News

2023-05-01 15:42 Laptops New and Old

We have three laptops making their debut appearance on the site. Bringing Down the House is already here but I missed a brief appearance of a Compaq Presario 1400. The Sony VAIO YB makes its debut in Carrie and the Dell XPS M1710 appears in season one of The Big Bang Theory. Finally, and old favourite the Apple Macbook Pro appears in On the Rocks.

2023-04-16 15:52 Pink Floyd Films

Here are a couple of appearances of computers that also feature Pink Floyd on the soundtrack. Zabriskie Point has a brief shot of some IBM AN/FSQ-7 panels and The Committee gives Starring the Computer its first IBM 1440.

2023-04-10 22:59 April Apples

Here's a collection of Apple appearances. A Powerbook Duo appears in Species, Tadpole has an Clamshell iBook G3 and Life as a House a Powerbook G3. French-Canadian film La moitié gauche du frigo has some shots of a Power Macintosh. The "Hustle" episode A Touch of Class has an iMac G4 and a Powerbook G4, and the first episode of Magpie Murders has an Aluminum iMac.

2023-03-26 23:05 All 80s TV

Here's a collection on machines appearing in 1980s television. In "The Twilight Zone" episode Quarantine there in a hacked-up Epson QX-10 and an IBM PC XT and the "Miami Vice" episode Better Living Through Chemistry has a Commodore Amiga 1000 and a Kaypro Robie. Next are two parts of an "Alf" story with Someone to Watch Over Me: Part 1 having an IBM PS/2 Model 50/70 and Someone to Watch Over Me: Part 2 a brief shot of a Commodore Amiga 500. The "Dallas" episode Fringe Benefits sees J.R. using an NEC PC8001. And finally, two episode of "The Beachcombers" with Silicon Smith and the Wall of Death featuring a Zenith Z-181 and Computer Error also having that machine plus the Starring-the-Computer debutante GRiDcase 1520.

2023-03-18 12:10 Very Different Debutantes

Two very different machines make their first Starring the Computer appearance. The Dell PowerEdge R730 appears in Sniper: Ghost Shooter (along with a Panasonic Toughbook), and an episode of The Avengers called "The Nutshell" has some great shots of the NCR 315.

2023-02-24 00:01 Four by G4

Here's a collection of four appearances of Apple G4 machines. There is a Powerbook G4 in Close Range and the "ER" episode April Showers, and there are iMac G4s in Without a Paddle and the "Sex and the City" episode Catch-38.

2023-02-19 22:56 Three PCs

The IBM PC XT appears in Baby Boom and Flashback and there's a AT&T PC 6300 in Wise Guys.

2023-02-05 17:16 Wang WLTC

The not very imaginatively named Wang WLTC makes its Starring-the-Computer debut in Dick Francis: Twice Shy.

2023-01-01 12:29 New Year, Old Computers

We see in 2023 with some more big iron appearances. Mission Mars features an IBM System/360 system and there are panels from an IBM 1620 in the "Invisible Man" episode Pin Money. There's a panel from an ICT 1301 in the "Doomwatch" episode You Killed Toby Wren and the Face Off episode of "The Event" has panels from the IBM AN/FSQ-7 (as well as a modern interloper - the Apple Macbook Air).

2022-12-24 01:20 Apple Christmas

Here are a couple of festive Apple appearances. There's a Powerbook G3 in Jack Frost, and an iMac G5 in Holiday in Handcuffs.

2022-12-04 13:30 Two new laptops

A couple of laptops make their Starring-the-Computer debut: The IBM Thinkpad R60 in Green Zone and the Compaq Presario 1600 in the "Bette" episode Big Business.

2022-11-19 16:35 A British and a Swedish newcomer

Two 1980s computer make their debut appearance in this update. The Swedish Luxor ABC 800 plays a vital role in The Ninja Mission, whereas there is just a tiny role for an Apricot Xi in Defence of the Realm.

2022-11-06 20:08 A Random Collection

Here's a random collection of appearances. The "Remington Steele" episode Red Holt Steele has a Tandy TRS-80 Model III and a Vector Graphic Vector 4. The first episode of Dekalog has shots of an Amstrad CPC 6128 and there is a brief appearance of an NEC PC8001 in the "Misfits of Science" episode Three Days of the Blender. And finally we have a couple more Apple appearances: a Powerbook G3 in Frequency, and an iMac G5 in Tomb Raider.

2022-10-23 17:24 The ICT 1201

This update is the debut appearance of the ICT 1201. It appears in two episodes of "Out of the Unknown": Sucker Bait and The Counterfeit Man (along with the briefest of glimpses of the Honeywell H200). It also appears a few times in The Beatles' Help!.

2022-10-15 16:59 Some more laptops

Smilla's Sense of Snow has a fleeting glimpse of a HP 110 Plus, the Seven Bells episode of "The Umbrella Academy" has brief appearances of a Compaq SLT and a Panasonic Toughbook, and Brain Donors has a Toshiba T3200. Then there are some Apples, a Powerbook 180 and Powerbook 5300 in Marley & Me and a Macbook Pro in Blockers.

2022-10-02 16:54 Choose Computers, or Die

There's a great selection of computers in Choose or Die. There are fleeting background appearances of an Acorn BBC Master and a Commodore 64, but the Commodore 64C and Sinclair Research Spectrum +2 play pretty important roles.