1992 in American television

List of years in American television: 1989 1990 1991 – 1992 – 1993 1994 1995

1992-93 United States network television schedule

The year 1992 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1992.

Events

Date	Event
January 10	The Days of our Lives nighttime special One Stormy Night airs on NBC.
February 8	Lee Grant guest stars on the Empty Nest episode, The Return of Aunt Susan. This marks the first time in television history that she and her daughter Dinah Manoff, one of the show's leading stars, have appeared together.
April 30	The final episode of The Cosby Show airs on NBC before a special thank-you tribute to Bill Cosby. This was noted during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
May 22	After 30 years, 66 year old Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time. By this time, NBC has announced that Carson's permanent guest host, Jay Leno, will replace him as host. Later, in 1993, David Letterman leaves for CBS.
May 25	Jay Leno debuts as the host of The Tonight Show.
June 3	US Presidential Candidate Bill Clinton appears on The Arsenio Hall Show. Clinton even plays the saxophone with the live band.
June 23	Another World airs its first and only primetime episode, called Summer Desire, right before the Daytime Emmy Awards.
June 29	Family Feud on CBS with Ray Combs becomes the hour-long Family Feud Challenge.
August 7	Growing Pains actress Tracey Gold loses a massive amount of weight due to anorexia nervosa and is placed in hospital care. As a result, she is written out of most of the final episodes.
August 8	Nickelodeon signs off at 8 p.m. on a Saturday for the last time.
August 12	Seinfeld begins its infamous one-part premiere fourth season. Which is held by many critics to be one of greatest television seasons.
August 15	Nickelodeon debuts its Saturday night program block SNICK. This block lasted until 2004.
August 24	WCIX transmitter was knocked off the air due to Hurricane Andrew.
September 4	Scared Silent: Ending and Exposing Child Abuse, is being aired on some broadcast and cable networks.
September 8	Launch of the New York City 24-hour news channel NY1.
September 21	Square One TV returns for its fifth and final season.
September 24	The Sci-Fi Channel is launched with a broadcast of Star Wars.
September 27	Marlon Wayans and Alexandra Wentworth join the cast of In Living Color, Wayans only joins the cast for 13 episodes, Wentworth joins the cast full time this season, and the 1993–94 season, which was the fifth and final year of the series. Keenan Ivory Wayons appears for one of the last times on the show before leaving Mid-Season.
September 30	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's cast member, Janet Hubert-Whitten becomes pregnant, and has conflicts with fellow cast members, salary dispute, as a result, Hubert-Whitten, is replaced by Daphne Maxwell Reid in 1993, Hubert-Whitten only appears in nine episodes of the 1992–93 season, and her last appearance is in the 1993 episode "The Way We Were".
October 1	Cartoon Network launches in the United States.
October 3	Sinéad O'Connor stirs up controversy when she rips up a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live.
October 17	Kristy McNichol's last episode of Empty Nest entitled The Boomerang Affair airs. McNichol would return for the series finale in 1995.
November 1	Texas billionaire Ross Perot buys blocks of U.S. television time for his Presidential campaign.
November 18	NBC's Seinfeld airs its most infamous episode, "The Contest", in which the four friends agree to abstain from all sexually related activity and see who could go without "it" the longest. It is never said who won the contest, however it is assumed to be a tie between Jerry Seinfeld's character, Jerry and Jason Alexander's character, George.
December 1	The Young and the Restless airs its milestone 5000th episode.

Debuts

Date	Show
February 28	Scorch on CBS
March 31	Dateline NBC on NBC
April 6	Barney & Friends on PBS
April 17	Sightings on Fox
May 21	The Real World on MTV
May 25	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC
July 8	Melrose Place on Fox
August 15	Roundhouse on Nickelodeon
August 16	Secret Service on NBC
August 27	The Heights on Fox
	Martin on Fox
September 1	Goof Troop on ABC
September 5	Batman: The Animated Series on Fox
September 7	The Les Brown Show in Syndication
September 10	Lamb Chop's Play-Along on PBS
September 11	The Little Mermaid on CBS
September 12	California Dreams on NBC
	Eek! The Cat on Fox
	Fievel's American Tails on CBS
	Name Your Adventure on NBC
	Raw Toonage on CBS
	Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa on ABC
September 13	Flying Blind on Fox
September 14	Hearts Afire on CBS
September 15	Delta on ABC
September 16	The Hat Squad on CBS
September 18	Bob on CBS
	Camp Wilder on ABC
	Final Appeal on NBC
	The Golden Palace on CBS
	Picket Fences on CBS
	The Round Table on NBC
September 19	The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys on CBS
	Nickelodeon Guts on Nickelodeon
	The Plucky Duck Show on Fox
September 20	Great Scott! on Fox
September 21	Love & War on CBS
	The Further Adventures of Zook & Alison from Square One TV on PBS
September 22	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper on ABC
September 23	Mad About You on NBC
September 24	Rhythm & Blues on NBC
	Street Stories with Ed Bradley on CBS
September 25	What Happened? on NBC
September 26	Dog City on Fox
September 27	The Ben Stiller Show on Fox
	Woops! on Fox
September 30	Laurie Hill on ABC
October 4	Ghostwriter on PBS
October 17	I Witness Video on NBC
October 31	X-Men on Fox

Television shows

1940s

• Meet the Press (1947–present).

1950s

• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present).
• Guiding Light (1952–2009).
• The Today Show (1952–present).
• CBS Morning Show (1954–present).
• Face the Nation (1954–present).
• The Tonight Show (1954–present).
• As the World Turns (1956–2010).

1960s

• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992).
• General Hospital (1963–present).
• Another World (1964–1999).
• Days of our Lives (1965–present).
• 60 Minutes (1968–present).
• One Life to Live (1968–present).
• Hee Haw (1969–1993).
• Sesame Street (1969–present).

1970s

• All My Children (1970–present).
• Monday Night Football (1970–present).
• NBC Nightly News (1970–present)
• Masterpiece Theatre (1971–present).
• Soul Train (1971–present).
• The Price Is Right (1972–present).
• The Young and the Restless (1973–present).
• Derrick (1974–1998).
• Nova (1974–present)
• Good Morning America (1975–present)
• The McNeil/Lerher Newshour (1975–present)
• Saturday Night Live (1975–present).
• 20/20 (1978–present)
• ABC World News (1978–present)
• CBS News Sunday Morning (1979–present)
• Knots Landing (1979–1993).
• Nightline (1979–present).
• SportsCenter (1979–present)
• This Old House (1979–present).

1980s

1980-1983

• Lou Dobbs Tonight (1980–2009)
• Mystery! (1980–present)
• Entertainment Tonight (1981–present)
• This Week (1981–present)
• America This Morning (1982–present)
• Cheers (1982–1993).
• Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993).
• Nature (1982–present)
• American Masters (1983–present)
• America Undercover (1983–present)
• Frontline (1983–present)
• Loving (1983–1995).
• Wheel of Fortune (1983–present)

1984-1986

• Jeopardy! (1964–1975, 1984–present).
• Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996).
• Santa Barbara (1984–1993).
• The Cosby Show (1984–1992).
• Night Court (1984–1992).
• Who's the Boss? (1984–1992).
• Growing Pains (1985–1992).
• MacGyver (1985–1992).
• National Geographic Explorer (1985–present)
• Sally (1985–2002).
• The Golden Girls (1985–1992).
• Designing Women (1986–1993).
• Double Dare (1986–1993).
• L.A. Law (1986–1994).
• Matlock (1986–1996).
• Perfect Strangers (1986–1993).
• The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986–2011.)

1987

• A Different World (1987–1993).
• CBS Morning News (1987–present)
• College GameDay, football version (1987–present)
• Full House (1987–1995).
• Married... with Children (1987–1997).
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994).
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996).
• The Bold and the Beautiful (1987–present).
• Unsolved Mysteries (1987–1998, 2001–2002, 2008–present).

1988

• America's Most Wanted (1988–present).
• The American Experience (1988–present).
• Empty Nest (1988–1995).
• Family Feud (1976–1985, 1988–1995, 1999–present).
• Garfield and Friends (1988–1995).
• Murphy Brown (1988–1998).
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999).
• Roseanne (1988–1997).
• The Wonder Years (1988–1993).
• 48 Hours (1988–present).

1989

• Baywatch (1989–2001).
• Cops (1989–present).
• Family Matters (1989–1998).
• Life Goes On (1989–1993).
• Primetime (1989–present)
• Seinfeld (1989–1998).
• Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996).
• The Arsenio Hall Show (1989–1994).
• The New Yankee Workshop (1989–2009)
• The Simpsons (1989–present).

1990s

1990

• America's Funniest Home Videos (1990–present).
• America's Funniest People (1990–1994)
• Beverly Hills 90210 (1990–2000).
• In Living Color (1990–1994).
• Law & Order (1990–2010; 2012-).
• Northern Exposure (1990–1995).
• Outside the Lines (1990–present)
• Sunday Night Baseball (1990–present)
• Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1995)

1991

• Back to the Future: The Animated Series (1991–1993)
• Candid Camera (1948–1954, 1960-1967, 1974-1979, 1987-1988, 1991-1992, 1996-2004).
• Charlie Rose (1991–present)
• Doug (1991–1994, 1996–1999).
• Blossom (1991–1995).
• Home Improvement (1991–1999).
• Rugrats (1991–2004).
• Sisters (1991–1996).
• The Jerry Springer Show (1991–present).
• The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991–1996).
• Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991–1995).

Ending this year

Date	Show	Debut
January 4	Yo Yogi!	1991
March 5	Drexell's Class	1991
March 13	Candid Camera	1991
	Scorch	1956
March 19	Danger Mouse	1991
April 25	Growing Pains	1985
	Who's The Boss?	1984
April 30	The Cosby Show	1984
May 9	The Golden Girls	1985
May 13	The Royal Family	1991
May 17	Superboy	1988
May 21	MacGyver	1985
May 22	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	1962
May 31	Night Court	1984
June 11	McGee and Me!	1989
November 5	WWF Saturday Night's Main Event	1985
November 28	The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys	1992
December 5	Darkwing Duck	1991
	Raw Toonage	1992
December 12	The Plucky Duck Show	1992

Changes of Network Affiliation

• Davis Rules moves from ABC to CBS.
• Hi Honey, I'm Home! moves from ABC to Nick at Nite
• In the Heat of the Night moves from NBC to CBS.
• Matlock moves from NBC to ABC
• Jim Henson's Muppet Babies moves from CBS to Nickelodeon.

Births

• February 14 – Freddie Highmore, actor
• April 8 – Shelby Young, actress
• May 18 – Spencer Breslin, actor
• June 14 – Daryl Sabara, actor
• July 22 – Selena Gomez, actress/singer
• August 2 – Hallie Kate Eisenberg, actress
• August 4 – Dylan and Cole Sprouse, actors
• August 20 – Demi Lovato, actress/singer
• September 28 - Keir Gilchrist, actor
• October 9 – Tyler James Williams, actor
• October 12 – Josh Hutcherson, actor
• October 15 – Vincent Martella, actor
• October 30 – Tequan Richmond, actor
• November 23 - Miley Cyrus, singer and actress (Hannah Montana)

Deaths

• January 7 – Richard Hunt, 40, Muppet performer.
• January 26 – José Ferrer, 83, actor.
• February 2 – Bert Parks, 77, longtime host of the Miss America beauty pageant.
• February 20 – Dick York, 63, actor (Darren Stephens #1) on Bewitched.
• March 25 – Nancy Walker, 69, actress (Ida on Rhoda and Rosie the Bounty lady).
• March 26 – Barbara Frum, 54, legendary Canadian television journalist.
• April 18 – Benny Hill, 68, British comedian.
• May 12 – Robert Reed, 59, actor (Mike Brady) on The Brady Bunch, of AIDS.
• May 17 – Lawrence Welk, 89, accordionist and bandleader.
• June 5 - Laurence Naismith, 83, actor.
• June 22 – Chuck Mitchell, 64, actor.
• July 9 – Eric Sevareid, 79, news commentator.
• October 6 - Denholm Elliott, actor
• October 16 – Shirley Booth, 94, actress who starred as the title character on the series Hazel.
• October 22 – Cleavon Little, 53, actor.
• November 10 – Chuck Connors, 71, actor on The Rifleman.
• November 22 – Sterling Holloway, 87, actor, voice of Winnie-the-Pooh.
• December 18 – Mark Goodson, 77, prolific producer of game shows such as Match Game, Blockbusters and The Price is Right.
• December 24 – Pierre Culliford, 64, also known as "Peyo"; Belgian creator of The Smurfs.