October 17th in TV History
Birthdays
 | Irene Ryan | 1902 in El Paso, TX | - The Beverly Hillbillies |
| Jack Wagner | 1925 in Los Angeles, CA | - Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt |
| George Wendt | 1948 in Chicago, IL | - Cheers |
Deaths
| Tennessee Ernie Ford | 1991 in Reston, VA | |
| Joey Bishop | 2007 in Newport Beach, CA | - member of the Rat Pack, The Joey Bishop Show |
TV Episode Debuts
| The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | "The Pills" | 1952 |
| I Love Lucy | "Lucy and the Dummy" | 1955 |
| The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet | "Hidden Panel" | 1956 |
| 77 Sunset Strip | "Lovely Lady, Pity Me" | 1958 |
| Gunsmoke | "Annie Oakley" | 1959 |
| The Andy Griffith Show | "The Guitar Player" | 1960 |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "Sally and the Lab Technician" | 1961 |
| The Beverly Hillbillies | "The Clampetts Meet Mrs. Drysdale" | 1962 |
| The Dick Van Dyke Show | "Bank Book 6565696" | 1962 |
| Gilligan's Island | "Goodnight Sweet Skipper" | 1964 |
| Gunsmoke | "The Violators" | 1964 |
| Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | "The Cyborg" | 1965 |
| The Big Valley | "The Martyr" | 1966 |
| Gilligan's Island | "Where There's a Will" | 1966 |
| I Dream of Jeannie | "What's New, Poodle Dog?" | 1966 |
| The Andy Griffith Show | "The Darling Fortune" | 1966 |
| I Dream of Jeannie | "Jeannie, the Hip Hippie" | 1967 |
| Bewitched | "Darrin, Gone and Forgotten" | 1968 |
| Get Smart (1965) | "Widow Often Annie" | 1969 |
| Hogan's Heroes | "The Gasoline War" | 1969 |
| The Mary Tyler Moore Show | "Keep Your Guard Up" | 1970 |
| Adam-12 | "Log 65 -- Cigarettes, Cars and Wild, Wild Women" | 1970 |
| Cannon | "Night Flight to Murder" | 1973 |
| The Rockford Files | "The Great Blue Lake Land and Development Company" | 1975 |
| Kojak (1973) | "Out of the Shadows" | 1976 |
| The Six Million Dollar Man | "The Most Dangerous Enemy" | 1976 |
| Laverne & Shirley | "Laverne and Shirley Go to Night School" | 1978 |
| Three's Company | "My Sister's Keeper" | 1978 |
| Taxi | "The Great Line" | 1978 |
| Happy Days | "Sweet Sixteen" | 1978 |
| The Fall Guy | "Terror U." | 1984 |
| The Fall Guy | "A Fistful of Lire" | 1985 |
| Cheers | "Someday My Prince Will Come" | 1985 |
| Night Court | "Dad's First Date" | 1985 |
| The Cosby Show | "Cliff in Love" | 1985 |
| Family Ties | "Mr. Wrong" | 1985 |
| L.A. Law | "The Princess and the Wiener King" | 1986 |
| The A-Team | "Quarterback Sneak" | 1986 |
| Dallas | "Enigma" | 1986 |
| 227 | "There Goes the Building" | 1987 |
| ALF | "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" | 1988 |
| Cheers | "Ma's Little Maggie" | 1991 |
| The Cosby Show | "Warning: A Double-Lit Candle Can Cause a Meltdown" | 1991 |
| L.A. Law | "TV or Not TV" | 1991 |
| Murphy Brown | "Burger, She Wrote" | 1994 |
