William Shatner..... wants you..... to buy..... the..... COMMODORE VIC 20-The 1981 Commercials for the COMMODORE VIC 20+How did the machine come to be?

Back in the early 1980s, 

Canadian Actor WILLIAM SHATNER,

aka CAPTAIN KIRK from STAR TREK, The Original Series(1966-1969)

Starred in commercials for a certain little home computer from COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES in WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA:

Ah yes, that COMMODORE VIC 20. 

Pictured above is the early PET KEYBOARD revision from 1981.

Meant to be a successor to the earlier PET Computer released by Commodore back in 1977

The VIC20 however was susposed to be more advanced than what COMMODORE was initially planning.

I've read that the Successor to the PET was susposed to be the TOI

Notice the pun there?

Unfortunately, the TOI never materialized due to manufacturing and Cost Issues.

Remember, RAM prices in the 1980s were very expensive, so don't rant about wanting to PUNCH SAM ALTMAN in the face at a shareholders meeting.... YET....

Because RAM PRICING was even worse back in the 80s due to how new the PERSONAL COMPUTER market was back then.

So what prevented the TOI from being COST-EFFECTIVE?

Well it was the result of issues relating to RAM..... in a connected sense.

The late CHUCK PEDDLE wanted the TOI to be an 80-Column machine as to allow the end user to have the visual clarity of those machines that use 80-columns since that's what most word processors and spreadsheet software are formatted for.

And this was all just to compete with then recently released APPLE II Plus in the wake of the success of both LOTUS-123 and VISICALC.

However, the 80-Columns display required the MOS 6564 Chip but that particular chip required STATIC RAM which at the time was HYPER-EXPENSIVE and using the cheaper DYNAMIC RAM was a no-go due to the constant refresh issues.

(This was before the VIC-II chip was even manufactured.)

Frustrated with the TOI project going nowhere due to the STUPID HIGH PRICE OF SRAM, JACK TRAMIEL noticed a little project that fellow employee BOB YANNES was making which was a Custom-Built computer he dubbed MicroPET. When TRAMIEL saw the MicroPET, he immediately decided to greenlight that hobby project and ordered it to be MASS-PRODUCED just in time for CES 1980.

What COMMODORE SHATNER COMMERCIAL you ask?

Well, here's said commercial below:

And not one but two of them.

The above one was just SHATNER shilling for COMMODORE, praising everything relating to how simple of a computer it was but also that it can play great games.

Speaking about VIDEO GAMES,

Here's a much more interesting Commercial below:

If you can't settle on what's better, ATARI or INTELLEVISION,

then back in 1981, you could just follow CAPTAIN KIRK's advice and say;

"GET A COMMODORE VIC20!!!! IT'S BETTER!!!!"

You can use the computer to do your Business crap, program your software, or even play video games on it.

Of course, that mantra wouldn't last long due to what's to come in 1982:

Yup. Good old, COMMODORE 64.

The only thing the C64 and the VIC 20 have in common is that they share the same peripherals to a point you can use the same tape drives, same 1541 Floppy Drives, printers, etc.

Nowadays, what with the controversies with the way both PLAYSTATION & XBOX are now being handled now, I'd probably say:

"Just build an AMD RYZEN GAMING PC with WINDOWS 11 PRO or STEAMOS 3.8! It's better."

Just as long as you ignore your WALLET's complaints or find better deals for things like RAM at Select WALMARTs or SEAGATE FIRECUDAs at a reasonable price before they get sold out... etc.

Notice I did not say PC MASTER RACE?

I just don't want to make BEN CROSHAW angry at me or at you wonderful readers of mine.

I just wanted to make this post because 2026 is the 45th Anniversary of the COMMODORE VIC20 in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA......

It's also the 45th Anniversary of the modern x86 PC Architecture as well but that will have to wait until August.

Update as of July 24 2026:

SONY is still refusing to back down from their DIGITAL PUSH, even holding their employees hostage over spreading the news about their actions on various SOCIAL MEDIA handles.

But at least MICROSOFT is managing to RIGHT A WRONG:

They've announced backwards compatibility of their older XBOX titles for WINDOWS PCs.

So far, only 4 NICHE titles were announced but that number will grow.

A Higher Intelligence-Commodore's 1985 gamble on continuing the C64's legacy with the COMMODORE 128

In January 1985, before the release of the COMMODORE AMIGA 1000 which wouldn't release until July of that year,

COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES of WEST CHESTER, PENSYLVANIA

decided to release a new 8-bit computer.

Because shortly after the disastrous release of the PLUS/4 and Commodore C16

COMMODORE was in deep trouble.

And that's because of several things:

01. The failure of the TED MACHINES as I've shown above.

02. COMMODORE's discontinuation of the PET Series of computers and the loss of the Business and education markets that the company built up.

03. The departure of JACK TRAMIEL shortly after CES 1984

after a fierce dispute with IRVING GOULD over expenditures and passing on the CEO positions from FATHER TO SON.

Yup...

COMMODORE was in deep trouble.

So until either the PC Compatibles or the AMIGA would release, COMMODORE had one last chance to prove that they can create another 8-bit Computer to win back the masses while at the same time win back both the BUSINESS and EDUCATION markets that they lost to both IBM & APPLE after the release of the VIC-20 and C64 computers.

And that would give birth to the COMMODORE 128 machines

These machines are a bit of an oddball type of Machine.

They're advertised as a new machine but here's the twist if this magazine advertisement is any indication

or this Commercial which I'll provide here

This computer really was a gamble.

The thing has twice the memory of the C64, has some better chips, a better BASIC Interpreter than the COMMODORE BASIC 2.0 the 64 originally had, Faster Disk Access of the 1571 Drive compared to the unreliable and slow 1541 disk drives of old, and C/PM!

Like I said, it really was a gamble.

Or as DAVID MURRAY of THE 8-BIT GUY puts it, it's a SWISS-ARMY KNIFE of Computers.

Too bad many people's only purpose was to run your COMMODORE 64 games on that thing

That's because the 64 had a huge library of software and even the ones that were optimized for the 128's native mode limited their features to the inferior 1541 Disk Drives for greater Compatibility.

Still, it would have been KICKASS for a guy like me to have a computer like this back in the 80s but then again, I'd rather have either a PC-Compatible or even the AMIGA 1000 if I was alive in 1985 but oh well, alternate realities I guess.

Speaking about the Commodore 128, 

DAVID MURRAY of THE 8-BIT GUY knows more about the computer than I do. Which is why I'll embed his 2018 video covering the computer:

The one Super Mario Bros. Ripoff that became a favorite amongst software pirates on the BBS-The Great Giana Sisters

The year was 1987.

Ronald Reagan journeyed over to WEST BERLIN to denounce the BERLIN WALL's 1961 erection since the end of WWII in 1945 and REAGAN challenged then Soviet Leader MIKHAIL GORBECHEV to "TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!!"

Also that year, JESSICA MCLURE fell down a well in TEXAS but a very successful rescue mission freed her from the confines of said well.

Oh.... and NEC released the PC ENGINE(TurboGraphx 16 in USA) in Japanese retail....

And IBM introduced their PS/2 architecture.

Pictured: Model 80

and last but not least, THE SIMPSONS made their monumental debut..... as shorts on THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW... setting in stone a promising series which the show will eventually embark on two years later.

"There's nothing to worry about.

Now everyone...GO TO SLEEP!

GOOD NIGHT!"

...........

Oh and in the U.K, this game was released.

THE BROTHERS ARE HISTORY!.....

That's a pretty ballsey move for RAINBOW ARTS to make such a claim... especially for a game meant for the COMMODORE 64 Computer

And it gets even weirder.

Take a look at these Screenshots I've pulled from MOBYGAMES:

Notice anything about this game?

Does this remind of something?

Ok.

We all get it!

GREAT GIANA SISTERS is an attempt by a developer to release a MARIO inspired platformer to the C64 platform since NINTENDO by this point wanted to keep all their games proprietary to their own devices.

Although the C64 & it's competitors did have platformers, they weren't on the same level of fun as MARIO was and still is to this day 

so RAINBOW ARTS really gambled on the bandwagon with this game.

But then, following the British release of the game, RAINBOW ARTS got what they thought was a NASTY LETTER from NINTENDO:

It wasn't a lawsuit but rather it was a threat by the Company to have the game removed from store shelves or RAINBOW ARTS would have their asses sued just because the company had the gall to blatantly copy various assets artistically regardless if the C64's chunkier MULTI-COLORED graphics mode was used.

So, RAINBOW ARTS proceeded to pull the game off store shelves.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

And you'd think this would have killed GIANA off the face of the computer world....

RIGHT?

WRONG!!!!

Because when word got out that a game that looks like SUPER MARIO BROS. got pulled out of store shelves, it suddenly became well known amongst computer users who'd want to play a platformer that's more akin to what NINTENDO was doing.

The game would be copied and distributed across the BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS

which led to the game have more recognition amongst the BBS loving folks who have their C64s connected to the internet using a 300 baud Modem installed on the computer's User Port.

Even better if you had a much more capable 1200 Baud Modem.

Even though the game was originally made in Europe and RAINBOW ARTS had no interest in localizing it outside of the UK and Germany, the BBS made it much more easier for people living in the USA...

to copy the game into their FLOPPY DISKS but this came at a cost:

Since the game was originally meant to run on C64 Machines running at PAL Speeds using 50hz video and a clock speed of 0.985mhz instead of the US' NTSC 60hz Video and 1.023mhz, 

The game had issues. 

It played as normal on an NTSC C64 or C128 machine but the music played faster and the assets flickered at parts such as on the shrubberies since the game was optimized for the slower PAL Speed of the UK C64s.

But many American C64/128 users had to contend with those issues for 36 years in until early 2023 when a group of enthusiasts managed to readjust the game to fix these issues which brought back the slower tempo of the music and fixed the flickering.

On an interesting Off-Tangent: I've read that artist MANFRED TRENZ disliked the UK Cover for THE GREAT GIANA SISTERS, with him saying that the MISS PIGGY Aesthetic of the artwork made the titular sisters look rather off-putting

I don't see anything wrong with this artwork.

It gives me MAD MAX vibes...... the MEL GIBSON version that is.

The design of the sisters in the UK Artwork also give a similarity to these two guys shown below from the 1983 HITCHHIKER series from HBO

This is the two of them walking through a passageway

at STADIUM Station in my home city of VANCOUVER.

but at the same time, the UK artwork is a far cry different compared to the German cover of the game which has a more sexier girl with enemy characters that look much closer to the pixelated sprites found on the game.

Also, I find it IRONIC that despite NINTENDO's efforts to smite this game out of existence, they eventually relaxed their stance and let the franchise have another game of sorts...

Oh...

And I've read that there are NO SISTERS in GREAT GIANA SISTERS!

It's all a mismarketing lie!

The reality is that GIANA's got a Split Personality that allows her to turn into a punk girl but RAINBOW ARTS decided not to mention this any further for the sake of Sales and Marketing. 

Ok. Maybe I got a little Misconstrued.

The reality is that the girls you see on both the UK Cover of the C64 game and the Nintendo DS Game and to a lesser extent TWISTED DREAMS,

The Punky GIANA is really a SPLIT PERSONALITY because GIANA's sister MARIA is suppose to be identical to GIANA in terms of design and outfit, just with a different Hair Color.

So in essence MARIA is a palette Swap.....

Similar to how LUIGI was a palette swap of his older brother MARIO but then again, the profession kind of required him to have his own signature color

While the MARIO series is still around which makes sense since that's NINTENDO's flagship, the GIANA SISTERS have remained Dormant for the longest time since 2012.

And is it just me, or....

DOES GIANA herself give me PRINCESS PEACH Vibes?

Unlike with the MARIO BROS where I used a screenshot from ILLUMINATION's SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE from 2023,

I used a screenshot of PEACH as she appeared in the 1986 GREAT MISSION Anime film.

Man, I really should have waited until 2027 before I made this post due to the game's 1987 release but I got impatient.

And I am aware that GIANA Sisters was also available on the COMMODORE AMIGA, ATARI ST, AMSTRAD CPC, and the MSX.

But for the sake of my mostly American(and Canadian) readers, 

I limited my mentioning of the game to the C64 game since I figured people preferred the C64 version of GIANA SISTERS than they did the other ports.

And I'm sure the British also agree with my sentiment about the superiority of the C64 Port.

Spiderman's Bathroom Break?-The Original Atari Lynx Commercial from 1990 starring a young TOBEY MAGUIRE

The ATARI LYNX, 

A handheld released in 1989 for the masses.

Or as I like to call it, the bigass original WONDERSWAN.

Because it's form factor would almost predict the BANDAI Wonderswan's release 10 years later in 1999

The Button Layout is different but the design principle is spot-on.

This 16-bit 6502-Based HANDHELD was ATARI's entry to the handheld market in order to get away from the mediocrity of their 7800 & XEGS systems from the 80s and have something to compliment their more successful ST line of computers.

And while it sold decently, well.... you know the whole story.

But ATARI has had it shares of Interesting ADs.

Such as this ATTACK AD against NINTENDO, before SEGA made attacking NINTENDO cool.

Heh Heh!!!

LYNX EATS BOY'S LUNCH!

CLASSIC!

But this blogpost is all about Commercials that aired on Television!!!

The most famous commercial for the Lynx aired in 1990 starring a then 13 or 14 year old TOBEY MAGUIRE of SPIDERMAN fame.

Wanna see what SPIDEY was up to back in 1990? As usual, here's the embedded YouTube video of said Commercial:

Pretty interesting to see SPIDERMAN himself in his youth sneaking out of class to play on his ATARI LYNX....

I hope he's got some good and fresh DURACELL BATTERIES because the LYNX loved to eat those batteries up.

I can imagine J. JONAH JAMESON, Spidey's boss at the DAILY BUGLE refusing to believe that SPIDEY advertised ATARI's Handheld.

Instead, Laughing in disbelief.

Damn GIF forgot the part where JK SIMMONS says "YOU SERIOUS?"

The LYNX would eventually be replaced with an improved model later down the line

While Bulkier than the original, this guy was more forgiving to them AA Batteries.

And on a Hilarious Tangent,

I've read how annoyed ATARI was about having to order several COMMMODORE AMIGA's in order to develop the games for the LYNX due to the required hardware to develop for as well as the original designers having more experience with the AMIGA due to their former association with GOOD OLD CHICKEN LIPS FROM PENNSYLVANIA.

But Considering what was to happen with both Companies....

Who am I to judge the circumstances....