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Family Ties - What Computer Is This?

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EagleTG

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Watching Family Ties tonight, they were playing with a computer on their kitchen table. Here's the relevant clip including screenshots of the Baseball game they were playing:


A screenshot from a slightly different angle:
hqdefault.jpg


What's driving me crazy is I can't figure out if this is a real computer, I have not seen anything similar, and my Google-fu is failing me tonight. It had a keyboard that slid into the main unit like a drawer.

I am wondering if it was a mock-up/prop of some sort, but the screenshots and animation looked sort of convincing. The closest game I could find was Star League Baseball, had the same general look and layout but no stats in the lower left corner. I also thought Earl Weaver Baseball looked similar, although the baseball diamond was oriented differently.

Anyone know if this computer was a real thing?
 
They never showed a close up of the screen so the screenshots maybe from an actual game completely separate from the computer. If IMDB is accurate, the episode was initially filmed in 1984 but not aired until 1987 so it is possible the game footage could be much newer.

Wish the camera got closer to the computer. It looks real but all the images don't give enough detail of the ports. Looks similar to an Apple IIc* with a mocked up display which would fit with the production date. Might even have had a display hidden in the shroud but the LCD flat panel would have a tough time showing up on TV.

*What else has a white power supply brick that size?
 
I've never seen a computer like that before... What is that thing the guy pushes in? A second keyboard? @ 0:23. If you look in the beginning of the video it looks like the computer has two black DB-25 connectors.
 
The most similar real design I can think of is the Sharp MZ-80 though the MZ-80 has a much larger section hanging off the side for a full cassette deck. One should also check through the various dedicated word processors available. I think it is a real computer modified slightly to avoid product placement issues.
 
Yeah i also thought of the Sharp MZ-80A/MZ-1200. However the retractable keyboard isn't like in any computer i remember, that looks very interesting. Also the MZ-80A did have a built-in power supply, so the white brick shown doesn't match that one.
 
I'm almost thinking the monitor isn't real, given how glossy the cover is. The rest looks like it could be authentic.
 
I reckon it's something like a dedicated Videotex terminal (or maybe even an early videophone). If you look at the area to the left of the monitor at 0:25 in the 2nd video, it appears a phone handset would rest there (but it's been removed). The main "keyboard" is probably just the usual numeric phone buttons (+ a few others) while the slide-out keyboard would be a full alphanumeric keyboard.
 
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Nice find!!!

So then one question remains... What game was it? And we certainly know the screen shots were not from the Envoy 100.

Edit: As I mentioned in the first post, it really resembles Gamestar's Star League Baseball:
starleague_baseball_2.gif


But the stats boxes are in the wrong spot. See the screenshot from the video for comparison:
baseball.png


Edit 2: FOUND IT... It's called "Worlds Greatest Baseball Game" and appears to be the Commodore 64 version.
http://www.stadium64.com/gameinfos/worldsgreatestbaseballgame/worldsgreatestbaseballgame.htm

baseball4.gif
 
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There was one on ebay a month or two ago but the seller seemed confident it was some sort of stock broking terminal and wanted a few hundred dollars.

It's a Northern Telecom product so I'm sure they're hidden in basements out east still. They and Bell pilot tested a lot in the GTA and Montreal areas.
 
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