Episode Nothing: the blog about Star Wars in the 1970s is back

Star Wars the first time around, in 1977

It's been a while, but we're back. 

Episode Nothing, the site about the original, unaltered, 1977 Star Wars, and its first release, has returned, with plenty to say about the movie 40 years on.

If you've been here before, welcome back, and please read on for some details of what's coming up. If you're new, here's what it's all about. 

5 ways things might have been different if Star Wars had not been a hit

A young George Lucas 

George Lucas believed there might just be enough science fiction fans in the world to ensure that a film with a title like Star Wars was at least modestly profitable.

If Star Wars had been just that kind of minor success, or even a failure, the history of cinema since then might have looked very different. But so would the course George Lucas’s subsequent career. Oddly enough, even the films he made before Star Wars would be different today. 

7 key similarities between American Graffiti and Star Wars

Poster art for American Graffiti (1973) and Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars was George Lucas's third feature film. It couldn’t be more unlike his first, THX 1138 (1971). But it bears a surprising number of similarities to his second, the low budget smash hit American Graffiti (1973). Today, Episode Nothing explores the connections between Lucas's vision of small town California in 1962 and the galaxy far, far away. 

What did Gerry Anderson think of Star Wars? The Thunderbirds creator told Look-In magazine in the 1970s

Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds fame: What did he think of Star Wars?

Gerry Anderson was a huge figure in millions of childhoods from the 1960s onwards, giving us the television series Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Stingray, Space: 1999 and more. He also, unwittingly, cost Star Wars a fair amount of money. 

But what did he think of the film that threatened to replace his series in kids’ affections? Fortunately, a cutting from the British young people’s magazine Look-In lets us know.

Star Wars comes home: The history of the 1977 film on VHS and Beta

Star Wars at home: the original US
VHS version from 1982

The history of Star Wars on home entertainment formats is long and complicated, but for a long time it could be boiled down to one simple rule:

Every time you bought the film in what you confidently believed to be the ultimate, definitive edition, Lucasfilm would release another one.

That was the rule of thumb for a long time, but later it became clear that a rider had been added, which was this:

While George Lucas was happy to release all kinds of enhanced deluxe versions of the film, he was never again going to release the movie as seen by the original audiences in 1977-78.

Life before Star Wars. There really was one.

Jimmy Carter, Sonny & Cher, Frost/Nixon, Annie Hall, Laverne and Shirley: America at 
the time Star Wars was released in 1977

A few facts about the world into which Star Wars arrived in 1977.

Just what the internet needs – another Star Wars blog

Star Wars before it was Episode IV: the original opening crawl

Yes, this is another blog about Star Wars.

But it's about Star Wars the film, not the franchise.

Specifically, it's about the original film as it was in 1977, before it was Episode IV of anything. These were the days when it was just – as the early trailers put it – "the story of a boy,a girl and a universe".