The 66th episode of the syndicated science fiction Science Fiction Theatre airs on stations across the U.S. Hosted by Truman Bradley, the episode stars William Ching and Tom McKee.
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ABC airs the 32nd episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Betsy von Furstenberg and Rory Harrity guest star.
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The 76th episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Gary Merrill and Vaughn Taylor star.
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British broadcaster ABC airs the 35th episode of Sydney Newman’s spy series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Jon Rollason.
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The 204th episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. 
At Hollywood’s Desilu Studios, filming begins on The Cage, the unaired first attempt at a pilot episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek. Starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike and Leonard Nimoy as the exotic-looking alien science officer Spock, filming proceeds at a brisk pace, despite numerous delays due to the show’s then-novel special effects, set and costuming requirements. Though the result is viewed enthusiastically by all involved, the completed pilot stirs little enthusiasm at the television networks. NBC thinks the series premise has promise, but that as it stands, The Cage is “too cerebral” for prime time. Ironically, exactly two years later, most of the footage from The Cage is broadcast anyway, as part of The Menagerie – a fast favorite among the viewers for whom it was deemed to be too brainy.
The 11th episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris.
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The 12th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction series Star Trek airs on NBC. In an effort to save costs, Gene Roddenberry devises a framing story – referred to behind the scenes as “the envelope” – allowing footage from the rejected 1964 pilot episode The Cage to be used within the context of Star Trek’s current cast as a flashback to a previous crew of the Enterprise. Malachi Throne guest stars in the new footage; Jeffrey Hunter and Susan Oliver are seen in the original footage from The Cage.
BBC2 airs the 19th episode of science fiction anthology series Out Of The Unknown. Adapted by Stanley Miller from a story by Henry Kuttner, the story stars Anton Rodgers and Wanda Ventham. This episode no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
ABC airs the eighth episode of Irwin Allen’s sci-fi series Land Of The Giants, starring Gary Conway, Don Matheson, Deanna Lund, and Don Marshall.
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NBC airs the 16th episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Serling himself. Alex Cord and Elizabeth Hartman guest star.
NBC airs the tenth episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. Doug McClure (Search), Lauri Peters, and Mariette Hartley (Earth II) guest star. (This series will be retitled Circle Of Fear in 1973.)
The tenth episode of the short-lived Canadian-made science fiction series The Starlost, The Alien Oro, premieres. Walter Koenig guest stars.
NBC airs the eighth episode of The Invisible Man, starring David McCallum (The Man From UNCLE, Colditz), Melinda Fee, and Craig Stevens. Roger C. Carmel (Star Trek’s Harry Mudd) guest stars.
In a pre-holiday telegram to 20th Century Fox’s distribution team, the studio’s VP of domestic distribution, Peter Myers, boldly predicts that the upcoming George Lucas film Star Wars could break all standing box office records in America. “Exceptional entertainment usually pays off,” Myers writes, “but when it is coupled with a spectacular and innovative presentation, the critics, opinion makers, and the public will be electrified, and it is quite possible Star Wars will emerge as the all-time box office champion.” Though enthusiastically championed by 20th Century Fox president Alan Ladd Jr., Star Wars has thus far been considered a risky prospect by 20th Century Fox shareholders and executives.
The 22nd episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on ABC. Kathleen Nolan (The Real McCoys) guest stars.
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The 12th 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.)
The 43rd episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Eric Braeden (Escape From The Planet Of The Apes) and Ron Masak (Laserblast) guest star.
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The 21st episode of the live-action series based on Marvel’s comic The Incredible Hulk airs on CBS, starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin, and Lou Ferrigno. Julie Cobb and Pat Morita (The Karate Kid) guest star.
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The 518th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. David Daker and Peter Craze guest star in a strangely-timed (just before Christmas?) anti-drug story.
ABC airs the Lucasfilm TV movie Ewoks: The Battle For Endor, starring Wilford Brimley, Warwick Davis, and Aubree Miller. Written and directed by the Wheat Brothers (The Fly II, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick), the movie quickly dispenses with all but one of the human family around which the first Ewok TV movie centered and then embarks on an adventure that’s more fantasy than science fiction.
The 33rd episode of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories airs on NBC. David Carradine (Kung Fu) and Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) guest star.
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The very first episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 premieres on Minneapolis-St. Paul independent TV station KTMA, a comedy experiment devised by local comedian Joel Hodgson and KTMA production director Jim Mallon, with other local comedians (Trace Beaulieu and Josh Weinstein) and Mallon’s KTMA production assistant (Kevin Murphy) rounding out the show’s “cast”. The first movie riffed by the MST3K team is the 1981 syndicated TV movie Invaders From The Deep, edited together from episodes of Gerry Anderson’s Stingray series. 
The second episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs on KTMA, an independent TV station in Minneapolis, starring Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Josh Weinstein.
The first episode of the rebooted-for-cable Mystery Science Theater 3000 airs on the Comedy Channel, starring Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Josh Weinstein.
The ninth episode of Dracula: The Series airs in syndication, based very loosely on Bram Stoker’s literary vampire lore, starring Bernard Behrens, Geordie Johnson, and Mia Kirshner. Alexandra Kazan guest stars.
The 60th episode of the syndicated series Superboy, starring Gerard Christopher and Stacy Haiduk, airs. Christopher Neame and Gregg Allman guest star.
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The seventh episode of the science fiction crime drama Super Force is broadcast in syndication in North America, starring Ken Olandt, Larry B. Scott, and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers). Sarah Douglas (Superman II) guest stars.
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NASA launches Space Shuttle Atlantis on a mission lasting nearly a week, deploying both classified and unclassified payloads for the Defense Department. After the payload deployments, tests are conducted to determine the viability of the shuttle orbiters for long-duration missions. Manning Atlantis for this mission are Commander Frederick Gregory, Pilot Terence Henricks, and mission specialists Mario Runco, James Voss, Story Musgrave and Thomas Hennen.
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