The following is a list of events affecting American television during 1997. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel initiations, closures, and rebrandings, as well as information about controversies and disputes.
Events
Programs
Debuts
Returning this year
Ending this year
Made-for-TV movies
Miniseries
Shows changing networks
Entering syndication this year
Television stations
Station launches
Stations changing network affiliation
Births
Deaths
Television Debuts
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James Gandolfini
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Scree ...
– ''
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...
''
*
Goran Visnjic
Goran may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa
*Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East
*Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe
Other uses
*Göran, a Swedis ...
– ''Olujne tisine 1895-1995''
*
Octavia Spencer
Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors Gu ...
– ''
413 Hope St.
''413 Hope St.'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama series which aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network from September 11, 1997 to January 1, 1998. The series was co-created by actor/comedian Damon Wayans, who made a sta ...
''
*
Nick Offerman
Nicholas David Offerman (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and carpenter. He is best known for his role as Ron Swanson in the NBC sitcom ''Parks and Recreation'', for which he received the Television Critics A ...
– ''
ER''
*
Natasha Henstridge
Natasha Tonya Henstridge (born August 15, 1974) is a Canadian actress and model. In 1995, she came to prominence with her debut role in the science-fiction thriller ''Species'', followed by performances in ''Species II'' and ''Species III''. She ...
– ''
The Outer Limits''
*
Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Alie O'Connell (née Romijn ; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress and former model (person), model. She is known for her role as Mystique (comics), Mystique in the original trilogy (2000–2006) of the X-Men (film series), ...
– ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
''
*
Shea Whigham
Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...
– ''
Ghost Stories
A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
''
*
Wanda Sykes
Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainm ...
– ''
The Chris Rock Show
''The Chris Rock Show'' was a weekly, Friday night, late-night talk show featured on HBO. It was created by comedian and namesake Chris Rock and featured various guests. The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program i ...
''
*
Paz Vega
María de la Paz Campos Trigos (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress.
She became popular for her performance in comedy television series ''7 vidas''. Her film credits include ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001), ...
– ''Menudo es mi padre''
*
Rainn Wilson
Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom ''The Office'', for which he earned three consecutive Emm ...
– ''
One Life to Live
''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...
''
References
{{Years in television
External links
List of 1997 American television seriesat
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
1990s in American television