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Starring the Computer - computers in movies and television

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Starring the Computer is a website dedicated to the use of computers
in film and television. Each appearance is catalogued and rated on
its importance (ie. how important it is to the plot), realism (how
close its appearance and capabilities are to the real thing) and
visibility (how good a look does one get of it). Fictional computers
don't count (unless they are built out of bits of real computer), so
no HAL9000 - sorry.

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes, or have any tips about
films not mentioned here that feature computers.

James Carter <james@starringthecomputer.com>

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News

2023-12-02 21:43 Under the Banner of Commodore
    The limit series Under the Banner of Heaven has a couple of
    Commodore machines (a Commodore 64 and a Commodore PET) and an HP
    85.
2023-11-19 15:35 Another Pair of Acorns
    A BBC Micro makes an unlikely but very welcome appearance in an
    episode of Secret Invasion, along with brief shots of a Sharp
    MZ-80K and an IBM PS/2 Model 56SX. There are two episodes of
    "Howard's Way" that feature the Acorn Archimedes: Publish & Be
    Damned and Screwdriver.
2023-10-29 15:35 Assorted laptops
    Here's a collection of laptop appearances including a few debuts.
    We start with Deceptions where you need a sturdy lap to
    accommodate an IBM 5140, and there's an Apple Powerbook 180 in an
    episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Kamenny most has two machines
    making their debut: the Canon NoteJet and Olivetti Quaderno 33.
    And finally, Dagon have a good, if brief appearance, for another
    debutante: the Toshiba Satellite 1620CDS.
2023-10-19 23:45 TRS-80 Trio
    Here's a collection of Tandy appearances. There's a TRS-80 Model
    I in The New Adventures of Heidi, a TRS-80 Model III in A Million
    Miles Away and a few more Model IIIs in White Noise (along with a
    brief glimpse of an Apple II).
2023-09-17 13:57 British Eight-bitters
    Here are some appearances of eight-bit British machines.
    Gabrielle and the Doodleman has a prominent role for a BBC Micro
    and It's Nice Up North has a minor but fun part for an Amstrad
    CPC 6128. The "All in Good Faith" episode No Stone Unturned has a
    glimpse of of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum and The Cortez Connection is
    the second "Dempsey and Makepeace" episode to feature a Torch C
    series machine.
2023-08-06 23:48 More August Apples
    Here's a small collection of Apple appearances. There's an
    Aluminum iMac in The 7th Dimension, a Powerbook G4 in Made in
    Romania, an iMac G3 in One More Time and a Macbook Pro in The Big
    Year.
2023-07-16 00:12 Toughbook Plus
    Here's a collection of Panasonic Toughbook appearances. Security,
    Adieu les cons and an episode of The Wire all feature the
    machine, as does The Last Enemy which also has a couple of
    machines making their Starring-the-Computer debut: the Nokia N800
    and the Toshiba Portege M400.
2023-06-25 23:34 Halt and Catch Fire Again
    Here are some computers that appear in the second season of Halt
    and Catch Fire. Throughout the season there is an Atari ST, many
    Commodore 64s and IBM PC XTs, and a Zenith Z-120. The IBM 3090
    makes its debut appearance on Starring the Computer. And then
    there are some other machines that more fleeting appearances: the
    Atari 600/800 XL in episode 1, the AT&T PC 7300 playing a crucial
    role in episode 6, and an Apple Macintosh in the final episode.
2023-06-12 00:42 A Range of Commodores
    Here's a range of Commodore computers. There's a PET in the
    eighth episode of The Sandman and a VIC-20 in the fourth episode
    of Taggart. The second episode of Der Greif (The Gryphon) has a
    64C and finally, Blindside has shots of an Amiga 1000.
2023-05-28 17:36 Big Beasts and a Pet
    We start with a couple of episodes of "Doomwatch" with The Iron
    Doctor which gives us our first ICT 1900, and The Logicians which
    has a ICT 1301. W.E.I.R.D. World has some shots on the ubiquitous
    IBM AN/FSQ-7 and Wrong Is Right has several appearances of the GE
    635 and a small part of a Commodore PET 2001.

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