NBC airs the 29th episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. 
Earl Green is the creator, curator, and head writer of theLogBook.com.
NBC airs the 29th episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.
The 552nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, continuing a trilogy of stories themed around the Doctor’s regeneration and the reintroduction of the Master. Janet Fielding joins the cast as new companion Tegan. Anthony Ainley guest stars as the Master.
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
American pinball manufacturer Stern Electronics releases a video game licensed from Japanese game maker Konami Industries, Scramble. Though it earns a small but loyal following among arcade gamers, Scramble‘s true claim to history will be in setting a legal precedent: it later becomes the first video game whose code is copyrighted as a literary work in its own right as Stern seeks to take down bootleggers who copy the game’s program and brazenly market it under the same name.
ABC premieres the movie-length first episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Michael Paré and Faye Grant (V) guest star.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
NASA’s unmanned Pioneer Venus Orbiter completes its radar mapping survey of the planet Venus, having used radar to create the first-ever topographical map of that world, which is usually hidden behind a thick, toxic cloud deck. Launched in 1978, Pioneer Venus Orbiter is the only surviving component of the two-vehicle Pioneer Venus mission, but with its solar arrays still gathering adequate power and all of its instruments still functioning well, the orbiter is not deactivated or deorbited at this time; future tasks will be found for it in the years ahead.
NBC airs the 30th episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.
The 553rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, continuing a trilogy of stories themed around the Doctor’s regeneration and the reintroduction of the Master. Janet Fielding joins the cast as new companion Tegan. Anthony Ainley guest stars as the Master.
This is Tom Baker’s final episode as the Doctor.
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
Soyuz 39 lifts off from the Soviet Union, carrying its two-man crew on a week-long spaceflight including a visit to space station Salyut 6. The crew consists of cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa, the first Mongolian in space. In conjunction with the resident Salyut 6/Soyuz T-4 crew, they conduct scientific and engineering experiments, some of them studying the state of Salyut 6 after several years in orbit. The Soyuz 39 crew returns to Earth on March 30th.
The first episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. The series is produced by the NPR affiliate at the University of Southern California, where George Lucas attended film school (and to whom he sold the radio adaptation rights for the princely sum of one dollar). Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels are the only actors to reprise their movie roles, with the rest of the characters being recast.
ABC airs the second episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
Atari releases Video Pinball as a cartridge for the Atari 2600. Though sharing the same name as an earlier Atari arcade game, the home edition is a somewhat more elaborate simultaion of pinball.
NBC airs the 31st episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.
Sega releases the arcade game Pulsar in American arcades. The coin-op video game is a maze game pitting the player’s tank against enemy tanks and the structure of the maze itself.
Future Torchwood series regular Gareth David-Lloyd is born in Wales. Showing an early aptitutde for acting, he will also make appearances on Warehouse 13, Holby City, and Doctor Who. Incidentally, the first time he plays a character named Ianto Jones – completely unrelated from the character who will later appear on Torchwood and Doctor Who – is in an episode of the drama Mine All Mine written by future Torchwood creator Russell T. Davies.
The second episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. This episode delves into events not depicted in the movie itself, namely the backstory of Princess Leia’s mission to hand the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. Ann Sachs stars as Princess Leia.
The Odyssey² video game console’s answer to Asteroids, UFO!, hits stores.
ABC airs the third episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. June Lockhart (Lost In Space) guest stars.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
A Split Enz album with identity issues, the group’s sixth studio album is released as Corroboree in Australia and New Zealand, and as Waiata in all other territories. Again produced by David Tickle, this album continues with the punchier True Colours sound and yields the international hit “History Never Repeats”, whose video becomes one of the very first ever played by a new American music video channel, MTV.
Data East releases the arcade video game Lock ‘n’ Chase in the United States. Though bearing some distinctive differences from Pac-Man, the game gets lost in a glut of Pac-Man knock-off coin-ops also in circulation.
The Osborne One portable computer is given its public debut at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. Despite being billed as “portable”, the computer is huge – packing 5¼” floppy disk drives and a tiny CRT monitor and a full-sized keyboard into a suitcase-sized enclosure, it weighs at least 30 pounds. The Osborne I’s native operating system is CP/M.
ITV airs the 35th episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Nigel Havers guest stars in the fourth season premiere.
The third episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Ann Sachs stars as Princess Leia and Brock Peters (To Kill A Mockingbird) stars as Darth Vader. This is a very different telling of the events leading up to Star Wars than what is depicted in the movie Rogue One.
Atari releases the arcade video game Warlords, in both upright (for one or two players) and cocktail (up to four players) models.
ABC airs the fourth episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
NBC airs the 32nd episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. William Sylvester (2001: a space odyssey) guest stars.
The first attempt to launch Space Shuttle Columbia on her maiden voyage is called off due to problems with the shuttle’s sophisticated system of redundant flight computers, some of which fail to synchronize with each other during the countdown. Over 24 hours are required to fix the bug, and the launch is delayed by two days.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off on the shuttle system’s first flight into a space, with Commander John Young (a Gemini/Apollo veteran) and Robert Crippen aboard, the first two-man American crew since the Gemini program’s final flight in 1966. It’s a true test flight in every sense of the word – every previous American manned spacecraft had been flown unmanned first to verify safety and spaceworthiness, making the shuttle’s first flight a case where everything has to go perfectly the first time.
ITV airs the 36th episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Siobhan McKenna guest stars.
The fourth episode of Brian Daley’s radio drama adaptation of the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars airs on National Public Radio stations in the U.S. Mark Hamill stars as Luke Skywalker, and Thomas Hill stars as Uncle Owen.
Safely in orbit, the cargo bay doors are opened for the first time on Space Shuttle Columbia, revealing that some of the shuttle’s protective thermal tiles are already missing. (A later post-landing inspection reveals that more than 100 tiles are damaged, and 16 tiles are completely lost, all probably due to unexpected vibration during launch.) NASA deems the damage non-critical and gives the go-ahead for a landing, even though it’s impossible to see what damage may have been done to the more critical tiles on the shuttle’s underbelly.