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2022-09-10 13:55 Tandy Turnout

Here are some Tandy machines. The "Young Sheldon" episode Pongo Pygmaeus and a Culture that Encourages Spitting has a Tandy 1000HX and a 1000SL/TL (along with a collateral Apple IIe). Then there is a collection of Tandy TRS-80 Model IIIs in "The Walking Dead" episode New Best Friends, season two of both The Greatest American Hero and Remington Steele. Also the "Remington Steele" episode Steele Framed features the debut appearance of the TRS-80 Model 16B.

2022-09-03 17:16 Five Macs

There's a Macintosh IIsi in the "All Together Now" episode Computer Games and a Macintosh SE plays a prominent role in Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud (along with some of the least convincing typing committed to film!) And finally the original Macintosh appears in "The Goldbergs" episode Animal House, My Boyfriend's Back and Love & Basketball.

2022-08-28 11:29 DECs and things

There's a brief glimpse of a PDP-11/35 in Concorde Affaire '79 and a really hard to spot MINC-11 making its debut appearance in Resurrection. A VAX 11/750 makes an appearance in A Great Wall and there are VAX 11/780s in Invitation to Hell, along with some GE 635 panels and another Starring-the-Computer debutante: the Eagle PC.

2022-08-14 16:51 August Big Iron

Here's a collection of television appearances for some big old machines. The "My Friend Tony" episode Computer Murder features a Burroughs B200 and there a Burroughs B220 in the "Laverne & Shirley" episode The Right to Light. An IBM 1620 plays a critical role on "The DuPont Show with June Allyson" episode The Man Who Wanted Everything Perfect, and the "Judd for the Defense" episode Epitaph on a Computer Card has a number of machines: the Burroughs B205 and B220 and the IBM AN/FSQ-7.

2022-08-06 23:50 Eight-bit variety bucket

Here's a wide selection of eight bit machines. We start with a pair of machines making their Starring-the-Computer debut: the Sord M5 in "The IT Crowd" episode Jen the Fredo and the Tatung Einstein TC-01 in the "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" episode The Return of the Seven: Part 2. Next we have a couple of American machines: a Commodore 64 in an episode of As the World Turns and a Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 in the "Family Ties" episode O'Brother: Part 2. And finally a collection of British machines: an Amstrad PCW 9512 in Colin's Sandwich, a Sinclair Research ZX81 in Another Flip for Dominick and in the miniseries Code of a Killer some Acorn BBC Masters and a BBC Micro (along with some incidental IBM PC XTs).

2022-07-24 16:34 A British 80s TV trio.

We start with Outmoded, an episode of "The Bill" which features a Commodore 64, an HP Vectra and a Tandy TRS-80 Model III. The never-broadcast pilot of According to Daisy has a brief role for a Amstrad CPC 6128. Finally, making its Starring-the-Computer debut in the unlikely role of a sentient computer, there is a Torch TX in the "Hot Metal" episode Casting the Runes.

2022-07-17 22:15 A Melange of Macs

The Half Load episode of "The Closer" has a Macbook Pro. There's another in Thunder Force along with a Macintosh SE which also appears in Graffiti Bridge. Der schöne Tag has an iMac G3 and a Macintosh Classic. Nirvana has a Power Macintosh 5000 and a mutilated Powerbook 180. And finally, Smother features a Macbook.

2022-07-10 20:29 PC trio

There's a Zenith Z150 in Metamorphosis and a PC XT in the "Magnum, P.I." episode Paper War. Finally making its Starring-the-Computer debut is the Gateway P5 in Doctor Dolittle.

2022-07-03 12:36 Old Apples and new TIs

Bigbug has an Apple IIe, an iMac G3 and a Macintosh Classic along with an Amstrad CPC 464. The final episode of Quincy M.E. has an Apple II and III and the Identities episode of "Hotel" also has an Apple II as well as two machines that are new to Starring the Computer: the Texas Instruments TI-960 and TI-990.

2022-06-26 22:24 Play It Again

Here are a couple of appearances I missed the first time round. In A View to a Kill there is a Philips P2000C and there's a Casio PB-100 in Ghostbusters.

2022-06-12 17:30 A triplet of Commodores

Here are three more Commodore appearances. Fear Street: Part One - 1994 has an Amiga 2000, there's a Commodore 64 in the "Dimension 404" episode Polybius, and the Scarlet Cinema episode of the "Friday the 13th" television series has a PET.

2022-06-03 17:30 Atari 800x2

Two more appearances of the Atari 800 in this update in One Crazy Summer and the "Family Ties" episode A Tale of Two Cities: Part 1.

2022-05-29 13:39 Stranger Things, Season Four, First Volume

Here are all the computers I could identify in the first volume of "Stranger Things" season 4. There is Commodore Amiga 1000 in Chapter One: The Hellfire Club, a Kaypro 4 and a Tandy 2000 in Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse, a Heathkit H89 in Chapter Three: The Monster and The Superhero, a IBM PC XT in Chapter Four: Dear Billy and the Amiga makes its second appearance in Chapter Six: The Dive along with a DEC DecMate II.

2022-05-14 11:12 More PCs

Patriot Games sees the debut appearance of the Data General Dasher/386 as well as an IBM PS/2. There are IBM PC XTs in Miami Connection, X-Men: Apocalypse and "The Ray Bradbury Theatre" episode The Coffin. There is a Zenith Z150 in the "Hunter" episode The Usual Suspects, and finally a Compaq Prolinea makes an appearance in The Fast and the Furious.

2022-04-24 14:38 Terminated again

We already had the iconic appearance of the Atari Portfolio in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but here are a few more machines from the film. There are IBM PC ATs and two other machines making their Starring-the-Computer debut: the IBM System/38 and the Mindset computer.

2022-04-18 17:21 More Big Iron

Here's a bunch more big iron. We start with a machine making its Starring-the-Computer debut: the Bull Gamma 60 plays a crucial role in Alphaville. Next is a trio of machines that have made many appearances: the IBM AN/FSQ-7 in Orgazmo, the Burroughs B205 in an episode of The Green Hornet and the ICT 1301 in the "Doctor Who" story Warriors of the Deep. There's a more rare appearance for an ICL 2900 in The Playbirds. And finally a couple of machines I'd missed on the first watch through: a LEO Computers LEO II in The Man with the Golden Gun and a Honeywell 6000 in 2010: The Year We Made Contact.