlin |
Actress (First Day, Betrayal, Hand of God) |
Tara Lynne Barr |
Actress (Aquarius) |
October 8 |
Angus T. Jones |
Actor (Two and a Half Men) |
Molly C. Quinn |
Actress (Winx Club, Castle) |
October 9 |
Autumn Chiklis |
Canadian actress (The Shield) |
October 21 |
Louriza Tronco |
Canadian actress (Make It Pop) |
October 23 |
Taylor Spreitler |
Actress (Days of our Lives, Melissa & Joey) |
November 1 |
Dillon Lane |
Actor (Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures) |
November 27 |
Aubrey Peeples |
Actress (Nashville) and singer |
November 29 |
David Lambert |
Actor (Aaron Stone, The Fosters) |
December 8 |
AnnaSophia Robb |
Actress (The Carrie Diaries) |
December 10 |
Alicia von Rittberg |
German actress |
December 27 |
Olivia Cooke |
Actress (Bates Motel) |