BBC1 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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Mattel Electronics releases the Star Strike cartridge for the Intellivision home video game system. (more…)
NBC 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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ITV airs the 51st episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Denis Quilley guest stars in the fourth season finale.
The pilot episode of a potential Doctor Who spin-off series, K-9 & Company, airs on BBC1, starring Elisabeth Sladen reprising her role of former TARDIS traveler Sarah Jane Smith. John Leeson returns to voice K-9. Though the curious combination of a family-viewing-time schedule slot and a sinister black-magic plotline – not to mention a transmitter outage that keeps the show away from the eyes of a significant part of its potential audience – factor into the pilot not leading to a series, its plot developments (Sarah Jane receiving her own K-9 sent by the Doctor) are honored by later entries in the franchise, meaning this one-off adventure is canonical. Both Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 will get their own spinoffs – both aimed at younger audiences – in the 21st century. (more…)
The 554th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, ending a trilogy of stories themed around the Doctor’s regeneration and the reintroduction of the Master. Peter Davison makes his debut as the fifth Doctor, and Anthony Ainley guest stars as the Master. The 19th season sees Doctor Who’s first move away from Saturday nights on the BBC’s schedule, with the series now airing on Monday and Tuesday nights. 
The 555th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, ending a trilogy of stories themed around the Doctor’s regeneration and the reintroduction of the Master. 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!
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Atari releases the original title Yars’ Revenge for the Atari VCS home video game console. Despite not being a port of a popular arcade game (though it started out as an attempt to port Star Castle to the VCS), Yars’ Revenge sells well thanks for favorable reviews and good word-of-mouth. A pack-in comic from DC Comics, “Yars’ Revenge: The Qotile Ultimatum”, is included. (more…)
ABC airs the 16th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
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NBC airs the sixth episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. The series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes Lost In Translation, guest starring Whit Bissell, and Guillotine, guest starring Dick Balduzzi.
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Sierra On-Line releases the computer game Mouskattack. Designed by John Harris, this is one of several titles Sierra will publish to get a Pac-Man-style game on the home computer market before Atari can release an official port. It is available for the Atari home computers. (more…)
The 556th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, ending a trilogy of stories themed around the Doctor’s regeneration and the reintroduction of the Master. 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
The 557th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1, ending a trilogy of stories themed around the Doctor’s regeneration and the reintroduction of the Master. 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
Midway delivers the long-anticipated sequel to Pac-Man to eager arcade operators. Ms. Pac-Man – a game which originated not from Pac-Man’s creators in Japan, but from an American “enhancement kit” maker called General Computer Corporation – arrives in arcades and immediately starts to break earnings records, eventually becoming the top-earning coin-op video game in American history. (more…)
ABC airs the 17th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
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NBC airs the seventh and final episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. This installment includes the stories Exit Line (written by the future creators of Murder, She Wrote), Who’s There?, guest starring Grant Goodeve (Eight Is Enough), and The Rarest Of Wines.
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.
The 558th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stratford Johns guest stars. (more…)
The 559th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stratford Johns guest stars.
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 18th 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
The 560th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stratford Johns guest stars.
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!
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The 561st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Stratford Johns guest stars.
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 19th episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. James Shigeta guest stars.
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The 562nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes and Simon Rouse guest star. (more…)
The 563rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes and Simon Rouse 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
ABC airs the 20th 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
The 564th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes and Simon Rouse 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
The 565th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes and Simon Rouse 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
ABC airs the 21st episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp.
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CBS unleashes a particularly virulent strain of Pac-Man Fever into record stores, courtesy of rock group Buckner & Garcia, and there is no cure in sight. With musical odes to the arcade games Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Defender, Frogger, Asteroids, Berzerk, Centipede, and even the relatively obscure coin-op Mouse Trap, this album’s release probably marks the high point of the video game industry “boom” – the apex at which public awareness of video games is at the saturation point, having seeped into the rest of pop culture. (more…)
At Rockwell International, a spare Space Shuttle crew module is assembled alongside components intended for the orbiters Discovery and Atlantis, and though the spare isn’t intended for a specific shuttle yet to be built, it will find a purpose in the wake of the 1986 Challenger disaster: the spare crew module will become one of many completed shuttle spares that will eventually be assembled in the late 1980s as the Space Shuttle Endeavour, Challenger’s replacement and the last space shuttle constructed.
The 566th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace. (more…)
The 567th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Robbins guest stars as Richard Mace.
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 22nd episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Thalmus Rasulala and Ron O’Neal (Super Fly) guest star.
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Cupertino businessman Larry Jones incorporates Mythicon, a new video game software publisher focused entirely on providing games for the Atari VCS. With the knowledge that the market for VCS software is already becoming flooded, Mythicon’s business model involves selling games for a price point just under $10 each, and distributing them in grocery stores and drug stores rather than the usual retail chain outlets. Only three games – all three regarded as some of the worst yet produced for the VCS – are released before Mythicon closes up shop.
Imagic, recently formed from a group of ex-Atari programmers, releases its first wave of cartridges for the Atari VCS home video game system, including Rob Fulop’s Demon Attack, a game which quickly draws the legal ire of Atari itself. (more…)