- Jan 15 CBS' premiere of TV made teen drug abuse drama, "Not My Kid", based on the previous year's book by Beth Polson
- Jan 22 Kelly Hu, 16, of Hawaii, crowned 3rd Miss Teen USA
- Jan 23 Britains House of Lords debate 1st televised
Golden Globes
Jan 26 42nd Golden Globes: "Amadeus", F. Murray Abraham, & Sally Field win
Sally Field
F. Murray Abraham
Event of Interest
Feb 24 Yul Brynner reprised his role in "The King & I"
Yul Brynner
Event of Interest
Mar 1 Liza Minnelli enters Betty Ford Drug Center
Liza Minnelli
Television Premiere
Mar 3 "Moonlighting" with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis premieres on ABC TV in the US
Bruce Willis
- 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"
Film and TV 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
F. Murray Abraham
Sally Field
Event of Interest
Mar 27 Billy Dee Williams receives a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Billy Dee Williams
WrestleMania
Mar 31 WrestleMania I, Madison Square Garden, NYC: Hulk Hogan & Mr T beat Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorf
Hulk Hogan
Mr. T
- 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 Premier
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
Roger Moore
Christopher Walken
Event of Interest
May 23 President Ronald Reagan awards Jimmy Stewart the Presidential Medal of Freedom and promotes him to Major General on the Retired List
James Stewart
Ronald Reagan
Album Release
Jun 1 Weird Al Yankovic released his Dare To Be Stupid LP
Weird Al Yankovic
Film Release
Jun 13 "Prizzi's Honor", starring Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, and Anjelica Huston, is released
Anjelica Huston
Jack Nicholson
Event of Interest
Jul 3 CBS announces a 21% stock buy-back to thwart Ted Turner's takeover
Ted Turner
- Jul 3 Tinker Bell's first nightly flight at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida
Film Release
Jul 3 "Back to the Future" directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd is released
Michael J. Fox
Music Recording
Aug 7 Barbra Streisand records "Broadway Album"
Barbra Streisand
Television Premiere
Aug 16 CBS' premiere of its TV adaptation of "Death of A Salesman", staring Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich
Dustin Hoffman
- Aug 26 42nd Venice Film Festival: "Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond)" directed by Agnes Varda wins the Golden Lion
Event of Interest
Sep 2 Jerry Lewis' 20th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $33,100,000
Jerry Lewis
- Sep 14 Susan Akin (Miss), 21, crowned 59th Miss America 1986
Television Debut
Sep 14 "The Golden Girls", starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, debuts on NBC
Betty White
Estelle Getty
Television Debut
Sep 29 "Amazing Stories" by Steven Spielberg, debuts on NBC-TV
Steven Spielberg
- Sep 29 "MacGyver" starring Richard Dean Anderson, debuts on ABC-TV
Event of Interest
Sep 30 Howard Stern gets fired from WNBC AM (NY)
Howard Stern
- 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' premiere of TV made Lucille Ball drama "Stone Pillow"
Lucille Ball
Television Premiere
Nov 24 NBC miniseries "Mussolini: The Untold Story" starring George C. Scott premieres in the US
Benito Mussolini
George C. Scott
- Dec 1 Noraly Beyer becomes Neth's 1st black TV newscaster
Event of Interest
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
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Event of Interest
Dec 3 7th ACE Cable Awards: Shelley Duvall wins the Golden CableACE for "Faerie Tale Theatre"
Shelley Duvall
- Dec 8 NBC premiere of thriller "Final Jeopardy", starring Richard Thomas and Mary Crosby
Film Premier
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 Premier
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