2004 IN TELEVISION

The year '2004 in television' involved some significant events.
Below is a list of television-related events in 2004.
''For the American TV schedule, see: 2004-05 United States network television schedule.''

Contents

Events

Debuts

Television shows

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

1990-1993

1994-1996

1997-1999

2000s

2000

2001

2002

2003

Returning in 2004

Ending this year

Changes of Network Affiliation

Deaths

Movies

Events

★ January 1 - Carrie's War starring Keeley Fawcett airs on UK television.

★ January 30 - ITV's News at Ten ends for a second time, with its replacement, the News at Ten Thirty, launches on Monday.

★ February 2 - ITV plc is formed from the merger of Carlton and Granada. The News at Ten Thirty also debuts.

★ February 9 - Kerry McFadden wins the third series of ITV1's ''I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!''. 15.3 million watch the final, the programme's highest rated episode to this day.

★ March 1 - ''The Price is Right'' airs its 6,000th episode.

★ March 15 - Game Show Network rebranded as "GSN"

★ March 20 - Christopher Eccleston is announced as the Doctor Who.

★ March 28 - Māori Television starts broadcasting in New Zealand.

★ April 2 to 8 - TV Tokyo in Japan premières eight shows during the first week of the month.

★ April 17 - Cartoon Network's Toonami moves from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (prime time) and extends by four hours (from two to six).

★ April 21 - ''Blue Heelers'' screens a live episode.

★ May 6 - ''Friends'' airs its final episode.

★ May 13 - ''Frasier'' airs its final episode, "Goodnight Seattle".

★ May 15 - Jimmy Fallon makes his last appearance as a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' on its season finale.

★ May 28 - TechTV merges with G4 to form G4techTV, one of the most controversial mergers in television history as less than a year later, the merged network becomes G4 once again.

★ June 2 - A contestant on ''Jeopardy!'', Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah, begins a long run as champion.

★ June 4 - Kitten Pinder is evicted from the ''Big Brother UK'' house, shouting against the Queen and the aristocracy on the way out.

★ June 14 - Quiz TV launches in the UK, the country's first phone-in quiz channel. Many more launched over the next few years, though Quiz TV itself would close down in 2006.

★ June 17 - In the UK, the live feed of ''Big Brother'' is taken off air for a few hours as the housemates threaten to kill each other.

★ September - with the start of the 2004-2005 television season in the United States, most of the major networks were now no longer producing original content for broadcast on Saturday nights, citing years of declining ratings. Beginning this season, Saturday becomes primarily a night for rebroadcasts of episodes from earlier in the week or movies. FOX Network is an exception, as it maintains its block of inexpensive, reality-based shows on Saturday.

★ September 21 - Drew Daniel is crowned the winner of the American version of ''Big Brother 5''. Runner-Up Michael "Cowboy" Ellis wins $50,000.

★ September 28 - Longtime veteran Marcy Walker makes what has been termed by soap sources as her final appearance on ''All My Children'' after two decades of being affiliated with the program.

★ October 2 - Amy Poehler succeeds Jimmy Fallon as Tina Fey's co-anchor on NBC's Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update skit, making the first Weekend Update female duos.

★ November - Toon Disney removes a great number of the programs it was originally intended to show in order to make room for Jetix.

★ November 1 - ''The Young and the Restless'' airs its milestone 8,000th episode.

★ November 7 - ''Dallas'' airs a special nondescript series entitled: ''Dallas Reunion: Return to Southfork''.

★ November 18 - The video for the new charity single ''Do They Know It's Christmas?'' by Band Aid 20 airs simultaneously on all five main UK television networks, as well as over twenty satellite and cable stations. This unprecedented broadcast attracts over fourteen million viewers between 5:50 and 6 p.m..

★ November 30 - After seventy-four consecutive wins, Ken Jennings finally loses on ''Jeopardy!'', to competitor Nancy Zerg.

★ November - ''All My Children'' rises to #2 in the daytime Nielsen ratings for the first time since the mid-1990s, rivaling ABC's soap ''General Hospital'' for the second slot.

★ December 1 - Tom Brokaw steps down as anchorman of ''NBC Nightly News'' and is replaced by Brian Williams.

★ December 6 - Joe Pasquale wins the fourth series of ITV1's ''I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!''

★ December 15 - CNN's financial news channel, CNNfn, signs off.

★ December 16 - ''All My Children'' airs its milestone 9,000th episode.

★ December 29 - Rogers Media buys remaining 20% ownership of Rogers Sportsnet from FOX's Los Angeles affiliate KTTV.

★ General Electric, owner of NBC, purchases Universal Studios from Vivendi, leaving all six U.S. broadcast networks part of a company which also owns a film studio.

Debuts

★ January 7 - ''The Apprentice'' premieres on NBC (2004-present).

★ January 11 - ''Drake & Josh'' premieres on TEENick (2004-present)

★ January 13 - ''Shameless'' premieres on Channel 4 in the UK (2004-present).

★ January 17 - ''Astro Boy'' premieres on Kids WB (2004-present).

★ January 18 - ''The L Word'' premieres on Showtime. (2004-present)

★ January 22 - ''Corner Gas'' debuts on CTV (2004-present).

★ February 2 - ''Sea of Souls'' debuts on BBC One in the UK (2004-present).

★ February 15 - '', which had debuted as a one-off special late in 2003, makes its debut as a weekly series on ABC (2004-present).

★ March 4 - ''Pimp My Ride'' premieres on MTV

★ March 21 - ''Deadwood'' premieres on HBO (2004-present).

★ April 3 - ''Danny Phantom'' premieres on Nickelodeon (2004-2007).

★ April 19 - ''Miguzi'' introduces and premieres on Cartoon Network during the old ''Toonami'' time slot (2004-present).

★ June 16 - ''Quintuplets'' premieres on the Fox Network (2004-2005).

★ July 6 - ''Big Brother 5'' premieres on CBS (2000-present).

★ July 16 - ''Stargate Atlantis'', a spin-off of ''Stargate SG-1'' premieres on Sci Fi channel (2004-present).

★ July 18 - ''Entourage'' premieres on HBO (2004-present).

★ July 21-Rescue Me premieres on FX (2004-present)

★ July 29 - ''Blue Collar TV'' airs on WB and Comedy Central (2004-present).

★ August 16 - ''Call for Help 2.0'' premieres in Canada (2004-present).

★ September 3 - ''Green Wing'' premieres on Channel 4 in the UK (2004-present).

★ September 4 - ''The X Factor'' premieres on ITV1 in the UK (2004-present).

★ September 9 - ''Joey'' premieres on NBC (2004-2006).

★ September 11 - ''The Batman'' (2004-present) and ''Da Boom Crew'' (2004) premiere on Kids' WB!.

★ September 12 - ''Jack & Bobby'' premieres on The WB! (2004-2005).

★ September 15 - ''Instant Star'' premieres on CTV

★ September 18 - The English-language versions of ''One Piece'' (2004-present) and '' (2004-2005) debut on 4Kids TV.

★ September 22 - '' premieres CBS (2004-present).

★ September 22 - ''Lost'' premieres on ABC (2004-present).

★ September 22- ''Veronica Mars'' premieres on UPN (2004-present)

★ October 3 - ''Desperate Housewives'' premieres on ABC (2004-present).

★ October 3 - ''Boston Legal'' premieres on ABC (2004-present).

★ October 8 - ''Krystala'', a sci-fi/fantasy serial, debuts globally on ABS-CBN (Philippines), International Channel (United States) and The Filipino Channel (Worldwide).

★ October 10-''The Backyardigians premieres on Nickelodeon Jr. (2004-present).

★ October 17 - ''Hex'' premieres on Sky One in the UK (2004-present).

★ October 27- ''Drawn Together'' premieres on Comedy Central

★ November 5 - ''Cartoon Alley'' premieres on Turner Classic Movies (2004-present).

★ November 6 - ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' and '' premiere on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block (2004-2006).

★ November 16 - ''House'' premieres on FOX (2004-present).

Television shows

:''See also 2004-05 United States network television schedule''

1940s

★ ''Meet the Press'' (1947-present).

★ ''Candid Camera'' (1948-present).

1950s

★ ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' (1951-present).

★ ''Guiding Light'' (1952-present).

★ ''The Today Show'' (1952-present).

★ ''Panorama'' (UK) (1953-present).

★ ''Face the Nation'' (1954-present).

★ ''The Tonight Show'' (1954-present).

★ ''As the World Turns'' (1956-present).

★ ''What the Papers Say'' (UK) (1956-present).

★ ''The Sky at Night'' (UK) (1957-present).

★ ''Blue Peter'' (UK) (1958-present).

★ ''Grandstand'' (UK) (1958-2007).

1960s

★ ''Coronation Street'' (UK) (1960-present).

★ ''Four Corners'' (Australia) (1961-present).

★ ''It's Academic'' (1961-present).

★ ''The Late Late Show'' (Ireland) (1962-present).

★ ''General Hospital'' (1963-present).

★ ''Top of the Pops'' (UK) (1964-2006).

★ ''Days of Our Lives'' (1965-present).

★ ''Play School'' (1966-present).

★ ''The Money Programme'' (UK) (1966-present).

★ ''60 Minutes'' (1968-present).

★ ''One Life to Live'' (1968-present).

★ ''Sesame Street'' (1969-present).

1970s

★ ''All My Children'' (1970-present).

★ ''Monday Night Football'' (1970-present).

★ ''Masterpiece Theatre'' (1971-present).

★ ''Soul Train'' (1971-present).

★ ''Emmerdale'' (UK) (1972-present).

★ ''Newsround'' (UK) (1972-present).

★ ''The Price Is Right'' (1972-present).

★ ''Last of the Summer Wine'' (UK) (1973-present).

★ ''The Young and the Restless'' (1973-present).

★ ''Wish You Were Here...?'' (UK) (1974-present).

★ ''Arena'' (UK) (1975-present).

★ ''Good Morning America'' (1975-present).

★ ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975-present).

★ ''the fifth estate'' (Canada) (1975-present).

★ ''Wheel of Fortune'' (1975-present).

★ ''20/20'' (1978-present).

★ ''Grange Hill'' (UK) (1978-present).

★ ''Antiques Roadshow'' (UK) (1979-present).

★ ''Nightline'' (1979-present).

★ ''This Old House'' (1979-present).

1980s

★ ''Entertainment Tonight'' (1981-present).

★ ''What Now'' (1982-present)

★ ''Timewatch'' (UK) (1982-present)

★ ''Jeopardy!'' (1964-1975, 1978-1979, '1984-present').

★ ''The Bill'' (UK) (1984-present).

★ ''EastEnders'' (UK) (1985-present).

★ ''Neighbours'' (Australia) (1985-present).

★ ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' (1986-present).

★ ''Comic Relief'' (UK) (1986-present).

★ ''Casualty'' (UK) (1986-present).

★ ''ChuckleVision'' (UK) (1987-present).

★ ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (1987-present).

★ ''America's Most Wanted'' (1988-present).

★ ''The American Experience'' (1988-present).

★ ''Fair City'' (1988-present).

★ ''Home and Away'' (1988-present).

★ ''This Morning'' (1988-present).

★ ''Cops'' (1989-present).

★ ''The Simpsons'' (1989-present).

1990s

1990-1993

★ ''Law & Order'' (1990-present).

★ ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' (1990-present).

★ ''The Jerry Springer Show'' (1991-present).

★ ''The Red Green Show'' (Canada) (1991-present).

★ ''Dateline NBC'' (1992-present).

★ ''The Real World'' (1992-present).

★ ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (1993-present).

★ ''NYPD Blue'' (1993-2005).

★ ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (1993-present).

★ ''WWE Monday Night RAW'' (1993-present).

1994-1996

★ ''ER'' (1994-present).

★ ''Time Team'' (UK) (1994-present).

★ ''JAG'' (1995-present).

★ ''7th Heaven'' (1996-present).

★ ''Dexter's Laboratory'' (1996-present).

★ ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996-2005).

★ ''Judge Judy'' (1996-present).

★ ''The Daily Show'' (1996-present).

1997-1999

★ ''Dream Team'' (UK) (1997-2007).

★ ''Family Affairs'' (UK) (1997-2005).

★ ''Johnny Bravo'' (1997-present).

★ ''King of the Hill'' (1997-2006).

★ ''South Park'' (1997-present).

★ ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997-present).

★ ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' (1997-present).

★ ''Charmed'' (1998-2006).

★ ''That '70s Show'' (1998-2006).

★ ''The King of Queens'' (1998-present).

★ ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (UK) (1998-present).

★ ''Will & Grace'' (1998-2006).

★ ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' (1999-present).

★ ''Family Feud'' (1976-1985, 1988-1995, '1999-present').

★ ''Judge Mathis'' (1999-present).

★ ''Judging Amy'' (1999-2005).

★ '' (1999-present).

★ ''Passions'' (1999-present).

★ ''Pokémon'' (Japan, U.S.) (1997,1998-present).

★ ''Rocket Power'' (1999-present).

★ '' (1999-present).

★ ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (1999-present).

★ ''Tenacious D'' (1999-present).

★ ''The Sopranos'' (1999-present).

★ ''The West Wing'' (1999-2006).

★ ''Third Watch'' (1999-2005).

★ ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' (U.S.) (1999-2002).

★ ''WWE SmackDown!'' (1999-present).

2000s

2000

★ ''As Told by Ginger'' (2000-2004).

★ ''Big Brother'' (2000-present).

★ ''Buzz Lightyear of Star Command'' (2000-present).

★ '' (2000-present).

★ ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2000-present).

★ ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000-present).

★ ''Survivor'' (2000-present).

★ ''The Weakest Link'' (UK) (2000-present).

★ ''Yes, Dear'' (2000-present).

2001

★ ''24'' (2001-present).

★ ''According to Jim'' (2001-present).

★ ''Adult Swim'' (2001-present).

★ ''Alias'' (2001-2006).

★ ''Braceface'' (2001-present).

★ ''Fear Factor'' (2001-present).

★ ''Home Movies'' (1999, '2001-present').

★ ''JR Digs'' (Canada) (2001-present).

★ '' (2001-present).

★ ''Living with Lydia'' (2001-2005)

★ ''My Wife and Kids'' (2001-present).

★ ''Pop Idol'' (UK) (2001-present).

★ ''Scrubs'' (2001-present).

★ ''Six Feet Under'' (2001-2005).

★ ''Smallville'' (2001-present).

★ '' (2001-2005).

★ ''The Amazing Race'' (2001-present).

★ ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (2001-present).

★ ''The Fairly OddParents'' (2001-present).

★ ''The Saturday Show'' (UK) (2001-present).

2002

★ ''8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter'' (2002-2005).

★ '' (2002-present).

★ ''American Dreams'' (2002-present).

★ ''American Idol: The Search for a Superstar'' (2002-present).

★ '' (2002-present).

★ '' (2002-present).

★ ''Dick and Dom in da Bungalow'' (UK) (2002-2006).

★ ''Harry Hill's TV Burp'' (UK) (2002-present).

★ ''I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!'' (UK) (2002-present).

★ ''Kim Possible'' (2002-present).

★ ''Less Than Perfect'' (2002-present).

★ ''Spooks'' (UK) (2002-present).

★ ''The Bachelor'' (2002-present).

★ ''The George Lopez Show'' (2002-present).

★ ''The Osbournes'' (2002-present).

★ ''Without a Trace'' (2002-present).

2003

★ ''All Grown Up!'' (2003-present).

★ ''America's Next Top Model (2003-present)

★ ''Arrested Development'' (2003-2005).

★ ''Battlestar Galactica'' (UK) (2003-present).

★ ''Carnivàle'' (2003-2005).

★ ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003-present).

★ '' (2003-2005).

★ ''Cold Case'' (2003-present).

★ ''Dead Like Me'' (2003-2004).

★ ''Eve'' (2003-present).

★ ''Hope and Faith'' (2003-present).

★ ''Joan of Arcadia'' (2003-2005).

★ ''Las Vegas'' (2003-present).

★ '' (2003-2006).

★ ''My Life as a Teenage Robot'' (2003-present).

★ ''NCIS'' (2003-present).

★ ''The Newsroom'' (Canada) (1996-1997, 2003-2005).

★ ''Nip/Tuck'' (2003-present).

★ ''One Tree Hill'' (2003-present).

★ ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' (2003-2007).

★ ''Reno 911!'' (2003-present).

★ ''Romeo!'' (2003-present).

★ ''Superstars'' (UK) (1973-1985, '2003-2005').

★ ''The O.C.'' (2003-2007).

★ ''Two and a Half Men'' (2003-present).

★ ''Xiaolin Showdown'' (2003-present).

Returning in 2004

★ ''Postman Pat'' (UK) (1981, 1996, '2004-present').

Ending this year

★ January 25 - '' (2003-2004).

★ January 28 - ''Becker'' (1998-2004).

★ January 29 - ''Threat Matrix'' (2003-2004).

★ January 30 - ''Boston Public'' (2000-2004).

★ January 30 - ''The Handler'' (2003-2004).

★ February 6 - ''Ed'' (2000-2004).

★ February 14 - ''Lizzie McGuire'' (2001-2004).

★ February 22 - ''Sex and the City'' (1998-2004).

★ February 27 - ''Lloyd in Space'' (2001-2004).

★ March 13 - ''Hack'' (2002-2004).

★ March 25 - ''The Chris Isaak Show'' (2001-2004).

★ April 6 - ''It's All Relative'' (2003-2004).

★ April 9 - ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002-2004).

★ April 20 - ''Happy Family'' (2003-2004).

★ April 20 - ''Whoopi'' (2003-2004).

★ April 23 - ''Married to the Kellys'' (2003-2004).

★ April 27 - ''I'm with Her'' (2003-2004).

★ April 29 - ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002-2004).

★ May 1 - ''The District'' (2000-2004).

★ May 4 - ''The Guardian'' (2001-2004).

★ May 6 - ''Friends'' (1994-2004).

★ May 13 - ''Frasier'' (1993-2004).

★ May 16 - ''The Practice'' (1997-2004).

★ May 17 - ''Mutant X'' (2001-2004).

★ May 19 - ''Angel'' (1999-2004).

★ May 28 - ''Call For Help'' (1998-2004).

★ June 8 - ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996-2004).

★ June 19 - ''The Man Show'' (1999-2004).

★ August 27 - ''The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn'' (1999-2004).

★ August 27 - ''Ricki Lake'' (1993-2004).

★ September 8 - ''The Drew Carey Show'' (1995-2004).

★ September 13 - ''InuYasha'' (Japan) (2000-2004)

★ September 25 - ''Samurai Jack'' (2001-2004)

★ September 29 - ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters'' (Japan) (2000-2004)

★ October 1 - ''The Powerpuff Girls'' (1998-2004).

★ October 16 - ''Winning Lines'' (UK) (1999-2004).

★ October 29 - ''All About Me'' (2002-2004)

★ October 31 - ''Dead Like Me'' (2003-2004)

★ November 11 - ''Unscrewed with Martin Sargent'' (2003-2004).

★ December 15 - ''Wonderfalls'' (2004).

Changes of Network Affiliation

★ ''The Surreal Life'', from The WB to VH1.

★ ''Parkinson'', from BBC One to ITV1. (UK)

★ ''FA Premier League terrestrial highlights'', from ITV1 to BBC One. (UK)

★ ''The Simpsons'', from BBC Two to Channel 4. (UK)

Deaths

Date	Name	Age	Cinematic Credibility
January 2	Lynn Cartwright	76	U.S. actor.
January 19	Jerry Nachman	57	MSNBC editor-in-chief.
January 23	Bob Keeshan	76	U.S. actor (''Captain Kangaroo'').
January 27	Jack Paar	85	''The Tonight Show'' host.
January 29	Mary-Ellis Bunim	57	producer and co-creator of ''The Real World''.
February 23	Carl Anderson	58	U.S. actor.
February 24	John Randolph	88	U.S. actor.
March 7	Paul Winfield	62	Emmy-winning actor.
March 8	Robert Pastorelli	50	actor (''Murphy Brown'').
March 17	J. J. Jackson	62	former MTV VJ.
March 26	Jan Sterling	82	U.S. actor.
March 27	Art James	74	game show host and announcer.
March 28	Sir Peter Ustinov	82	British actor.
March 30	Alistair Cooke	95	BBC broadcaster and transatlantic commentator.
March 30	Hubert Gregg	89	BBC broadcaster.
April 1	Carrie Snodgress	57	character actress.
May 9	Alan King	76	comedian.
May 14	Shaun Sutton	85	writer, director, producer and longest-serving Head of Drama at BBC Television.
May 17	Tony Randall	84	actor and star of television version of ''The Odd Couple''.
May 21	Gene Wood	78	announcer of ''Family Feud'' and other U.S. game shows.
July 9	Isabel Sanford	86	actress, (Louise "Weezie" Mills Jefferson on ''The Jeffersons''), from natural causes.
July 28	Eugene Roche	75	actor (''Soap'', ''Webster'', and many other series).
November 6	Howard Keel	85	actor/singer, (Clayton Farlow on ''Dallas'').
December 28	Jerry Orbach	69	actor (''Law & Order'')

Movies

★ Scary Godmother Halloween Spooktacular

★ Zenon Z3

★ Going to the Mat

★ Halloweentown High