Music Premiere
Jan 7 Revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "The King & I", still starring Yul Brynner opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 191 performances
Golden Globes
Jan 26 42nd Golden Globes: "Amadeus", F. Murray Abraham, & Sally Field win
American Music Awards
Jan 28 12th American Music Awards: Cyndi Lauper & Lionel Richie win
Music Premiere
Jan 31 Max Showalter and Peter Walker's musical "Harrigan 'n Hart", starring Harry Groening and Mark Hamill, opens at Longacre Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances
- Feb 3 Max Showalter and Peter Walker's musical "Harrigan 'n Hart", starring Harry Groening and Mark Hamill, closes at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 4 performances
- Feb 14 Hostage CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is released in Beirut
- Feb 15 35th Berlin International Film Festival: "The Woman and the Stranger" and "Wetherby" win the Golden Bear (tie)
- Feb 19 British soap opera "Eastenders" premieres on the BBC
Music History
Mar 1 Liza Minnelli enters Betty Ford Drug Center
Television Premiere
Mar 3 "Moonlighting" with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis premieres on ABC TV in the US
- Mar 5 38th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs): "The Killing Fields" Best Film, Wim Wenders Best Director
- Mar 6 Yul Brynner appears in his 4,500th performance of "The King & I"
People's Choice Awards
Mar 12 11th People's Choice Awards: Clint Eastwood & Meryl Streep win (Motion Picture) and Tom Selleck, Joan Collins & Linda Evans win (TV)
- Mar 18 Capital Cities Communications Inc acquires ABC for $3.5 billion, first transfer of ownership of a TV network
Academy Awards
Mar 25 57th Academy Awards: "Amadeus", F. Murray Abraham & Sally Field win
Film & TV History
Mar 27 Billy Dee Williams receives a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Theater Premiere
Mar 28 Neil Simon's play "Biloxi Blues" premieres in NYC
WrestleMania
Mar 31 WrestleMania I, Madison Square Garden, NYC: Hulk Hogan & Mr T beat Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorf
- Apr 30 "Shoah", French documentary about the Holocaust, directed by Claude Lanzmann, starring Richard Glazar and Raul Hilberg, premieres in Paris
- May 13 Laura Elena Martinez-Herring, 21, (Texas), crowned 34th Miss USA
- May 18 1st remote location for "Nightline" (South Africa)
- May 20 38th Cannes Film Festival: "When Father Was Away on Business" directed by Emir Kusturica wins the Palme d'Or
Film Premiere
May 22 "A View to a Kill", 14th James Bond film, last to star Roger Moore, also starring Grace Jones and Christopher Walken, premieres in San Francisco
Film & TV History
May 23 President Ronald Reagan awards Jimmy Stewart the Presidential Medal of Freedom and promotes him to Major General on the Retired List
Album Release
Jun 1 Weird Al Yankovic releases his "Dare To Be Stupid" album
Television Debut
Jun 3 "Larry King Live" debuts on CNN, airing each weeknight through December, 2010
Music City News Awards
Jun 10 19th Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers, Barbara Mandrell win
Film Release
Jun 13 "Prizzi's Honor", starring Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, and Anjelica Huston, is released
Film Release
Jul 3 "Back to the Future" directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd is released
Film & TV History
Jul 3 CBS announces a 21% stock buy-back to thwart Ted Turner's takeover
- Jul 3 Tinker Bell's first nightly flight at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida
- Jul 15 Deborah Carthy-Deu, of Puerto Rico, crowned 34th Miss Universe
Film & TV History
Jul 25 Spokeswoman for Rock Hudson confirms he has AIDS
- Aug 1 18th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at Hotel San Diego
Daytime Emmy Awards
Aug 1 Emmy 12th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 6th time
Music Recording
Aug 7 Barbra Streisand records "Broadway Album"
Television Premiere
Aug 16 CBS' premiere of its TV adaptation of "Death of A Salesman", starring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich
- Aug 26 42nd Venice Film Festival: "Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond)" directed by Agnes Varda wins the Golden Lion
Telethon
Sep 2 Jerry Lewis' 20th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $33,100,000
Film & TV History
Sep 13 Super Mario Bros game first appears, created by Shigeru Miyamoto at Nintendo
Television Debut
Sep 14 "The Golden Girls", starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, debuts on NBC
- Sep 14 10th Toronto International Film Festival: "The Official Story" directed by Luis Puenzo wins the People's Choice Award
- Sep 14 Susan Akin (Miss), 21, crowned 59th Miss America 1986
- Sep 18 "The Equalizer" TV spy/crime drama debuts in the US on CBS (starring Edward Woodward)
- Sep 20 Walt Disney World's 200-millionth guest
- Sep 22 37th Emmy Awards: "Cagney & Lacey", "The Cosby Show" and Tyne Daly win
Music History
Sep 28 "Don't Lose My Number" by Phil Collins peaks at #4
- Sep 29 "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," returns to NBC-TV
Television Debut
Sep 29 "Amazing Stories" by Steven Spielberg, debuts on NBC-TV
- Sep 29 "MacGyver" starring Richard Dean Anderson, debuts on ABC-TV
Film & TV History
Sep 30 Howard Stern gets fired from WNBC AM (NY)
- Oct 26 CBS' premiere of fact based TV film "Children of the Night", based on sociology student Lois Lee's expose on female crime and inconsistent enforcement of prostitution laws in Los Angeles
- Nov 1 Nostalgia Television begins on cable
- Nov 4 "Edge of Darkness" first airs on BBC Two, featuring Bob Peck and Joanne Whalley
Television Premiere
Nov 5 CBS premieres "Stone Pillow", a dramatic made-for-TV movie starring Lucille Ball as a homeless woman
Music Single
Nov 18 Paul McCartney releases film theme single "Spies Like Us"
Television Premiere
Nov 24 NBC miniseries "Mussolini: The Untold Story" starring George C. Scott premieres in the US
- Dec 1 Noraly Beyer becomes Neth's 1st black TV newscaster
Film & TV History
Dec 1 TV mini series "Anne of Green Gables" based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery, starring Megan Follows is first shown on CBS in Canada
Film & TV History
Dec 3 7th ACE Cable Awards: Shelley Duvall wins the Golden CableACE for "Faerie Tale Theatre"
- Dec 8 NBC premiere of thriller "Final Jeopardy", starring Richard Thomas and Mary Crosby
Film Premiere
Dec 10 "Out of Africa", based on the book by Isak Dinesen, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford premieres in Los Angeles (Best Picture 1986)
- Dec 11 General Electric acquires RCA Corp & its subsidiary, NBC
Film Premiere
Dec 16 Film "The Color Purple" based on novel by Alice Walker, directed by Stephen Spielberg starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover premieres in New York
- Dec 20 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC