12 TV Moments That Changed History Forever

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those television firsts that had a long-lasting effect on the world.

#12: Television Pregnancies & Births

Although a rather obscure show titled “Mary Kay and Johnny” pioneered the idea of married couples sharing beds and expecting kids on TV, it was “I Love Lucy” that really captured the public’s attention. This was due largely to the expert comic timing of not only Lucille Ball, but of the entire cast. The second season episode “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” makes the entire affair a comedy of errors, but it’s also important to note that the network worried about how the pregnancy would go down with an audience. It was a different time, after all, but it’s still remarkable to analyze how television firsts fall in line with expanding social mores.

#11: Reality T.V. Revolution

It wasn’t specifically referred to as “reality television,” back then, but shows like “Candid Camera” and the first televised Miss America Pageant helped blur the lines between televised fantasy and everyday life. These programs helped lay down groundwork for television audiences to eventually accept the reality T.V. blueprint we know so well today. These schematics were largely drawn up by the MTV generation, thanks to hits like “The Real World” and “Road Rules,” while CBS absolutely changed the game with “Survivor” back in 2000. And the rest, as they say, is history!

#10: Television Gets Some Color

The first color television sets and broadcasts occurred during the early 1950s, but were actually unsuccessful (at first, anyway) at winning over audiences. The variety show “Premiere” aired in certain CBS markets in 1951, while commercially produced sets for home use were manufactured three years later. Meanwhile, it would be Disney’s anthology program “Wonderful World of Color” that helped ease the public’s acceptance of this new-fangled technology. We, as humans, are sometimes fearful of change, just as the radio industry was wary of television’s growing influence. The advent of color proved, beyond any doubt, that T.V. was here to stay.

#9: “Star Trek”’s Interracial Kiss

The 1960s were a period of great social upheaval, and this sentiment of change was reflected on the small screen. “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” helped break down barriers of discrimination with an episode that showcased its host sharing a small wade pool with an African-American police officer. Meanwhile, “Star Trek” helped push things further from a romantic perspective with regards to the iconic lip-lock between stars Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner. Nichols claimed in her 1994 autobiography that she and co-star William Shatner intentionally flubbed lines during shooting. This was so that the more explicit take (not one edited and obscured in camera) would be used for the final product.

#8: The Beatles & Elvis on “The Ed Sullivan Show”

The list of iconic performances from “The Ed Sullivan Show” is long, particularly when it comes to the early days of rock music. This was despite the host’s initial reticence to book such shaggy longhairs on his program. Still, entire generations of fans were able to remember where they were back when The Beatles and Elvis Presley performed for Ed Sullivan. The variety show featured exciting live music on a weekly basis, broadcasting electricity through the airwaves. Meanwhile, the boundary-pushing sexuality of this new thing called rock ‘n roll was deemed dangerous by some critics, a force for moral decay and degradation. But fans loved it, and returned to “The Ed Sullivan Show” for many years to come.

#7: The First Scripted Finale

“The Fugitive” television series only ran for a few years back in the early sixties, a time when small-screen stories were primarily episodic. However, the compelling mystery at the heart of “The Fugitive” meant that fans at home greatly desired closure to their story. Nearly eighty million people watched the finale, hoping to see Dr. Kimble clear his name, find the mysterious one-armed man, and uncover the truth behind his wife’s murder. This was a huge deal that almost didn’t even happen. Showrunner Leonard Goldberg apparently heard that network executives felt “surprised” at the time that viewers at home actually cared about these characters enough to warrant a finale.

#6: MTV Begins

The MTV network is still around today, and much of its programming retains that youth focus which defined its earliest years. It’s difficult for those who weren’t there to describe how sharply MTV eventually focused upon its impressionable audience. The era of the music video was officially upon us, and it was now up to the music industry to keep up with demand. Soon, style mattered just as much as, if not more, than substance, and a new crop of MTV-friendly groups like Duran Duran and Madonna made the most out of the medium. MTV also led the pack with its original programming, from “Headbangers Ball” and “120 Minutes” to its original news and entertainment. Said simply: we wanted our MTV.

#5: Vietnam War Coverage

It was the conflict that aired nightly into American homes, bringing all of the controversy and violence to the dinner table. The Vietnam War saw a then-unmatched number of accredited journalists and combat photographers alike on the ground, capturing daily details about what was going on abroad. This television coverage added more fuel to the fire of protest and discourse in the United States, echoing the civil unrest and arguments surrounding the validity of Vietnam. Additionally, the war coverage showcased a shocking amount of footage that would’ve probably been deemed too gruesome to be included in a fictional T.V. program. Yet, there it was, for all to see, hear and digest… for better or worse.

#4: Apollo 11: The Moon Landing

The cynicism of the 1970s hadn’t yet set in back in July of 1969. This was when the Apollo 11 Space Shuttle mission took off into the stars, landing on the surface of the moon on the 20th of that month. The major television networks, for their part, leaned heavily into the event, with each planning special programming to coincide with the landing. The eyes of just about every American were glued to their television sets at this time. They were greeted by everything from Duke Ellington’s big band jazz to science fiction legends Rod Serling and Isaac Asimov. It was a giant leap for television kind that felt almost as big as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.

#3: Twenty-Four-Hour News

Information is a click away for all of us today, and this availability didn’t occur in a vacuum. Ted Turner’s Cable News Network changed the game back in 1980 when it kick-started the era of a 24-hour news cycle. No longer did people need to wait for their morning paper to read the headlines. Instead, these headlines were broadcast almost as quickly as they occurred, thanks to the efforts of on-call news professionals getting the scoop. It wasn’t an easy road at first (slow news days do exist, after all), and one could argue that 24 hour news also paved the way for T.V. tabloids and shock programs. However, for news addicts with FOMO for the info, CNN was a godsend.

#2: We Now Break for a Commercial

Hey, remember when you didn’t have to sit through commercials at the movies? Or during your streaming services? Or at the gas station? Yeah, we do too, which is why we sort of envy those who lived in an era prior to these intrusive attempts on our wallets. The very first paid television commercial was ordered by the Bulova[a] watch company, which booked air time during a July 1, 1941 baseball game. The ad only aired in the New York market, as the Brooklyn Dodgers took on the Philadelphia Phillies. However, the genie was out of the bottle, and soon companies everywhere expanded their advertising budgets to include television alongside radio and printed media.

#1: The World’s Fair

Supposedly, those who were there at the dawn of cinema were legitimately frightened by a famous shot from 1903’s “The Great Train Robbery.” This scene showcased actor Justus D. Barnes firing his gun down the camera lens, in full close-up. We suspect that similar trepidation was also paid to the dawn of television, way back at the 1939 World’s Fair. It was here that RCA debuted their televisions to the public, after initially giving out advertising brochures to sales professionals. This World’s Fair was also televised, and gave rise to NBC ordering regularly scheduled programming. Visitors could see firsthand how this new medium worked – ground-floor participants to the television revolution.

What’s your most nostalgic television memory? Let us know in the comments!








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