The year 1971 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of notable TV-related events.

List of years in television (table)
In radio
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
+...

Events

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Programs

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Debuts

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T

Ending this year

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Date Show Debut
January 1 Headmaster 1970
January 7 Nancy 1970
February 24 To Rome with Love 1969
March 4 Family Affair 1966
March 19 That Girl 1966
March 23 Julia 1968
The Beverly Hillbillies 1962
March 28 Hogan's Heroes 1965
March 29 Mayberry R.F.D. 1968
April 2 Dark Shadows 1966
April 27 Green Acres 1965
May 5 The Johnny Cash Show 1969
June 6 The Ed Sullivan Show 1948
July 24 UFO (UK) 1970
October 22 What's New 1959

Changes of network affiliation

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Show Moved from Moved to
Hee Haw CBS Syndication
Lassie
Let's Make a Deal ABC
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Road Runner Show CBS

Births

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Date Name Notability
January 2 Taye Diggs American actor (Private Practice)
January 7 Kevin Rahm American actor (Judging Amy, Desperate Housewives, Mad Men)
Jeremy Renner American actor (The Unusuals)
January 11 Mary J. Blige American singer and actress
Rachelle Wilkos American television producer
January 12 Jay Burridge UK presenter (SMart)
January 13 Sarah Tansey UK actress (Heartbeat)
January 15 Regina King American actress (227, Southland, The Boondocks)
January 16 Jonathan Mangum American actor
January 17 "Silk" American conservative political commentator (Fox News, Newsmax TV)
January 19 Shawn Wayans American actor (In Living Color, The Wayans Bros.)
Heather Bambrick Canadian jazz singer
January 20 Pixie McKenna Irish presenter (Embarrassing Bodies)
January 24 Kenya Moore American actress
January 25 Ana Ortiz American actress (Devious Maids, Home: Adventures with Tip and Oh)
January 26 Dorian Gregory American actor (Charmed)
January 27 Guillermo Rodriguez American talk show personality
February 1 Michael C. Hall American actor (Six Feet Under, Dexter)
Hynden Walch American actress (Chalkzone, Teen Titans, Adventure Time, Teen Titans Go!)
February 3 Jayne Middlemiss UK presenter (Orange Playlist)
February 4 Trent Dawson American actor (As the World Turns)
February 6 Brian Stepanek American actor
February 8 Susan Misner American actress
February 9 Sharon Case American actress (The Young and the Restless)
February 12 Scott Menville American actor (Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, Captain Planet and the Planeteers)
February 13 Galen Gering American actor (Days of Our Lives)
February 15 Alex Borstein American actress and comedian (Mad TV, Family Guy)
February 16 Amanda Holden UK actress (Wild at Heart)
February 23 Melinda Messenger British presenter, model (Live from Studio Five)
February 25 Sean Astin American actor (Rudy, Special Agent Oso, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and son of Patty Duke
Jessica Yellin American journalist
February 27 Charles Baker American actor
March 2 Lisa Lackey Australian actress (Heroes)
March 4 Shavar Ross American actor (Diff'rent Strokes, Family Matters)
March 5 Yuri Lowenthal American voice actor (Ben 10, Legion of Super Heroes, Naruto, Bleach)
March 9 Emmanuel Lewis American actor (Webster)
Kinga Rusin Polish news presenter
March 10 Jon Hamm American actor (Mad Men)
March 11 Johnny Knoxville American actor, host and stunt performer (Jackass)
March 13 Tracy Wells American actress (Mr. Belvedere)
March 16 Alan Tudyk American actor (Firefly, Dollhouse, Suburgatory, Star vs. the Forces of Evil)
March 20 Murray Bartlett Australian actor (Guiding Light)
Alexander Chaplin American actor (Spin City)
March 22 Keegan-Michael Key American actor and comedian (Mad TV, Key & Peele, Playing House)
Will Yun Lee American actor
March 24 Megyn Price American actress (Grounded for Life, Rules of Engagement)
Tig Notaro American actress
March 25 Randall Emmett American film producer and television personality
March 27 Nathan Fillion Canadian-American actor (Firefly, Two Guys and a Girl, Castle)
April 7 Tamala Edwards American television news anchor and reporter
April 12 Nicholas Brendon American actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Criminal Minds)
Shannen Doherty American actress (Beverly Hills, 90210, Charmed) (d. 2024)
April 14 Faith Salie American actress
April 15 Andrew Daly American actor and comedian (Mad TV, Review)
April 16 Peter Billingsley Actor
April 17 Jim Acosta American broadcast journalist
April 18 Fredro Starr American rapper and actor (Moesha)
April 20 Brody Hutzler American soap opera actor
April 28 Simbi Khali American actress (Martin, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Bridget Moynahan American actress (Blue Bloods)
May 1 Shep British dog actor (Blue Peter) (d. 1987)
May 6 Geneva Carr American actress
May 7 Ivan Sergei American actor (Charmed, Crossing Jordan)
May 12 Jamie Luner American actress (Just the Ten of Us, Melrose Place)
May 14 Deanne Bray American actress
May 26 Matt Stone American writer and animator (South Park)
May 30 John Ross Bowie American actor (Speechless)
June 2 Anthony Montgomery American actor (Star Trek: Enterprise)
June 4 Noah Wyle American actor (ER, Falling Skies)
James Callis English actor
June 5 Mark Wahlberg American actor and producer (Entourage)
Emy Coligado American actress (Malcolm in the Middle)
June 7 Brian Anderson American sportscaster
June 8 Mark Feuerstein American actor (Prison Break, Royal Pains)
June 10 Reinout Oerlemans Actor
Taylor Armstrong American television personality
June 15 Dana Bash American journalist
Jake Busey American actor
June 16 Tupac Shakur American rapper and actor (d. 1996)
Eric Stangel American writer
June 22 Mary Lynn Rajskub American actress (24)
June 23 Ron Corning American television host
June 25 Angela Kinsey American actress (The Office)
June 28 Benito Martinez American actor
June 29 Christina Chang American actress
June 30 Monica Potter American actress (Parenthood)
July 1 Julianne Nicholson American actress (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)
Melissa Peterman American actress (Reba)
July 3 Sway Calloway American rapper
July 4 Koko American sign language gorilla (d. 2018)
July 5 Sal Iacono American comedian
July 7 Christian Camargo American actor
July 8 Jason L. Riley American conservative commentator
July 9 Dani Behr English presenter, actress (I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!)
Scott Grimes American actor (Party of Five, ER, American Dad!)
July 10 Erika Jayne American singer
July 12 Kristi Yamaguchi American professional ice skater (Dancing with the Stars winner)
July 15 Jim Rash American actor (Community)
July 16 Corey Feldman American actor
July 18 Penny Hardaway NBA basketball player
July 20 Sandra Oh Canadian actress (Grey's Anatomy)
July 23 Steven D. Binder Screenwriter
Alison Krauss Singer
Eugene Domingo Actress
July 24 Patty Jenkins American film director
July 26 Chris Harrison American TV host
Dan Harris American journalist
July 27 Eric Martsolf American actor and singer (Passions, Days of Our Lives)
July 29 Bryan Dattilo American actor (Days of Our Lives)
July 30 Tom Green Canadian comedian (The Tom Green Show)
Christine Taylor American actress (Hey Dude)
July 31 Eve Best Actress
August 2 Sukanya Krishnan American news anchor
August 6 Merrin Dungey American actress (The King of Queens, Alias)
August 9 Kate Gerbeau English presenter (Newsround)
August 10 Justin Theroux American actor (The Leftovers)
Fábio Assunção Actor
August 12 Michael Ian Black American comedian and actor
Yvette Nicole Brown American actress (Community)
Rebecca Gayheart American actress
August 14 Rhonda Ross Kendrick Actress
Raoul Bova Actor
August 20 David Walliams Actor
August 28 Daniel Goddard Australian actor (The Young and the Restless)
August 29 Carla Gugino American actress (Karen Sisco, Threshold)
Alex Young American studio executive
August 31 Chris Tucker American actor and comedian (Friday)
September 1 Ricardo Antonio Chavira American actor (Desperate Housewives)
September 2 Lisa Snowdon British presenter (Britain's Next Top Model)
Katt Williams Stand-up comedian
September 8 Brooke Burke Dancing with the Stars winner (season 7), co-host (seasons 10–17)
Martin Freeman Actor
David Arquette Actor
September 9 Natasha Kaplinsky British presenter (Strictly Come Dancing winner)
Eric Stonestreet American actor (Modern Family)
Henry Thomas American actor
September 14 Kimberly Williams-Paisley American actress (According to Jim)
September 15 Josh Charles American actor (Sports Night, The Good Wife)
Colleen O'Shaughnessey American actress
September 16 Amy Poehler American actress (Saturday Night Live, The Mighty B!, Parks and Recreation)
September 17 Bobby Lee American actor and comedian (Mad TV)
Nate Berkus American television personality
September 18 Jada Pinkett Smith American actress (Gotham)
September 19 Sanaa Lathan American actress (The Cleveland Show)
September 21 Alfonso Ribeiro American actor and host (Silver Spoons, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, America's Funniest Home Videos)
Luke Wilson American actor (Enlightened)
Anne-Marie Green Anchor
September 22 Adam Ciralsky American journalist
September 23 Sean Spicer Former White House Press Secretary (Dancing with the Stars, Newsmax TV)
September 25 Jessie Wallace British actress (EastEnders)
Brian Dunkleman Actor
September 27 Amanda Detmer American actress
September 28 Liza Walker British actress (Teenage Health Freak)
September 29 Emily Spivey American actress
September 30 Jenna Elfman American actress (Dharma & Greg)
October 1 Andrew O'Keefe Australian television presenter
October 1 Chris Savino Writer
October 5 Samuel Vincent Canadian voice actor (Edd on Ed, Edd n Eddy)
October 6 Emily Mortimer Actress
October 11 Justin Lin Director
October 13 Sacha Baron Cohen British comedian (Da Ali G Show)
Billy Bush Television host
October 20 Snoop Dogg American rapper and actor (Doggy Fizzle Televizzle)
Eddie Jones NBA basketball player
October 22 Chris Licht Producer
October 25 Leslie Grossman American actress (Popular, What I Like About You)
Craig Robinson American actor and comedian (The Office)
October 29 Winona Ryder American actress
November 2 Meta Golding Haitian-American actress (Criminal Minds)
November 5 Corin Nemec American actor (Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Stargate SG-1)
Dana Jacobson American host and correspondent
November 10 John Roberts American actor (Bob's Burgers)
November 12 Rebecca Wisocky American actress
November 15 Jay Harrington American actor
November 17 David Ramsey American actor (Dexter, Arrow)
November 20 Joel McHale American actor (Phineas and Ferb, Community)
November 21 Michael Strahan NFL football player and journalist
November 23 Vin Baker NBA basketball player
Lisa Kushell American comedian and actress (Mad TV)
Chris Hardwick American comedian and actor (The X's, Back at the Barnyard, Talking Dead, Sanjay and Craig)
November 24 Lola Glaudini American actress (The Sopranos, Criminal Minds)
November 25 Christina Applegate American actress (Married... with Children, Samantha Who?)
"Diamond" American conservative political commentator (Fox News, Newsmax TV) (d. 2023)
November 27 Kirk Acevedo American actor (Oz, Band of Brothers, Fringe, 12 Monkeys)
November 29 Gena Lee Nolin American actress and model (The Price is Right, Baywatch)
December 7 Stephanie D'Abruzzo American actress
December 14 Tia Texada American actress (Third Watch, The Unit)
Michaela Watkins American actress (Saturday Night Live, Trophy Wife, Casual)
Natascha McElhone British actress
December 25 Justin Trudeau Canadian politician[4]
December 26 Jared Leto American actor (My So-Called Life)
December 27 Savannah Guthrie American journalist
December 28 Ana Navarro Nicaraguan-American political commentator (ABC News, CNN, Telemundo, The View)
December 30 Chris Vance English actor (Prison Break)

Deaths

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Date Name Age Notability
March 11 Philo Farnsworth 64 Television pioneer
March 16 Bebe Daniels 70 Actress (42nd Street)
August 27 Bennett Cerf 73 Publisher and game show panelist (What's My Line?)
December 12 David Sarnoff 80 Television pioneer
December 30 Melba Rae 49 Actress (Search for Tomorrow)
December 31 Pete Duel 31 Actor (Alias Smith and Jones)

Television debuts

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References

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  1. ^ "C.B.S. Line-Up For Fall Omits Once Prized Country Comedies," from The New York Times, 3/17/1971 (accessed 7/25/2020)
  2. ^ "A major face-lifting at CBS-TV," from Broadcasting, 3/22/1971 (p. 78)
  3. ^ "Blue Peter digs up the past," from BBC News, 1/4/2000 (accessed 7/24/2020)
  4. ^ "Justin Trudeau Fast Facts". CNN. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2024-09-02.