On this day in television history - World on a Wire (TV series & novel):

World on a Wire

Original title: Welt am Draht,

2-part mini-series directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder,

written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fritz Müller-Scherz,

based on the novel Simulacron-3 by Daniel F. Galouye,

released in Germany on October 14, 1973.

Music by Gottfried Hüngsberg.

Cast:

Klaus Löwitsch, Barbara Valentin, Mascha Rabben, Karl Heinz Vosgerau, Wolfgang Schenck, Günter Lamprecht, Ulli Lommel, Adrian Hoven, Ivan Desny, Joachim Hansen, Kurt Raab, Margit Carstensen, Ingrid Caven, Gottfried John, Rudolf Lenz, Lilo Pempeit / Lieselotte Eder, Heinz Meier, Peter Chatel, Rainer Hauer, Ernst Küsters, El Hedi ben Salem, Karl Scheydt, Solange Pradel, Bruce Low, Elma Karlowa, Maryse Dellanoy, Werner Schroeter, Magdalena Montezuma, Christine Kaufmann, Rainer Langhans, Corinna Brocher, Dora Karras-Frank, Katrin Schaake, Peter Gauhe, Christiane Maybach, Walter Sedlmayr, Eddie Constantine, Rudolf Waldemar Brem, Peter Kern, Karsten Peters, Peter Moland, Doris Mattes, Wolfgang Hess, Arnold Marquis.

Recommended reading:

Simulacron-3

By Daniel F. Galouye.

Afterword by Mike Resnick.

Published by Phoenix Pick.

First published 1964.

ISBN: 9781612420202

ISBN10: 1612420206

ASIN: 1612420206

Description:

A virtual-reality novel from a time before virtual reality, Simulacron-3 is a prophetic tale of a future where nothing is as it appears to be. Douglas Hall is part of a team that builds an artificial environment to simulate reality. This enables them to get public opinion polls without waiting for the opinions of people around them. But then something goes terribly wrong and his partners on the program start disappearing. But is it a simulated disappearance, or is someone out to get them all? And what is the true nature of reality? Stories based on Simulacron-3 have been adapted for both television and movies, and the book is considered a favorite of many of the masters of science fiction.