Series synopsis
Computer Chronicles is an American talk television series that premiered on PBS on February 5, 1984. It ended on July 16, 2002. It was created by Stewart Cheifet. It stars Stewart Cheifet, Gary Kildall, Tim Bajarin and Dan Farber.
The Computer Chronicles was an American television series, broadcast during 1981-2002 on Public Broadcasting Service public television, which documented the rise of the personal computer from its infancy to the immense market at the turn of the 21st century. The series was created in the Fall of 1981, by Stewart Cheifet, then the station manager of the College of San Mateo's KCSM-TV, initially broadcast as a local weekly series. Jim Warren was its founding host for its 1981-1982 season. It aired ...
Premise
The Computer Chronicles was an American television series, broadcast during 1981-2002 on Public Broadcasting Service public television, which documented the rise of the personal computer from its infancy to the immense market at the turn of the 21st century. The series was created in the Fall of 1981, by Stewart Cheifet, then the station manager of the College of San Mateo's KCSM-TV, initially broadcast as a local weekly series. Jim Warren was its founding host for its 1981-1982 season. It aired continuously from 1981 to 2002 with Cheifet co-hosting most of its later seasons. Gary Kildall served as co-host for six years providing insights and commentary on products as well as discussions on the future of the ever-expanding personal computer sphere.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Stewart Cheifet as Self - Host
- Gary Kildall as Self - Host
- Tim Bajarin as Self
- Dan Farber as Self
- Lee Reiswig as Self
- Steve Domenik as Self
- Thomas Trinneer as Self
- Pierluigi Zappacosta as Self
Guest cast
- Tim Bajarin as Self
- Dan Farber as Self
- Lee Reiswig as Self
- Steve Domenik as Self
- Thomas Trinneer as Self
- Pierluigi Zappacosta as Self
Episodes
This series spans 19 seasons with 491 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 26 | February 5, 1984 | November 2, 1984 |
| Season 2 | 26 | January 15, 1985 | June 20, 1985 |
| Season 3 | 26 | September 3, 1985 | March 25, 1986 |
| Season 4 | 34 | September 16, 1986 | May 12, 1987 |
| Season 5 | 26 | October 28, 1987 | June 1, 1988 |
| Season 6 | 23 | October 11, 1988 | May 23, 1989 |
| Season 7 | 26 | November 2, 1989 | May 24, 1990 |
| Season 8 | 26 | October 2, 1990 | May 21, 1991 |
| Season 9 | 27 | October 1, 1991 | June 2, 1992 |
| Season 10 | 27 | October 6, 1992 | June 1, 1993 |
| Season 11 | 27 | September 28, 1993 | June 14, 1994 |
| Season 12 | 27 | September 27, 1994 | August 1, 1995 |
| Season 13 | 26 | September 26, 1995 | June 18, 1996 |
| Season 14 | 28 | October 24, 1996 | June 24, 1997 |
| Season 15 | 26 | October 7, 1997 | July 14, 1998 |
| Season 16 | 24 | October 6, 1998 | April 27, 1999 |
| Season 17 | 24 | October 12, 1999 | August 1, 2000 |
| Season 18 | 21 | November 21, 2000 | June 19, 2001 |
| Season 19 | 21 | September 18, 2001 | July 16, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Mainframes to Minis to Micros Covers the history and ancestry of today's (1984) PC. Demos: HP 150 PC, Computer Museum, TX-1 Computer http://archive.org/details/MainFram1984 |
February 5, 1984 |
| 2 |
Integrated Software The new breed of integrated software suites and the visual interface. Demos: Apple LisaVisiOn, DESQ http://archive.org/details/Integrat1984 |
February 12, 1984 |
| 3 |
Computer Music The computer as a creative tool used to make, display and store music. Guests: John Chowning, Stanford; Will Harvey, Electronic Arts; Ellen Lapham, Syntauri; Gary Kildall, DRI Products/Demos: Music Construction Set, Alpha Syntauri Keyboard, Casiotone, Vocal Synthesizer, MIT Experimental Music Studio, Stanford Center for Computer Music. Originally broadcast in 1984. Copyright 1984 Stewart Cheifet Productions. https://archive.org/details/Computer1984 |
February 19, 1984 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Laser Disk Storage Laser disks and optical storage devices are changing the way we can use computers. Demos: Pioneer Laser Disc Player, Astron Belt, Halcyon Home Entertainment Sys, Vidlink http://archive.org/details/Lasersan1985 |
January 15, 1985 |
| 2 |
Portable Computers The state of the art in portable computers in the mid 1980's. Products featured include the Morrow Pivot Portable, the Hewlett Packard HP110, the Texas Instrument Pro-Lite, and the Data General DG-1. https://archive.org/details/portablecomp https://archive.org/details/CC214_portable_computers |
January 22, 1985 |
| 3 |
Computer Games A look at the newest computer games for PC users. Demos: Sargon III Chess Game, Millionaire Strategy Game, Pitfall, Zork ( Infocom), Ghostbusters http://archive.org/details/Computer1985_6 |
January 29, 1985 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Slowdown in Silicon Valley: Part 1 A review of the reasons behind the current slump in the computer business. Demos: Adam Computer, Osborne Computer http://archive.org/details/Slowdown1985 |
September 3, 1985 |
| 2 |
Slowdown in Silicon Valley: Part 2 Part two of this special series looking at the causes of the downturn in the computer industry. |
September 10, 1985 |
| 3 |
Women in Computing Meet the top women in a field that has traditionally been dominated by men. |
September 17, 1985 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Educational Software: Part 1 A review of new software titles for use in schools and at home education. Products/Demos: Operation Frog, Apple Classroom Tomorrow, Reader Rabbit, Magic Slate, Animal Kingdom, Voyage of the Mimi. https://archive.org/details/Educatio1986 |
September 16, 1986 |
| 2 |
Educational Software: Part 2 A look at on-line educational services and self-teaching software programs. Products/Demos: InfoMinder, National Gallery of Art, Talking Software Pre-Readers The Balancing Act, Plato. http://www.archive.org/details/Educatio1986_2 |
September 23, 1986 |
| 3 |
MIDI Music Computers and music, MIDI machines and interfaces, and music composition software. Casio SK-1 Synthesizer, Atari ST, Activision's Music Studio, ADAP Sampler, DSP-1000, Apple II GS, Ensoniq Sound Chip, Soundscape, Commodore AmigaEZ Track, Kidnotes. http://www.archive.org/details/MIDIMusi1986 |
September 30, 1986 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Hypercard An introduction to Apple's Hypercard. Demonstrations include Hypercard 1.0, Complete Car Cost Guide, Focal Point, Laserstacks, and National Galllery of Art. https://archive.org/details/CC501_hypercard |
October 28, 1987 |
| 2 |
Laser Printers Remember daisy wheel printers? Dot matrix printers? Ribbon printers? They largely disappeared when the early laser printers were introduced. The first laser printers sold for more than $100,000. So it was big news when Canon came out in 1979 with a laser printer for $10,000. The first Apple laserwriter sold for $6,798 in 1987. This show looks at several early printer options including the Apple LaserWriter Plus, the Hewlett Packard LaserJet II, and the Okidata LaserLine 6. Also featured is a demonstration of one of the first desktop publishing programs to take advantage of laser printers, Ready Set Go 4.0 from Letraset. https://archive.org/details/laserprinter |
November 4, 1987 |
| 3 |
Comdex Special 1987 Highlights from the annual Comdex trade show in Las Vegas. Originally broadcast in 1987. https://archive.org/details/comdex_2 |
November 11, 1987 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
MacWorld Boston 1988 On location coverage of the annual MacWorld expo in Boston. Guests include Jean Louis Gassee and Bob Metcalfe. Companies profiled include Aba Software, Cricket Software, Deneba Software, Microillusions, Silicon Beach, Advent, Claris, Dynaware, Pixelogic, Aldus, Letraset, Microsoft, Ashton-Tate, Springboard Software, Aegis, MacroMind, TrueVision, Electronic Arts, SuperMac, and Apple. Originally broadcast in 1988. http://archive.org/details/CC601_macworld |
October 11, 1988 |
| 2 |
Computer Bowl I: Part 1 The first ever annual Computer Bowl featuring teams from the Route 128 area in Boston and the Silicon Valley area of San Francisco to see which side knows more about computer trivia. Contestants included Bill Joy, Mitch Kapor, Esther Dyson, and David Bunnell. The questioner was William Hearst III. The event took place in Boston. Originally broadcast in 1988. http://archive.org/details/episode_602 |
November 1, 1988 |
| 3 |
Computer Bowl I: Part 2 The conclustion of the first ever Computer Bowl, featuring teams from the Route 128 area in Boston and the Silicon Valley area of San Francisco, to see which side knows more about computer trivia. Contestants included Bill Joy, Mitch Kapor, Esther Dyson, and David Bunnell. The questioner was William Hearst III. The event took place in Boston. Originally broadcast in 1988. http://archive.org/details/episode_603 |
November 8, 1988 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Personal Finance Software | November 2, 1989 |
| 2 | Creativity Software | November 9, 1989 |
| 3 | Artificial Intelligence | November 16, 1989 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Global Software Market As the decade of the nineties began, it became clear the United States was dominating the world software market. This program is an on-location report on an international software conference, presented by the Software Publishers Association, in Cannes, France. Guests include Bill Gates, Phillipe Kahn, Esther Dyson, Stewart Alsop, Heidi Roizen, Doug Carlston, and Kirk Loevner. http://archive.org/details/globalsw |
October 2, 1990 |
| 2 |
Windows 3.0 The first major upgrade to Windows was the 3.0 version, launched in 1990. This program reviews Windows 3.0 , some competitive products, and it looks at some Windows add-ons designed to make it work better. Demonstrations include Windows 3.0, ToolBook 1.0 from Asymetrix, PowerPoint 2.0 for Windows, DR-DOS 5.0 from Digital Research, GEM from Digital Research, GEOS and Ensemble from GeoWorks, and ViewMax. Originally broadcast in September 1990. http://archive.org/details/windows30 |
October 9, 1990 |
| 3 |
Hypertext Apple's Hypercard 2.0 brought new sophistication to the concept of hypertext, and laid the groundwork for the powerful Internet concept of hyperlinks. This program looks at new hypertext based applications including Hypercard 2.0, Hyperties 3.0, Spinnaker's PLUS 2.0, and Guide 3.0. Originally broadcast in 1990. http://archive.org/details/hypertext |
October 16, 1990 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Macintosh System 7.0 A look at the new 7.0 operating system for the Macintosh. Demonstrations include the finder, file sharing, publish & subscribe, virtual memory, and aliasing. Applications featured include Claris Works and Deneba's Canvas. Also a comparative look at the new DOS 5.0. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/episode_909 |
October 1, 1991 |
| 2 |
Windows Applications With the advent of Windows 1.0, software vendors came out with new programs to take advantage of the new GUI operating system. This program demonstrates several of those new applications including Norton Desktop for Windows, WordPerfect for Windows, Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, Microsoft Works for Windows, PFS WindowWorks, Microsoft Money, Visual Basic for Windows, Borland's ObjectVision, and Microsoft Publisher. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/windowsapps |
October 8, 1991 |
| 3 |
File Compression As files got larger and disk storage capacity stagnated, software developers came up with utilities to compress and shrink the size of files. This program looks at several examples including PKZip, Stacker, StuffIt Deluxe, DoubleUp, VideoSpigot, ReelTime, PicturePress, Impressit, Handmade Software, and Disk Doubler. Guests include Phil Katz, president of PKWare; Gary Clow, president of Stac Electronics; and David Schargel, president of Aladdin Systems. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/filecompress |
October 15, 1991 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Computer Connectivity Stand alone personal computers were great, for a while, but soon it became important to connect individual PCs to share files, applications, and peripherals. This program looked at some early connectivity solutions. Included are demonstrations of NetWare Lite from Novell, the AE-3 Ethernet Adaptor from Artisoft, Microcom's LAN Bridge 6000, Newport Systems' LAN2LAN Mega Router, Chatterbox 4000, cc:Mail, the Compsphere 3800 Modem, and the Wireless WAN from Tetherless Access Ltd. Originally broadcast in 1991. http://archive.org/details/connectivity_2 |
October 6, 1992 |
| 2 | Computers and Politics | October 13, 1992 |
| 3 | Computer Speech | October 20, 1992 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
High Tech Israel A visit to the Middle East to see the booming high-tech industry in Israel. Featured are Intel and Microsoft R&D centers plus many local Israeli companies doing work ranging from network communications to speech recognition and natural handwriting recognition. Also demonstrations of technology spinoffs from the Israeli military. Originally broadcast in 1993. http://archive.org/details/episode_1109 |
September 28, 1993 |
| 2 |
Baseball Software A review of computer programs for baseball fans. Includes Intelliplay Baseball, APBA Presents Baseball for Windows, Baseball's Greatest Hits, Al Michaels Announces Hardball III, and Tony LaRussa Baseball II. Originally broadcast in 1993. http://archive.org/details/Baseball |
October 5, 1993 |
| 3 |
PDAs A look at the state of the art in personal digital assistants. Products demonstrated include the Apple Newton Message Pad, Casio's Zoomer, AT&T's EO 440 Personal Communicator, Sharp's PI-7000 Expert Pad, and the HP 100LX. Originally broadcast in 1993. https://archive.org/details/episode_1113 |
October 12, 1993 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
PC Expo 1994 On location coverage of the annual PC Expo trade show in New York. Featured guests include Stewart Alsop, Larry Magid, Tim Bajarin, and Phillipe Kahn. http://www.archive.org/details/PCExpo |
September 27, 1994 |
| 2 |
MacWorld Boston 1994 On location coverage of the annual Boston MacWorld conference. Includes the launch of the Mac System 7.5 OS. Demonstrations include WordPerfect, ClarisWorks, Loga Vista, Newton, Radius, Wacom, Visioneer, and Opcode. Originally broadcast in September 1994. http://archive.org/details/1202 |
October 4, 1994 |
| 3 | ETRE Conference Barcelona | October 11, 1994 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Windows 95 It was the biggest ever launch of a software product with stores opening at midnight and buyers around the world waiting to get their hands on - an operating system. It was Windows 95. |
September 26, 1995 |
| 2 |
Mac Clones and New OS Various Macintosh clones and the new PowerPC PowerBook are reviewed after a demonstration of "Copland", Apple's unfinished operating system that was supposed to become "System 8". |
October 3, 1995 |
| 3 |
Smart TV Convergence was the buzz word of 1995 as analysts predicted the computer and the television set would merge into one box. One aspect of this convergence was the so-called Smart TV. |
October 10, 1995 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
MacWorld Boston 1996 On-location coverage of the 1996 annual MacWorld Expo in Boston. |
October 24, 1996 |
| 2 |
Cyber Cafes As the Internet continued to take hold, new hangouts called cyber cafes started opening up where you could surf the web and just pay by the minute. |
October 1, 1996 |
| 3 |
Internet Telephony If you can send data over the internet, why not voice, and if voice, why not phone calls, and if phone calls, why not video phone calls? |
October 8, 1996 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Push Technology As the Internet evolved, the big buzzword became "push", as in push information down to you and not wait for you pull it up. This program looks at several approaches to push technology. |
October 7, 1997 |
| 2 | Internet Advertising | October 14, 1997 |
| 3 |
Java Tools The rise of the web created an opportunity for a programming language that was independent of the user platform. Java was the first major language to take advantage of that. |
October 21, 1997 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Windows 98 The launch of Windows 98 was a major upgrade for Windows users, solving some of the problems of Windows 95. |
October 6, 1998 |
| 2 |
Mac Update A look at Apple's turnaround with the return of Steve Jobs and the launches of the sleek new iMac, PowerMac G3, and Mac OS 8.1. |
October 13, 1998 |
| 3 |
Software Secrets Most software users only take advantage of a small percentage of the features in software packages. This program looks at some of the hidden powers of popular applications. |
October 20, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Computer Games Computer games are not only fun but they, perhaps more than any other application, push the edge of computing power. We take a look at the latest in computer games and dedicated game consoles. |
October 12, 1999 |
| 2 |
DVDs Focus on DVD technology. Topics include the Sony Vaio PC with DVD ROM drive, Sony DVD ROM drive kit, Panasonic external DVD RAM drive, HP Pavillion PC with a Panasonic DVD RAM drive and a Sigma Designs card. |
October 19, 1999 |
| 3 | TV Meets PC | October 26, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
ETRE Conference Prague: Part 1 Highlights of the 2000 annual European Technology Roundtable Exhibition from Prague. This is the premiere annual gathering of tech industry executives. |
November 21, 2000 |
| 2 |
ETRE Conference Prague: Part 2 The second part of a three part series on the annual European Technology Roundtable Exhibition held in Prague. ETRE is the premiere annual gathering of high tech executives from around the world. |
November 28, 2000 |
| 3 |
Consumer's Buying Guide The annual guide to the coolest new computer products on the market. Products reviewed include new digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs, appliance PCs, cell phone accessories, and Sony's Aibo robot dog. |
December 5, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Technology and the Church: Part 1 | September 18, 2001 |
| 2 |
Technology and the Church: Part 2 This week we continue with part two in our series on how religious groups, other non-profits or community groups can use the computer and the Internet to better run their organizations. |
September 25, 2001 |
| 3 |
Technology and the Church: Part 3 In our final installment of our three part series on technology and the church, we continue to tell you about how churches, other non-profits or community groups can use computers and the Internet to better run their organizations. |
October 2, 2001 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | PBS |
|---|---|
| First aired | February 5, 1984 |
| Last aired | July 16, 2002 |
| Runtime | 23 minutes |
| Status | ended |