Venera 15 launched 1983

Venera 15, a Soviet-era spacecraft, launched to Venus June 2, 1983. It reached Venus on October 10, 1983 and mapped the surface using high resolution imaging systems. The last contact was made in January 1985. 

"Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi" released 1983

George Lucas's third movie in the Star Wars saga, Return of the Jedi, was released in US theaters May 25, 1983. It opened to positive reviews and received numerous awards.  It won a Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects.  It was nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Original Score for John Williams, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Sound. 

Of course, the nominations for the top Oscars were reserved for the dramas and biopics. Terms of Endearment is a good movie, and I've seen The Right Stuff, but were they better than Return of the Jedi for Best Picture?  I can tell you which one I've seen more than once. No plans to see any of the others.

John Williams's score lost to Bill Conti's score for The Right Stuff? Yeah, right. The Oscar committee stands by its "no horror, no science fiction" movies for any of the acting awards.  Good thing the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror films gives due credit.  Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher won Saturns for their acting prowess. 

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" released 1983

Walt Disney Studios' unusually dark horror fantasy movie Something This Way Comes premiered in US theatres April 29, 1983.  Based on a Ray Bradbury story of the same name, the story follows a strange carnival with its spooky ring master Mr. Dark, played by Jonathan Pryce, that arrives in a small town in the early 1900s.  The carnival grants wishes but at a serious cost.

It also stars Jason Robards, Diane Ladd, Pam Grier, and James Stacy.

It opened to to mixed reviews, but mostly negative.  It was a box-office failure, grossing $8.4M on its $20M budget.  It did win two Saturn Awards, one for Best Fantasy Film, and Best Writing for Ray Bradbury, who wrote the screenplay as well.  Jonathan Pryce was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.  James Horner was nominated for Best Music.  It was nominated for Best Costumes for Ruth Myers, Best Make-up for Gary Liddiard and James Scribner, and Special Effects for Lee Dyer.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Denis Matveev!

Denis Matveev, born April 25, 1983 in Leningrad, Soviet Union, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-21, launched in March 2022 to the International Space Station.  He participated in Expeditions 66-67, during which he conducted four EVAs for a total of twenty-six hours.

He spent almost 195 days in space.  Matveev retired after this mission.

"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" wins four Academy Awards, "Das Boot" gets snubbed 1983

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial was nominated for nine Oscars and won four at the 55th Academy Awards ceremony held April 11, 1983.  

It won Best Original Score for John Williams; Best Sound for Robert Knudson,Robert Glass, Don Digirolamo, and Gene Cantamessa; Best Sound Effects Editing for Charles Campbell and Ben Burtt; and Best Visual Effects for Carlo Ramaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith.

It had been nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing for Steven Spielberg, Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen), Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

Das Boot, one of the best films ever, was nominated for six Oscars but did not win any of them.  It wasn't even nominated for Best Foreign Film, although none of the other foreign were nominated for any other awards.  I suppose the German film makers didn't do the wine-and-dine policy 20th Century Fox Studios did for Doctor Doolittle.

Ghandi was the big winner of the night with eight awards out of eleven nominations. Meryl Streep won Best Actress for Sophie's Choice.  Louis Gossett Jr. won Best Supporting Actor for An Officer and a Gentleman. Jessica Lange won Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie.  Teri Garr was also nominated for the award for Tootsie.

Victor/Victoria won Best Music (Original Song Score and its Adaption Score) for Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.

"Jaws 3-D" released 1983

Another bad movie that I enjoy watching Jaws 3-D was released into theaters July 22, 1983.  It had a stellar cast with Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong, Simon MacCorkindale, Lea Thompson, and Louis Gossett, Jr.  Roy Scheider absolutely wanted no part of this movie. Quaid plays the grown up son Michael Brody of Scheider's previous role of Police Chief Martin Brody of Amity Island.

Jaws 3-D takes place in SeaWorld Orlando, where a young great white shark manages to enter from the sea and begins attacking and killing park employees. Mike Brody is a chief engineer for SeaWorld with his girl friend Kay Morgan as the senior biologist.  After they capture the shark, they realize that a much larger shark has also infiltrated the park.

Although it fared well at the box office, it did not enjoy the same success as its predecessors.  It was largely criticized, receiving an 11% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.  Jaws 3-D was nominated for five Razzie awards in 1984: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Supporting Actor Louis Gossett, Jr.  The dolphins were also nominated for Worst New Star which is unfair, considering the material they had to work with.  Also, who said their acting was terrible?

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Dmitri Petelin!

Dmitry Petelin, born July 10, 1983 in the former Soviet Union, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-22 to the International Space Station in September 2022. He participated in Expeditions 67-69, and spent over a year in space. Soyuz MS-22 was damaged when it docked with the ISS.  It was finally determined that the spacecraft could not return with a crew.  

Soyuz MS-23 launched without a crew in February 2023 and Soyuz MS-22 returned to Earth unmanned in March 2023. Petelin and the rest of the Soyuz MS-22 crew returned to Earth in Soyuz MS-23 in September 2023.  A six-month assignment was stretched to over a year.

Venera 16 launched 1983

 

Venera 16, a Soviet spacecraft to Venus launched June 7, 1983, entered into orbit around the planet just one day after its twin sister Venera 15, although Venera 15 was launched only 5 days earlier. Venera 16 entered a nearly polar orbit and, together with its twin, they mapped about 25% of Venus's surface over the course of 8 months.  The last data received from Venera 16 was on June 13, 1985.

ZZ Top releases "Gimme All Your Lovin'" video 1983

ZZ Top released the video for Gimme All Your Lovin' May 21, 1983, broadcasting it on MTV.  It was the first single from their super-successful album Eliminator.  It was also the first appearance of Billy Gibbon's 1933 Ford Hot Rod. The car appeared in three more videos, making it almost synonymous with the band. 

The single reached #37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on the UK Singles Chart.

The Police release "Every Breath You Take" 1983

The Police released their huge-selling Every Breath You Take May 20, 1983.  It was the biggest single in the US and Canada in 1983, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, The Police's only #1 on that chart.

It won three Grammy Awards at the 26th ceremony, winning Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Groups with Vocals, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

In 1999, BMI listed it as one of the Top 100 songs of the century. Rolling Stone magazine listed it as #84 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and #25 on the Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.

Cross-dressing wins Golden Globe Awards 1983

Two movies, in which the main character dresses up as the opposite sex, won four Golden Globes and were nominated for several more at the 40th annual celebration January 29, 1983.  

Tootsie, which starred Dustin Hoffman posing as an actress to land a role in a soap opera, won Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical.  Dustin Hoffman won Best Actor.  Jessica Lange won Best Supporting Actress.  Sydney Pollack was nominated for Best Director. Larry Gelbart and Murray Shisgal were nominated for Best Screenplay.

Julie Andrews won for Best Actress for her portrayal as a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman in Victor/Victoria.  The movie was nominated for Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical but lost to Tootsie. Robert Preston was nominated for Best Actor. Lesley Anne-Warren was nominated for Supporting Actress. Henry Mancini was nominated for Best Original Score but lost to John Williams.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial won Best Motion Picture-Drama and John Williams won for Best Original Score. Steven Spielberg was nominated for Best Director and Melissa Mathison was nominated for Best Screenplay. Henry Thomas was nominated for New Star of the Year-Male. 

The fabulous Dolly Parton received a nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for her work in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. 

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov!

Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, born August 23, 1983 in Russia, went into space aboard Soyuz MS-17 as flight engineer to the International Space Station in October 2020.  He participated in Expeditions 63 and 64, spending over 184 days in space.  He returned to Earth in April 2021.  

He is scheduled to return to space on Soyuz MS-28, but no date has been set yet.

"The A Team" premieres 1983

The A-Team, an action television show about a group of Vietnam vets that are on the lam, premiered January 23, 1983.  Over its five seasons, it had plenty of car chases, car crashes, explosions, and shoot-outs for any action buff.  The first episode, Mexican Slayride, starred George Peppard as Hannibal Smith, Dwight Shultz as Murdock, and Mr. T as B.A. Baracus.  Tim Dunigan appeared as Templeton "Faceman" Peck, but was replaced by Dirk Benedict.  

It was nominated for three Primetime Emmy awards for sound editing or sound mixing.

The show was never loved by critics but audiences loved it and made it a huge success.

"Not Necessarily The News" wins 3 CableACE Awards 1983

Not Necessarily the News, a favorite of mine and an HBO satire show, won 3 CableACE awards at the 5th ceremony held December 12, 1983.  The show was on air from 1983-1990 and won 14 CableACE awards during its run.

The satire won for General Entertainment or Variety: Comedy, Single Program - General Entertainment or Variety: Comedy; and Best Writing in a Variety Program.  Stuart Pankin was nominated for Best Actor in a Variety Program.  Anne Bloom and Audrie Neenan were both nominated for Best Actress in a Variety Program. John Moffitt was nominated for Directing in a Variety Program.

The same evening, Angela Lansbury won the award for Actress in a Theatrical or Musical Program.

The CableACE Awards (ACE = Award for Cable Excellence) was created in 1978 as cable television's answer to broadcast television's Primetime Emmys.  The Emmys did not honor cable television until 1988 and soon cable shows began dominating the Emmys. The CableACE Awards waned in popularity and the last awards were handed out in 1997. 

Cyndi Lauper releases "She's So Unusual" 1983

Cyndi Lauper released her debut album She's So Unusual October 14, 1983 to rave reviews.  It sold six million albums in the U.S. making it six times platinum, and sold over 16M world wide.  It got six Grammy Award nominations, winning Best New Artist and Best Album Package.  

It generated six singles: Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Time After Time (her first number-one hit), She-Bop (my favorite), All Through the Night, Money Changes Everything, and When You Were Mine.

She's so Unusual was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2019 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Cyndi Lauper releases "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" 1983

Cyndi Lauper released her debut single Girls Just Want to Have Fun from her debut album She's So Unusual, September 6, 1983.  It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.  It reached #1 in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand,  and Norway.  

The song was written and recorded by Robert Hazard, who released it as a single in 1979. His recording is from the male point of view.

The video won an American Video Award for Best Female Performance, and an MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video.

In January 2022, the video reached over one billion views on Youtube.com.

ZZ Top's "Eliminator" certified Diamond 1983

ZZ Top's eighth album Eliminator achieved Diamond status August 7, 1983, selling 10,000,000 copies.  It was released in March 1983 and is considered their most popular release.  Rolling Stone listed it on its 500 Great Albums of All Time and 39th in the 100 Greatest Album of of the 1980's.  Eliminator went Diamond in Canada, and multiple platinum Australia, France, and the United Kingdom. 

Soyuz T-9 launched 1983

Soyuz T-9 crew: Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Vladimir Lyakhov

Soyuz T-9, launched June 27, 1983, was the fourth expedition to the Salyut 7 space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Aleksandr Aleksandrov.  The previous mission Soyuz T-8 and the next one, Soyuz T-10-1 both failed.

The crew returned to Earth in November.

The final episode of "M*A*S*H" airs 1983

The final episode of M*A*S*H aired February 28, 1983.  The series based on the Korean War ran for 11 seasons, 14 Primetime Emmys and 8 Golden Globes.  Alan Alda and Loretta Swit were the only two actors to appear in the first and last episodes.

Happy birthday, UAE astronaut Hazza al-Mansouri!

Hazza Al Mansouri, born December 13, 1983 in the United Arab Emirates, is the first astronaut from that country.  He went into space aboard Soyuz MS-15 on September 25, 2019 to the International Space Station.  He returned 8 days later on Soyuz MS-12.