TV Dramas in History

1920-11-01 Eugene O'Neill's drama "The Emperor Jones" opens at Provincetown Playhouse, NYC; runs for 204 performances

1926-04-12 Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film as director "The Pleasure Garden", in England; the silent drama was made in Germany

1930-01-30 Vladimir Mayakovsky's drama "The Bathhouse (Bunya)" premieres in Leningrad

1939-12-15 "Gone With The Wind", drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, premieres in Atlanta (Best Picture 1940, inflation not adjusted highest-grossing film of all time)

1956-11-08 Biblical drama film "The Ten Commandments", directed by Cecil B. DeMille, starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner premieres at the Criterion Theater in NYC

1957-10-18 "The Frank Sinatra Show" television variety/drama anthology series debuts on ABC; the singer-actor is given almost complete control of the program

1958-07-02 Musical drama Film "King Creole" starring Elvis Presley based on a novel by Harold Robbins premieres

1961-02-01 John Huston's film drama "The Misfits" officially premieres at the Loews Capitol in NYC, after a sneak preview at Reno, Nevada's Grenada Theatre; the final movie for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe was written by Monroe's husband Arthur Miller, and also featured Montgomery Cliff

1961-02-07 Jane Fonda made her acting debut in the NBC drama "A String of Beads"

1966-09-22 Edward Albee's play "Delicate Balance" premieres in NYC (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 1967)

1967-12-22 "The Graduate", American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, premieres (Best Director, 1968)

1982-02-21 Musical review of Fats Waller songs "Ain't Misbehavin'" starring Nell Carter and Irene Cara, closes at Longacre Theater, NYC, after 1604 performances, winning 3 Tony and 4 Drama Desk Awards

1982-03-13 ABC TV crime drama "T.J. Hooker" premieres, starring William Shatner

1984-05-02 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Sunday in the Park with George", a fictionalized version of painter Georges Seurat's relationship with his grandson, starring Mandy Patinkin, opens at Booth Theater, NYC; runs for 604 performances, wins a Pulitzer Prize for Drama

1989-05-20 Premiere of sports fantasy drama film "Field of Dreams", based on W. P. Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe", starring Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and Burt Lancaster in his final film role

1989-06-30 "Great Balls of Fire!" a quasi-biographical drama film starring Dennis Quaid as rockabilly pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis premieres; Lewis hates the film and the book from which it is sourced, but praises Quaid's performance

1989-12-14 Biographical drama film "Sikwood", directed by Mike Nichols, and starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher premieres

1996-08-21 Revival of Eugene O'Neill's' drama "Hughie", directed by Al Pacino, and starring Pacino and Paul Benedict, opens at Circle in the Square Theater, NYC; runs for 56 performances

1996-09-08 August Wilson's drama "Seven Guitars" closes at Walter Kerr Theater, NYC, after 188 performances

2001-06-03 TV drama "Six Feet Under" created by Alan Ball, starring Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall and Frances Conroy premieres on HBO

2002-06-02 Crime drama "The Wire" created by David Simon and starring Idris Elba and Dominic West debuts on HBO

2005-03-27 TV medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" created by Shonda Rhimes starring Ellen Pompeo and Sandra Oh debuts on ABC

2005-09-04 James Mangold's biographic drama "Walk the Line", starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter debuts at the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado

2007-07-19 TV drama "Mad Men" debuts starring Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones and Vincent Kartheiser on cable network AMC

2009-09-22 Crime drama "NCIS LA" starring Chris O'Donnell, LL Cool J, and Daniela Ruah premieres on CBS

2011-10-02 TV spy drama "Homeland" starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis premieres on Showtime

2012-04-15 TV comedy drama "Girls" created by and starring Lena Dunham premieres on HBO

2013-01-30 TV spy drama "The Americans" created by Joe Weisberg, starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys premieres on FX

2013-03-04 British TV drama "Broadchurch" created by Chris Chibnall, starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman premieres on ITV

2014-01-12 "True Detective", a crime-drama starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, debuts on HBO

2014-12-25 "Unbroken", drama film directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O'Connell and Domhall Gleeson, released in the United States

2015-03-05 US crime drama "American Crime" premieres created by John Ridley

2016-09-20 "This Is Us" TV drama premieres in the US starring Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia

2016-12-21 Indian sports drama film "Dangal" directed by Nitesh Tiwari and starring Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra premieres - first Indian film to earn $300 million worldwide

2022-01-10 79th Golden Globes: Best film "The Power of the Dog" (drama), "West Side Story" (comedy/musical), Best TV series "Succession", Best Director Jane Campion (Motion Picture)