Blue Skies in Camelot: An Alternate 60's and Beyond
- Thread starter President_Lincoln
- Start date
Where Do We Go From Here?
I have to imagine there will be a fair few. Might even get a thriller film out of it, if Ryan and Quayle's families are willing to go along with that...
To make a quick announcement: I have begun the process of cataloging the TL thus far and preparing to move it to the "Finished" section. As we are nearing the 10K response limit, I am hoping to finish that sometime in the near future. The chapters will have a few tweaks and edits (grammar, spelling, adding in the retcons I've announced via thread-mark here), but should remain largely the same as they have been. I will also soon create a second thread to continue the story past 1978/79. The link to that new thread will be posted here as soon as it exists!
My goal remains bringing this TL to the modern day, or, at least, pretty darn close to it. I have ideas that cover that entire period. For now, however, I am specifically in the process of planning out the 1980s. As ever, if you have ideas and suggestions, please feel free to reach out! I love reading your pitches, even if I cannot ultimately include them.
Thanks as always for your readership and support!
Yes! I'm so happy that this won't be ended prematurely! Can't wait to see the rest of this story continue @President_Lincoln!
Glad this will be continued. Would be happy to help cover political, and other topics for certain years, or possible alternate events and characters.
I hope that the timeline at the very least reaches 2017. I’m glad to hear it! And I’m always happy to see and read what happens next in this story and universe as a whole.
@President_Lincoln As a kiwi I was wondering if New Zealand has anything different to it in this timeline. Dumb question but I’ll ask anyway.
I wonder if the Dawn Raids would still happen ITTL?
Dawn raids (New Zealand) - Wikipedia
Fantastic news to hear! Glad to hear this TL will continue up to modern time. Been wondering about that. Can't wait to eventually click the link for the next thread
If I think of any ideas or suggestions I'll PM you straight away
Deleted member 145219
Great stuff.
I have some thoughts or ideas that I might share with you in the near future that I think could fit in with your timeline.
A shame the PoD didn't save any of the victims of Chase, Gacy, and the Son of Sam. At least the Alphabet Killer was caught TTL, preventing Bianchi's 1979 murders from happening.
Also yay for Jonestown not being as tragic of a loss in human lives as OTL.
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1978 Pop Culture
Pop Culture in 1978 - “The Future Starts Today, Not Tomorrow”
Above: Elected by the Papal Conclave this year, Karol Józef Wojtyła, better known by his Papal name Stanislaus (after the Polish saint of the same name) became the 264th canonical head of the Roman Catholic Church on October 22nd, 1978. At 58 years old, he was the youngest man to be elected Pope since 1846.
Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1978 (Top Ten):
- “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb
- “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees
- “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone
- “How Deep Is Your Love” by Bee Gees
- “Baby Come Back” by Player
- “(You’re the) One That I want” by John Travolta/Olivia Newton John
- “Grease” by Frankie Valli
- “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions” by Queen
- “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” by Meat Loaf
- “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA
News in Music
January 17th - Simple Minds make their very first live performance at Glasgow’s Satellite City.
January 23rd - Terry Kath, guitarist and founding member of the Chicago Transit Authority narrowly avoids death from accidental gunshot wound while cleaning a gun he thought was unloaded.
February 4th - Elton John appears as a guest star on The Muppet Show. He sings a duet of “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with Miss Piggy.
February 10th - Van Halen debuts with a self-titled album; lead-guitarist Eddie Van Halen ushers in a powerful new sound and technique to the world of rock while David Lee Roth redefines the role of frontman.
February 23rd - The 20th Annual Grammy Awards are presented in Los Angeles, hosted by John Denver. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors wins album of the year, the Eagles’ “Hotel California” wins record of the year, while Best New Artist goes to rock band the Cars.
March 11th - Kate Bush tops the UK singles chart with “Wuthering Heights”, becoming the first-ever female solo artist to top the chart with a self-penned song.
March 18th - California Jam II is held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in California. Over 300,000 fans come to see Aerosmith, Santana, Foreigner, Heart, and more.
June 13th - The Cramps play a free concert for patients at the Napa State Mental Hospital.
June 16th - The film adaptation of the musical Grease opens in theaters and is a box office smash-hit. Starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The film’s soundtrack would also become one of the best selling albums of the year.
June 28th - English singer/songwriter and guitarist Peter Frampton is tragically killed in a car accident in the Bahamas. He was only 28 years old. The Rock world mourns yet another of their rising stars.
September 14th - 16th - The Grateful Dead perform three shows in Giza, Egypt, very close to the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid.
November 25th - Alice Cooper, recently released from rehab, releases From the Inside, an album which tells the story of his recovery.
Throughout the year:
Singles sales in the UK reach an all-time high, driven by the punk and disco trends, as well as the success of Grease.
Kenny Rogers’ solo career reaches its arguable zenith with the release of “the Gambler”. The Country Music star will star in several movies based on the song over the next several years.
English Metal band Iron Maiden hires Paul Di’Anno as their singer.
1978 in Film - The Year’s Biggest
Grease - Musical Romantic Comedy. Starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Based on the 1971 musical of the same name, directed by Randal Kleiser in his theatrical film debut. The iconic film chronicles the lives of the “Thunderbirds” - a bunch of drag-racing greasers - and the “Pink Ladies”. Successful both critically and commercially, the film was easily the highest grossing movie of 1978, and made superstars of both of its leads. Grease also featured Elvis Presley in a show-stealing role as “Teen Angel” to sing “Beauty School Dropout”.
Superman - Superhero/Action Blockbuster. Directed by Stephen Spielberg, starring Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman; Stockard Channing as Lois Lane; and Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. The film and its score by John Williams are iconic, groundbreaking, and considered one of the finest entries in the soon to be crowded superhero genre. Beloved by casual fans and die-hards alike, this film would eventually win several Academy Awards, and presaged the genre’s upcoming popularity.
National Lampoon’s Animal House - Comedy. Directed by John Landis, written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Chris Miller. Starring John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, Donald Sutherland, and others. The film depicts the eponymous trouble-making fraternity whose members challenge and ultimately, undermine the authority of the dean at the fictitious Faber College. The film would go on to become arguably, the definitive college-comedy film and presage long and fruitful careers for both Ramis and Belushi.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Epic Science Fiction. Directed by Robert Wise. Produced by Gene Roddenberry. Written by Harlan Ellison, Roddenberry, and George R.R. Martin. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForrest Kelley, James Doohan, Morgan Freeman, and George Takei. The film, based on a treatment by Ellison and story input by Roddenberry and Martin, sees now-Admiral James T. Kirk (Shatner) join forces with Captain Sulu (Takei) and the crew of his Enterprise-II in order to face off with a race of snake-like aliens called the S’arpans. This alien race attempts to alter Earth’s history to create a “kindred” race to humanity, and stifle mankind’s development, allowing the S’arpans to rule the Quadrant. Kirk and Sulu must resolve personal issues (mirroring those of co-stars Shatner and Takei) in order to resolve a truly diabolical dilemma: do they reverse the S’arpans’ actions and restore the timeline? If they do, they save humanity and the Federation of Planets. But they will also condemn an entire intelligent, sapient race to non-existence. Seen as an epic echo of the classic episode “City on the Edge of Tomorrow” from the Original Series, the film is a success, and helps increase the popularity of the ongoing Star Trek: Phase II concurrently airing on NBC.
The 51st Academy Awards - April 9th, 1979 - Hosted by Johnny Carson
Best Picture: The Deer Hunter (Written about Cambodian War Veterans, ITTL)
Best Director: Alan Parker - Midnight Express
Best Actor: Gary Busey - The Buddy Holly Story as Buddy Holly
Best Actress: Jill Clayburgh - An Unmarried Woman as Erica Benton
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken - The Deer Hunter as Cpl. Nick Chevotarevich
Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep - The Deer Hunter as Linda
Best Original Screenplay: Autumn Sonata by Ingmar Bergman
Best Adapted Screenplay: Same Time, Next Year by Bernard Slade, based on his play
Other Films of Note:
The Wiz - Musical Adventure Fantasy. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Starring Stephanie Mills, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, and many others, the film is an adaptation of the 1974 Broadway musical of the same name, which is, in turn, a reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s classic tale, featuring an all-black cast and centering its Oz on a dream-like New York City. Though not as much of a hit as its producers at United Artists had hoped for, the film did become something of a sleeper success, making a modest profit on its budget of $24 Million. Reviews at the time were mixed, though praise was heaped on Mills and Jackson, whose performances were seen as “the heart” of the film. The Wiz would help further the burgeoning career of Jackson, who played the Scarecrow, and proved to white Hollywood executives that black-led productions could “draw money”.
Halloween - Independent Horror/Slasher. Directed by John Carpenter, and starring Jamie Lee-Curtis (in her film debut) as Laurie Strode, and Christopher Lee as Dr. Samuel “Sam” Loomis. The Plot centers on a mental patient, Michael Myers (Nick Castle), who was committed to a sanitarium for murdering his babysitting teenage sister on Halloween Night when he was six years old. Fifteen years later, he escapes and returns to his hometown, where he stalks a teenage girl named Laurie and her friends, while pursued by his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis. The film was a shockingly successful hit, grossing over $70 Million on a budget of less than $350,000. Lee, coming off his iconic (and well-paid) turn as Darth Vader in Star Wars nearly turned down the role due to the shoestring budget, but was convinced to take it by Carpenter, who insisted that it would be good for Lee’s career to play a hero in a horror film for once. Both Lee’s and Lee-Curtis’ performances were praised by the critics. The film marked the beginning of the “slasher trend” in horror that would dominate the genre for the next several years.
News in Television and Film - Throughout the Year
February 6th - David Begelman resigns as President of Columbia Pictures. He is replaced by Frank Price, who will go on to oversee nine of the top ten highest-grossing projects in company history.
March 1st - Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial. After recovery a few weeks later, the casket is sealed in a concrete vault prior to reburial.
March - Leigh Brackett completes her initial draft for The Empire Strikes Back. Tragically, she passed away of cancer only two weeks later. George Lucas is pleased with her script, but believes it still needs a few changes. Thus, he and Lawrence Kasdan re-work and ultimately, rewrite the script. They keep some of her concepts, but lose much of her characterization and dialogue. Carrie Fisher is later brought in to “doctor” some sections, especially her own dialogue as Princess Leia.
April 2nd - The prime-time television soap opera Dallas first premieres on CBS. The series revolved around the Ewings, an affluent and feuding Texas family, who owned the independent oil company “Ewing Oil” and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork. Though the show would originally focus on the marriage of Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes, whose families were sworn enemies, Bobby’s elder brother, oil Tycoon J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) became the show’s breakout star.
April 22nd - Jake and Elwood Blues (John Belushi & Dan Akkyroyd), AKA the Blues Brothers make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live. They performed the song “Hey Bartender”, to much fanfare.
September - George Lucas purchases Bulltail Ranch, on Lucas Valley Road, for the development of Skywalker Ranch.
November 17th - The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first look at Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming Star Wars sequel. Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz take a largely hands-off approach to this, due to their focus on helping Lucas set up Skywalker Ranch. Lucas does, however, hire his friends, husband and wife duo Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck (who helped him make revisions to the original film’s script) to write the special. The result is a (mostly) coherent made-for-tv film about Han Solo and Chewbacca outrunning Boba Fett (Jason Wingreen), a nefarious bounty hunter, and an Imperial blockade to make it home to Kashyyyk in time to join Luke (Mark Hamill) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewie’s family to celebrate “Life Day”. Though considered “lame” and “silly kid stuff” by most critics and even franchise fans, there are nonetheless many who hold a soft spot for the bizarre product of late 70s cheese.
1978 in Sport
Super Bowl XII - The Dallas Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos, 28 - 21 at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dallas’ defense is largely credited with the close victory, stopping a last minute drive by the Broncos to send the game into overtime.
Baseball:
May 15th - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the 13th player in MLB history to accrue more than 3,000 hits. Later that summer, Rose would hit safely in 45 consecutive games, breaking the previous National League record of 44.
World Series - In the 75th World Series in history, the New York Yankees grab their second consecutive championship, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers, once again, 4 games to 3. New York Second Baseman Willie Randolph is declared Series MVP.
NBA Finals - The Philadelphia 76ers also snag their second consecutive world championship, besting the Denver Nuggets 4 games to 2.
Boxing - Muhammad Ali becomes the first boxer to win the World Heavyweight Title for a third time, reclaiming the prize from Leon Spinks.
The Stanley Cup - The Montreal Canadiens sweep the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 0.
The World Cup - Despite controversy surrounding the Host-nation of Argentina due to its recent military coup, FIFA goes ahead with hosting the cup there anyway. The number of teams that qualify is also expanded to 24 this year, with reigning champions Scotland hoping to defend their title this way. In the end, the Netherlands managed to pull out an upset win, defeating host Argentina in the final match to win the cup.
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. For his efforts toward peace, including normalization of relations with Israel, as well as for his expulsion of Soviet advisers from his government.
Other Headlines, Throughout the Year:
The first “test-tube baby” is grown in the United Kingdom.
NASA inaugurated its first group of women astronauts in January. The group included Shannon Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, Judith Resnik, Anna Fisher, and Sally Ride. This group of intrepid women were immediately trained to commence the next round of manned-space missions, which President Udall hoped would launch the following year. Its goal? To build a permanent, international space station with cooperation from the UK, France, Canada, and Japan.
The first “Garfield” comic strip premiered in US newspapers. Jokes about Jon, Otie, and Lasagna would eventually drive it to become the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.
A U.S. Teachers’ strike extended the summer vacation of thousands of American students.
Next Time on Blue Skies in Camelot: The Dawn of the Second Space Race
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Loved it. So, Christopher Lee takes the role Donald Pleasence had OTL, and the Pope John Paul II of our world has an alternate Papal name.
Just a correction here, England would have qualified here as given how the qualifying groups remain the same as OTL, England finished second behind Italy and given how the 24 team format saw the top two teams im a group qualify then pretty much means England would join Scotland in Argentina. Also, having England make an earlier return to the World Cup would go a long way to improve the national side going into the 80's as the England team of the late 70's was actually fairly decent and I could see them ending up winning the third place play off game.
And BTW, wonderful to see that the Dutch - the best team never to win the WC - finally get their hands on it. However Argentina not winning it here might have ramifications for the junta in which without the pride of an Argentina win, they look doomed here especially if they have spent far more money than OTL hosting it given the expansion of the tournament.
Thank you for the correction! I will be sure to edit the chapter accordingly. Glad you enjoyed seeing Netherlands win here as well.
Speaking of which for the TL going forward, in a football TL I did, I had the USA host the 1986 tournament instead of Mexico like in OTL...might be an idea for TTL that maybe with how different politics are here is that they might get ahead of kicking off soccer interest Stateside a full decade earlier than OTL, who hosts 1994 here is anyone's guess.Thank you for the correction! I will be sure to edit the chapter accordingly. Glad you enjoyed seeing Netherlands win here as well.
Let's face it, given how frantically Mexico had to pull things together to get things in place taking it on at the last minute with how original hosts Columbia had to pull out, having the USA host it might look a safer and sensible choice TBH. An idea for the TL?
Hell yeah! It’s finally back!
Yet another great chapter and update, I love reading about the better world and all of its charms, glories, and wonders in this story once again, Mr. President.
No Bea Arthur, no Harvey Korman, no weird-ass musical numbers. Worst timeline ever. 0/10.
All joking aside, this actually would be a lot better than what we got IOTL.
Great job with the pop culture update. They're always my favourite to read 👍
👍Lee is professional enough that he won’t get drunk on the set of Halloween like Pleasance did in OTL.
I reread the last two updates and realized something. Daniel Holmes took the place of Gacy's last victim, Robert Piest, so at least one of his OTL victim survives, but at the unfortunate cost of another. This brings up a butterfly issue - if Piest wasn't his last victim, then Gacy's reign of terror should not have ended on the exact same date as OTL, as it was how he lured Piest that lead cops to zero in on him as a suspect in Piest's disappearance. Piest was last seen "talking to a contractor about a job offer" after his shift at a local pharmacy, and the only contractor that could have been was Gacy. At least one other victim's parents, those of John Butkovich (one of Gacy's earliest victims), begged police to look into him for years since right before he disappeared Butkovich had a dispute with his employer, Gacy, over backpay, but police never followed up on the tip. So unless Holmes was in a similar situation to Piest (disappeared in early- December 1978 from somewhere in Des Plaines, last seen going to talk to a contractor about a job that could not be anyone else besides Gacy, unlikely to have ran away, and Joseph Kozenczak being the lead investigator on the case), then Gacy should not have been arrested on December 21, 1978.
Or, alternatively, Gacy could be caught trying to dispose of Holmes' body. At the end of his reign of terror, Gacy resorted to dumping bodies in the Des Plaines River from the I-55 Bridge. Since the I-55 Bridge is a major thoroughfare, it's not all that implausible that a cop just happens to be driving on the bridge on December 21, 1978 when Gacy is attempting to dispose of Holmes' body. At which point Gacy is immediately arrested, cops search his house and find the extent of that monster's crimes.
Or, alternatively, Gacy could be caught trying to dispose of Holmes' body. At the end of his reign of terror, Gacy resorted to dumping bodies in the Des Plaines River from the I-55 Bridge. Since the I-55 Bridge is a major thoroughfare, it's not all that implausible that a cop just happens to be driving on the bridge on December 21, 1978 when Gacy is attempting to dispose of Holmes' body. At which point Gacy is immediately arrested, cops search his house and find the extent of that monster's crimes.
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