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. 

Listen: A 1977 audience's reaction to Star Wars

Hear a 1977 audience react to Star Wars below

Today, Episode Nothing points you towards one of the most beautiful, warmly nostalgic Star Wars experiences you can have on the internet, as we hear a first generation audience react to the film.

What's the record number of times anyone has seen Star Wars? Anyone beat 102?

A 1977 audience waits in line to see Star Wars

Last time at Episode Nothing, we considered the case of Daniel Henning, a boy who saw Star Wars 102 times – and not on video, but in a cinema. Today, we give further consideration to the people who saw the film multiple times, and who became a key part of the Star Wars phenomenon.

Did Alec Guinness really make a young fan burst into tears? The story of the boy who saw Star Wars 102 times

Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi

Today, Episode Nothing returns to the subject of Sir Alec Guinness and the contempt he came to show for Star Wars. 

It turns out there is a fascinating postscript to his story about the time he made a child promise never to see the film again. And it might just shed some light on the great actor’s complicated relationship to his most successful film.

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.)

The Force will be with you: Star Wars' own religion

Vader chokes Motti: Just one of the things
the Force can help you do in Star Wars

It was Star Wars Day this week – surely the only fan event which owes its date to a pun: "May the Fourth be with you."

What better time to examine the Force, the "energy field created by all living things"? Is it George Lucas's unique and personal take on religion and spirituality – or just a lot of New Age mumbo-jumbo?

What Alec Guinness really thought of Star Wars and its fans: "Idiotic" hobbies and "childish banalities"

Alec Guinness in Star Wars

Sir Alec Guinness brought Star Wars gravitas and star power. In return, it garnered him an Oscar nomination, a new generation of fans, and a good deal of money. But the actor-knight would become increasingly curmudgeonly about Star Wars and its fans, deriding autograph collectors for their "idiotic hobby" and saying of the film: "I shrivel inside each time it is mentioned." 

Here, Episode Nothing takes a look at Guinness's troubled relationship with his most successful film.