Deaths[]
- Michael S.E. Downing
- January 23 — Bill Zuckert
- January 26 — Edward G. Simmel
- February 4 — Robert Clouse
- February 4 — Jack Kevan
- February 5 — Enzo A. Martinelli
- February 6 — Harry Essex
- February 12 — James Cossins
- February 14 — Dave Marks
- March 4 — Carey Loftin
- March 5 — William Roberts
- March 18 — Harry Raybould
- March 20 — Jean Engstrom
- March 28 — Rudy Germane
- April 2 — Tomoyuki Tanaka
- April 16 — John Benson
- April 28 — Steve Conte
- April 30 — Jorge Mondragón
- May 5 — Walter Gotell
- May 9 — Hoke Howell
- May 10 — Silvano Tranquilli
- May 23 — Joe Zomar
- May 25 — Daniel White
- May 28 — Sydney Guilaroff
- June 4 — George E. Mather
- June 14 — Richard Jaeckel
- July 17 — Gene Warren
- July 24 — László Görög
- August 4 — Dick Bush
- August 8 — Orville H. Hampton
- August 15 — Glen Corbett
- August 18 — Don Knight
- August 24 — Werner Abrolat
- September 4 — Leslie Heritage
- September 9 — Burgess Meredith
- September 15 — Ivan Reiner
- September 17 — Brian Hall
- September 21 — Maurice Kaufmann
- September 30 — Martin Kingsley
- October 3 — John Ashley
- October 7 — Bruce Satterlee
- October 9 — Robert Hitchcock
- October 10 — Hans-Joachim Kasprzik
- October 13 — Dick Gallegly
- October 18 — Marshall Green
- October 18 — Robert Caramico
- October 30 — Sydney Newman
- November 11 — William Alland
- November 17 — Wilfred Josephs
- November 18 — Patricia Powers
- November 27 — Nello Pazzafini
- December 4 — Romo Gorrara
- December 6 — Willie Pastrano
- December 19 — David Bradley
- December 19 — Michael Alldredge
- December 30 — Bernard Girard
Movie Premieres[]
Episode Premieres[]
- February 1 — Revenge of the Creature (First episode of Season 8, first Sci-Fi Channel episode, Bill Corbett's first appearance as Crow T. Robot, Kevin Murphy's first appearance as Professor Bobo.)
- February 8 — The Leech Woman
- February 15 — The Mole People
- February 22 — The Deadly Mantis
- March 1 — The Thing That Couldn't Die (Bill Corbett, Michael J. Nelson, and Paul Chaplin's first appearance as Observers)
- March 8 — The Undead
- March 15 — Terror from the Year 5000
- April 5 — The She-Creature
- April 19 — I Was a Teenage Werewolf
- May 31 — The Giant Spider Invasion
- June 7 — Parts: The Clonus Horror
- June 14 — The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (Paul Chaplin's first appearance as Ortega)
- July 12 — Jack Frost
- July 19 — Riding with Death
- August 2 — Agent for H.A.R.M.
- August 16 — Prince of Space (Bill Corbett's first appearance as Krankor, Kevin Murphy & Bridget Jones' first appearances as Callipygeas & Flavia)
- September 6 — The Horror of Party Beach
- October 4 — Devil Doll
- October 11 — Invasion of the Neptune Men
- November 7 — Space Mutiny
- November 22 — Time Chasers
- December 6 — Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (Final episode of Season 8 and 1997.)
Special Premieres[]
- January 25 — MST3K: The Home Game
- August 1 — The Making of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Sci-Fi era making of special)
- September 2 — 1st Annual Summer Blockbuster Review
- November 27 to 28 — Sci-Fi Channel's Thanksgiving Marathon (Unhosted Turkey Day-like with 7 episodes, the Making of special and 2 Star Wars films.)
Home Media Releases[]
- April 8 — Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
- August 26 — The Unearthly
- August 26 — Eegah
- October 21 — I Accuse My Parents
- October 21 — The Atomic Brain
- October 21 — Red Zone Cuba
Events[]
- March 18 — The Sci-Fi Channel announces they picked up the "back nine" episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000's 8th season, bringing the total to 22.
- March 24 — At the 69th Academy Awards, the following awards are presented:
- Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson win the Best Makeup Award for The Nutty Professor.
- Joe Viskocil, Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, and Clay Pinney win the Best Visual Effects Award for Independence Day.
- April 1 — David Carradine receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
- May 5 — The Satellite News web site goes live as Best Brains announces that the Satellite News print newsletter will be discontinued.
- July 15 — The Sci-Fi Channel announces they picked up Mystery Science Theater 3000 for its 9th season.