Doctor Who: Talons Of Weng-Chiang, Part 5

Doctor WhoThe 452nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. John Bennett, Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin guest star.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

Doctor Who: Talons Of Weng-Chiang, Part 6

Doctor WhoThe 453rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. John Bennett, Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin guest star. This episode brings Doctor Who’s 14th season to an end.

This timeline entry leads to an entry covering this entire Doctor Who serial; there are plans to write new episodic entries in the future. You can support this effort!
Order Earl Green’s book VWORP!1 from theLogBook.com Store

The Bionic Woman: Once A Thief

The Bionic WomanThe 36th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on ABC. Elisha Cook Jr. (Rosemary’s Baby, Star Trek, Batman) guest stars in the final episode of season two, and the final episode to air on ABC. (NBC will pick the series up for a third season.)

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Quark

QuarkNBC airs the pilot of Quark, a new series from Get Smart creator Buck Henry which marks an unlikely combination of science fiction and sitcom. The pilot broadcast gets enough attention to merit a series pickup, but within weeks, Henry’s writing staff is presented with a much meatier target for satire than Star Trek, which Quark originally sets out to parody. Read more Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

King Of The Castle: Episode 1

King Of The CastleThe first episode of children’s fantasy series King Of The Castle premieres on HTV. The series is created by Bristol-based writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Sky, Doctor Who), and stars Philip Da Costa. Talfryn Thomas (Survivors) and Milton Johns (Doctor Who, The Empire Strikes Back) also star.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

First Star Trek movie… cancelled?

Star TrekAfter spending months in development, the much-publicized big-screen relaunch of Star Trek is cancelled by Paramount. Unable to find a satisfactory script, and having great difficulty negotiating with the stars of the TV series, Star Trek: Planet Of The Titans is dumped by the studio, with no other plans to revive Star Trek in the works. Mere weeks later, a record-breaking movie not originating from Paramount convinces the studio to get back into the big-budget science fiction space race.

Six Million Dollar Man: The Ghostly Teletype

Six Million Dollar ManThe 79th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. This episode is the fourth season finale.

More about The Six Million Dollar Man in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
This series is not fully chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

King Of The Castle: Episode 2

King Of The CastleThe second episode of children’s fantasy series King Of The Castle is broasdcast on HTV. The series is created by Bristol-based writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Sky, Doctor Who), and stars Philip Da Costa. Talfryn Thomas (Survivors) and Milton Johns (Doctor Who, The Empire Strikes Back) also star.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Space Cooperation Agreement renewed

Apollo-SoyuzWith the 1972 agreement having resulted in the successful Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the United States and the Soviet Union formally renew the Space Cooperation Agreement. As an immediate goal to build on Apollo-Soyuz, both countries hold tentative discussions about docking the American Space Shuttle (which, it is still assumed, will be in space before the 1970s are out) and a Soviet Salyut space station. Though the shuttle’s first flight is still being delayed, the biggest hurdle will prove to be international relations, specifically a renewed chilling of the Cold War thanks to the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

Spectre

SpectreNBC premieres the made-for-TV movie Spectre, starring Robert Culp, Gig Young, John Hurt and Majel Barrett. Created and co-written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Spectre is an atypical Roddenberry project, dealing in magic and the occult rather than science fiction. It is intended to serve as a series pilot, though no series is ordered. Read more

King Of The Castle: Episode 3

King Of The CastleThe third episode of children’s fantasy series King Of The Castle is broasdcast on HTV. The series is created by Bristol-based writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Sky, Doctor Who), and stars Philip Da Costa. Talfryn Thomas (Survivors) and Milton Johns (Doctor Who, The Empire Strikes Back) also star.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Star Wars

Star WarsBoasting a story and characters with universal appeal, a magnificent soundtrack, and special effects unlike anything that had been seen before, George Lucas’ Star Wars arrives, changing the movie industry and geekdom forever. Word-of-mouth – to say nothing of lines of moviegoers winding around the block, eager to immediately see the movie again – spreads like wildfire, and suddenly it’s okay to be a science fiction fan. Read more Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Star Wars (soundtrack)

Star WarsRSO Records releases a double LP of John Williams’ soundtrack from Star Wars, coinciding with the movie’s release. A fold-out poster of publicity artwork of the climactic Death Star dogfight is included. The album becomes a chart-topper by the end of the year, and cover versions by other artists are released even before the year is out. Many listeners become lifelong film score fanatics on the spot. Read more

King Of The Castle: Episode 4

King Of The CastleThe fourth episode of children’s fantasy series King Of The Castle is broasdcast on HTV. The series is created by Bristol-based writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Sky, Doctor Who), and stars Philip Da Costa. Talfryn Thomas (Survivors) also stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Apple II

Apple IIApple Computer introduces the Apple II home computer system, a pre-built 4K computer (with an optional upgrade to 48K) capable of displaying color graphics on a TV or monitor, and storing programs on either cassette or floppy disk. The computer ships with an implementation of BASIC written by Steve Wozniak, with an optional pair of paddle controllers for games. The system also has an open architecture, with space for expansion cards (and no restriction on what cards can be developed, or by whom). Read more

King Of The Castle: Episode 5

King Of The CastleThe fifth episode of children’s fantasy series King Of The Castle is broasdcast on HTV. The series is created by Bristol-based writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Sky, Doctor Who), and stars Philip Da Costa. Talfryn Thomas (Survivors) also stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Alan Parsons Project: I Robot

PyramidThe Alan Parsons Project releases its second album, I Robot, including the singles “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, “Breakdown” and “Don’t Let It Show” (the latter of which is covered latered by Pat Benatar). The album is loosely themed around fear of the future and technology, a far cry from the original plan for a concept album built around Isaac Asimov’s story “I, Robot” (though Asimov allows the album’s title since it lacks the comma). This is the Project’s first album on Arista Records. Read more

Kenner signs on for Star Wars madness

Star WarsThe unexpected runaway success of a dark horse in the summer movie race makes for a mad dash for the toy rights. The winner of that race is Kenner Products, the toy division of cereal maker General Mills, and the prize is the exclusive license to market toys and other products based on Star Wars. Prior to the movie’s release, however, George Lucas has convinced 20th Century Fox to allow him to keep all toy licensing rights, meaning that ongoing licensing payments are made directly to Lucas, providing him with the lion’s share of his future wealth. Kenner executive Bernard Loomis finds himself fighting to convince his own sales team that this movie will attract more than a momentary audience. With the late start and the long lead time on design, tooling and manufacture, Loomis concocts an audacious marketing scheme involving an “empty box” available by Christmas.

Paramount announces network, new Trek

Paramount Television ServiceNo sooner has Paramount’s movie arm axed Star Trek‘s big screen comeback than the studio’s television division announces the unthinkable: Paramount will form its own network, to premiere in February 1978, taking on ABC, CBS, and NBC in prime time. Leading off the new network’s first night will be a two-hour, made-for-TV Star Trek movie starring William Shatner and most of the original cast (with Leonard Nimoy notable by his absence), who will then go on to star in a weekly series chronicling the further adventure of the Enterprise. Gene Roddenberry will return as the creator of the new series. But within just a few weeks, it becomes apparent that the “big three” networks are ready to play hardball to keep Paramount’s network off the air, from leaning on their advertisers to avoid buying ad time on the new network, to quietly threatening to stop picking up Paramount-produced series for their own fall schedules.