2001 in American television

Events

February 25 - *NSYNC is featured on an episode of The Simpsons entitled "New Kids On The Blecch".
June 18 - Luke and Laura Spencer, widely regarded as the soap opera pairing that helped coin the term "supercouple", signed divorce papers on General Hospital, dissolving their fictional two-decade union.
September 1 - All four commercial television stations in Vancouver, British Columbia change network affiliations, the largest such change in a single market in television history.
September 11 - Viewers around the world are horrified as they witness a terrorist attack on the United States, and the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City. Additionally, the ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates' broadcast towers are knocked out by the attacks, but New Yorkers can still view them on cable. Most American and Canadian broadcasters abandon regular programming for more than a week, and numerous major daily talk shows go off the air for several weeks until their hosts feel comfortable in returning to the airwaves.
The start of the 2001-2002 fall season is delayed as a result of the attacks, with some shows such as The West Wing substituting special episodes dealing with the event in lieu of their originally scheduled season premieres. Some series, such as the military-themed JAG and New York-based Third Watch have to be retooled to encompass the aftermath of the attacks.
Concert For New York: A Tribute To Heroes airs on VH1, with performances by Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Billy Joel and others.
Canada rolls out hundreds of new digital cable channels (see List of Canadian digital television channels for complete list)
TSN changes its logo to match with ESPN's though the N is not slashed.
Lloyd in Space premieres on One Saturday Morning.
Kirby: Right Back At Ya premieres on Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Company in Japan.

Debuts

January 12 - Lizzie McGuire premieres on Disney Channel (2001-2004)
March 30 - The Fairly OddParents premieres (2001-present)
March - My Wife and Kids premieres (2001-present)
April - That's My Bush! premieres. The show was cancelled in May.
June - JR Digs premieres on CHCH in Hamilton, Ontario as a paid advertisement (2001-present)
September 30 - Alias debuts on ABC and CTV (2001-present)
September - The Guardian premieres on CBS (2001-2004)
October - According to Jim, an ABC sitcom starring James Belushi and Courtney Thorne-Smith (2001-present)
October - Smallville premieres (2001-present)
November 14 - The Bernie Mac Show premieres (2001-present)
24 premieres (2001-present)
Adult Swim, a line-up on the Cartoon Network (2001-present)
Braceface premieres (2001-present)
Enterprise premieres on UPN. The show was run under this name for the first two seasons; then it was renamed Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-present)
Fear Factor premieres (2001-present)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent premieres (2001-present)
Mutant X premieres (2001-2004)
Pop Idol premieres on ITV (2001-present)
Scrubs debuts on NBC (2001-present)

Television shows

Meet the Press (1947-present)
Candid Camera (1948-present)
Guiding Light (1952-present)
The Today Show (1952-present)
Panorama (UK) (1953-present)
Face the Nation (1954-present)
The Tonight Show (1954-present)
This Is Your Life (UK) (1955-2003)
As the World Turns (1956-present)
What the Papers Say (UK) (1956-present)
The Sky at Night (UK) (1957-present)
Blue Peter (UK) (1958-present)
Grandstand (UK) (1958-present)
Coronation Street (UK) (1960-present)
The Late Late Show (Ireland) (1962-present)
General Hospital (1963-present)
Top of the Pops (UK) (1964-present)
Days of Our Lives (1965-present)
Play School (1966-present)
60 Minutes (1968-present)
One Life to Live (1968-present)
Sesame Street (1969-present)
All My Children (1970-present)
Monday Night Football (1970-present)
Masterpiece Theatre (1971-present)
Emmerdale (UK) (1972-present)
Newsround (UK) (1972-present)
The Price Is Right (1972-present)
Last of the Summer Wine (UK) (1973-present)
The Young and the Restless (1973-present)
Wish You Were Here...? (UK) (1974-present)
Good Morning America (1975-present)
Saturday Night Live (1975-present)
the fifth estate (Canada) (1975-present)
Wheel of Fortune (1975-present)
20/20 (1978-present)
Grange Hill (UK) (1978-present)
Entertainment Tonight (1981-present)
Jeopardy! (1964-1975, 1984-present)
The Bill (UK) (1984-present)
EastEnders (UK) (1985-present)
Neighbours (Australia) (1985-present)
Sally (1985-2002)
The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986-present)
The Bold and the Beautiful (1987-present)
Cops (1989-present)
The Simpsons (1989-present)
Law & Order (1990-present)
Rugrats (1991-2004)
The Jerry Springer Show (1991-present)
Barney & Friends (1992-2002)
Dateline NBC (1992-present)
The Real World (1992-present)
Frasier (1993-2004)
Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993-present)
NYPD Blue (1993-present)
The Late Show with David Letterman (1993-present)
The X-Files (1993-2002)
ER (1994-present)
Friends (1994-2004)
Touched by an Angel (1994-2003)
JAG (1995-present)
Sesame Park (Canada) (1995-2002)
The Drew Carey Show (1995-2004)
7th Heaven (1996-present)
Dexter's Laboratory (1996-present)
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-present)
Hey Arnold! (1996-present)
Judge Judy (1996-present)
Spin City (1996-2002)
The Daily Show (1996-present)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
Dharma & Greg (1997-2002)
Johnny Bravo (1997-present)
Just Shoot Me (1997-2003)
King of the Hill (1997-present)
South Park (1997-present)
Stargate SG-1 (1997-present)
The Practice (1997-2004)
The Wonderful World of Disney (1997-present)
Becker (1998-2004)
Call For Help (1998-2004)
Dawson's Creek (1998-2003)
Sex and the City (1998-2004)
That '70s Show (1998-present)
The King of Queens (1998-present)
The Powerpuff Girls (1998-2004)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK) (1998-present)
Will & Grace (1998-present)
Angel (1999-2004)
Family Feud (1976-1985, 1988-1995, 1999-present)
Family Guy (1999-2002, 2005-present)
Farscape (1999-2003)
Futurama (1999-2003)
Judging Amy (1999-present)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-present)
Rocket Power (1999-present)
Shocking Behavior: Caught on Tape (1999-present)
SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-present)
Tenacious D (1999-present)
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (1999-2004)
The Sopranos (1999-present)
The West Wing (1999-present)
Third Watch (1999-present)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (US) (1999-present)
As Told by Ginger (2000-present)
Boston Public (2000-2004)
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-present)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-present)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-present)
Ed (2000-2004)
Malcolm in the Middle (2000-present)
Survivor (2000-present)
The District (2000-2004)
The Gavin Crawford Show (2000-2002)
The Weakest Link (UK) (2000-present)
Yes, Dear (2000-present)
Absolutely Fabulous (UK) (1992-1996, 2001-2003)
Crossroads (UK) (1964-1988, 2001-2003)
Home Movies (1999, 2001-present)

Ending this year

Baywatch (1989-2001)
The Wheezer Bros. (1995-2001). The last four episodes were not shown until 2004
Daria (1997-2001)
Disney's One Saturday Morning (1997-2001)
CatDog (1998-2001)
Bette (2000-2001)

Changes of network affiliation

Buffy the Vampire Slayer moves from WB to UPN

Notable TV movies and events

April 30 - On Golden Pond, an adaptation of the play, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, working together for the first time since the film The Sound of Music, is aired live on CBS.

Deaths

March 12 - Morton Downey, Jr., television personality
March 21 - Norma Macmillan, voice
March 22 - William Hanna, cofounder (with Joseph Barbera) of famous Hanna-Barbera animation studio
April 15 - Joey Ramone, 49, actor/songwriter of the Ramones
June 21 - Carroll O'Connor, 76, actor who played Archie Bunker on All in the Family
August 4 - Lorenzo Music, 64, writer and actor who co-created The Bob Newhart Show and did the voices of Carlton the doorman on Rhoda and Garfield the cat in the animated cartoon Garfield and Friends