The 570th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence.
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In a federal court hearing in Chicago, Atari and Midway – as the American licensees of Pac-Man – are victorious over Magnavox, whose Odyssey2 cartridge K.C. Munchkin was alleged to infringe on Pac-Man. The court ruling, which results in an injunction forcing Magnavox to pull K.C. Munchkin off the market, says it “captures the ‘total concept and feel’ of, and is substantially similar to, Pac-Man,” and that Magnavox “jeopardized the substantial investments of Midway and especially Atari.” Beaten but defiant, Magnavox releases a K.C. Munchkin sequel later in the year.
The 571st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Many fans of the series consider this the “last pure historical story” – the Doctor and his companions are merely witnesses to events that have no other science fiction influence.
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ABC airs the 24th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
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The Soviet Union’s unmanned Venera 14 space probe successfully lands on the planet Venus, its landing module enduring almost an hour in temperatures of nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit and air pressure nearly 100 times that experienced at sea level on Earth. A soil sampling experiment is thwarted by an unforseen problem, namely the lens cap of Venera 14’s camera popping off and landing precisely where its sampling arm was designed to gather Venusian soil for testing.
The 572nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. What most fans don’t realize, thanks to a carefully coordinated reveal, is that Earthshock is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen. The Cybermen are only seen at the end of part one, and producer John Nathan-Turner declines the potentially valuable offer of a Radio Times magazine front cover in order to preserve the surprise.
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Emerson, an American radio and telvision manufacturer that has shown no previous interest in the video game boom, releases its own console, the Emerson Arcadia 2001. Intended to be a serious challenger to the Atari VCS and Intellivision, the Arcadia 2001 has limited graphics capabilities and a limited library boasting relatively generic sports games and knock-offs of popular arcade games, as well as a few incredibly obscure licensed arcade ports.
The 573rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.
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The Stateside arm of Japanese video game maker Data East releases the arcade game Disco No. 1 in the United States, having apparently missed the memo announcing that disco is dead.
The legendarily tough arcade game Robotron: 2084, designed by Eugene Jarvis (creator of Defender), hits arcades across America and becomes an instant hit. With its two joysticks – one for moving the player’s character, one for firing in any direction – Robotron continues Williams’ hallmark of challenging control schemes, and screws with the fight-or-flight responses of arcade gamers everywhere for years to come.
The 574th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.
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Sega introduces the cult classic arcade game Zaxxon, significantly raising the bar for arcade graphics with its three-quarter isometric 3-D view (and making it nearly impossible to translate faithfully to home video game consoles of the era). Though this new perspective doesn’t make Zaxxon easy to play, it becomes one of the first video games that players line up just to look at.
The 575th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen, and the first story since 1966 to depict the death of one of the Doctor’s traveling companions.
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Atari releases the home version of the popular arcade game Phoenix for the Atari 2600 home video game console.
ABC airs the 25th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
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The 576th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
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The testing phase of the shuttle program continues as Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off for her third flight into space. With Commander Jack Lousma and Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton aboard, Columbia stays in orbit for over a week, testing the orbiter’s endurance to heat at different angles to the sun, as well as testing the unmanned Spacelab experiment pallets in the cargo bay. This is the first shuttle flight to end on the contingency landing site at White Sands, New Mexico.
The 577th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
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After an extremely short development period and industry insider warnings that the finished product wasn’t ready for prime time, Atari’s home version of Pac-Man for the Atari VCS arrives in stores, selling record numbers… and, within weeks, becomes the subject of bad word-of-mouth and critical slams on its weak game play and graphics. At the urging of Atari CEO Ray Kassar, Pac-Man‘s print run exceeds the number of VCS consoles sold to date, since it’s anticipated that the Pac-crazed public will buy the console simply because Pac-Man is available for it.
ABC airs the 26th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Marc Alaimo (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest stars.
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Buckner & Garcia’s hit single Pac-Man Fever reaches its peak on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #9 on the chart. Over a million copies of the single (backed with an instrumental version of the same song) have sold.
The 578th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
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The 579th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner. This episode brings the 19th season of Doctor Who (and Peter Davison’s first season) to an end.
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ABC airs the 27th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Keenan Wynn guest stars.
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ABC airs the 28th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Chuck McCann (Far-Out Space Nuts) and Danny Wells (Super Mario Brothers Super Show) guest star.
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The Greatest American Hero now streaming on Amazon Prime