1997 in American television

See also: 1996 in television, other events of 1997, 1998 in television and the list of 'years in television'.

Events

• January - The U.S. television networks adopt ratings systems for their programming, similar to those used for motion pictures.
• January 3 - NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time.
• February 9 - The Simpsons surpasses the The Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time animated series.
• June 6 - Actress Farrah Fawcett makes a bizzare appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. Fawcett tells long, rambling stories without a point, fails to understand simple questions, and gets easily distracted by things like blinking lights on the set.

Popular Television Shows

• Beavis and Butthead (1993-1997)
• Cops (1989-present)
• Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-present)
• Friends (1994-2003)
• Hey Arnold! premieres (1996-present)
• Home Improvement (1991-1999)
• Inspector Morse (1987-2000)
• Jeopardy! (1984-present)
• The Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998)
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993-present)
• The Late Show with David Letterman (1993-present)
• MTV (1981-present)
• One Foot in the Grave (1990-2000)
• The Real World (1992-present)
• Roseanne (1988-1997)
• Rugrats (1991-present)
• Saturday Night Live (1975-present)
• Sesame Street (1969-present)
• Seinfeld (1989-1998)
• The Simpsons (1989-present)
• The Tonight Show (1954-present)
• Wheel of Fortune (1975-present)

Deaths

• December 18 - Chris Farley, accidental overdose of cocaine and morphine