A boy, a girl, and a galaxy
On or around this date in 1976, the very first teaser trailers for an upcoming 20th Century Fox movie called Star Wars is shown in theaters for the first time, with the ominous voice of Malachi Throne (who had, coincidentally, appeared or done voice-overs numerous times in classic Star Trek) declaring that “somewhere in space, this may all be happening right now.” With no hint of the genre-defining soundtrack music, unfinished visual effects, stand-in stock sound effects, and a logo rendered in Helvetica, the effect is perhaps a bit underwhelming.
Star Maidens: Kidnap
The fifth episode of the British-German science fiction series Star Maidens premieres on ITV in the UK. Terence Alexander guest stars.
The Bionic Woman: In This Corner, Jaime Sommers
The 16th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on ABC. Martin E. Brooks (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Norman Fell (Three’s Company, The Ropers) guest star.
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Six Million Dollar Man: Nightmare In The Sky
The 59th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Farrah Fawcett Majors and Donald Moffat (Logan’s Run) guest star.
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Ark II: The Wild Boy
CBS airs the third episode of Filmation’s live-action Saturday morning science fiction series Ark II.
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: Glitter Rock, Part 1
ABC airs the third episode of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, part of the Krofft Supershow Saturday morning children’s programming block. This is part one of a two-part story, each episode lasting only around 12 minutes.
Shazam!: Ripcord
The 25th episode of Filmation’s live-action Shazam! series airs on CBS, starring John Davey, Michael Gray and Les Tremayne. Patrick Labyorteaux (Little House On The Prairie, JAG) guest stars.
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Shazam! now streaming on Amazon Prime
Monster Squad: The Tickler
NBC airs the third episode of Monster Squad, a live-action Saturday morning comedy starring Fred Grandy.
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Doctor Who: Masque Of Mandragora, Part 4
The 431st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Gareth Armstrong and Tim Piggott-Smith guest star.
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Star Maidens: The Proton Storm
The fourth episode of the British-German science fiction series Star Maidens premieres on ITV in the UK.
The Bionic Woman: The Return Of Bigfoot Part 2
The 15th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on ABC. Lee Majors and Martin E. Brooks appear as their characters from The Six Million Dollar Man in the second season premiere, which is also a heavily promoted crossover event, part one of which was the season premiere of The Six Million Dollar Man. John Saxon, Ted Cassidy, Sandy Duncan, and Stefanie Powers guest star.
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Six Million Dollar Man: The Return Of Bigfoot Part 1
The 58th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Lindsay Wagner, John Saxon, Sandy Duncan, Stefanie Powers, and Ted Cassidy guest star in the fourth season prmiere, whose story will be concluded on The Bionic Woman.
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Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: Sorcerer’s Golden Trick, Part 2
ABC airs the second episode of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, part of the Krofft Supershow Saturday morning children’s programming block. This is part two of a two-part story, each episode lasting only around 12 minutes.
Ark II: The Slaves
CBS airs the second episode of Filmation’s live-action Saturday morning science fiction series Ark II.
Shazam!: Bitter Herbs
The 24th episode of Filmation’s live-action Shazam! series airs on CBS, starring John Davey, Michael Gray and Les Tremayne. Linden Chiles and James Van Pattern guest star.
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Shazam! now streaming on Amazon Prime
Monster Squad: Mr. Mephisto
NBC airs the second episode of Monster Squad, a live-action Saturday morning comedy starring Fred Grandy.
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Doctor Who: Masque Of Mandragora, Part 3
The 430th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Gareth Armstrong and Tim Piggott-Smith guest star.
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First Star Trek movie announced
Having tried to find a suitable script for a big-screen relaunch of Star Trek virtually since the cancellation of the television series, Paramount – riding the coattails of the much-publicized unveiling of the Space Shuttle Enterprise – issues a press release announcing that the first Trek movie is finally underway – in this case, a still-in-development script called Star Trek: Planet Of Titans, featuring a radically redesigned Enterprise concept by illustrator Ralph McQuarrie, whose other recent genre work – designs for the yet-to-be-released Star Wars – has yet to make him a household name.
Enterprise leaves drydock
On schedule, the Space Shuttle Enterprise is rolled out of the Rockwell International plant in Palmdale, California to much public fanfare, a ceremony including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and most of the cast who played the crew of the Enterprise’s fictional namesake (William Shatner was conspicuously absent). The timing of the rollout, ironically, was intended to roll the test shuttle – originally named Constitution – out of the hangar on Constitution Day during the bicentennial year.
Star Maidens: Nightmare Cannon
The third episode of the British-German science fiction series Star Maidens premieres on ITV in the UK.
Soyuz 22
The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 22, a vehicle originally built as a backup for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Unusually, the vehicle does not dock at the recently-launched Salyut 5 space station, but is instead placed in an unusual orbit that happens to make it easy to monitor a major NATO exercise near Norway. Cosmonauts Valery Bykovsky and Vladimir Aksyonov remain in that orbit for nearly eight days before returning to Earth.
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: Sorcerer’s Golden Trick, Part 1
ABC premieres the first episode of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, part of the Krofft Supershow Saturday morning children’s programming block. This is part one of a two-part story, each episode lasting only around 12 minutes.
Ark II: The Flies
CBS airs the first episode of its Saturday morning science fiction series Ark II. Jonathan Harris (Lost In Space) guest stars.
Shazam!: The Contest
The 23rd episode of Filmation’s live-action Shazam! series airs on CBS, starring John Davey, Michael Gray and Les Tremayne. William Campbell (Star Trek) guest stars in the third season premiere.
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Shazam! now streaming on Amazon Prime
Monster Squad: Queen Bee
NBC premieres the first episode of Monster Squad, a live-action Saturday morning comedy series imagining Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman as a crime-fighting team led by Walter (Fred Grandy, a year before he would set sail on The Love Boat). (Though similar in concept, the series is unrelated to the late theatrical movie of the same name.)
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Doctor Who: Masque Of Mandragora, Part 2
The 429th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Gareth Armstrong and Tim Piggott-Smith guest star.
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Star Maidens: Nemesis
The second episode of the British-German science fiction series Star Maidens premieres on ITV in the UK. The show stars Gareth Thomas and Judy Geeson, and involves male slaves who escape from the female-dominated society of planet Medusa to take shelter on Earth.
Warner Communications buys Atari
Forking over approximately $28,000,000 for the privelege of becoming a player in the video game industry, Warner Communication buys Atari, which had previously been privately owned by Nolan Bushnell and other investors. Though Bushnell remains on Atari’s board for a time, he is eventually removed and replaced by former Burlington Textiles vice president Ray Kassar. At this point, Atari’s most recent product is Atari Video Music, a device that connects to home stereo systems and television sets, producing psychedelic patterns synchronized to music; the company is spending the latter half of 1976 not releasing video game products in an attempt to sit out terms of a legal settlement with Magnavox.
Doctor Who: Masque Of Mandragora, Part 1
The 428th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Gareth Armstrong and Tim Piggott-Smith guest star. This episode is the beginning of Doctor Who’s 14th season on the air.
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Viking 2 lands on Mars
NASA’s Viking 2 lander, launched from Earth almost exactly a year earlier touches down on Martian soil in the Utopia Planitia region. One of Viking 2’s three landing legs comes down on a rock, leaving the entire lander at an eight-degree angle to the ground. Identical to Viking 1, Viking 2 has its own soil sampling arm, though its series of tests for biological reactions within the soil produce inconclusive results (including at least one “positive” test for signs of life, later attributed to inorganic chemical reactions). Viking 2 will also later confirm that water exists, at least briefly, on the surface of Mars in the form of frost.