News

2025-06-13 23:19 Elliott, ICT and GE, O My!

Here's a small collection of big iron. First a couple of "Doctor Who" stories: there is an Elliott 405 in Day of the Daleks and an ICT 1301 in The Monster of Peladon. Then there are a couple of appearances of the GE 635 that I missed the first time round in Spaceballs and Get Smart, Again!.

2025-06-08 22:41 Adage Star

Here's the first appearance of an interesting machine from the 1960s: the Adage AGT/30. Its control panel makes a brief appearance as the ship's computer in Dark Star.

2025-06-04 22:41 More Powerbooks

Here are few more Apple Powerbook appearances. There's a Powerbook 180 in Speechless and a Powerbook 1400 in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode Lie to Me. Then there are two appearances of the Powerbook Duo in the "Seinfeld" episode The Stall and the "Beverly Hills, 90210" episode Courting.

2025-05-31 14:54 New PCs

More machines making their first appearance on the site, this time all PC compatibles. Another 48 Hrs. has a Toshiba T8500, Suspect has a Zenith Z-148 (as well as a brief glimpse of an Apple Macintosh), Loser has some Sony VAIO PCV-Ls, and Weekend at Bernie's has a couple of Everex machines: an EX-1800 and a Step.

2025-05-27 22:04 An Eight-Bit Collection

Here's a selection appearances by 8-bit computers. Codename Icarus has what appears to be a slightly modified Commodore PET 8000 series machine. There are brief appearances of a Televideo TS-803 in Thrillkill and a Kaypro 4 in Brand New Cherry Flavor. Finally an episode of Full House (the British one, not the American) has a pivotal role for an Acorn BBC Micro.

2025-05-23 22:00 Three New Laptops

None of these laptops is really all that new but they are all making their first appearance on Starring the Computer. The Dell Inspiron 8500 appears now and again in The Departed, Alienware Area 51m 766 laptops play a fairly important part in Stay Alive and a pair of Asus ROG Zephyrus Duos also have an important role in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.

2025-05-16 23:17 RISCy business

This update sees a couple of rare appearances of some Silicon Graphics RISC machines, and a RISC-based Starring-the-Computer newcomer. The "Black Mirror" episode Plaything has an SGI Indy, a couple of Commodore machines (a 64 and SX64) and, making its Starring-the-Computer debut, the Acorn Risc PC. The episode High Score of "The Bill" has some shots of an SGI Indigo2, as well as an Apple Macintosh LC and a Dell 4XX/P NetPlex (also making its debut).

2025-05-11 00:22 Robotron, Robotron, Robotron, Videoton!

Here are four features with Eastern Bloc computers. The "Deutschland 83" episode Brave Guy has a Robotron A 5120, and a Robotron EC 1040 makes a brief appearance in an episode of Polizeiruf 110. Zwei schräge Vögel offers two Robotron machines that have not appeared on the site so far: the A 7100 and the K 1600. And finally the Hungarian Videoton 52539 makes its Starring-the-Computer debut in the second episode of Chernobyl.

2025-05-05 23:54 The Net, Revisited

A few people have pointed out over the years that I missed some machine in The Net. I've fixed the existing entry for the Apple Powerbook Duo and added the missing Apple Powerbook 540c, Power Macintosh 7100 and Compaq Prolinea.

2025-05-04 11:46 All Apple

There are so many Apple Macs on my to-do list! Here are a few of them. There is an iBook G3 in Picture This and Glass, along with a Unibody iMac. Interview has a small but important role for an iBook G4. Finally there are very fleeting glimpses of a Power Mac G4 Cube in Cheaper by the Dozen, and an iMac G4 in Michael Clayton.

2025-04-26 16:31 Commodore bits

Here's a collection of Commodore appearances. Blue Beetle is a bit of a Commodore-feat with Commodore 64s, a PET and a rare appearance of a Commodore Plus/4. Also there is a VIC-20 in Der Schatz der weißen Falken, and a Amiga 500 in Sevimli Hirsiz.

2025-04-21 15:53 SEs and Classics

These films feature Apple Macintosh SEs or Macintosh Classics, or both! The Maid and Teaching Mrs Tingle both have small roles for the SE. House of Gucci has a brief glimpse of a Classic and Golden Years has a room full of both.

2025-04-13 16:14 Two more ICT 1301s

Here are two more appearances of the ICT 1301. In The Famous Five, Five Go to Kirren Island, professor Kirrin uses an ICT 1301 for his research, and in Doctor Who, Revenge of the Cybermen, the Nerva Beacon also features an ICT1301 panel.

2025-03-30 23:15 The Dead Zone

Season 2 of The Dead Zone has a number of computers on display including Johnny's Apple Powerbook G4 that appears throughout the season. In Episode 4 there is an Apple iMac G5 and another Powerbook G4. iMac G5s also appears in Episode 5, and Episode 7 also has a brief appearance of a Panasonic Toughbook.

2025-03-09 22:47 A Pile of Powerbooks

Here's a collection of films that include Apple Powerbooks. The Don's Analyst has a 5300 and Hitman's Run has a 520c (and an incidental Commodore PET 2001 keyboard in a prop that has appeared in a number of places). Finally, The Omega Code and Town & Country both have Powerbook G3s.

2025-03-01 21:50 Ted K's Computers

The film Ted K about the life of the Unabomber has a scene set in a computer store. In that you can see an Apple Macintosh, a Commodore Amiga 1000 and an Amiga 2000 and an IBM PC XT, PC AT and PS/2 Model 50/70. Later there is a scene in a library where an Apple Macintosh SE can be seen.