Ricky and the Internet


I was watching a rerun, "The Secret Life of Rick Stratton" and they showed Rick using the Internet. The episode was from 1985, even though the modern internet wasn't modernly and widely used until the early '90s. In the episode, Rick was on something called "Grock" and was in a chat room. The computer screen said Message Board, but the message responses appeared onscreen in real time.

Now, the P.C. was available but most households in 1985 didn't have one, although Rick was pretty wealthy so it would make sense that he would have the latest technology.

So was this the first use of the internet on TV?

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Good Question. I would say it had to be. And if not it had to be the closest representation of it anyway.

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probably and back then the gov (who invented Arpanet--precursor) comes over to check on Rick when they find out what he somehow uncovered.

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I read on Wikipedia that "Benson" was actually the first mention of the Internet on TV in 1985. And according to the article, they actually used the word "Internet" in it.

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