Year: 1981

Categories
Video Games

Fantasy

  • November 25, 1981

FantasyBetter known for making jukeboxes and speakers, Rock-Ola continues trying to make inroads into the video game industry by releasing Fantasy in the United States. The arcade game, originated in Japan by SNK, is one of the very first coin-op games to allow players to insert additional coins to continue from the location of their previous game’s end within a set amount of time. With several screens requiring players to develop completely different strategies on the fly, Fantasy doesn’t gain much of a following; many arcade operators gut and convert their Fantasy machines into other games. (This is your webmaster’s all-time favorite arcade game.)

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Categories
Television

Darkroom: Episode 1

  • November 27, 1981

DarkroomNBC premieres the first episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. In the tradition of Night Gallery, the series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes Closed Circuit, guest starring Robert Webber and Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man), and Stay Tuned, We’ll Be Right Back, guest starring Lawrence Pressman and Joanna Miles.

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Categories
Video Games

Games By Apollo founded

  • December 2, 1981

Guardian by Games By ApolloNewly exposed to the rapidly expanding video game industry, Dallas businessman Patrick Roper files incorporation papers for a new video game manufacturer, Games By Apollo. Having started a video game company, Roper places ads in local newspapers seeking programmers to make games for the Atari VCS. In one year of operation, Roper – seeing the much better-funded Activision as his primary competition – overproduces all of Apollo’s nearly dozen titles, leading to a round of price cuts on the company’s products.

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Categories
Television

Darkroom: Episode 2

  • December 4, 1981

DarkroomNBC airs the second episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. The series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes The Bogeyman Will Get You, guest starring Helen Hunt (Mad About You, Twister) and Randy Powell (Logan’s Run), and Uncle George, guest starring Claude Akins and June Lockhart (Lost In Space).

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Categories
Atari VCS Video Games

Defender

  • December 5, 1981

Atari 2600Atari releases the home version of the arcade hit Defender as a cartridge for the Atari VCS home video game system. Though the game undergoes major alterations to fit within the VCS’ memory, Defender sells well. It includes the first issue of a tie-in comic book, Atari Force, created by DC Comics (a subsidiary of Warner Communications, just like Atari).

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Categories
Television

Darkroom: Episode 3

  • December 11, 1981

DarkroomNBC airs the third episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. The series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes Needlepoint, guest starring Esther Rolle (Good Times), and Siege Of 31 August, guest starring Ronny Cox.

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Categories
Television

Darkroom: Episode 4

  • December 18, 1981

DarkroomNBC airs the fourth episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. The series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes A Quiet Funeral, guest starring Carmen Argenziano (Stargate SG-1), and Make-Up, guest starring Billy Crystal and Brian Dennehy.

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Categories
Television

Blake’s 7: Blake

  • December 21, 1981

Blake's 7BBC1 premieres the 52nd and final episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7. By all accounts one of the most memorable and unsettling television finales ever, the final episode hints strongly that evil has triumphed, and some viewers already experiencing depression as the Christmas holiday closes in are extremely disturbed by the series’ conclusion. Gareth Thomas guest stars as Blake, bringing the series full circle.

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Categories
Television

Darkroom: Episode 5

  • December 25, 1981

DarkroomNBC airs the fifth episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. The series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes The Partnership, guest starring David Carradine (Kung Fu), Daisies, guest starring Rue McClanahan (The Golden Girls), and Catnip, guest starring Karin Argoud (Mama’s Family).

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Categories
Doctor Who Television

K-9 & Company

  • December 29, 1981

Doctor WhoBBC1 broadcasts the pilot (and only) episode of the first Doctor Who spin-off ever to see production, K-9 & Company. Focusing on K-9 and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), the pilot fails to attract enough of an audience to make it a viable series prospect, though the inclusion of a black magic storyline in a spin-off aimed at Doctor Who’s younger viewers may have some bearing on the decision to abandon the idea. Bill Fraser and Colin Jeavons guest star. A spin-off series involving Sarah Jane and K-9 does eventually appear, but not until 2007.

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