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The year 1961 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1961.

For the American TV schedule, see: 1961-62 American network television schedule.

Events

• January 20 – John F. Kennedy is the first U.S. president to be sworn in, in a color telecast. NBC covers the inauguration in color.
• February 19 – CFTM-TV, future flagship of Quebec's TVA network, opens in Montreal.
• April 29 – Westward Television, the first ITV franchise for South West England, goes on air.
• July 1 – The soap opera The Brighter Day airs its first episode after moving taping locations from New York City to Los Angeles. As a result, key character Babby Dennis and her love interest are mysteriously written out of the show; the actors who played them didn't want to move.
• September 1 – Border Television, the ITV franchise for the English-Scottish Border and Isle of Man, goes on air.
• September 30 – Grampian Television, the ITV franchise for North East Scotland, goes on air.
• September – NBC begins its long-running NBC Saturday Night at the Movies participating, with an airing of the 1953 Marilyn Monroe picture How to Marry a Millionaire.
• 1 October – CTV is launched in Canada, the first privately owned network in the country.
• November 4 – RAI's second television channel (now called Rai Due) first airs to 52% of the available households in Italy.
• December 31 – RTÉ starts television broadcasts, bringing television to the Republic of Ireland for the first time.
• January 25 – John F. Kennedy holds the first live televised Presidential press conference.
• Danger Man (UK) (1960–1961, 1964–1966) is cancelled due to lack of interest from Australian broadcasters. The series would be revived and revamped in 1964.
• May 9 – Newton Minow uncovers a "vast wasteland".
• May 29 – Dave Garroway announces his decision to leave the Today show.
• November 19 – Lucille Ball marries Gary Morton.
• WBNB brings television to the Virgin Islands for the first time. (It would be destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.)

Debuts

• January 7 – The Avengers premieres on ITV (1961–1969).
• March 17 – Five Star Jubilee premieres on NBC
• April 29 – ABC's Wide World of Sports debuts (1961–2006).
• August 19 – Four Corners, Australia's first current affairs program, premieres (1961–present).
• September 17 – Car 54, Where Are You? premieres on NBC (1961–1963).
• September 23 – The Stairlit Starways premieres (1961–1968).
• October 2 – Ben Casey premieres on ABC (1961–1966). Password debuts on CBS (1961–1967). Robert Young's short-lived second series, Window on Main Street debuts on CBS (1961–1962).
• October 3 – The Dick Van Dyke Show premieres on CBS (1961–1966).
• October – Songs of Praise debuts on BBC (1961–present).

• CTV National News premieres (1961–present).
• It's Academic (1961–present).
• The Mike Douglas Show premieres (1961–1981).
• Mister Ed debuts (1961–1966).
• Reach for the Top premieres on CBC (1961–1984).

Television shows

1940s

• Meet the Press (1947–present).
• Candid Camera (1948–present).
• The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971).
• Bozo the Clown (1949–present).
• Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995).
• The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963).

1950s

• The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965).
• Truth or Consequences (1950–1988).
• What's My Line (1950–1967).
• Love of Life (1951–1980).
• Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986).
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present).
• American Bandstand (1952–1989).
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966).
• The Guiding Light (1952–2009).
• The Today Show (1952–present).
• Panorama (UK) (1953–present).
• The Good Old Days (UK) (1953–1983).
• Face the Nation (1954–present).
• The Brighter Day (1954–1962).
• The Milton Berle Show (1954–1967).
• The Secret Storm (1954–1974).
• The Tonight Show (1954–present).
• Zoo Quest (UK) (1954–1964).
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962).
• Captain Kangaroo (1955–1984).
• Cheyenne (1955–1962).
• Dixon of Dock Green (UK) (1955–1976).
• Gunsmoke (1955–1975).
• The Lawrence Welk Show (1955–1982).
• This Is Your Life (UK) (1955–2003).
• Armchair Theatre (UK) (1956–1968).
• As the World Turns (1956–present).
• Hancock's Half Hour (1956–1962).
• Opportunity Knocks (UK) (1956–1978).
• The Edge of Night (1956–1984).
• The Price Is Right (1956–1965).
• What the Papers Say (UK) (1956–present).
• Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963).
• The Sky at Night (UK) (1957–present).
• Blue Peter (UK) (1958–present).
• Grandstand (UK) (1958–2007).
• The Donna Reed Show (1958–1966).
• The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958–1962).
• Walt Disney Presents (1958–1961) ends on September 17 to resume on September 24 on NBC as Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961–1969).
• Bonanza (1959–1973).
• Hawaiian Eye (1959–1963).
• Juke Box Jury (1959–1967, 1979, 1989–1990).
• The Bell Telephone Hour (1959–1968)
• The Twilight Zone (1959–1964, 1985–1989, 2002–2003).

1960s

• Bringing Up Buddy, 1960–1961
• Coronation Street (UK) (1960–present).
• Danger Man (UK) (1960–1961, 1964–1966).
• Margie, 1961–1962.
• My Three Sons (1960–1972).
• The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968).
• The Flintstones (1960–1966).
• Window on Main Street (1961–1962).

Ending this year

• September – Peter Gunn (1958–1961).
• The Army Game (UK) (1957–1961).
• General Motors Presents (Can) (1953–1956, 1958–1961)
• This Is Your Life (US) (1952–1961).
• Five Star Jubilee (1961).

Changes of network affiliation

• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color moves from ABC to NBC to take advantage of the latter network's color broadcasting abilities.

Births

• January 3 – Judy Flynn, actress.
• January 13 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress
• January 19 – Paul McCrane, actor.
• February 2 – Lauren Lane, actress
• February 5 – Tim Meadows, actor.
• February 21 – Christopher Atkins, actor.
• February 2 – Trent Lehman, actor (d. 1982)
• March 3 – Mary Page Keller, actress.
• March 4 – Steven Weber, actor.
• March 8 – Camryn Manheim, actress.
• March 17 – Casey Siemaszko, actor.
• March 18 – Geoffrey Owens, actor.
• April 3 – Eddie Murphy, actor, comedian.
• April 6 – Gene Eugene Andrusco, actor, lead singer of Adam Again
• April 10 – Brian Morrison, actor.
• April 18 – Jane Leeves, actress.
• April 21 – Nicholas Lyndhurst, actor
• April 23 – George Lopez, comedian.
• April 30 – Isiah Thomas, former basketball player and coach.
• May 6 – George Clooney, actor.
• May 12 – Lar Park Lincoln, actress
• May 29 – Melissa Etheridge, singer
• May 30 – Ralph Carter, actor.
• May 31 – Lea Thompson, actress.
• June 9 – Michael J. Fox, actor
• June 25 – Ricky Gervais, actor, comedian.
• June 29 – Sharon Lawrence, actress.
• July 23 – Woody Harrelson, actor.
• July 27 – Gabrielle Glaister, actress
• August 4 – Lauren Tom, actress.
• August 13 – Dawnn Lewis, actress.
• August 14 – Susan Olsen, actress.
• September 15 – Dan Marino, football player.
• September 22 – Scott Baio, actor.
• September 23 – Chi McBride, actor.
• September 25 – Heather Locklear, actor.
• September 30 – Crystal Bernard, actress.
• October 4 – David W. Harper, actor.
• November 3 – Kari Michaelsen, actress
• November 4 – Jeff Probst, emcee.
• December 30 – Sean Hannity, talk show host.

Deaths

• February 2 – Anna May Wong, 56, American actress
• February 17 – Nita Naldi, 63, American actress
• March 6 – George Formby, 56, British actor, entertainer
• March 12 – Belinda Lee, 25, British actress
• May 4 – Anita Stewart, 66, American actress
• May 13 – Gary Cooper, 60, American actor
• May 22 – Joan Davis, 53, American actress
• June 17 – Jeff Chandler, 42, American actor
• August 4 – Maurice Tourneur, 88, French film director
• August 27 – Gail Russell, 36, American actress
• August 30 – Charles Coburn, 84, American actor
• September 10 – Leo Carrillo, 81, American actor
• September 22 – Marion Davies, 64, American actress
• October 11 – Chico Marx, 74, American actor, member of the Marx Brothers
• October 18 – Tsuru Aoki, 69, Japanese-born American actress
• October 22 – Joseph Schenck, 82, Russian-born American pioneer motion picture executive
• November 15 – Elsie Ferguson, 78, American stage and film actress
• November 24 – Ruth Chatterton, 67, American actress