March 21 - On the season finale of the soap operaDallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
The David Letterman Show debuts on NBC. Letterman's humor does not go over well with a morning audience, and the show is soon cancelled. Letterman would go on to host a late night show two years later.
U.S. viewers get caught up in the "Who Shot J.R.?" cliff hanger on the soap opera series, Dallas, which is solved on a November 21 episode, drawing a record numbers of viewers.