20th Century Fox wasn’t sure what it had in Star Wars, and apparently, neither did George Lucas. The director was building up his company, Lucasfilm, and unleashed his secret weapon: Charley Lippincott. He whipped people into a previously unknown frenzy by working the fans at science fiction and comics conventions. He saw to it DelRey had the novelization out months before the film, as well as three of the six-issue comics adaptation from Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin at Marvel. These people were lined up for day one, and the word of the month spread so fast that it endured throughout the summer of 1977.
Before the Special came the finale from The Donny and Marie Show, which Donny discusses on the documentary.
As we learn in the wonderfully entertaining A Disturbance in the Force, a 90-minute documentary from directors Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak, despite all his statements saying he had everything planned out,...
Before the Special came the finale from The Donny and Marie Show, which Donny discusses on the documentary.
As we learn in the wonderfully entertaining A Disturbance in the Force, a 90-minute documentary from directors Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak, despite all his statements saying he had everything planned out,...
- 12/18/2023
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Plot: Behind the scenes of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.
Review: Young people today have no idea how hard it was to see the Star Wars Holiday Special in the days before the internet. I remember only being aware of the Holiday Special in the mid-nineties thanks to the occasional mention in Starlog or Sci-Fi Universe. In about 1996, some friends and I attended a Star Wars Convention in Montreal, and the big attraction was that they would be screening the Holiday Special in full on someone’s bootleg tape. My pals and I were so excited, but after all the years of reading about it and dreaming of what it could be like, we walked out after ten minutes. Nine minutes of unsubtitled Wookie was enough to turn us off, and to this day, I don’t think I’ve ever actually sat through the whole thing.
The fact...
Review: Young people today have no idea how hard it was to see the Star Wars Holiday Special in the days before the internet. I remember only being aware of the Holiday Special in the mid-nineties thanks to the occasional mention in Starlog or Sci-Fi Universe. In about 1996, some friends and I attended a Star Wars Convention in Montreal, and the big attraction was that they would be screening the Holiday Special in full on someone’s bootleg tape. My pals and I were so excited, but after all the years of reading about it and dreaming of what it could be like, we walked out after ten minutes. Nine minutes of unsubtitled Wookie was enough to turn us off, and to this day, I don’t think I’ve ever actually sat through the whole thing.
The fact...
- 12/7/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
The question asked back in the ’80s and ’90s was never, “Have you seen The Star Wars Holiday Special?” It was always, “Have you heard of The Star Wars Holiday Special?”
We’re talking about a 1978 air date, after all. Someone must have owned a Vcr, since bootleg copies of the maligned variety show do exist on the Internet (George Lucas has vehemently denounced the project and even Disney has refused to release a “clean” copy beyond putting the animated segment “The Story of the Faithful Wookiee” on Disney+.) But its existence was akin to legend back then. Just knowing was enough to be cool with details being learned rather than experienced.
So it’s shocking that it’s taken until 2023 to finally receive a “definitive” look at its creation and eventual lambasting. Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak’s A Disturbance in the Force thus seems almost like a miracle...
We’re talking about a 1978 air date, after all. Someone must have owned a Vcr, since bootleg copies of the maligned variety show do exist on the Internet (George Lucas has vehemently denounced the project and even Disney has refused to release a “clean” copy beyond putting the animated segment “The Story of the Faithful Wookiee” on Disney+.) But its existence was akin to legend back then. Just knowing was enough to be cool with details being learned rather than experienced.
So it’s shocking that it’s taken until 2023 to finally receive a “definitive” look at its creation and eventual lambasting. Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak’s A Disturbance in the Force thus seems almost like a miracle...
- 7/30/2023
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
There are times when you look back at pop culture phenomena and can’t resist the urge to ask: Can you believe this actually happened? Tackling a notorious fiasco in one of the galaxy’s most popular franchises, Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak’s amusing and exhaustive documentary ”A Disturbance in the Force” unpacks 1978’s “Star Wars Holiday Special.”
You don’t have to be an obsessive “Star Wars” fan to enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how the special — which premiered Nov. 17, 1978 on CBS, and has never been re-run on any broadcast or cable outlet — came to exist. To be sure, the fans will appreciate it a lot more than casual viewers. But it’s also an irresistible hoot for anyone with fond memories of star-studded 1970s musical/variety TV specials — a specific type of highly popular general audience entertainment that, truth to tell, very often showcased more campy excess...
You don’t have to be an obsessive “Star Wars” fan to enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how the special — which premiered Nov. 17, 1978 on CBS, and has never been re-run on any broadcast or cable outlet — came to exist. To be sure, the fans will appreciate it a lot more than casual viewers. But it’s also an irresistible hoot for anyone with fond memories of star-studded 1970s musical/variety TV specials — a specific type of highly popular general audience entertainment that, truth to tell, very often showcased more campy excess...
- 3/12/2023
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Ken Welch, a composer and musician who, with his wife and co-writer Marilyn “Mitzie” Welch composed music for The Carol Burnett Show and wrote or produced material for TV specials starring Barbra Streisand, Julie Andrews, Dolly Parton and Olivia Newton-John, among many others, died Jan. 26 at his home in Encino, CA. He was 92.
Mitzie Welch died in 2014.
His death was announced today by his family, daughters Julie Welch and Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Gillian Welch (her “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is nominated for Best Original Song).
Nominated for 19 Emmy Awards and winner of five, Ken Welch began his musical career writing and producing material for the 1961-62 Garry Moore Show. He accompanied Burnett on auditions in the late 1950s, and in 1957 wrote her breakthrough novelty song “I Made A Fool Of Myself Over John Foster Dulles.”
In 1962, he wrote...
Mitzie Welch died in 2014.
His death was announced today by his family, daughters Julie Welch and Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Gillian Welch (her “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is nominated for Best Original Song).
Nominated for 19 Emmy Awards and winner of five, Ken Welch began his musical career writing and producing material for the 1961-62 Garry Moore Show. He accompanied Burnett on auditions in the late 1950s, and in 1957 wrote her breakthrough novelty song “I Made A Fool Of Myself Over John Foster Dulles.”
In 1962, he wrote...
- 2/5/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Carol Burnett – comedic trailblazer, actor, singer, dancer, producer and author – has been named the 52nd recipient of SAG-aftra’s highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. Burnett will be presented the performers union’s top accolade at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at 8 p.m. (Et), 7 p.m. (Ct), 6 p.m. (Mt) and 5 p.m. (Pt). Given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Burnett’s exceptional catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which includes multiple Emmys, a special Tony, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and both a Kennedy Center Honor and its Mark Twain Prize for Humor.
In making today’s announcement, SAG-aftra President Ken Howard said, “Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius.
In making today’s announcement, SAG-aftra President Ken Howard said, “Carol Burnett is a creative dynamo and a comedic genius.
- 7/20/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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