The 57th episode of the syndicated science fiction Science Fiction Theatre airs on stations across the U.S. Hosted by Truman Bradley, the episode stars Bill Williams and Toni Gerry.
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The 58th episode of the syndicated science fiction Science Fiction Theatre airs on stations across the U.S. Hosted by Truman Bradley, the episode stars Peter Hansen and Ed Kemmer.
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ABC airs the 23rd episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Norman Lloyd and Suzanne Pleshette guest star in the second season premiere.
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The seventh and final episode of the western series Wrangler is broadcast on NBC in the United States, starring Jason Evers as Pitcairn. Mary Murphy and Frank Silvera guest star in an episode written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who also created this series, his first to get past the pilot stage. Despite contemporary TV listings showing that a previous episode of Wrangler, Encounter At Elephant Butte, was postponed to this date, there is significant evidence that this episode aired instead, including existence of a complete copy of the episode containing a handoff from series star Jason Evers to musician “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, whose prime-time variety show, The Ford Show, had briefly been replaced by Wrangler as a summer replacement series, affording Ford and his show’s crew time for a break. Wrangler, the first western shot and edited on videotape using facilities at Los Angeles TV station KTLA, is never repeated again, though at least partial copies of each episode remain archived at UCLA, thanks to KTLA donating a large amount of vintage videotapes to the school’s library for archival preservation. 
The 66th episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson star in the third season premiere.
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The Twilight Zone now streaming on Paramount Plus
British broadcaster ABC airs the 12th episode of science fiction anthology series Out Of This World. Adapted by Clive Exton from a story by Clifford D. Simak, the story stars Philip Madoc, and is introduced by Boris Karloff. This episode no longer exists in the archives.
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The first episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris. 
The 12th episode of the spy-fi series Adam Adamant Lives! airs on BBC1, starring Gerald Harper and Juliet Harmer.
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The 38th episode of Batman airs on ABC. Julie Newmar and James Brolin guest star.
The second episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek airs on NBC. Robert Walker Jr. and Abraham Sofaer guest star.
The 30th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek premieres on NBC, kicking off the show’s second season with its first-ever glimpse of Spock’s home planet, Vulcan, as well as one of the best-known (and most parodied) fight scenes in the history of television, accompanied by some of the best-known TV soundtrack music ever.
The Soviet Union launches Zond 5, a Soyuz 7K-L1 command & service module intended for flight around the moon. Rather than a cosmonaut crew, however, Zond 5 has biological specimens on board, including insects, plants, bacteria, and a pair of turtles – the first living creatures from Earth to orbit the moon. The specimens are all returned safely, though Zond 5 is the second consecutive Zond flight to lose attitude control after re-entry, splashing down in the Indian Ocean rather than making the customary propulsive return to Soviet soil. American intelligence agencies are aware of the mostly successful flight, and NASA alters the Apollo manned flight schedule to attempt to put men in orbit of the moon by the end of 1968.
ITV airs the 22nd episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael McKenzie, Tony Selby and Judy Loe. This episode, like the rest of the series’ first two seasons, is now missing from the archives.
NBC premieres the seventh episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Serling himself, beginning the show’s second season. Clint Howard (Star Trek), Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), Leslie Nielsen (Police Squad), and Ray Milland (Dial M For Murder) guest star.
NBC airs the second episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. Jason Robards and Stella Stevens guest star in a script written by Robert Specht (The Immortal, Ark II). (This series will be retitled Circle Of Fear in 1973.)
The second episode of the animated Star Trek series premieres on NBC, written by original series script editor D.C. Fontana, with Mark Lenard reprising the role of Sarek.
NBC airs the second episode of The Invisible Man, starring David McCallum (The Man From UNCLE, Colditz), Melinda Fee, and Craig Stevens. Ross Martin (The Wild Wild West) and Michael Pataki (The Amazing Spider-Man) guest star.
The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 22, a vehicle originally built as a backup for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Unusually, the vehicle does not dock at the recently-launched Salyut 5 space station, but is instead placed in an unusual orbit that happens to make it easy to monitor a major NATO exercise near Norway. Cosmonauts Valery Bykovsky and Vladimir Aksyonov remain in that orbit for nearly eight days before returning to Earth.
The third episode of the British-German science fiction series Star Maidens premieres on ITV in the UK. (Not all regional ITV affiliates carry the show at a specific time; this episode guide reflects the dates for the broadcast premieres of each episode on Scottish TV.)
Still stinging from the business decision to not bid on the Star Wars toy rights, toy maker Mego International is first in line to get the toy license for Walt Disney Studios’ upcoming $20,000,000 science fiction movie The Black Hole, still in pre-production. The license includes action figures and vehicles, and banking on Star Wars levels of popularity, Mego has its products ready to go even before the movie hits theaters in late 1979 (only to see the movie flop in the US).
CBS airs the 17th episode of the Space Academy spinoff series Jason Of Star Command, starring Craig Littler, Sid Haig, and Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones). This episode opens the series’ second season, now in a longer, half-hour format with new cast members.
Arcade game maker Midway introduces the coin-op video game Galaxian in American arcades. The game, originated in Japan by Namco, is the first entry in a fruitful relationship between the two companies; another game in the works at Namco will prove to be huge windfall for Midway in 1980.
The 508th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. The Daleks return for the first time in four years, along with Davros; Lalla Ward takes over the role of Romana, while David Brierly takes over as the voice of K-9.
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The 27th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S. This is the second season premiere.
IREM releases the arcade video game Tropical Angel, a water skiing game.
NASA’s Magellan space probe, orbiting the planet Venus, has completed a checkout phase and begins its primary mapping mission, intended to gather data of the Venusian surface as high resolution as one kilometer per pixel. Rather than using visible light – which would yield only images of Venus’ dense clouds – Magellan uses radar to map the planet’s blistering hot surface. Launched in May 1989 via space shuttle, Magellan will continue mapping the surface of Venus through May 1991.
EMI Records releases the Electric Light Orchestra 2-disc set Early ELO: 1971-1973, gathering the band’s early material as well as alternate mixes and an unreleased song.
CBS airs the ninth episode of Barney Cohen and James Parriott’s supernatural crime series Forever Knight, starring Geraint Wyn-Davies, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett, and John Kapelos. Lindsay Merrithew guest stars.
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Forever Knight now streaming on Amazon Prime
Atari and Interplay release the soundtrack from the video game Tempest 2000.
The 13th episode of Joss Whedon’s trend-setting supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Armin Shimerman (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest stars in the second season premiere.
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