Earl Green is the creator, curator, and head writer of theLogBook.com.
Emerson, an American radio and telvision manufacturer that has shown no previous interest in the video game boom, releases its own console, the Emerson Arcadia 2001. Intended to be a serious challenger to the Atari VCS and Intellivision, the Arcadia 2001 has limited graphics capabilities and a limited library boasting relatively generic sports games and knock-offs of popular arcade games, as well as a few incredibly obscure licensed arcade ports.
The 572nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. What most fans don’t realize, thanks to a carefully coordinated reveal, is that Earthshock is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen. The Cybermen are only seen at the end of part one, and producer John Nathan-Turner declines the potentially valuable offer of a Radio Times magazine front cover in order to preserve the surprise. 
The 573rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.
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 Stateside arm of Japanese video game maker Data East releases the arcade game Disco No. 1 in the United States, having apparently missed the memo announcing that disco is dead.
ABC airs the second episode of the cop show spoof Police Squad, in color, starring Leslie Nielsen and created by the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team behind the hit movie Airplane!
The legendarily tough arcade game Robotron: 2084, designed by Eugene Jarvis (creator of Defender), hits arcades across America and becomes an instant hit. With its two joysticks – one for moving the player’s character, one for firing in any direction – Robotron continues Williams’ hallmark of challenging control schemes, and screws with the fight-or-flight responses of arcade gamers everywhere for years to come.
The 574th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen.
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
Sega introduces the cult classic arcade game Zaxxon, significantly raising the bar for arcade graphics with its three-quarter isometric 3-D view (and making it nearly impossible to translate faithfully to home video game consoles of the era). Though this new perspective doesn’t make Zaxxon easy to play, it becomes one of the first video games that players line up just to look at.
The 575th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first Cyberman story since 1975’s Revenge Of The Cybermen, and the first story since 1966 to depict the death of one of the Doctor’s traveling companions.
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
Atari releases the home version of the popular arcade game Phoenix for the Atari 2600 home video game console.
ABC airs the 25th 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
ABC airs the third episode of the cop show spoof Police Squad, in color, starring Leslie Nielsen and created by the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team behind the hit movie Airplane! Robert Goulet and Tommy LaSorda guest star.
The 576th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
The testing phase of the shuttle program continues as Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off for her third flight into space. With Commander Jack Lousma and Pilot C. Gordon Fullerton aboard, Columbia stays in orbit for over a week, testing the orbiter’s endurance to heat at different angles to the sun, as well as testing the unmanned Spacelab experiment pallets in the cargo bay. This is the first shuttle flight to end on the contingency landing site at White Sands, New Mexico.
The 577th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
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
After an extremely short development period and industry insider warnings that the finished product wasn’t ready for prime time, Atari releases Tod Frye’s home version of Pac-Man for the Atari VCS, selling record numbers… and, within weeks, becomes the subject of bad word-of-mouth and critical slams on its weak game play and graphics. At the urging of Atari CEO Ray Kassar, Pac-Man‘s print run exceeds the number of VCS consoles sold to date, since it’s anticipated that the Pac-crazed public will buy the console simply because Pac-Man is available for it.
ABC airs the 26th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Marc Alaimo (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest stars.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
ABC airs the fourth episode of the cop show spoof Police Squad, in color, starring Leslie Nielsen and created by the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker team behind the hit movie Airplane! William Shatner (Barbary Coast, T.J. Hooker) and Dr. Joyce Brothers guest star. The series is cancelled after this episode’s broadcast, leaving two episodes to be shown in July.
Buckner & Garcia’s hit single Pac-Man Fever reaches its peak on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #9 on the chart. Over a million copies of the single (backed with an instrumental version of the same song) have sold.
The 578th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner.
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 579th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley appears as the Master; Nigel Stock also guest stars in a story shot in and around a real Concorde supersonic jetliner. This episode brings the 19th season of Doctor Who (and Peter Davison’s first 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
ABC airs the 27th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Keenan Wynn guest stars.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
ABC airs the 28th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Chuck McCann (Far-Out Space Nuts) and Danny Wells (Super Mario Brothers Super Show) guest star.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
The seventh album from Split Enz, Time + Tide, is released to a strong start, going gold within two weeks in Australia alone. With most of the songs written by Tim Finn, the album is surprisingly autobiographical. The album’s lead single, the sea-shanty-styled “Six Months In A Leaky Boat”, is chased off the airwaves by radio program directors when it’s interpreted as a commentary on the Falkland Islands War (despite the fact that the song was written and recorded months before the conflict ever took place).
ABC airs the 29th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Barbara Hale (Perry Mason) guest stars.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
The Soviet Union launches the last of the Salyut space stations, Salyut 7, into Earth orbit. Reflecting an ongoing significant rethink on space station construction, Salyut 7 is intended from the outset to be docked with additional modules to expand its habitable and working space. It also sets a new endurance record of its own, remaining in orbit for nearly a decade.
ITV airs the 52nd episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Toyah Wilcox guest stars in the fifth season finale, which is adapted from the winning story in an amateur writing contest in which it was up against 11,000 other entries.
Better known for making jukeboxes and speakers, Rock-Ola makes one of its final attempts to break into the video game industry by releasing Eyes, a maze chase game created by Florida-based Digitrex Techstar. Since many arcades are already flooded with maze games, Eyes seems to disappear from most arcades in a blink; this is one of Rock-Ola’s final attempts to get into the game business.
ABC airs the 30th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Dixie Carter (Designing Women) and Gay Rowan (The Starlost) guest star in the second season finale.
More about The Greatest American Hero in theLogBook.com Store
ITV airs the 53rd episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Dorothy Tutin guest stars.