On April 19, 1983 STARCADE! received a rather formal letter from Nova & Stephanie that went like this (we still have the letter):

To Whom It May Concern:
My daughter and I both would like to apply for playing positions on your show. Stephanie is 10 years old, and I am ... years of age. We both watch your show every day and feel we would be good contestants. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ms. Nova & Stephanie Pennington

We thought they might be right so we invited them to tryouts on May 21, 1983 and May 26 we gave them the good news ... their STARCADE! show would tape on June 10, 1983. Their opponents were Robbie & Shawn Beasley, a father-son Team.

Nova & Stephanie were two very animated contestants ... they both had the knack of expressing themselves with just a look. It was great fun to watch them work together.


Nova was an accomplished artist, working with fabrics and glass to make 3-dimensional paintings.  Nova's hope was that, "people who are visually handicapped would also be able to enjoy her work." In her bio, Nova said that when she grew up (she was Stephanie's Mother remember), she'd like to be a nice person and maybe President of the United States." Her favorite video games were Sinistar and Pac Man.

Stephanie was a 5th grader and said when she grew up, she wanted "to be a scientist and an inventor."  She had a cat named Chuck.  Her favorite video games were Sinistar, Tempest, Ms PacMan and Dazzler.

They were not our most successful contestants, taking home some 'lovely parting gifts,' but they helped make a great show.

In August 2002 Nova checked in to tell us that ..."Stephanie is a student in Los Angeles working to receive a PhD in Music."...Nova is still an artist and "occasionally attends sci-fi conventions in costumes that I design. I'm glad to know that STARCADE! is still alive and kicking."

We at STARCADE! are equally glad to know that Nova & Stephanie are still sharing their special kind of magic with this world. Thanks Nova for checking in ...