Hawkeye: Ronin
Streaming service Disney Plus releases the fifth episode of Hawkeye, created for TV by Jonathan Igla and starring Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld. Vincent D’Onofrio reprises the role of Kingpin for the first time since Marvel’s Daredevil series completed its run on Netflix in 2018.
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Chuck Peddle, microcomputer pioneer, dies
The chief designer of the 6502 microprocessor (a device credited with breaking Intel’s near-monopoly on the market and kick-starting the personal computer revolution), Chuck Peddle dies at the age of 82. Having already gained experience as part of the team that developed Motorola’s 6800 chip, Peddle realized that there was a need for a cheaper alternative. (At over $300 upon its introduction in 1973, the 6800 was still prohibitively expensive.) Motorola showed no interested in developing an inexpensive alternative, so Peddle defected to rival chip maker MOS, where he brought the 6502 chip to market. Within a few years of its introduction, the 6502 was already the heart of the Apple II, the earliest Atari home computers, the Commodore VIC-20, and the BBC Micro. Variants of the 6500 processor family powered the Commodore 64, the Atari VCS, and the Nintendo Entertainment System, among countless others. He was often credited as the father of the personal computer.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
The ninth Star Wars movie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, premieres. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac, alongside original trilogy stars Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. Laura Dern, Kelly Marie Tran, and Benicio Del Toro make their first appearances as new characters. An unusual amount of controversy emerges around the movie’s defiance of fan expectations involving the storyline and use of characters from the original Star Wars films, which will also follow the next two films in the franchise. This is the last Star Wars film to feature new scenes with the late Carrie Fisher as Leia.
The Expanse: The Big Empty
The second episode of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), is broadcast on cable channel Syfy. François Chau (Lost) guest stars.
Soyuz TMA-20
Part of the 26th full-time crew of the International Space Station lifts off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard Soyuz TMA-20. Dmitri Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli take up residence on the ISS for 159 days, becoming part of the Expedition 26/27 crews. All three return to Earth in May 2011 aboard the same vehicle.
Battlestar Galactica: The Eye Of Jupiter
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 44th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) and Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) guest star.
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Battlestar Galactica now streaming on Amazon Prime
Level 9: Eat Flaming Death
UPN broadcasts the eighth episode of the near-future sci-fi series Level 9, starring Fabrizio Filippo (Queer As Folk, Delilah & Julis), Kate Hodge (She-Wolf Of London), and Michael Kelly (House Of Cards). Jim Byrnes (Highlander) guest stars.
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Aquila: End Of An Eyrie
The 12th episode of children’s science fiction series Aquila premieres on BBC1, starring Ben Brooks and Craig Vye.
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Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Amends
The 44th episode of Joss Whedon’s trend-setting supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse) guest stars.
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The X-Files: Paper Hearts
The 83rd episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Tom Noonan guest stars.
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Lois & Clark: ‘Twas The Night Before Mxymas
The 76th episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman airs on ABC, starring Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher. Howie Mandel and Beverly Garland guest star.
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Umajets: Demolotion
A band featuring former members of Jellyfish, Umajets releases the album Demolotion.
The X-Files: Revelations
The 60th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Kevin Zegers and R. Lee Ermey guest star.
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Quantum Leap: Promised Land
NBC airs the 84th episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Elizabeth Dennehy (Star Trek: The Next Generation) guest stars.
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Super Force: Gravity’s Rainbow – Part 1
The tenth episode of the science fiction crime drama Super Force is broadcast in syndication in North America, starring Ken Olandt, Larry B. Scott, and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers). G. Gordon Liddy (of Watergate fame, or perhaps infamy) guest stars.
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Superboy: Superboy…Lost
The 63rd episode of the syndicated series Superboy, starring Gerard Christopher and Stacy Haiduk, airs.
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Dracula: The Series: The Great Tickler
The 12th episode of Dracula: The Series airs in syndication, starring Bernard Behrens, Geordie Johnson, and Mia Kirshner. Patrick Monckton (The Dark Crystal) guest stars.
Star Trek: TNG: A Rock And A Hard Place
Pocket Books releases the Star Trek: The Next Generation novel “Star Trek: TNG: A Rock And A Hard Place”, written by Peter David.
Amazing Stories: Santa ’85
The 11th episode of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories airs on NBC. Douglas Seale and Pat Hingle guest star.
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Vega 1 launched
The unmanned Vega 1 space probe is launched by the Soviet Union on a dual mission to drop off a lander at Venus and then to intercept Halley’s Comet in 1986. Derived from the USSR’s earlier Venera Venus landers, Vega will test a refined landing system for landing on Venus by balloon, and will then join an international fleet of unmanned spacecraft attempting to take advantage of Halley’s visit to the inner solar system in late 1985 and early 1986.
Automan: Pilot
The first episode of Glen A. Larson’s science fiction series Automan airs on ABC, starring Desi Arnaz Jr. and Chuck Wagner. Inspired by the 1982 movie Tron, Automan involves a hologram of an intelligent computer program who fights crime alongside a nerdy police computer technician. Patrick Macnee (The Avengers, Battlestar Galactica) and Sid Haig (Jason Of Star Command) guest star. The series lasts less than a full season. 
Doctor Who: Nightmare Of Eden, Part 4
The 521st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. David Daker and Peter Craze guest star in a strangely-timed (just before Christmas?) anti-drug story.
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Superman: The Movie: The Music
Warner Bros. Records releases a double LP of John Williams’ soundtrack from Superman: The Movie. Now three-and-three for genre blockbusters, Williams’ album again sells well, and will be reissued in several different forms in the years to come.
Wonder Woman: Stolen Faces
The 45th episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Joseph Maher and Kenneth Tigar guest star.
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The Bionic Woman: Jaime’s Shield Part 1
The 24th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on ABC. Diane Civita (V) guest stars.
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The Starlost: The Return Of Oro
The 13th episode of the short-lived Canadian-made science fiction series The Starlost, The Return Of Oro, premieres. Walter Koenig guest stars.
Doctor Who: The Time Warrior, Part 1
The 356th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This story introduces the Sontarans, created by writer Robert Holmes, as well as a new companion named Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen. This is the opening episode of Doctor Who’s 11th season.
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Ghost Story: Creatures Of The Canyon
NBC airs the 13th episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. Angie Dickinson and Madlyn Rhue guest star.
Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: Episode 19
NBC airs the 19th episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Serling himself. Edward G. Robinson, Yaphet Kotto, and Zsa Zsa Gabor guest star.
ESSA-8
The recently-rechristened Environmental Sciences Service Administration launches, with the help of NASA, ESSA-8, the latest in a constellation of weather satellites operated by the former U.S. Weather Bureau. ESSA-8 is the first satellite in the ESSA constellation to boast a significant operational life span, watching Earth’s cloud patterns until it is shut down in 1976.