1981 in television

See also:

Events

• January 20 - Comedian Andy Kaufman ruins sketches and starts a brawl live on the air during ABC's Fridays.
• March 9 - Walter Cronkite resigns as head anchor of the CBS Evening News and is succeeded by Dan Rather.
• March 21 - After 7-years starring in Doctor Who, Tom Baker makes his final appearance as the 4th Doctor in Part 4 of Logopolis. Peter Davison makes his first appearance as the 5th Doctor at the conclusion of that story.
• April 11 - Van Halen's lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen marries One Day at a Time actress Valerie Bertinelli.
• July 27 - In a specially timed event by the show's writers, Ken Barlow marries Deirdre Langton on Coronation Street, just two days before the real-life wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. The wedding of Ken and Deirdre is watched by over 24 million viewers in Britain, beating the Royal wedding in the ratings.
• August 1 - The MTV network debuts on cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day.
• November - The Doctors airs its milestone 5000th episode.
• November 2 - American soap opera As the World Turns debuts a new opening sequence and theme song for the first time in its 25-year history.
• November 16 and November 17 - Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital becomes one of the most watched weddings in American television history, second only to the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
• December 25 - Chuck Woolery leaves daytime version of Wheel of Fortune after a salary dispute with show producer and creator Merv Griffin. Chuck hosted for almost 7 years.
• December 28 - Pat Sajak takes over hosting duties on Wheel of Fortune for Chuck Woolery and holds that role to date.