See also: 1979 in television, other events of 1980, 1981 in television and the list of 'years in television'.

Table of contents
1 Events
2 Popular Television Shows
3 Ending this year
4 Births
5 Deaths

Events

  • February 14 - Walter Cronkite announces his retirement from CBS Evening News.
  • March 21 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
  • December 30 - After 26 years, the longest-running prime-time TV series Disney's Wonderful World is cancelled by NBC. It was picked up by CBS the next fall.
  • The David Letterman Show debuts on NBC. Letterman's humor does not go over well with a morning audience, and the show is soon cancelled. Letterman would go on to host a late night show two years later.
  • U.S. viewers get caught up in the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliff hanger on the soap opera series, Dallas, which is solved on a November 21 episode, drawing a record numbers of viewers.

Popular Television Shows

Ending this year

Births

Deaths