The commercials in the Star Wars Holiday Special

An ad for Kenner Star Wars toys during
The Star Wars Holiday Special on CBS

On November 17, it will be time to celebrate – if that's the word – the 40th anniversary of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

I've looked before at its most excruciating moments (in a two-part blog post here and here). I've also tried to appreciate the things a young viewer in the 1970s might have loved about it (which only took one post).

In recent times, someone has posted all the commercials from a recording of the Holiday Special, and I think they deserve a post of their own. 

The Star Wars Official Poster Monthly #3

The fold-out poster in Star Wars
Official Poster Monthly #3

The words “Giant Darth Vader poster inside” were enough to sell almost any child on issue three of Star Wars Official Poster Monthly.

In the last article (at least for now) about those original 1970s poster magazines, I’ll take a look at articles that ranged from a profile of Han Solo to the very exciting news that we would soon have robot servants.

The best books about the original Star Wars - part two

Today, I'm finishing my look at some of the most enjoyable or informative books for lovers of the original, 1977 Star Wars.

Its a chronological list, and I'm resuming with the weighty tome that marked the film's 30th anniversary.

Book review: The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain by Craig Stevens

The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain by Craig Stevens

You might think that when it comes to the release of the original Star Wars, there are no stories left untold.

Well, author Craig Stevens has found some.

His book The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain chronicles the release, merchandising and promotion of Star Wars in the country where it was made. And whether or not you were around in the UK in 1977-78, I think you're going to like it.

Interview: Craig Stevens, author of The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain

  

The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain by Craig Stevens

There's a great new book coming out about Star Wars mania in the UK. And I don't think you'll even have to be British to like it.

Today, Episode Nothing meets Craig Stevens, the author of The Star Wars Phenomenon in Britain.

Star Wars Annual No. 1: The UK gets the Marvel comic in colour ... or color

The cover of Star Wars Annual no. 1 from 1978

Episode Nothing looks at the first Star Wars Annual, from 1978.  It was the book which gave UK fans behind the scenes features about the film, plus a taste of something Americans had already had – Marvel's Star Wars adaptation in colour. (Or, if you prefer, color.)

Those Star Wars mini-posters from 1970s Look-In magazines

Star Wars makes the cover of
Look-In on March 11, 1978

The last in our short series of posts about the British weekly magazine Look-In focuses on the mini-posters that adorned many a bedroom wall after the release of Star Wars.

Watch a 1978 TV ad for Look-In ... with free Star Wars transfers

"Star Wars breaks out ... in Look-In this week"

This Friday, I'll be publishing the last (for the time being) in my short series of posts about how Star Wars was featured in the youth magazine Look-In in the UK. I'll be sharing some of the impressive colour posters that the magazine ran in 1977-78.

In the meantime, though, any child of Britain in the 1970s will find it impossible to resist this TV ad I found on YouTube. It's a commercial for the March 11, 1978, edition of Look-In, which featured plenty of Star Wars, including an interview with Harrison Ford. Watch it and be transported back to a time when 10p could buy you enough glossy entertainment to last a week. And don't forget to return to the 21st century for this Friday's post. 

Look-In: the British youth culture magazine that kept featuring Star Wars

It’s been quiet at Episode Nothing, but I have been laying plans for some in-depth blog content which I hope you’re going to like. 

Until I get going with that, here are some memories of a youth culture magazine that first generation British Star Wars fans are sure to remember fondly.

How the release of The Force Awakens will be a galaxy away from the opening of the original Star Wars

Then and now: teaser ads for Star Wars in 1977 and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens 

It's almost here. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens will be released next month. And it's being awaited with such rapt anticipation that there's a danger we'll have nothing left in reserve to welcome the Second Coming.

How different is all this from the release of the first Star Wars in 1977? Episode Nothing considers

The Star Wars double LP is coming back: Sony Classical to release Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection

Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection, to be
released by Sony Classical in January

The Star Wars original soundtrack album sold four million copies and probably turned a lot of young people on to orchestral music as they sat listening in their rooms, replaying the film's action in their heads.

The music has never gone away, but now the original double LP set is about to come back. Sony has announced the January 8th 2016 release of Star Wars: The Ultimate Vinyl Collection.

The Force Beam: possibly the first Star Wars bootleg toy

The Force Beam, as advertised on the
back of the UK's Star Wars Weekly

It is hard to believe today that someone would have had the audacity to produce an unlicensed Star Wars toy and sell it right under the noses of Lucasfilm, even running big advertisements in at least one official Star Wars publication.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 11

The cover of Star Wars Weekly issue 11

It's taken longer for Episode Nothing to finish reviewing Marvel's adaptation of Star Wars than it took Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin to write and draw it. But at last, here's my account of Star Wars Weekly issue 11, published in the UK on April 19 1978.

The Star Wars logo: How well do you know it?

The Star Wars logo as
seen in an appealing but
unused poster concept

Last time, I looked at the Star Wars logo, and how a concept created for printed media by designer Suzy Rice ended up being on celluloid.  

I mentioned then how the logo was used in a surprising number of variations, yet remains instantly recognisable.

Here are some examples of just how versatile that text was. Take a look at these various incarnations of the logo, all from 1977-78, and see how if you can identify where they came from.  It helps if you remember the 1970s well. Or are incredibly obsessive.  Or both.  Answers are underneath.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 8

The cover of Star Wars Weekly issue 8, March 29 1978

Episode Nothing's guide to the Marvel Comics adaptation of Star Wars, as reinvented for British readers, continues with a look at issue 8, from March 29 1978.

Star Wars on CD: Which soundtrack releases are the best? Part two.

Composer John Williams and C-3PO,
long before the CD release of Star Wars

This is part two of my look at the history of the Star Wars score on compact disc.  (My blog post on the original double-LP release of the score can be found here.)

Last time, I reviewed the 1986 CD release of the Star Wars Original Soundtrack double album and the four-CD set Star Wars: The Soundtrack Anthology from 1993.  

Today's post covers the 1997 release of the score and the versions that came afterwards.

Star Wars on CD: Which soundtrack releases are the best?

John Williams conducting the score to Star Wars: but which CD version is best?

The Star Wars Original Soundtrack double LP was one of the greatest pieces of film music ever committed to vinyl and certainly the most successful.  I discussed it here, in what remains the most popular post on Episode Nothing. (Its popularity is due mainly to a kind person sharing it on the message boards of Film Score Monthly, for which I'm very grateful.)

But it's been nearly three decades since the John Williams' score came to compact disc, and since then there have been several different releases.  Which is best?  Here's part one of a two-part guide to the various CD releases.  

Star Wars Letraset transfers: The fun that never wore off – part three

The front of the third set of Star Wars Letraset Action Transfers, 'Rebel Air Attack'

The last couple of posts have been about the Star Wars action transfers which were produced by the British company Letraset and which amused many happy children for hours in 1978.

The third of the original trio of Letraset Action Transfers scenes was called 'Rebel Air Attack' and it depicted the rebels preparing for their assault on the Death Star.  For the purposes of this scene, the rebel hangar was presented as having a spectacular view of the first ships taking off for the battle station.

Star Wars Letraset transfers: The fun that never wore off – part two

The front of the second set of Star Wars Letraset
Action Transfers, 'Escape from the Death Star'

My last post looked at Letraset, the British company that invented a massively useful way of getting different fonts onto paper in the 1960s – and which  later found a way to take part in Star Wars mania.

The second of the three original Letraset Action Transfers Star Wars scenes from 1978 was titled 'Escape from the Death Star'.  It showed the action in the Death Star docking bay as Luke and co. battled their way to the Millennium Falcon, while Obi-Wan Kenobi did battle with Darth Vader.

Star Wars Letraset transfers: The fun that never wore off

There's the rub: the front of the first Star Wars set from
Letraset Action Transfers, 'Battle at Mos Eisley'

Letraset.  If you're a first generation Star Wars fan, you might be tempted to say "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time ... a long time."

But it's a brand name that, for British fans in 1977-78, meant Star Wars – as surely as did the names Del Ray or Kenner in the US or Sphere and Palitoy in the UK.