"Gypsy"
Jan 4 Revival of Jules Styne and Stephen Sondheim's "Gypsy" closes at Winter Garden Theater, NYC. after 120 performances, and a Tony Award for Angela Lansbury
- Jan 6 "AM America" premieres on ABC-TV with Bill Beutel as host
- Jan 6 "Wheel Of Fortune" debuts on NBC-TV
Diller's Hollywood Star
Jan 15 Pioneering American female comedian Phyllis Diller gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
32nd Golden Globes
Jan 25 32nd Golden Globes: "Chinatown", Jack Nicholson, and Gena Rowlands win
People's Choice Awards
Mar 3 1st People's Choice Awards: John Wayne & Barbra Streisand win (Motion Pictures) and Alan Alda, Telly Savalas & Mary Tyler Moore win (TV)
Mirror
Mar 7 "Mirror", Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Margarita Terekhova and Ignat Daniltsev, is released
Film & TV History
Mar 13 Bernard Slade's stage comedy "Same Time, Next Year", starring Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin, opens at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, NYC; later transfers to the Ambassador Theatre, and runs for a total of 1,453 performances
Film & TV History
Mar 14 Film adaptation of Neil Simon's comedy "The Prisoner of Second Avenue", starring Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft, premieres in NYC
- Mar 22 Walt Disney World Shopping Village opens
When Will I Be Loved
Mar 25 Linda Ronstadt releases cover of the Everly Brothers' 1960 song "When Will I Be Loved" as a single; climbs to No. 2 in the charts
- Apr 4 British sitcom "The Good Life" starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith debuts on BBC One
Academy Awards
Apr 8 47th Academy Awards: "The Godfather Part II", Ellen Burstyn & Art Carney win
TV Show Appearance
Apr 28 Ringo Starr appears on "The Smothers Brothers Show", singing Hoyt Axton's "No No Song", and John Lennon is the guest on Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" program, in what turns out to be his final television interview; both on NBC-TV
- May 4 Italian film "Seven Beauties" directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini, and Shirley Stoler released - first film directed by a women to be nominated for an Academy Award
- May 14 Cult feminist film "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" written and directed by Chantal Ackerman and starring Delphine Seyrig premieres at Cannes
- May 17 NBC pays $5M for rights to show "Gone With The Wind" one time
27th Emmy Awards
May 19 27th Emmy Awards: "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", Robert Blake & Jean Marsh win
- May 23 28th Cannes Film Festival: "Chronicle of the Years of Fire" directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina wins the Palme d'Or
- May 31 Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady's historical musical comedy "Goodtime Charley", based on King Charles VII of France, and starring Joel Grey, closes at Palace Theater, NYC, after 104 performances
- Jun 7 Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder for sale to the public
Nashville
Jun 11 "Nashville", directed by Robert Altman and starring Ned Beatty and Ronee Blakley, is released
- Jun 18 NBC News & Information Service (24 hr news) premieres on radio
Jaws is Released
Jun 20 "Jaws", based on the book by Peter Benchley, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider is released
Gladys Knight and The Pips
Jul 10 Gladys Knight and Pips Summer Series premieres on NBC-TV
Theatrical Finale
Jul 20 Murray Schisgal's stage comedy "All Over Town", directed by Dustin Hoffman, closes at the Boothe Theatre, NYC, after 233 performances
Film & TV History
Jul 23 Alan Ayckbourn's "Absent Friends" premieres in London
- Jul 30 7th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at El Cortez Hotel
Film & TV History
Aug 10 David Frost purchases exclusive rights to interview former US President Richard Nixon
Sholay
Aug 15 Indian action-adventure film "Sholay" directed by Ramesh Sippy, starring Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan is released, highest-grossing Indian film ever
Music History
Aug 16 British singer Peter Gabriel announces his departure from the rock group Genesis
- Sep 1 Gunsmoke goes off the air
Telethon
Sep 1 Jerry Lewis' 10th Muscular Dystrophy telethon
- Sep 6 Tawny Elaine Godin (NY), 18, crowned 48th Miss America 1976
Fawlty Towers
Sep 19 "Fawlty Towers" starring John Cleese, Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs premieres on BBC2 in the UK
- Sep 29 American television game show "Three for the Money" hosted by Dick Enberg, debuts on NBC-TV; cancelled after 8 weeks
- Sep 29 Sharon Crews (now known as Sharon Dahlonega Bush) becomes American television's first African-American weathercaster on WPGR-TV in Detroit, Michigan
Lisztomania
Oct 10 Ken Russell's surreal biographical musical comedy film "Lisztomania", starring Roger Daltrey as 19th-century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, and soundtrack arranged by progressive rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman, premieres
Saturday Night Live
Oct 11 "Saturday Night Live" created by Lorne Michaels premieres on NBC with George Carlin as host
Music History
Oct 21 Elton John is given a star in Hollywood
- Nov 3 Good Morning America premieres on ABC (David Hartman & Nancy Dussault)
Film Premiere
Nov 6 Fil adaptation of Neil Simon's comedy "The Sunshine Boys", starring Walter Matthau and George Burns premieres; Burns wins an Academy Award
- Nov 7 8th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at El Cortez Hotel
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Nov 19 Film adaptation of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" based stage adaptation of novel by Ken Kesey, directed by Miloš Forman and starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1976)
- Nov 28 "As the World Turns" and "The Edge of Night", the final two American soap operas that had resisted going to pre-taped broadcasts, air their last live episodes.
Funk vs. Brisco
Dec 10 Terry Funk beats Jack Brisco in Miami Beach, Florida to become NWA wrestling champ
Saturday Night Live Time Delay
Dec 13 1st time "Saturday Night Live" uses a time delay, Richard Pryor hosts
George Harrison Teases Hit
Dec 26 George Harrison teases his hit "My Sweet Lord" before breaking into "The Pirate Song" on Eric Idle's Rutland Weekend Television Christmas Special (UK)
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