Starcade Contestant Eddie Sonnenblick

In April 1983 Eddie sent us several postcards (you see two of them as background on this page) asking to be a contestant on STARCADE! We called him in May of '83 and invited him to tryout.

Eddie's STARCADE! show #91 was taped in July 1983 and he beat his opponent Lisa Scott.

Eddie played for the Grand Prize but sadly missed the score he needed to beat by just 14 points ... a heartbreaker for us all.

We invited Eddie back for a Championship game but he was not able to accept. As Eddie tells it, "I would have loved to have come back for a championship episode, but, alas, we had a dress rehearsal that day for Midsummer Night's Dream and I just couldn't let down my fellow cast members."

Games on Eddie's Show

Berzerk, Space Invaders, Moon Patrol, Donkey Kong Jr and Super Cobra. Grand Prize: Buck Rogers

Eddie's STARCADE! memories: "Ah, the Summer of 1983.....It will always be one of my most memorable. It was the Summer I survived my Bar Mitzvah, witnesssed my first rock concert (The Police), poured my heart into the role of Lysander in a youth production of Shakespear's Midsummer Night's Dream, and, perhaps most importantly, achieved not only 15 minutes, but well over 20 or so minutes of fame and fortune on STARCADE!"

"While the details of my Bar Mitzvah have become more than a little fuzzy in my memory, I can still recall every triumphant and heartbreaking moment of my Starcade appearance."

"My brother, friends, and I were huge fans of the show and since we lived an hour's drive from the studio in San Francisco, we wrote in to become contestants."

"I remember being so impressed how only two days later we received our invitations to audition."

"The show was nerve wracking but I had a great time. Geoff Edwards was a truly great guy on and off camera that day, which helped to put me at ease."

"That (the fact that Geoff Edwards put me at ease) still didn't stop me from buzzing in, and then answering incorrectly, every single question, placing me in what I imagine to be a pretty
exclusive club of Starcaders.

Somehow I still prevailed, due mostly to my Super Cobra prowess.

In the bonus round where I played Space Invaders (already an oldie by then) for the grand prize of a Buck Rogers game, I suffered one of the toughest lessons of my life. With 14 points still to score and a few seconds left, I got hit. There wasn't enough time to come back with the next ship and hit the one or two more aliens that I needed.

Geoff seemed just as disappointed as me. 'Come on Eddie......Oh Eddie! Not now!' During the closing credits, you can see my friend saying '14 points!'"

"It has remained one of my favorite stories to tell ... The tape also captures a peculiar period in the history of my hairstyle. Thanks Starcade!"