Six Million Dollar Man: The Lost Island
The 95th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Jared Martin (The Fantastic Journey, War Of The Worlds) guest stars in a special two-hour episode.
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The Next Step Beyond: Ondine’s Curse
The week-long syndication window opens for the fifth episode of The Next Step Beyond, a revival of the 1950s/60s supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Meredith MacRae (Petticoat Junction) guest stars.
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Blake’s 7: The Web
BBC1 premieres the fifth episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7. Richard Beale guest stars.
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Blake’s 7 now streaming on Britbox
Star Wars action figures
With an incredibly tight lead time (rights were secured some weeks after Star Wars became a box-office hit), General Mills subsidiary Kenner Toys brings the first Star Wars action figures to market. A dozen characters are sold individually, with a colorful mixture of the film’s heroes (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Ben Kenobi, R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca) and villains (Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Death Squad Commander, Tusken Raider, Jawa). While Kenner brings the figures to market in both the industry-standard 12-inch scale and a smaller, cheaper 3 3/4″ scale, marketing focuses almost entirely on the smaller toys, which then redefine the industry-standard size of boys’ character toys (and make any future vehicles and playsets much more affordable). Ironically, prior to the movie’s release when no one expected Star Wars to take off, 20th Century Fox surrendered all toy and merchandising rights to George Lucas, meaning that the runaway success of the toy range is key to his fortune.
Six Million Dollar Man: Return Of Death Probe Part 2
The 94th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson.
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Bionic Woman: The Martians Are Coming…
The 51st episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on NBC. Jim McMullan (Beyond Westworld) and Frank Aletter (It’s About Time) guest star. This episode’s music marks one of the first uses of an electrical instrument called the Blaster Beam in a film scoring context; that instrument will become much more widely known when it’s used in the soundtracks of such films as Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Black Hole over a year later.
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Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast
The “A threat of disaster” in Antarctica
British glaciologist John H. Mercer publishes a report in Nature postulating that continued growth of fossil fuel use could lead to a runaway carbon dioxide greenhouse effect in Earth’s atmosphere, with the glaciers of western Antarctica particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures of both air and water. The glacial melting, Mercer says, could be rapid and catastrophic, leading to as much as a five-meter rise of global sea levels by 2028, putting “low-lying areas such as much of Florida and the Netherlands” underwater. Though initially treated as a “worst case scenario”, Mercer’s theory will gain traction as global ocean temperatures rise (and as glacial melting picks up speed in Antarctica) in the early 21st century, ultimately becoming the predominant theoretical timeline for sea level rise and gaining an informal name: the “John Mercer effect”.
International Ultraviolet Explorer
A joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency, the International Ultraviolet Explorer is launched atop a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral. The precursor of later space-based telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope, IUE produces no photographic images, instead concentrating on detecting ultraviolet emissions from distant objects. IUE adds significantly to the growing body of space science, and is the first satellite to give astronomers the chance to immediately aim its detectors at targets that yield unexpected results, allowing it to respond swiftly to such rapidly developing phenomena as Supernova 1987A. Designed to stay operational for three years, IUE will remain online for almost two decades.
The Next Step Beyond: The Love Connection
The week-long syndication window opens for the fourth episode of The Next Step Beyond, a revival of the 1950s/60s supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Michael Bell (better known for animation voice acting on G.I. Joe and Transformers) guest stars.
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Blake’s 7: Time Squad
BBC1 premieres the fourth episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7. This is the first episode filmed; Jan Chappell joins the regular cast as Cally.
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Blake’s 7 now streaming on Britbox
Six Million Dollar Man: Return Of Death Probe Part 1
The 93rd episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson.
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The Bionic Woman: The Antidote
The 50th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on NBC. Christopher Stone guest stars.
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Progress 1
The first Soviet-made uncrewed Progress resupply vehicle lifts off en route to the manned Salyut 6 space station. Looking more or less like a Soyuz vehicle, Progress is an automated freighter whose systems lock onto Salyut’s docking transponder, guiding the unmanned craft toward a smooth and completely automated docking (though ground controllers stand by to take manual control by remote). Since Progress is not required to return a crew to Earth, its engines and their fuel can help to boost Salyut 6 into a higher orbit when necessary. It carries over 5,000 pounds of food, clothes and other supplies, and can automatically refill the station’s air and fuel supplies. Progress vehicles become an integral part of the space program, remaining in service long enough to resupply the International Space Station in the 21st century.
Wonder Woman: Screaming Javelins
The 27th episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Henry Gibson, Rick Springfield, and Vaughn Armstrong guest star.
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Wonder Woman now streaming on Amazon Prime
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The Next Step Beyond: Possession
The week-long syndication window opens for the third episode of The Next Step Beyond, a revival of the 1950s/60s supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland.
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Logan’s Run: Carousel
CBS airs the 11th and final episode of the TV adaptation of Logan’s Run. Morgan Woodward guest stars. CBS cancels the series, leaving three episodes (Night Visitors, Turnabout and Stargate) unaired.
Blake’s 7: Cygnus Alpha
BBC1 premieres the third episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7. Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon) guest stars.
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Blake’s 7 now streaming on Britbox
The Bionic Woman: The Pyramid
The 49th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on NBC. Christopher Stone guest stars.
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Soundtrack Encounters of the Third Kind
Arista Records releases, just weeks after the movie’s premiere, John Williams’ soundtrack from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Sales are brisk, bolstered in no small part by the fact that Williams’ music is on the year’s second major science fiction blockbuster.
Soyuz 27
The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 27 on a mission to the Salyut 6 space station – the first instance of three vehicles being docked together in space. Cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Oleg Makarov spend six days with the crew of Soyuz 26 board the station, although Dzhanibekov and Makarov swap capsules with the station crew, leaving the newer vehicle at the station for their eventual return. The crew of Soyuz 27 is in space for less than a week, but their spacecraft remains in orbit, connected to Salyut, for over two months.
The Next Step Beyond: The Return Of Cary De Witt
The week-long syndication window opens for the second episode of The Next Step Beyond, a revival of the 1950s/60s supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland.
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Blake’s 7: Space Fall
BBC1 premieres the second episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7. Leslie Schofield guest stars; this is the first episode featuring Paul Darrow as Avon.
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Blake’s 7 now streaming on Britbox
Six Million Dollar Man: Just A Matter Of Time
The 92nd episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson.
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The Bionic Woman: All For One
The 48th episode of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson, airs on NBC. Roger Perry (Harrigan And Son, Arrest And Trial) guest stars.
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Wonder Woman: Light-Fingered Lady
The 26th episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Christopher Stone, Bubba Smith, and Greg Morris (Mission: Impossible) guest star.
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Wonder Woman now streaming on Amazon Prime
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Blake’s 7 premieres
Terry Nation, the television writer who created Doctor Who’s greatest foes, the Daleks, graces the world with another science fiction creation on the BBC, Blake’s 7. Set centuries in the future, the show depicts a government so corrupt that the audience is left with a band of terrorists, guerilla fighters and deeply flawed human beings with whom to sympathize (and luckily, they have the cathedralesque Liberator, the fastest ship in the galaxy, on their side too). The show’s only drawback? Delivering post-Star Wars sci-fi action on the budget it inherited from the cop show that previously held that Monday night timeslot.
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