- Jan 4 ABC Direction Network (57 affiliates) & ABC Rock Network (40 affiliates) become the 5th & 6th ABC radio network
- Jan 4 Bryant Gumbel becomes co-host of NBC's "Today Show"
- Jan 4 Chris Wallace becomes co-anchor of NBC's "Today Show"
39th Golden Globes
Jan 30 39th Golden Globes: On Golden Pond, Henry Fonda & Meryl Streep win
"Late Night With David Letterman"
Feb 1 "Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV; Bill Murray is his first guest
- Feb 12 32nd Berlin International Film Festival: "Veronika Voss" wins the Golden Bear
- Feb 14 "Night of 100 Stars", an all-star variety special celebrating the centennial of the Actors' Fund of America, takes place at NYC's Radio City Music Hall
- Mar 7 NCAA Tournament Selection televised live for 1st time
People's Choice Awards
Mar 10 8th People's Choice Awards: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field & Jane Fonda win (Motion Picture) and Alan Alda & Barbara Mandrell win (TV)
- Mar 12 PLO chief Yassar Arafat appears on "Nightline"
T.J. Hooker
Mar 13 ABC TV crime drama "T.J. Hooker" premieres, starring William Shatner
- Mar 15 Actress Theresa Saladana, stabbed repeatedly by obsessed fan
- Mar 15 KGB-AM in San Diego CA changes call letters to KCNN (now KPOP)
Annie
Mar 21 Movie "Annie" directed by John Huston, starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney and Carol Burnett premieres
Academy Awards
Mar 29 54th Academy Awards: "Chariots of Fire", Henry Fonda & Katharine Hepburn win
- Mar 29 TV soap opera "Capitol" premieres on CBS
- Apr 12 3 CBS employees shot to death in NYC parking lot
Music History
Apr 17 Country music legend Johnny Cash hosts Saturday Night Live, participates in skits, performs medley of hits; Elton John is additional musical guest
Music History
Apr 26 Rod Stewart is mugged, gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
Academy of Country Music Awards
Apr 29 17th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Merle Haggard, and Barbara Mandrell win
Radio History
May 10 WABC radio (NYC) plays its last record - John Lennon's "Imagine" - and switches to all-talk format
- May 13 Terri Lea Utley, 20 (Arkansas) crowned 31st Miss USA
Film & TV History
May 19 Sophia Loren jailed in Naples, Italy for tax evasion
- May 21 "WKRP in Cincinnati", an ensemble TV sitcom created by Hugh Wilson and set in a struggling radio station, 90th and final episode airs on CBS
- May 23 BBC warns Britain will bomb Argentina
- May 26 35th Cannes Film Festival: "Missing" directed by Costa Gavras and "Yol" directed by Serif Goren and Yilmaz Güney jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
- May 28 Leonard Maltin's 1st appearance on Entertainment Tonight
- Jun 4 "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," released in USA
Music City News Awards
Jun 7 16th Music City News Country Awards: Barbara Mandrell wins
Daytime Emmy Awards
Jun 8 Emmy 9th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 3rd time
- Jun 10 American TV sitcom "Taxi" last airs on ABC, cancelled after 4 seasons and 15 Emmy Award wins; moves to NBC in the fall, airing for 1 season and wins 3 more Emmys
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Jun 11 "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore, is released
Blade Runner
Jun 25 Science-fiction film "Blade Runner", directed by Ridley Scott, starring Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer, is released
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Jul 14 Musical film adaptation of "Pink Floyd - The Wall", directed by Alan Parker, starring Bob Geldof, and written by Roger Waters, premieres at the Empire, Leicester Square, in London,
Film & TV History
Jul 26 Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan is seriously injured filming a fight scene for the movie "Coolie"
Telethon
Sep 6 Jerry Lewis' 17th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $28,400,000
Emmy Awards
Sep 19 34th Emmy Awards: Hill St Blue, Barney Miller, Alan Alda & Carol Kane win
Family Ties
Sep 22 TV sitcom "Family Ties" starring Michael J. Fox premieres on NBC
Knight Rider
Sep 26 "Knight Rider", starring David Hasselhoff, debuts on NBC
Film & TV History
Sep 27 Filming begins on "Never Say Never Again" with Sean Connery playing James Bond for the final time
- Sep 29 Situation comedy "Cheers" premieres on NBC-TV, starring Ted Danson and Shelley Long
My Favorite Year
Oct 8 MGM releases comedy film "My Favorite Year", directed by Richard Benjamin, and starring Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, and Joseph Bologna
Film & TV History
Nov 1 Andrew "Dice" Clay & George Wendt appear in "Trick or Treatment"
Your Arms are Too Short to Box With God
Nov 7 Revival of Alex Bradford, Vinnette Carroll, and Micki Grant's "Your Arms are Too Short to Box With God", based on the Bible's Book of Matthew, and featuring Al Green and Patti LaBelle, closes at Alvin Theatre, NYC. after 69 performances
Film & TV History
Nov 11 "Foxfire" Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn's stage drama with songs, starring Jessica Tandy, Keith Carradine, and Cronyn, opens at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 213 performances, wins Tandy a Tony Award
The Real Thing
Nov 16 Tom Stoppard's play "The Real Thing" premieres in London starring Felicity Kendal and Roger Rees
- Nov 18 Mariasela Alvarez of Dominican Republic, crowned 32nd Miss World
Drew Barrymore
Nov 20 Drew Barrymore at age 7 hosts "Saturday Night Live"
Gandhi
Nov 30 "Gandhi" directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley and John Gielgud premieres in New Delhi (Best Picture 1983)
- Nov 30 Ottumwa, Iowa, declared "Video Game Capital of the World" by mayor Jerry Parker
Tootsie
Dec 1 "Tootsie" directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange premieres in Hollywood
Frances
Dec 3 "Frances", film depicting life of actress Frances Farmer and starring Jessica Lange, first released in the US
- Dec 5 15th NAACP Image Awards: "An Officer and a Gentleman" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
- Dec 8 "Sophie's Choice", directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on William Styton's 1979 novel of the same name, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, is released (Academy Awards Best Actress 1983)
- Dec 31 CBS Mystery Theater final episode on radio after 8 years
- Dec 31 NBC radio cancels almost all of its network daily features
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