- Jan 10 Last broadcast of "The Rockford Files" on NBC
Event of Interest
Jan 26 175,000 pay to hear Frank Sinatra sing in Rio de Janeiro
Frank Sinatra
Golden Globes
Jan 28 37th Golden Globes: "Kramer vs. Kramer", Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field win
Dustin Hoffman
Sally Field
- Feb 1 Sears Radio Theater moves from CBS to Mutual Broadcasting System
- Feb 1 Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run
- Feb 18 30th Berlin International Film Festival: "Heartland" and "Palermo or Wolfsburg" win the Golden Bear (tie)
- Feb 25 British political comedy "Yes Minister" written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds premieres on BBC Two
Event of Interest
Mar 6 Emmy 7th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 1st time
Susan Lucci
Film and TV Awards
Mar 8 6th People's Choice Awards: Burt Reynolds & Jane Fonda win (Motion Picture) and Alan Alda & Carol Burnett win (TV)
- Mar 21 On season finale cliffhanger of TV show "Dallas", villain J.R. Ewing is shot by unknown assailant
- Apr 14 52nd Academy Awards: "Kramer vs Kramer", Dustin Hoffman & Sally Field win
- May 1 "Day in Hollywood, A Night..." opens at John Golden NYC for 588 performances
- May 9 Slasher horror film "Friday the 13th" is released in US cinemas
- May 15 Shawn Weatherly of South Carolina crowned 29th Miss USA, goes on to win Miss Universe
Event of Interest
May 17 Paul & Linda McCartney appear on "Saturday Night Live"
Linda McCartney
Lorne Michaels
Event of Interest
May 19 Ringo & Barbara Bach are involved in a car crash
Barbara Bach
Event of Interest
May 21 "Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back", produced by George Lucas opens in cinemas in UK and North America
George Lucas
John Williams
- May 23 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Neil Burton
Event of Interest
May 23 33rd Cannes Film Festival: "All That Jazz" directed by Bob Fosse and "Kagemusha" directed by Akira Kurosawa jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
Akira Kurosawa
Film Release
May 23 Horror film "The Shining" released directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, based on book by Stephen King
- Jun 1 1st transmission of CNN, the Cable News Network
Music Concert
Jun 1 Barbra Streisand appears at an ACLU Benefit in California
Barbra Streisand
- Jun 3 ESPN begins televising college world series games
Event of Interest
Jun 9 Comedian Richard Pryor suffers burns from free basing cocaine
Richard Pryor
- Jun 14 Theme From NY, NY by Frank Sinatra hits #32
Film Premier
Jun 16 Musical comedy film "The Blues Brothers" starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, and directed by John Landis, premieres in Chicago
Dan Aykroyd
- Jun 20 Film "Blues Brothers" with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi opens in 594 theaters
Television Debut
Jun 23 "David Letterman Show" debuts on NBC-TV daytime
David Letterman
- Jul 2 Comedy film "Airplane!" written and directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and starring Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty premieres
- Jul 7 Shawn Weatherly, of USA, crowned 29th Miss Universe
- Jul 7 Jineane Ford of Arizona replaces Shawn Weatherly (Miss Universe) as the 29th Miss USA
- Jul 30 13th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at U.S. Grant Hotel
- Aug 19 Willy Russell's play "Educating Rita" premieres in London starring Julie Walters
- Aug 28 37th Venice Film Festival: "Atlantic City" directed by Louis Malle and "Gloria" directed by John Cassavetes jointly awarded Golden Lion (first since 1968)
Event of Interest
Sep 1 Jerry Lewis' 15th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $31,103,787
Jerry Lewis
- Sep 2 Australian cricket batsman Kim Hughes becomes 3rd player to bat on all 5 days of a Test match as the rain affected Centenary Test peters out to a draw at Lord's; BBC's John Arlott calls his final match
- Sep 6 Susan Powell (Okla), 21, crowned 53rd Miss America 1981
- Sep 7 32nd Emmy Awards: Taxi, Lou Grant, Ed Asner & Barbara Bel Geddes win. Notable for going ahead despite 51 of the 52 nominated performers boycotting the event due to a strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild.
Film Premier
Sep 17 "Divine Madness" starring Bette Midler, premieres
Bette Midler
Film Release
Sep 19 "Ordinary People" directed by Robert Redford and starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Judd Hirsch is released (Best Picture 1981)
Mary Tyler Moore
Robert Redford
Event of Interest
Sep 25 Chevy Chase calls Cary Grant a homo on Tomorrow show, a lawsuit follows
Cary Grant
- Oct 4 ABC premiere of Saturday futuristic fantasy cartoon "Thundarr the Barbarian"
Music Awards
Oct 13 14th Country Music Association Award: Barbara Mandrell, Emmylou Harris, and George Jones win
Barbara Mandrell
- Oct 18 Brooke Alexander, 18, of Hawaii, crowned Miss World USA
- Oct 25 Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" album goes #1 for 3 weeks & her single "Woman In Love," goes #1 for 3 weeks
- Nov 10 Dan Rather refuses to pay his cabbie, CBS pays $12.55 fare
- Nov 13 Gabriella Brum, 18, of West Germany crowned 30th Miss World; she resigns the next day because she wants to marry her 52 year old boyfriend
- Nov 14 Kimberley Santos, 19 of Guam, crowned 30th Miss World
- Nov 17 WHHM Television in Washington, D.C., becomes the first African-American public-broadcasting television station
Film Premier
Nov 18 "Heaven's Gate" film directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken premieres - one of the biggest box office bombs ever
Christopher Walken
Event of Interest
Nov 19 CBS TV bans Calvin Klein jean ad featuring Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Calvin Klein
- Nov 20 United Artists withdraws $44 million movie "Heaven's Gate" for re-editing
- Nov 21 TV show "Dallas" episode "Who Done It" reveals 'Who Shot J.R.?', gets a then record 53.3 rating (over 83 million viewers, 76% of television watchers) in the US
- Dec 1 Mel Harris appears on M*A*S*H in "Cementing Relationships"
- Dec 8 "Bravo" network premieres on cable TV
Film Premier
Dec 11 "Magnum P.I." starring Tom Selleck premieres on CBS
Tom Selleck
Film Release
Dec 19 "Raging Bull", directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro as boxer Jake LaMotta and Cathy Moriarty as his wife, is released in the United States
