The Powers Of Matthew Star: Prediction
The fifth episode of the science fiction series The Powers Of Matthew Star airs on NBC, starring Peter Barton and Louis Gossett Jr. Arthur Roberts (Air America) guest stars.
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Crazy Otto
General Computer Corp., a small company making “grey market” modification kits to freshen up Pac-Man and Missile Command arcade games, cuts a deal with Midway, the American licensee for Pac-Man, handing over the code to its Pac-Man modification kit Crazy Otto. Midway contracts GCC to continue work on the kit, but now under license. The first thing to go are the kit’s name and its modified Pac-Man character, who now has legs. A few changes and a few months later, the game’s central character has no legs, but will now sport lipstick and a pink bow, as Midway prepares to officially release the new game as an authorized Pac-Man sequel, Ms. Pac-Man – amazingly good luck for a small business that could just as easily have been sued into oblivion.
The The Space Shuttle’s ambitious schedule
NASA prepares a preliminary schedule of Space Shuttle launches, covering the years 1979-1982 (and assuming the shuttle will be ready to launch in 1979). The ambitious schedule (which also assumes, in line with current planning, that the test orbiter Enterprise will be upgraded to spaceworthiness) includes almost-monthly flights from 1979 onward to deploy communications and weather satellites already on the drawing board, as well as frequent science missions with the cargo-bay-mounted Spacelab. On only the second test flight, the schedule has OV-102 (yet to be named Columbia) slated for a mission to the abandoned early 1970s space station Skylab, using a teleoperator retrieval system which also exists only on paper. While many of the schedule’s goals will be met, the delay in the shuttle program will be longer than NASA anticipates at this time.
The Bionic Woman: Rodeo
The 41st episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on NBC. Andrew Prine (V, Weird Science) guest stars.
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Doctor Who: The Invisible Enemy, Part 3
The 460th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Sheard (The Empire Strikes Back) and Frederick Jaeger guest star; John Leeson joins the cast as the voice of K-9.
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Space Academy: The Rocks Of Janus
The sixth episode of Filmation’s Saturday morning science fiction series Space Academy airs on CBS. Living asteroids rock the Space Academy cadets back on their heels.
Electric Light Orchestra: New World Record
Electric Light Orchestra‘s sixth album, A New World Record, is released, featuring the singles “Livin’ Thing”, “Telephone Line” and “Rockaria!”; the record goes gold and then platinum by the end of the year. This is the group’s first album to sport artwork with the now-familiar ELO logo, created from a mirrored image of the upper part of a Wurlitzer jukebox; following the post-Star Wars science fiction revival, future albums render this logo as a flying saucer.
NOAA-2
NASA and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration launch NOAA-2, a weather satellite intended to operate in a near-polar low Earth orbit. NOAA-2 is based on the already-flown ITOS satellite design, and will function in orbit through October 1974, with a break of only a few months due to a failed vertical temperature profile radiometer instrument. NOAA-2 will be shut down in January 1975.
Computer Space
Boasting a curved, futuristic fiberglass cabinet that truly looks like an alien art object, Nutting Associates’ arcade video game Computer Space hits an amusement market dominated by pinball machines and jukeboxes. Devised by Nolan Bushnell, Computer Space is a coin-operated homage to the mainframe game Spacewar, complete with complicated controls, and fails to sell well. Bushnell later has a revelation: arcade games will need to be easy to learn (but not easy to beat) in order to catch on.
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The Immortal: The Legacy
ABC airs the fourth episode of the modern-day science fiction series The Immortal, starring Christopher George. Susan Howard guest stars.
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Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea: Journey With Fear
The 88th episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. Gene Dynarski guest stars.
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The Prisoner: A, B, and C
ITV broadcasts the third episode of The Prisoner, produced, occasionally written by, and starring Patrick McGoohan. Colin Gordon guest stars as Number Two.
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet, Part 2
The 132nd episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is the first story to feature the Cybermen, and is the final story of William Hartnell’s tenure as the first Doctor.
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Adventures Of Superman: King For A Day
The 65th episode of The Adventures Of Superman airs in syndication, starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson. Philip Van Zandt guest stars in the third season finale.
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Adventures of Superman now streaming on Amazon Prime
Science Fiction Theatre: The Human Equation
The 25th episode of the syndicated science fiction Science Fiction Theatre airs on stations across the U.S. Hosted by Truman Bradley, the episode stars Macdonald Carey and Jean Byron.
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