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Speaker 1: Happy Life Day. Everyone to longtime listeners of Stuff you

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Speaker 1: Should Know, or at least once who've been listening for just.

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Speaker 2: Over a year.

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Speaker 1: We released this episode the Star Wars Holiday Special every

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Speaker 1: year and it's kind of considered the official start of

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Speaker 1: the holiday season throughout the Western Hemisphere. And if you

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Speaker 1: are new to the podcast, well, then say hello to

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Speaker 1: your newest holiday tradition. Enjoy this year's annual holiday presentation

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Speaker 1: of the Star Wars Holiday Special, and let the holiday

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Speaker 1: season begin.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with

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Speaker 1: Charles W. Chuckers Bryant and Jerry Jerome Roland.

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Speaker 2: Who's the Wookie mother? Yeah, Mala, that was the Wookie wife.

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Speaker 2: Oh and mother? Yeah sure.

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Speaker 1: Chewbacca's momb is not with them any longer.

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Speaker 3: She left.

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Speaker 2: She was not about to appear in that. She went

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Speaker 2: out the window. I'm excited about this.

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Speaker 1: I have to say we should say Happy Star Wars Day.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, today is December seventeenth. I have my opening night tickets.

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Speaker 2: Do you really sure? Wow? You know you into it? Oh?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I will definitely go see it in the theater.

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Speaker 1: But well, I won't be their opening night. Sure, I've

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Speaker 1: gotten really adept at like ignoring spoilers, people talking about

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Speaker 1: stuff all like, so I can. I could conceivably see

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Speaker 1: this movie a month after it comes out and still

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Speaker 1: going fresh.

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Speaker 2: Yeah I'm an ostrich. Yeah you black yourself out. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: you go dark. I do. I make myself go to

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Speaker 2: sleep face, you go to the dark side.

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Speaker 1: I've been there a while now.

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Speaker 2: Well, Happy Star Wars Day though, I'm sure that I

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Speaker 2: think this pairs nicely with Christmas Star Wars Day. It's

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Speaker 2: all come together.

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Speaker 1: Yes, we already missed Life Day though, so happy belated

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Speaker 1: Life Day.

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Speaker 2: Cha. Are they celebrating it this year?

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Speaker 1: November seventeenth?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's every three years, our Caine. Yeah, man,

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Speaker 2: weird job.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so it's every three years. Started in nineteen seventy eight.

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Speaker 1: Let's do the math, shall we?

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Speaker 2: Quick? Math break? I believe that twenty fourteen was the

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Speaker 2: last Life Day. Man, we just missed it, and then

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Speaker 2: again in twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so twenty seventeen we'll celebrate Life Day. We'll put

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Speaker 1: on our red robes, our ultra long straight ironed wigs, sure,

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Speaker 1: and we'll celebrate Life Day. The way it was meant to.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and if you have no idea what we're talking about,

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Speaker 2: we are talking about Life Day, which is a celebration

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Speaker 2: that Wookies in the Star Wars universe have every three years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like their Christmas. Yeah, they cele or their Quanta,

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Speaker 1: their tent.

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Speaker 2: Supposedly, it's sort of like Earth Day too. They celebrate

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Speaker 2: the diversity of their ecosystem and also remembrance of the dead,

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Speaker 2: and they also give the gifts. They're like the Finns basically. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's a very interesting part of the Star Wars cannon.

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Speaker 1: It is, and it's almost entirely made up, dashed off

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Speaker 1: you could possibly say, by George Lucas in the seventies. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and it's the basis of what has become derided as

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Speaker 1: like one of the worst things that ever happened to

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Speaker 1: the Star Wars galaxy.

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Speaker 2: Well, not only that, one of the worst things ever

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Speaker 2: aired on television. Yeah, with this galaxy. Yeah, at first

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Speaker 2: that sounds like hyperbole, like, come on, it's because it

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Speaker 2: was Star Wars and we had high expectations. But it's

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Speaker 2: really that bad. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: The people who say that haven't seen even a second

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Speaker 1: of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, However, I watched it when I was a

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Speaker 2: kid again this week. Yeah, and you watched it twice

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Speaker 2: this week.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I watched it last night and this morning.

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Speaker 2: There's something about it.

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Speaker 1: It's mesmerizing, it really is.

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Speaker 2: It's one of those things that you start watching it

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Speaker 2: and you want to turn it off, but you want

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Speaker 2: to see just how absurd it can get.

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Speaker 1: Almost Yeah, and it starts absurd, it stays absurd in

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Speaker 1: the middle. Yeah, it's increasingly more absurd, it's a little

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Speaker 1: less absurd, finishes super absurd.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. It's just a train wreck in every single sense

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Speaker 2: of the word, top to bottom.

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Speaker 1: It's extraordinarily difficult to overstate how bad this is. And

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Speaker 1: some people, you know, in researching this, you read about it,

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Speaker 1: you read descriptions of these things, and it just can't

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Speaker 1: possibly be gotten across until you see it. So luckily,

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Speaker 1: as we will see, you can go onto YouTube and

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Speaker 1: watch it, and you may even enjoy this episode more

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Speaker 1: if you pause, go spend two hours watching this thing,

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Speaker 1: and then come back and laugh along with us.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a great Over the years, there been many

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Speaker 2: segments of it on YouTube from badly DUBBEDVHS tapes, but

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Speaker 2: there's one really pretty good version of it in full,

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Speaker 2: brought to you by w HIO Dayton, Ohio, Channel seven, Ohio.

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Speaker 2: Because that flashes up on the screen periodically.

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Speaker 1: Man, it is high quality. Yeah, it looks good, and

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Speaker 1: it has to basically be the copy that the actual

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Speaker 1: affiliate broadcast. Yeah, it's like that, that quality compared to

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Speaker 1: the other stuff floating around on YouTube. It's clearly recorded

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Speaker 1: on a nineteen seventy eight PCR.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, which were really expensive.

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Speaker 1: Very expensive. I did some calculating on West Egg. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so the average VCR went for about one thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: There were brand new, it's amazing one.

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Speaker 1: Thousand dollars in nineteen seventy eight money, So they were

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Speaker 1: about thirty eight hundred dollars in twenty fourteen money.

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Speaker 2: Crazy.

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Speaker 1: Luckily, there were some rich people out there recording this stuff,

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Speaker 1: and the wealthy have saved us all again, yes, yet again,

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Speaker 1: as they always do.

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Speaker 2: Yes. And we need to shout out some articles that

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Speaker 2: we use for this. There's great a great article in

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Speaker 2: Vanity Fair called the Han Solo Comedy Our exclamation Point,

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Speaker 2: Yes by Frank de Jacomo. And then there's the Star

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Speaker 2: Wars Holiday Special was the worst thing on television ever

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Speaker 2: by someone we kind of know, Alex pasternakah from Motherboard, yeah,

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Speaker 2: which is not wired. It's vice. Yes, we wrote a

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Speaker 2: little bit for Motherboard back then and we had a

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Speaker 2: call with that.

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Speaker 1: We're like, we're like old Motherboard vets.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, basically, wasn't there one more?

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Speaker 1: There was another one and I don't know who wrote

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Speaker 1: this one, chuck, Yeah, it's the titles the Star Wars

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Speaker 1: Holiday Special. George Lucas wants to smash every copy of

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Speaker 1: with a sledgehammer.

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Speaker 2: Which was a famous quote supposedly at a convention by Lucas. Yes,

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Speaker 2: which is not correct. He didn't ever say that. No, Okay,

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Speaker 2: that sounded like something that people made up.

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Speaker 1: Yes, but if you go on the internet you will

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Speaker 1: quickly believe that he did.

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Speaker 2: Sure apparently didn't.

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Speaker 1: So I'm sure he felt that way though, clearly, you know,

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Speaker 1: because he did appear on Robot Chicken and I think

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Speaker 1: two thousand and five on the Therapist's Couch talking about

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Speaker 1: how much he hated.

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Speaker 2: The Spec show.

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Speaker 1: All right, so let's set the background, shall we Shall

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Speaker 1: we go back to nineteen seventy seven.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, summer getting the old wayback machine.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's do it. All right, here we are,

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Speaker 1: there's Waterson.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm just a little six year old excited about

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Speaker 2: Star Wars.

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Speaker 1: I am, I've just turned one.

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Speaker 2: Yes, you don't know what's up yet.

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Speaker 1: I please forgive me if I urinate myself, no problem.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So what has happened is Star Wars has become

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Speaker 2: a huge, huge hit, seemingly out of nowhere. Yeah, establishing

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Speaker 2: George Lucas is one of the brilliant young minds in filmmaking,

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Speaker 2: even though in his first movie it was his first huge,

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Speaker 2: huge breakout hit. Oh yeah, for sure.

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Speaker 1: I mean talk about a breakout hit like no one

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Speaker 1: had ever seen anything like it before. No, two thousand

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Speaker 1: and one had come out in the late six these,

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Speaker 1: but it wasn't it's still still is inaccessible to all audiences.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's kind of a cerebral film.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not an adventure movie. This was Star Wars.

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Speaker 1: This is like basically swashbuckling on the screen. But you know,

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Speaker 1: in a galaxy far far away, Star Wars just changed

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Speaker 1: everything and it came on just like a hammer.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and a new hope by the way, yes, and

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Speaker 2: then we're going to get stuff wrong, nerds. So yes,

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Speaker 2: just go ahead and get your little fingers ready to

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Speaker 2: email us.

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Speaker 1: Like if it wasn't driven home that I'm not a

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Speaker 1: nerd by the fact that I don't have opening night

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Speaker 1: tickets or any tickets yet, give me a break, and

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Speaker 1: by proxy Chuck too, Okay, thank you. So it's it's

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Speaker 1: hard to state how great Star Wars was in everyone's mind.

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Speaker 2: Yeah right.

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Speaker 1: Bill Murray came out with that lounge singer Star Wars thing. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was everywhere and if you if you just listen

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Speaker 1: to the lyrics of it, it's really it's just Bill

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Speaker 1: Murray singing about how much Star Wars is awesome.

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Speaker 2: Yeah right.

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Speaker 1: So by the following year, George Lucas was he wanted

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Speaker 1: to figure out a way to keep audiences just engaged

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Speaker 1: with the whole Star Wars franchise, so that he was

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Speaker 1: just starting to build, but he knew the Empire Strikes

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Speaker 1: Back was a couple more years out, sure, So I

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Speaker 1: think he was approached by some TV executives who said,

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Speaker 1: have you considered doing some sort of TV special? They're

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Speaker 1: all the rage right now. We have a graphic that's

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Speaker 1: really awesome that we set aside just for TV specials

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Speaker 1: here at CBS why don't you let us let's get

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Speaker 1: together and do a Star Wars special.

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Speaker 2: That's right. Producers Gary Smith and Dwight Hemi on we're

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Speaker 2: working over at CBS, and they say, this is a

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Speaker 2: great way to keep the spirit alive while you're making

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Speaker 2: your other movie. Maybe move some more toys.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, which George Lucas got a cut of all the toys.

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Speaker 2: Sure. So it was right before Thanksgiving, and he said

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Speaker 2: there'd be a lot of people watching TV pre holiday season,

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Speaker 2: or I guess in the holiday season.

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Speaker 1: The weekend before Thanksgiving, it's like everybody's shopping, sitting around

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Speaker 1: family like waiting to actually do stuff. That's right, perfect

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Speaker 1: time to broadcast something on TV.

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Speaker 2: So Lucas says, all right, let's do this. I don't

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Speaker 2: have a ton of time, but how about this. I'll

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Speaker 2: get I'll get a story together and then you can

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Speaker 2: go hire a whiz bang team of veteran writers and

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Speaker 2: producers and directors.

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Speaker 1: Whatever genre you think is appropriate. And those are the

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Speaker 1: words that will haunt George Lucas to his grave.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So Lucas said, here's my idea. I want it

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Speaker 2: to be based on Wookies, and I want it to

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Speaker 2: take place on their home planet of Kazuk or Wookie

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Speaker 2: planet C. Is that what he's saying, Kazuk. That's how

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Speaker 2: it's pronounced in the episode the Holiday Special, but it's

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Speaker 2: also pronounced different ways other times.

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Speaker 1: I would have pronounced that Cashie spell it k a

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Speaker 1: s h y y y k, which I mean, I

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Speaker 1: guess that sounds like Chewbuck is sure.

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Speaker 2: Also called G five six twenty three. Wookie planet ce

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Speaker 2: or Eedeon is a mid rim planet. Right.

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Speaker 1: So the whole reason apparently that George Lucas was interested

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Speaker 1: in featuring the Wookies was it is what we in

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Speaker 1: show business call low hanging fruit. The reason why it

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Speaker 1: was low hanging fruit was because they had just established

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Speaker 1: the different scenes that would make the cut for Empire

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Speaker 1: Strikes Back.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and how did you pronounce it again? Kazuk.

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Speaker 1: Kazuk had not made the cut. Even prior to this,

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Speaker 1: apparently for a new hope, George Lucas had whipped up

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Speaker 1: a forty page what's known as the Wookie Bible. It's

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Speaker 1: like a forty page supplement that's all about Kazuk and

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Speaker 1: Wookies and Chewbacca and his family and everything about wookiedom.

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Speaker 2: Right, that's right.

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Speaker 1: So he's like, I've got this thing already. You know

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Speaker 1: established I love Wookies. They didn't make the cut. I'm

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Speaker 1: a little sad about that. They're not gonna kazuk is

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Speaker 1: not going to show up in Empire Strikes Back. Let's

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Speaker 1: build the entire special around wookies. It's basically the one

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Speaker 1: demand me George Lucas has. Yeah, that's it. I'll be

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Speaker 1: totally hands off from this point on which.

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Speaker 2: He kind of was.

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Speaker 1: He totally was, And it was actually this experience that

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Speaker 1: apparently taught him to be the very hands on person

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Speaker 1: that he is famous for being. It came out of

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Speaker 1: this Christmas special.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely he was burned and he had an iron grip

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Speaker 2: after that on everything. So here's some of the folks

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Speaker 2: behind it. Bruce Valanche, famous TV writer. You probably had

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Speaker 2: seen him on Hollywood Squares.

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Speaker 1: Wasn't he suspected of being Thomas Pynchon for a while.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, or was Thomas Pynchon on Hollywood Squares?

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Speaker 2: I have no idea.

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Speaker 1: I may be confabulating some stuff confounding. Yeah, there's some

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Speaker 1: con of some sort going on.

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Speaker 2: It sounds like it. Yeah, So Valanche was hired as

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Speaker 2: a writer. A guy named Lenny Rips was hired as

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Speaker 2: a writer who.

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Speaker 1: Has some great quotes in that Vanity Fair article.

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Speaker 2: He does quote was, we were really excited because this

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Speaker 2: is Star Wars. How could it lose? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Famous last words?

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Speaker 2: Who else was hired? There was a husband and wife team,

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Speaker 2: the Welches. Yeah, who are the parents of folk singer

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Speaker 2: Gillian Welch, who I'm a big fan of And I

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Speaker 2: had no idea that her parents. They were producers slash

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Speaker 2: songwriters of the day. They were big on the variety

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Speaker 2: show scene, which would turn out to be a really

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Speaker 2: key cog in this whole experience.

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Speaker 1: So I feel like, write about here, Jerry should insert

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Speaker 1: a needle coming off of our record sound effect. Yeah, okay,

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Speaker 1: thanks Jerry, So Chuck, you just said singer songwriters.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, what would that have to do with Star Wars? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Well, actually, in this Star Wars Holiday special, for those

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Speaker 1: of you who hadn't seen it, there are musical numbers.

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Speaker 1: They decided from the outset that there should be musical numbers.

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Speaker 1: And the reason that they decided that there should be

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Speaker 1: musical numbers is because the people who sold George Lucas

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Speaker 1: and at the time it was the Star Wars Corporation

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Speaker 1: was what it was called.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: On the idea of doing this TV special was that

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Speaker 1: everyone would love.

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Speaker 2: A variety show. Yeah, it was the seventies.

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Speaker 1: Great idea, let's do a variety show. The problem was this,

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Speaker 1: apparently George Lucas didn't watch enough TV. Yeah, and he

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Speaker 1: also overly trusted people who talk to him. Sure, because

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Speaker 1: by nineteen seventy eight, yes, variety shows had dominated television

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Speaker 1: for over ten years, but it had come to an end.

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Speaker 1: It was getting stale.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're talking to Carol Burnett show, one of my favorites.

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Speaker 1: Had just been canceled after eleven seasons.

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Speaker 2: Ye, Big Red Flag, Sonny and Chaer had just had

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Speaker 2: its last season. Yeah, I mean what else, like he

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Speaker 2: was still going on.

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Speaker 1: Probably the KiHa still on Solid Gold had yet to

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Speaker 1: come on and take up the mantle.

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Speaker 2: That would never variety show.

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Speaker 1: No, it was a little bit there's talking in between

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Speaker 1: the songs.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Remember the Mandrell Sisters show.

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Speaker 1: I never watched that one. Well it was with that

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Speaker 1: country chic thing that happened.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a big deal in the it's kind

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Speaker 2: of happening again.

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Speaker 1: I think, Oh, because of that dude, the guy who

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Speaker 1: won all the CMA Awards.

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Speaker 2: I don't know.

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Speaker 1: He's like he's he came along and he's like, actually country.

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Speaker 1: His dad's like a coal miner for real from Kentucky.

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Speaker 2: I think I know you mean Chris something.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, he is good. He's come along and been like,

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Speaker 1: what are you guys doing?

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Speaker 2: Well, there's a revival in like good country music. Again,

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Speaker 2: that's great, like in the tradition of Merle Haggard and

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Speaker 2: show Cash.

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Speaker 1: And I guess that's probably where the country she came from,

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Speaker 1: because there was actually good country going on.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Johnny Cash out of a variety show? Did he really?

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I knew they did, like a Sunday singing

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Speaker 1: thing like out in Virginia.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he had his own variety show was actually pretty good.

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Speaker 2: There's some like really great performances.

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Speaker 1: Do you know how many nerds are like, get back

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Speaker 1: to Star Wars?

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Speaker 2: I know, I'm so sorry. All right, So the Variety

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Speaker 2: Show is dying sort of, and so they figure, what

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Speaker 2: a great time to take the biggest movie property on

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Speaker 2: the planet and wedge it into the variety show milieu.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if wedge is the right word. I

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Speaker 1: think maybe nestle it in there and then start hitting

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Speaker 1: it with the blunt edge of an axe until it

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Speaker 1: mashes into that Crevis. You know that's right, because this

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Speaker 1: is the time when Fantasy Island had just started Morecamindi

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Speaker 1: was about to change things. Charlie's Angels was getting huge.

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Speaker 1: It basically television as we knew it from nineteen eighty

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Speaker 1: to whenever the real world came along. Just escape ast

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Speaker 1: television is what they called. It was starting and it

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Speaker 1: was the hip new thing. So basically, if they had

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Speaker 1: turned Han Solo and Princess Leah and Luke Skywalker into

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Speaker 1: maybe you know, sexy detectives, it might have gone over

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Speaker 1: even better. But they went the other way. They decided

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Speaker 1: to latch onto this extraordinarily stale genre of television, and

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Speaker 1: they hired the best in the business.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Like, there was a quote from I think Lenny Rips

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Speaker 1: who was saying, like we had literally a dream team, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: a variety show dream team, and everybody was good. But

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Speaker 1: there were probably no bad welders on the Titanic either.

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Speaker 2: That's a great quote. Yeah. The guy they hired to

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Speaker 2: direct it initially was a dude named David at Coomba

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Speaker 2: and he had made his name for Welcome to the

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Speaker 2: Fillmore East. It was a concert documentary with Van mor

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Speaker 2: Van Morrison and the Birds in nineteen seventy one, and

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Speaker 2: he actually was at usc Film School the same time

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Speaker 2: as Lucas, even though they didn't know each other, and

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Speaker 2: he only ended up directing about three segments of the

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Speaker 2: thing before he quit, yep, before he walked off. Some

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Speaker 2: say he was actually let go, but we'll get to

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Speaker 2: him in a minute and who replaced him. Okay, as

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Speaker 2: we get along down this gross road, well.

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Speaker 1: Let's take a little break because I'm overly excited.

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Speaker 3: Okay, softly jaws.

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Speaker 2: All right, So we've established most of the main players.

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Speaker 2: We'll get to a few more. We should point out

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Speaker 2: that Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, they.

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Speaker 1: Had no grounds to refuse to be on this.

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Speaker 2: Basically, yeah, pretty much. They were not huge, huge stars,

365
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Speaker 2: yet they could throw their weight around and say this

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Speaker 2: is terrible and I'm not doing it.

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Speaker 1: They were big overnight because of Star Wars, for sure,

368
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Speaker 1: but they weren't to the adoring public.

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Speaker 2: Sure.

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Speaker 1: Back at the studio they could still be bossed around,

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Speaker 1: and this was the result of it. And you can

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Speaker 1: tell also just from watching the actual special, like Harrison

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Speaker 1: Ford is not happy to be there at any point.

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Speaker 1: Oh no, Princess Leiah is clearly on drugs.

375
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Speaker 2: Was she on drugs at this point?

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Speaker 1: If you watch it, she's on drugs. Especially the ending scene,

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Speaker 1: Mark Hambell.

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Speaker 2: Looks like he's happy to be there. Actually he was.

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Speaker 1: Fine, but apparently he said no, I'm not doing a

380
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Speaker 1: musical number. And if you watch his part, wedging a

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Speaker 1: musical number in there would have been even more painful. Sure,

382
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Speaker 1: but everybody who was part of the actual Star Wars

383
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Speaker 1: franchise that wasn't wearing like a full body costume, yeah,

384
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Speaker 1: was like I really wish I wasn't here, And you can.

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Speaker 2: Tell, oh yeah. In fact, in the opening credit sequence,

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Speaker 2: they're showing the picture the you know, the faces of

387
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Speaker 2: the people, and you see Harrison Ford as if he's

388
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Speaker 2: flying the Millennium Falcon, and you can you can just

389
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Speaker 2: hear the guy all screen going, now look at the

390
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Speaker 2: camera and just give a nod. Just look at the

391
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Speaker 2: camera and give a nod. And he finally you can

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Speaker 2: tell he's pissed off and he looks up at the

393
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Speaker 2: camera and just sort of smirks.

394
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Speaker 1: Yeah and points at the camera like okay, I'm looking

395
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Speaker 1: at the camera, and then goes back to what he's doing.

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Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome.

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Speaker 2: It felt bad for him so early on Valanche and others.

398
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Speaker 1: Did you feel bad for him?

399
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Speaker 2: Though? Really?

400
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,240
Speaker 1: I mean, like, come on, it's Harrison for it's Hans Solo.

401
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,560
Speaker 1: He has to go do this for like five days.

402
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I felt terrible for him.

403
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Speaker 1: I think it's hilarious that they had to do this,

404
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:18,560
Speaker 1: especially now.

405
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Speaker 2: Well, early on, Valanche and others knew that they may

406
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,400
Speaker 2: be in trouble because they decided not to subtitle any

407
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,880
Speaker 2: of the Wookie dialogue right and they literally started after

408
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,439
Speaker 2: a brief opening scene setting it up here. Here's the

409
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,560
Speaker 2: basic plot is Han Solo is trying to get Chewbacca

410
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,680
Speaker 2: back to Kazuok in time for Life Day so he

411
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,960
Speaker 2: can celebrate with his family. That's the basis of the

412
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Speaker 2: entire two hours I see, basis the entire two hours.

413
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Speaker 2: They encounter a space battle and they're delayed, and the

414
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,560
Speaker 2: next two hours are kind of what's going on while

415
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,320
Speaker 2: the delay is happening.

416
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Speaker 1: Back on Kazuk. Back on Kazuk, because you hear like, oh, okay, well,

417
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Speaker 1: Han Solo and Chewbacca evading the Imperial Guard and all

418
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Speaker 1: that stuff for two hours. I would watch that, Sure,

419
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,240
Speaker 1: I would too. Yeah, that's not what they show.

420
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Speaker 2: Killing time at the Wookie household, that is what they show. Yeah,

421
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:11,600
Speaker 2: that's what they do.

422
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,679
Speaker 1: It's people hanging out waiting for Chewbacca, worrying about him. Yeah,

423
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,320
Speaker 1: and then killing time while they wait for him to

424
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Speaker 1: come back.

425
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 2: Yeah.

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00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,200
Speaker 1: Literally, so and so hold on, So you say there's

427
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 1: a setup.

428
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,879
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, that's the initial setup.

429
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Speaker 1: And then chuck, that's followed by this.

430
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's followed by literally ten minutes, ten solid minutes

431
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 2: of incomprehensible Wookie speak.

432
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Speaker 1: So let's let's join it for a second, shall we. Yeah,

433
00:21:39,440 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 1: let's all enjoy it. And again, you said ten minutes,

434
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: and you're not exaggerating, you're not being hyperbolic. You can

435
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,240
Speaker 1: time it. That's it's ten minutes of Wookie's talking to

436
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: each other with no subtitles.

437
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 2: Fortunately, I couldn't follow it at first, Like I didn't

438
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,399
Speaker 2: even know who it was. I thought it might have

439
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,920
Speaker 2: been Chewbacca's mom and dad. Oh yeah, that's and little brother. Sure,

440
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,359
Speaker 2: And I don't find out until later when Mark Camill

441
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 2: shows up via skype call and says he really explains

442
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 2: everything that had just happened, Like, you're Chewbacca's father, Itchy,

443
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 2: your cub, his son Lumpy Lumpy yeah, and you are

444
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,000
Speaker 2: Chewbacca's wife. Oh, Mala, yeah, thank you.

445
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 1: So before everybody starts like freaking out, we know that

446
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 1: that's actually their nicknames. Their real names are. His father

447
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 1: is a Tichik cook, a Titchik cook.

448
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 2: It's really hard to pronounce.

449
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: Mulatto Buck is his wife, and his son is Lumpo

450
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:25,080
Speaker 1: or ump but.

451
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,360
Speaker 2: As named by Lucas. But yeah, but.

452
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,320
Speaker 1: Lucas also named him Lumpy Itchy and Mala yeah. So

453
00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,440
Speaker 1: they're all back there wringing their hands trying to figure

454
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,680
Speaker 1: out ways to pass the time until they get word

455
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,680
Speaker 1: from Chewbacca that he's made it to uh what is it?

456
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 1: Ketchukuk Kazuk. Say ketchup, ketchup or cats up if you're fancy.

457
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,720
Speaker 1: But Chewbacca is having trouble getting back to Kochuk because

458
00:23:55,200 --> 00:24:00,880
Speaker 1: there's Kazuk, because there's a blockade by them and they're

459
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 1: looking for rebels, specifically Chewbacca, who I didn't realize this.

460
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,440
Speaker 1: He's the most famous Wookie of all did you know that?

461
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course I didn't know that. Well, I mean

462
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 2: he's the only one that really appears in the movies, right,

463
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:12,440
Speaker 2: I mean.

464
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're seeing, like, you know, these people's view of

465
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 1: the universe. What about back on Kazook.

466
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, he might have just been a fly by night wookie, right, Yeah,

467
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,119
Speaker 2: but not the case very famous wookie.

468
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he really loved to like soak in his fame.

469
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,639
Speaker 2: All right, So he realizes there's a problem Valanche. He

470
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,520
Speaker 2: goes to Lucas and is like, I don't know, man,

471
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,439
Speaker 2: this is your world, but it may not be the

472
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,919
Speaker 2: strongest thing to do to set this in Wokieland and

473
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 2: have all this comprehensible dialogue. And he says he was

474
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,160
Speaker 2: met with a glacial stare.

475
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,400
Speaker 1: Well he put it a little differently than that.

476
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:51,720
Speaker 2: Well, he said glacial stare. He did.

477
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,480
Speaker 1: The glacial steir that he got was for this quote.

478
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 1: He said, these people just talk and what sounds like

479
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: fat people having an organic Yeah. He goes, if you want,

480
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,560
Speaker 1: you can set up a tape recorder in my bedroom

481
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 1: and I'll do all of the follying it for it.

482
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 2: Yeah. He's a large guy.

483
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,000
Speaker 1: He is. So that's what got the glacial stare. But

484
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,359
Speaker 1: Valanche later said that from this there was one development

485
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,120
Speaker 1: meeting that Lucas attended, and it was here's the Wookie Bible,

486
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 1: tell me what you got. And Valanche said he and

487
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,000
Speaker 1: the other writers and producers and director were just kind

488
00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 1: of throwing ideas, and George Lucas would either say like, no,

489
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: that doesn't work, give him a glacial stare, or say, yes,

490
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,560
Speaker 1: that's exactly it. Yes, let's make this a variety show.

491
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, And there was a little bit of background there.

492
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 2: The cantena players in the band had appeared on other

493
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 2: variety shows at that point, and I think it went

494
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 2: over fairly well, just as a short segment on like

495
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 2: the Richard Pryor Variety Show or Donnie Marie yep Man.

496
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 2: There were a lot of variety shows.

497
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,480
Speaker 1: But that's what I'm saying. That was television. That's what

498
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 1: you did. Like the Bradys. The show had its course

499
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,679
Speaker 1: and then it became a variety show. It was just

500
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: everybody loved variety shows.

501
00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 2: Yeah.

502
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: By this time, though, everybody was sick of variety shows, right,

503
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:14,879
Speaker 1: and so it really was a terrible choice.

504
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 2: In fact, they even hired a couple of writers from

505
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,119
Speaker 2: Shields and Yarnell, which I hadn't heard of I do.

506
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I watched it. It was at least creepy.

507
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,920
Speaker 2: This mind couple who had their own variety show, and

508
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,400
Speaker 2: they figured these two will be great because they are

509
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,399
Speaker 2: used to working without words.

510
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,399
Speaker 1: Right, and so there is a certain logic to the

511
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: variety show. It's not just all the p's just that

512
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,120
Speaker 1: variety shows were popular.

513
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 2: Yeah.

514
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 1: At the time, somebody was like, well, wookies, you don't

515
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:44,879
Speaker 1: understand what they're saying. So this is all going to

516
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 1: be very physical. So these people who who did what

517
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,200
Speaker 1: is it Shields and Yarnell. Yeah, that's a perfect choice.

518
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,840
Speaker 1: That makes complete sense. You can see this whole this

519
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,239
Speaker 1: whole process of leading up to the point where it

520
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:01,439
Speaker 1: was produced and shot and everything. Yeah, a series of like,

521
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: oh we have this problem, well here's a fix. Yeah,

522
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 1: well but that leads to another problem. Well we'll fix

523
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: it with this. And no one's stepping back and being like,

524
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 1: all we've done is create a series of problems that

525
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: are going to come together and make one extraordinarily large

526
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,280
Speaker 1: problem that will become legendary. No one did that, and

527
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,400
Speaker 1: so the whole thing was made.

528
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,920
Speaker 2: That's right, and It eventually airs on.

529
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 1: November seventeenth, nineteen seventy eight, a Friday, at eight pm

530
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:29,880
Speaker 1: Eastern time.

531
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 2: That's right, and according to Nielsen ratings, it attracted thirteen

532
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 2: million viewers lost the second hour.

533
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 1: Just in the US. It aired in six or seven

534
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 1: countries total.

535
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, but no one cares about that, I guess not

536
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 2: because none of those are on the internet. You know.

537
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,359
Speaker 2: It finished second to the Love Boat in the second

538
00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 2: ar I'm sorry, from eight to nine, and in the

539
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 2: next hour actually finished behind part two of a mini

540
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 2: series about Pearl Harbor starring Angie Dickinson. So yeah, it

541
00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,959
Speaker 2: didn't even win their respective hours.

542
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 1: No, thirteen million, that's not bad. The thing is, apparently,

543
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,439
Speaker 1: if you look at the Nielsen ratings graph for the

544
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 1: first hour.

545
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,600
Speaker 2: Yeah we know about that graph, It's okay, yeah, we do.

546
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,600
Speaker 1: And then after a very important part, which we'll talk

547
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 1: about soon, it just drops off at the end of

548
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: the first hour, and that actually probably made the executives

549
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,200
Speaker 1: at CBS cringe for a number of reasons. Number one

550
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,880
Speaker 1: is this special was originally supposed to just be an hour,

551
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,880
Speaker 1: but so many advertisers wanted to sign one that they

552
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:36,680
Speaker 1: extended it to two hours. And it shines through. You

553
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 1: can totally tell that this thing was never supposed to

554
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,240
Speaker 1: I think an hour might have been stretching it to

555
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,280
Speaker 1: tell you the truth. Oh yeah, it's thirty minutes of content,

556
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 1: forty if you're generous, an hour and then two hours.

557
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,239
Speaker 1: It becomes one of the worst things that was ever

558
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: put on television.

559
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:54,960
Speaker 2: All right, well, let's take a break and then we'll

560
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 2: talk a little bit more about the actual even don't

561
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 2: want to call it content, but it is content in

562
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 2: the strictest definition. Right after this.

563
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 3: Staffy jawsh shop.

564
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 2: All right, so the show itself, we've given you the

565
00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 2: main plot line, which again is that Chewy is trying

566
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 2: to get back to his home planet to celebrate life

567
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 2: Day with his family.

568
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 1: Right, that's it, And again we almost barely see Chewy.

569
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 2: Yeah.

570
00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:46,200
Speaker 1: The rest is his family on Kazook waiting for him

571
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 1: to come back for a life Day.

572
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 2: Yeah. So some of the various things they did there

573
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 2: were guest stars. There was Harvey Korman from the Carol

574
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,360
Speaker 2: Burnett Show. Okay, one of my all time favorites.

575
00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: Him or Carol Burnett Show both. He's great. Yeah, he

576
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 1: actually if you watch what he's doing, like.

577
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 2: This is sure. Apparently he too was like the only

578
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 2: one on set that was bringing levity. He was joking

579
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,320
Speaker 2: around and kind of kept spirits up. Good for him,

580
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:12,280
Speaker 2: that's what I say.

581
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,840
Speaker 1: And he had three different parts.

582
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, he played uh well, I don't even know the names. Actually,

583
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 2: we could look him up, but he played a h

584
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,560
Speaker 2: He played a Julia child like cook. There's an actual

585
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 2: cooking segment, a long one, a very long cooking segment

586
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 2: where Chewbacca's wife makes banthas stew.

587
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,920
Speaker 1: To kill some time, to kill some time on her

588
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: planet and in our living room.

589
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Harvey Corman is in drag is a four

590
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 2: armed Julia childlike TV chef right, And I think it's Gormanda.

591
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,479
Speaker 2: It's her name, Gormonda. That makes total sense. Yeah, he

592
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 2: also plays There's this one weird bit where Chewbacca's son

593
00:30:58,040 --> 00:30:59,960
Speaker 2: tries to figure out a way to trick the story

594
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 2: or troopers that the Empire had come and kind of

595
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,920
Speaker 2: because the blockade raided the house and other properties. So

596
00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 2: he tries to trick them by I think, rigging a

597
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,080
Speaker 2: calm link to speak in a different voice. So he

598
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:18,160
Speaker 2: has to watch the instruction manual. He watches an instruction

599
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 2: video which was Harvey Kytel as a robot.

600
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 1: Oh, it would have been wonderful of big Harvey Kyel.

601
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 2: Oh I did say Harvey Harvey Korm.

602
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 1: Oh Man Harvey kit Tell murders someone in the middle

603
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 1: of the instruction.

604
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 2: Rad Harvey Korman. And then the final role he had

605
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:39,120
Speaker 2: was as a bar patron in the cantina that drinks.

606
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,560
Speaker 2: He has a hole in the top of his head

607
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,200
Speaker 2: like a volcano where he pours his drinks in. That's

608
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,600
Speaker 2: how he drinks. And he loves b Arthur. Did we

609
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 2: mention b Arthur was in it?

610
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: B Arthur is not only in it, Chuck. She sings

611
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 1: a song.

612
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 2: She does she is the unpronounce to everyone she manages

613
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,480
Speaker 2: or maybe owns the owner.

614
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's the mas What ma def cantina?

615
00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:05,000
Speaker 2: No, most def is a rapper? Oh yeah, think you

616
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 2: mean Moss Eisley.

617
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that cantina. She's the owner. Be Arthur is

618
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,160
Speaker 1: the owner be Arthur of the Golden Girls, but in

619
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 1: this case be Arthur of Maud, because, as one of

620
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 1: the people who wrote one of the articles we based

621
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,640
Speaker 1: this on points out, she's just basically playing Maud as

622
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,000
Speaker 1: the owner of the cantina.

623
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:26,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, and her song comes because they basically say there's

624
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,880
Speaker 2: a lockdown, so you gotta call last call at your bar.

625
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,240
Speaker 2: So she calls last call by singing a song to everyone.

626
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:37,280
Speaker 1: Right, and again, we can't possibly have the script lead

627
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,080
Speaker 1: anywhere else but Chewbacca's house while his family waits for it.

628
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 1: So all this takes place as part of a public

629
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: service announcement basically broadcast by the Empire about how immoral

630
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,240
Speaker 1: life on Tattooin is. So let's go see what's going

631
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,560
Speaker 1: on in the mos Eisley Cantina as it's being shut

632
00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:58,600
Speaker 1: down for curfew.

633
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:04,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, this is incomprehensible, but it goes on.

634
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 2: So they're in it. There's also Art Carney. Yes, he's

635
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 2: the Honeymooner family, the star of the whole thing.

636
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 1: Really, he has the most lines, I would say, the

637
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 1: most comprehensible line, right.

638
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,600
Speaker 2: Yeah. So he plays a trader, a human trader that

639
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 2: is recently been with Han, Solo and Chewy and actually

640
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,080
Speaker 2: gets to Kazook and says they're on the way. It's

641
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,520
Speaker 2: all good. Yeah, a trade or not trade tour. Yeah,

642
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 2: traders and trades humans for you know, money.

643
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,320
Speaker 1: No, he he sells goods. Yeah, a trader he doesn't

644
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 1: trade humans. Yeah, he's in the human trade.

645
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 2: He No, he isn't.

646
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,160
Speaker 1: Really, Yeah, he trades humans like he sells humans.

647
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,400
Speaker 2: I looked it up in the Star Wars Encyclopedia said

648
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 2: that he was in the human trade. Huh.

649
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: So in this Christmas special, Yeah, apparently they sanitized his

650
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 1: background because he's basically just selling like gadgets and novelties

651
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,640
Speaker 1: and stuff like that to the Wookies and the Empire

652
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 1: who were occupying the area.

653
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:07,760
Speaker 2: Yes, he comes bearing gifts.

654
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he's a friend of Chewbac's family.

655
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he comes bearing gifts. One of the gifts

656
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:17,240
Speaker 2: he gives is a sort of like a little digital

657
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:21,239
Speaker 2: insert to a Oh, I guess you would call it

658
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:26,120
Speaker 2: a virtual reality hair dryer hair dryer, like a beauty

659
00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:26,839
Speaker 2: shop hair dryer.

660
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 3: Right.

661
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 2: He gives it to Grandpa Itchy. Grandpa Itchy sits under

662
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 2: this hair dryer, pops in this digital cassette, and it

663
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,440
Speaker 2: can only be described as soft core porn.

664
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 1: Apparently, the writers who were interviewed for this said that

665
00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 1: was totally the intent. They were trying to get what

666
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,480
Speaker 1: amounted to soft core porn that would pass the sensors.

667
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:50,120
Speaker 2: That's right.

668
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:55,040
Speaker 1: So it's all. You can't even say it's innuendo. It's

669
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:59,240
Speaker 1: too obvious an overt for innuendo. Instead, it's just it's

670
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:05,440
Speaker 1: just it's just gross. It's really gross. Diane Carroll, great singer,

671
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 1: Yes she is a Vegas staple, shows up and starts

672
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 1: basically tantalizing Grandpa Itchy again. This is Chewbacca's elderly father

673
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,760
Speaker 1: who now engages in some sort of well he's watching

674
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:25,320
Speaker 1: virtual reality pornography now, and this is a pretty lengthy

675
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 1: segment in and of itself.

676
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,920
Speaker 2: Well yeah, and she literally says to him, like, now

677
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:34,279
Speaker 2: I can see you're really excited. Yeah, it's pretty rough

678
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,600
Speaker 2: to watch. Yeah, so then you've got another musical.

679
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:41,920
Speaker 1: Number because also again he shudders, Yeah, it's really strange.

680
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,680
Speaker 2: All right. So there's also a I know, it seems

681
00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:48,400
Speaker 2: like we're jumping around, but it's it's so mind blowing.

682
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 1: Like this is pretty much like blow for blow.

683
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,480
Speaker 2: Actually I forgot earlier on in the In the special,

684
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 2: there's one of my favorite sequences is when Grandpa Itchy

685
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,080
Speaker 2: goes over to Lumpy and basically sets up remember the

686
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,720
Speaker 2: hologram chess board that they played in A New Hope,

687
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,360
Speaker 2: basically kind of sets that up and says, here, just

688
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 2: play this. He pushes the button which is clearly a

689
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:19,480
Speaker 2: nineteen seventies cassette recorder, and another like it's like a

690
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:26,600
Speaker 2: circ desole acid trip gymnast routine happens in front of

691
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,719
Speaker 2: the kid's eyes. And again this all just it's not

692
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 2: like it shows a snippet. They show the entire segments,

693
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,440
Speaker 2: like five, six, ten minutes long. Sure of all of

694
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:35,960
Speaker 2: these things.

695
00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 1: So you would think, Okay, they've gone to this hologram

696
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:42,080
Speaker 1: well a couple of times, why not go to it again?

697
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,080
Speaker 1: Well they do. They do to kill more time while

698
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:51,080
Speaker 1: the Imperial Guard is ransacking their house. Art Carney apparently,

699
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,840
Speaker 1: I guess it's trying to get one of the Imperial Guard,

700
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 1: the leader, I think, or one of the leaders.

701
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 2: Who looks like somebody from Spaceballs, by the way.

702
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,400
Speaker 1: Very much so, And the writer of the Vanity Fair article,

703
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:06,440
Speaker 1: by the way said this is so incomprehensible. The specialist

704
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,120
Speaker 1: George Lucas didn't even have the schwartz with him at

705
00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:15,320
Speaker 1: the time. So anyway, our Carney's distracting this Imperial leader

706
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:21,240
Speaker 1: while they're ransacking the Wookies house, Chewbacca's house with a hologram.

707
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 1: In this hologram, instead of being an acrobat or Diane

708
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 1: Carroll or any kind of porn or anything like that,

709
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:32,960
Speaker 1: is Jefferson Starship. And they decide that they're going to

710
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:36,360
Speaker 1: play Light the Sky on Fire, which apparently is about UFOs.

711
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,640
Speaker 1: It's a little music video basically, it's a Yeah, it's

712
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,600
Speaker 1: the predecessor to like video kill the radio story you

713
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:48,320
Speaker 1: can tell. And again it is the whole lengthy song.

714
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:49,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, the whole thing.

715
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:53,400
Speaker 1: So every time that somebody's like we need to escape

716
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,760
Speaker 1: mentally from what's going on here in our house, let's

717
00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:00,440
Speaker 1: go into the video world, it's not just and they

718
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,399
Speaker 1: don't cut back and forth. No, it's okay, here's five

719
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: minutes of Jefferson Starship performing this song.

720
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, And even the Jefferson Starship guys were like, yeah,

721
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:12,920
Speaker 2: it's sort of a weird trip, like we didn't get it,

722
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 2: but we did it right.

723
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:18,120
Speaker 1: They gave us some money, yeah, and some cocaine. Well,

724
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 1: so we said, yeah, chuck. I think though, there yet

725
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:28,200
Speaker 1: another segment like this is actually widely regarded as the

726
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,680
Speaker 1: high point of the whole thing. Oh sure, great, there

727
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:34,279
Speaker 1: is a cartoon actually, yeah, that Lump Lumpy watches. Yeah,

728
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,640
Speaker 1: Lumpy's like the Imperial Guard is still ransacking my house.

729
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: I think I'll entertain myself by watching a cartoon on

730
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:43,719
Speaker 1: my little I.

731
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:44,239
Speaker 2: Don't know what.

732
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 1: I guess it was an iPad and he watches this

733
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 1: cartoon and it's it's actually remarkable for a number of reasons.

734
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:53,760
Speaker 1: It's the best part of the whole special.

735
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:57,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, generally agreed upon as such, right, not just us.

736
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 1: And it introduces Boba Fett time Boba fet ever makes

737
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:02,880
Speaker 1: an appearance in the Star Wars universe.

738
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's actually not a bad And you can't find

739
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,920
Speaker 2: it in the the one version I told you to watch.

740
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,960
Speaker 2: They removed it for copyright, but you didn't watch a separate.

741
00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:12,359
Speaker 1: Version, right, you can find it on its own.

742
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's it's very much reminiscent of like the

743
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:17,400
Speaker 2: cartoon style of the day, like a he Man or

744
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:18,120
Speaker 2: something for.

745
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:22,200
Speaker 1: Sure, even even it's even a little more artsy than that.

746
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:24,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, But it does have a plot that you can

747
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 2: follow that makes sense as a Star Wars thing, and

748
00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 2: it introduces Boba fet like you said, and it's actually

749
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 2: not bad. It's like Luke and R two.

750
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,759
Speaker 1: And C three po Yeah, and they're like they crash

751
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:36,680
Speaker 1: on a planet or something.

752
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Han and where you're in it. And it's

753
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:40,279
Speaker 2: the first time we see in Darth Vader. It's the

754
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,480
Speaker 2: first time we see Boba Fett and that he is

755
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,560
Speaker 2: that he is just doing whatever he can do for money,

756
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,000
Speaker 2: Like Luke trusts him at first, ce three bos like,

757
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,680
Speaker 2: you're sure you should trust him this quick? Yeah, and

758
00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:54,920
Speaker 2: he's like, oh, three po you in your non trusting ways.

759
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:56,960
Speaker 2: And then it turns out he's selling them out to

760
00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:57,800
Speaker 2: the dark side.

761
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,880
Speaker 1: So it's it's basically Boba fet as an allegory for

762
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:06,600
Speaker 1: George Lucas himself. So the cartoon comes and goes, and

763
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:08,879
Speaker 1: that was the thing that came at about the end

764
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:12,840
Speaker 1: of the first hour mark and after that everybody just

765
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:14,840
Speaker 1: turned off their television sets.

766
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't remember. Did you watch this when it

767
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:18,440
Speaker 2: came up?

768
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:18,680
Speaker 3: Yeah?

769
00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:21,520
Speaker 2: I remember watching it, but I don't remember much about it,

770
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,480
Speaker 2: Like if I made it through it all. I mean

771
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,480
Speaker 2: it was I was seven and it was on till ten,

772
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:27,880
Speaker 2: so I probably didn't make it through it all. Yeah,

773
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,400
Speaker 2: Plus you're probably disturbed. Who knows, I just remember that.

774
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 2: I'll have to ask my brother. He might have a

775
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:34,080
Speaker 2: memory of this.

776
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:37,400
Speaker 1: Oh Betty does. I'm sure he met everybody afterward or

777
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 1: something like that. You know, it has a picture.

778
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 2: Well, he was ten at that point, so cynicism had,

779
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,120
Speaker 2: you know, become a thing in his life. Probably all

780
00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,080
Speaker 2: right by then, Sure didn't that when centicism kicks into

781
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,720
Speaker 2: Jenkinsie Scott holding out to fourteen fifteen, Yeah, maybe so

782
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:53,440
Speaker 2: so Chuck, the whole.

783
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,840
Speaker 1: Thing finally does in. And actually there's a guy. His

784
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,840
Speaker 1: name is Nathan Raven, he writes over at the av Club.

785
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:01,120
Speaker 1: He had a great quote. He basically said that one

786
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:04,840
Speaker 1: of the great redeeming values of this this special is

787
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:06,000
Speaker 1: that it does eventually end.

788
00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what the first part of the quote is,

789
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,560
Speaker 2: I'm not convinced the special wasn't ultimately written and directed

790
00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 2: by a sentient bag of cocaine.

791
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,560
Speaker 1: And like, go read his review of the Star Wars

792
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,640
Speaker 1: Holiday Special, because he goes on to describe exactly what

793
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:21,360
Speaker 1: that must.

794
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:21,600
Speaker 2: Have been like.

795
00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, development meeting where the bag of cocaine is pacing

796
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,920
Speaker 1: back and forth talking about what should happen.

797
00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:28,279
Speaker 2: That's what it feels like.

798
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:30,280
Speaker 1: But it doesn't, and it ends.

799
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:32,640
Speaker 2: Even more.

800
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 1: It takes this bizarre two hours and wraps it up

801
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:37,040
Speaker 1: in just a nice bizarre bow.

802
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,520
Speaker 2: Yeah. So what happens is eventually Han Solo should we

803
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:45,200
Speaker 2: say spoiler alert, Eventually Han Solo and Chewy make it

804
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:47,600
Speaker 2: to the planet. They park on the far side of

805
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,640
Speaker 2: the planet because they know the Imperial forces are there.

806
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 1: And the exercise will do Chewy good.

807
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:55,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, so they have to hike over there. They eventually

808
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:59,040
Speaker 2: make it back home. They find a storm the Stormtroopers

809
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 2: at their house, their tree hut. Yeah, which way the

810
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,560
Speaker 2: paintings that set this up, I don't think we mentioned

811
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,400
Speaker 2: I don't even call him Matte paintings. It looks like

812
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,120
Speaker 2: someone painted something on the wall and they just like

813
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 2: put a camera in front of it. Pretty much. Yeah.

814
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:19,959
Speaker 2: So they get back and Chewbacca Han Solo hides around

815
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,360
Speaker 2: the corner. Chewbacca steps in front of his son to

816
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:27,480
Speaker 2: protect them. Sure, Han Solo jumps out, and the stormtrooper

817
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,000
Speaker 2: trips over a pile of logs and falls over the

818
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,960
Speaker 2: balcony and dies. In a holiday special. So they wouldn't

819
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:37,520
Speaker 2: even not only could he not shoot first with Gredo,

820
00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:41,440
Speaker 2: but they couldn't even have him like wrestle the stormtrooper

821
00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 2: and throw him off. He trips over a log.

822
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 1: And Han Solo has his hands thrown up like wasn't me?

823
00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:49,960
Speaker 2: It might have been a banana peel, you know.

824
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:57,279
Speaker 1: But again, this is basically produced by Vodvillians starring vaudevillians.

825
00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,839
Speaker 1: Why not have the one death take place from base?

826
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:03,360
Speaker 1: What amounts to somebody slipping on a banana peel exactly,

827
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,960
Speaker 1: It's a perfect way to end it. So that's that

828
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:10,200
Speaker 1: guy basically represents the end of the imperial threat for

829
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: the rest of Life Day. And we then see Life

830
00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:19,080
Speaker 1: Day being celebrated, which is celebrated by lots of wookies

831
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 1: assembling in what looks like a giant Olin Mills portrait,

832
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:30,239
Speaker 1: and all of them are wearing red robes. And I

833
00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:32,600
Speaker 1: know I'm up talking, and it's because my mind is

834
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:37,240
Speaker 1: still having trouble like wrapping around us. And then Princess

835
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:41,360
Speaker 1: Leah comes out with C three po is Mark Hamill.

836
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:43,120
Speaker 2: There, the whole gang Zerophone, Okay, the.

837
00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:45,520
Speaker 1: Whole gangs there, And then they all gather around to

838
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,560
Speaker 1: hear a great quote from Princess Leah which we will

839
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:51,400
Speaker 1: read verbatim.

840
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,560
Speaker 2: This holiday is yours, but we all share with you

841
00:43:55,719 --> 00:43:58,240
Speaker 2: the hope that this day brings us closer to freedom

842
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:01,880
Speaker 2: into harmony and to peace. No matter how different we appear,

843
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:04,560
Speaker 2: we're all the same in our struggle against the powers

844
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,040
Speaker 2: of evil and darkness. I hope that this day will

845
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:09,520
Speaker 2: always be a day of joy in which we can

846
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 2: reconfirm our dedication and our courage, and more than anything else,

847
00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,400
Speaker 2: our love for one another. This is the promise of

848
00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:18,880
Speaker 2: the Tree of Life Q song.

849
00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:21,279
Speaker 1: Right, And we should also point out the Tree of

850
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:22,879
Speaker 1: Life has never been mentioned.

851
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:24,440
Speaker 2: Up to this point. I had no idea whether it.

852
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:26,759
Speaker 1: Takes a sudden appearance at the end. And when you

853
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,320
Speaker 1: said Q song, by Q song, you mean Princess Leah

854
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:31,360
Speaker 1: starts singing.

855
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, And apparently that was one of the big contingencies

856
00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:38,040
Speaker 2: on Carrie Fisher being involved. Yeah, she's going through a

857
00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:39,760
Speaker 2: phase where she was like, I kind of like singing.

858
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: Bruce Valanche calls it her Joni Mitchell period.

859
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, and she somehow convinced them to let her sing

860
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:47,440
Speaker 2: as Princess Leah. And she does.

861
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:51,120
Speaker 1: And again I've said that she looks like she's on drugs.

862
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:52,960
Speaker 1: This is the point where she really does look like

863
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,040
Speaker 1: she's on drugs. And it's not just me other writers

864
00:44:56,040 --> 00:45:00,600
Speaker 1: who've written reviews of this, it's really obvious that she

865
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:05,080
Speaker 1: possibly smoked a decent amount of pot before she shot

866
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:09,680
Speaker 1: this shot this scene, but she sings, Okay, it's fine,

867
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:14,520
Speaker 1: it's just the fact that Princess Leia is singing. And actually,

868
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,359
Speaker 1: Bruce Falanche had a really great quote too. He says

869
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:20,360
Speaker 1: that she very much wanted to show this side of

870
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:23,359
Speaker 1: her talent, and there was general dismay because this was

871
00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:26,200
Speaker 1: not what we wanted Princess Lea to be doing. Yeah,

872
00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:28,880
Speaker 1: she did it anyway. So the whole thing ends with

873
00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:31,520
Speaker 1: her singing this song about life day oh yeah, which

874
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,319
Speaker 1: is set loosely to the John Williams Star Wars theme.

875
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:40,919
Speaker 2: Yeah. So along the way, the director original director quit,

876
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,759
Speaker 2: A new director, Steve Binder, was hired to finish the

877
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:47,080
Speaker 2: job and bring it in, and he did over the

878
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:51,120
Speaker 2: original one million dollar budget. Of course, always he did

879
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:54,960
Speaker 2: bring it in and at this point George Lucas said

880
00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 2: he was working on Empire Strikes Back. He didn't know

881
00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:01,719
Speaker 2: what was going on. He wasn't around for the shoot. No,

882
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:03,920
Speaker 2: it wasn't until it aired. I think that he actually

883
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:07,640
Speaker 2: saw it. Yes, and it was a travesty obviously, if

884
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:11,239
Speaker 2: you haven't noticed that by now. Critics hated it Star

885
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:12,799
Speaker 2: Wars fans really hated it.

886
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:15,239
Speaker 1: Everybody, the people who were in it hated it.

887
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:16,400
Speaker 2: Lucas hated it.

888
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,759
Speaker 1: Even Harvey Korman secretly hated it.

889
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:22,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, even Harvey Keitel hated it. Actually he loved it.

890
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,920
Speaker 2: But Lucas has been asked over the years about it

891
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:28,440
Speaker 2: a lot, and he doesn't talk about it much. But

892
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:30,400
Speaker 2: in two thousand and five, and I don't buy this

893
00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 2: for a second, he says it was an interview He

894
00:46:33,719 --> 00:46:37,120
Speaker 2: said especial from nineteen seventy eight. I really didn't have

895
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:39,479
Speaker 2: much to do with us. You know that part is true.

896
00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:41,759
Speaker 2: I can't remember what network it was even on, but

897
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:44,719
Speaker 2: it was a thing that they did. That's a lie.

898
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:46,959
Speaker 2: There's no way he doesn't know. That was CBS. Yeah,

899
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:49,840
Speaker 2: we kind of just let them do it. I believe

900
00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:52,359
Speaker 2: that it was done by I can't even remember who

901
00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:55,200
Speaker 2: the group was, but there were variety TV guys. I'm

902
00:46:55,200 --> 00:46:57,839
Speaker 2: sure he remembers a few of them. We let them

903
00:46:57,920 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 2: use the characters and stuff, and that probably wasn't the

904
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:02,399
Speaker 2: smartest thing to do, but you learn from those experiences.

905
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:03,040
Speaker 1: Yeah.

906
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:06,480
Speaker 2: I think they even use some of the footage from

907
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:09,080
Speaker 2: the movie at the end. It looks like some of

908
00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:10,600
Speaker 2: the space like a highlight reel.

909
00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:12,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Gang.

910
00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:15,600
Speaker 2: Well, and during the it looked like some of the

911
00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:19,279
Speaker 2: they had some insert shots of like Imperial cruisers and

912
00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 2: tie fighters and stuff.

913
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:23,960
Speaker 1: That, yeah, likes from remember when when Chewbacca like leans

914
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,200
Speaker 1: back and puts his hands behind it. Yeah, yeah, that's

915
00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:28,480
Speaker 1: in there. It's it's like a just a highlight reel

916
00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:30,839
Speaker 1: from the movie. Saying like I feel like this, go

917
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:31,479
Speaker 1: see the movie.

918
00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:34,160
Speaker 2: Well, and also that means it doesn't match the look

919
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 2: of the rest of it at all.

920
00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:35,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true.

921
00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:36,680
Speaker 2: It's just sort of inserted.

922
00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:41,160
Speaker 1: They tried, They definitely tried. And George Lucas is totally

923
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,600
Speaker 1: full of it, because in nineteen eighty seven he told

924
00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:46,640
Speaker 1: star Log magazine that the Christmas Special would be out

925
00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:48,520
Speaker 1: on video cassette very soon.

926
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,080
Speaker 2: Yes, And in two thousand and seven, two.

927
00:47:51,080 --> 00:47:52,880
Speaker 1: Years after that quote, you just read where he's like,

928
00:47:52,880 --> 00:47:56,080
Speaker 1: I don't even know what you're talking about. Basically, he

929
00:47:56,160 --> 00:48:00,239
Speaker 1: apparently considered releasing The Christmas Special as a bone us

930
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:05,760
Speaker 1: on the DVDs of the first three.

931
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:07,839
Speaker 2: Right, but did not didn't And apparently Carrie Fisher told

932
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:12,759
Speaker 2: Lucas that, if you want me to do DVD extras commentary, Yeah, commentary.

933
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:16,680
Speaker 2: Then I want a clean original copy of the Holiday Special? Yes,

934
00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:20,520
Speaker 2: so why go ahead so I can play at parties

935
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:23,919
Speaker 2: what I want people to leave. It's pretty great.

936
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:27,640
Speaker 1: It is so and there is one of those clean

937
00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:30,239
Speaker 1: copies is floating around out there, so you can watch

938
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:34,000
Speaker 1: this in its entirety. Some of it, like the cartoon,

939
00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 1: was removed due to copyright infringement and that kind of stuff,

940
00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 1: but as the case with the rest of the Internet,

941
00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:42,440
Speaker 1: you can just go find it elsewhere and piece it together.

942
00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:46,839
Speaker 1: There's also the original ads that aired in Baltimore.

943
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:50,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, that are just fascinating. Yeah.

944
00:48:50,080 --> 00:48:52,680
Speaker 1: Those are always fun GM ads where one of the

945
00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:55,920
Speaker 1: guys who's in quality control is he says, did you

946
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:56,319
Speaker 1: watch it?

947
00:48:56,719 --> 00:48:57,640
Speaker 2: I don't think I saw that one.

948
00:48:57,680 --> 00:49:00,320
Speaker 1: He goes, we really care about these cars. That's no

949
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:04,520
Speaker 1: jibe man on a GM and he's like, it's serious.

950
00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:05,640
Speaker 2: Oh they're trying to be hip.

951
00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:08,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty good stuff.

952
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:13,080
Speaker 2: Here's my final thought on it. I love it. It

953
00:49:13,120 --> 00:49:15,600
Speaker 2: does not taint my Star Wars experience or my love

954
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,520
Speaker 2: for the franchise. Okay, and I'm glad it is out

955
00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:23,680
Speaker 2: there because it's a it's a fun little stain that

956
00:49:23,719 --> 00:49:28,200
Speaker 2: shouldn't be taken too seriously. I think it adds to

957
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:31,719
Speaker 2: it actually, because it's campy and awful. Yeah, and I

958
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,040
Speaker 2: don't know somehow that enriches the rest of it. I'm

959
00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:36,839
Speaker 2: with you, you like it? Oh?

960
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:39,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I watched it twice. I wouldn't watched

961
00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:40,680
Speaker 1: it a second. I wouldn't have made it through the

962
00:49:40,719 --> 00:49:44,200
Speaker 1: first time. Let me take that back, as I'm a pro. Yeah,

963
00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:45,560
Speaker 1: so I would have made it through the first time.

964
00:49:45,560 --> 00:49:47,520
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have watched it the second time if I wasn't.

965
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:49,800
Speaker 1: There wasn't something about it, and I figured out. I

966
00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:51,760
Speaker 1: think the thing that I like the most about it

967
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:56,040
Speaker 1: is Lumpy, Chewbacca's son, Yeah, played by an actress named

968
00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:59,919
Speaker 1: Patty Maloney, who frankly is hands down the best act

969
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:04,240
Speaker 1: in the entire thing. She like her responses and everything

970
00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:05,880
Speaker 1: is just awesome.

971
00:50:06,080 --> 00:50:09,640
Speaker 2: I think my favorite parts are, well, there's a great

972
00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:13,200
Speaker 2: Wilhelm scream. Yes that's troop for trips over the law.

973
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:14,600
Speaker 1: Jerry would not have noticed it.

974
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:19,040
Speaker 2: And then there's a part where all the wikie dialogue

975
00:50:19,040 --> 00:50:22,359
Speaker 2: you can't understand, but there's clearly one part where where

976
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:26,319
Speaker 2: Itchy and Lumpy are having exchange where Lumpy you can

977
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:29,479
Speaker 2: make it out goes I love you. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

978
00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 2: but it's covered up. But someone was like, we have

979
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 2: to have at least one exchange where you sort of

980
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:35,560
Speaker 2: know what they're saying.

981
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:38,080
Speaker 1: Sure, or they were like, I think she has said

982
00:50:38,080 --> 00:50:40,000
Speaker 1: I love you. Should we have them redo it? And

983
00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:43,359
Speaker 1: the director's like, no, I want to go and Chuck.

984
00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:45,360
Speaker 1: There's one other thing that I figured out from watching this.

985
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:48,840
Speaker 1: What's that it's not readily apparent the whole thing is

986
00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:52,160
Speaker 1: made all the more odd, and that there's situation after

987
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:56,920
Speaker 1: situation after situation where we, as normal audiences, were trained

988
00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,399
Speaker 1: to expect the laugh track, but there's not a laugh track. Yeah,

989
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:03,560
Speaker 1: and there's been a laugh track. Yeah, it might have

990
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:08,240
Speaker 1: been less bizarre. Yeah, but the fact that it's missing

991
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:11,480
Speaker 1: just makes your agitates the mind. So it's this whole

992
00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:13,359
Speaker 1: additional element that it is weird.

993
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:15,360
Speaker 2: I never thought about that. There's just weird moments of

994
00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:16,279
Speaker 2: silence all throughout it.

995
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:18,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, like when Art Carney's doing his thing.

996
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:19,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm telling jokes.

997
00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:22,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, I agree with you, Chuck.

998
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:24,640
Speaker 2: Don't take things too seriously. I think that's the great

999
00:51:24,680 --> 00:51:27,120
Speaker 2: lesson in this. Yeah, and then the Lesson of Life

1000
00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:30,239
Speaker 2: day it is and in two thousand and seven, Riff

1001
00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:34,960
Speaker 2: tracks a great Mystery science Theater. Three thousand guys Mike Nelson, BILLL. Corbett,

1002
00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:39,480
Speaker 2: and Kevin Murphy provided audio commentary for the full version

1003
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:42,520
Speaker 2: of the special. So try and go grab that if

1004
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:43,960
Speaker 2: you can as well. Oh you can, it's on their

1005
00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:45,840
Speaker 2: site because it's great. I think it's like eight bucks

1006
00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:47,160
Speaker 2: and those guys are awesome.

1007
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:53,520
Speaker 1: And yeah, at least I think Corbett listens to us. So, hey, Corbett,

1008
00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:58,600
Speaker 1: you got anything else? No, No, I think we did this.

1009
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:01,720
Speaker 1: There's some good stuff. Go read the Vanity Fair article

1010
00:52:02,239 --> 00:52:05,279
Speaker 1: Han Solo Comedy Hour. There's a book called How Star

1011
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:07,760
Speaker 1: Wars Conquered the Universe that has a very interesting chapter

1012
00:52:07,800 --> 00:52:10,000
Speaker 1: about this. That's where we found it asserted that George

1013
00:52:10,040 --> 00:52:12,160
Speaker 1: Lucas never said that he would smash this thing with

1014
00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:16,280
Speaker 1: a sledgehammer, right, And there's also an entire website dedicated

1015
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:19,640
Speaker 1: to it, Star Wars Holidayspecial dot com. Yeah, and if

1016
00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:22,480
Speaker 1: you want to know more about the Star Wars Holiday Special,

1017
00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:25,040
Speaker 1: we have a ton of hart Star Wars stuff on

1018
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:25,840
Speaker 1: how stuff works.

1019
00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:28,200
Speaker 2: By the way, Yeah, we have cool, sort of fun

1020
00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,040
Speaker 2: articles about the Death Star and Lightsabers.

1021
00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:33,520
Speaker 1: Videos with the Holly Fry from Stuff You missed a

1022
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:34,240
Speaker 1: history class?

1023
00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:36,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, who, she knows her stuff. She does.

1024
00:52:37,120 --> 00:52:39,120
Speaker 1: So you can just type Star Wars in the search

1025
00:52:39,120 --> 00:52:40,600
Speaker 1: bar at how stuff works dot com and it will

1026
00:52:40,600 --> 00:52:42,839
Speaker 1: bring up some cool stuff for you. Since I said

1027
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:44,560
Speaker 1: search bar, it's time for listener mail.

1028
00:52:47,120 --> 00:52:50,080
Speaker 2: Hey guys, just finished listening to the Voyage Manuscript podcast.

1029
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:53,320
Speaker 2: Found it's super interesting, especially the theories on its definition

1030
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:56,000
Speaker 2: or origin. I no Josh mentioned Chuck Siery, but being

1031
00:52:56,040 --> 00:52:59,080
Speaker 2: drug induced is somewhat surprising or even unlikely, given the

1032
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:03,600
Speaker 2: language and the manuscript follows linguistic laws only founded in

1033
00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:06,200
Speaker 2: the past one hundred years. But if you think about it,

1034
00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:10,360
Speaker 2: it's a tough. It's tough to stray away from familiar structures,

1035
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:12,920
Speaker 2: especially for something like language. I think back to when

1036
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:15,600
Speaker 2: I was younger and friends invented their own languages, or

1037
00:53:15,640 --> 00:53:18,640
Speaker 2: even in writing a song or poetry. Creativity can sometimes

1038
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:21,640
Speaker 2: be limited by what we know, So just thought I

1039
00:53:21,719 --> 00:53:24,600
Speaker 2: contribute that to the conversation. Nice. Thanks big, thanks for

1040
00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,480
Speaker 2: all you guys do. I found the podcast after moving

1041
00:53:26,520 --> 00:53:29,120
Speaker 2: to San Diego in the last few years for some

1042
00:53:29,239 --> 00:53:34,280
Speaker 2: noise around my apartment, so basically we were blocking out noise.

1043
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:37,640
Speaker 2: We do that w JE love and then as a

1044
00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:39,680
Speaker 2: way to get through traffic on my commute home from work.

1045
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,280
Speaker 2: You guys are far more interesting and enjoyable than television

1046
00:53:42,280 --> 00:53:44,719
Speaker 2: and YouTube videos. I'm sure I've listened to hundreds and

1047
00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:47,640
Speaker 2: we'll continue to listen to hundreds more. Keep on Keeping on.

1048
00:53:48,239 --> 00:53:50,040
Speaker 2: That is from Amy Jay Muffett.

1049
00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:53,040
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot, Amy in San Diego. Does that mean

1050
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:58,880
Speaker 1: like place of the whales in German or something like that? Yeah, yeah,

1051
00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:01,160
Speaker 1: I want to get in touch of this. You can

1052
00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:03,200
Speaker 1: tweet to us at s y s K podcast. You

1053
00:54:03,239 --> 00:54:05,279
Speaker 1: can join us on Facebook, dot com slash Stuff you

1054
00:54:05,280 --> 00:54:07,280
Speaker 1: Should Know. You can send us an email the Stuff

1055
00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:10,120
Speaker 1: podcast at how Stuffworks dot com. As always joined us

1056
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:11,960
Speaker 1: at our home on the web, Stuff you Should Know

1057
00:54:12,040 --> 00:54:15,280
Speaker 1: dot Com.

1058
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:18,279
Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

1059
00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:22,560
Speaker 2: more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

1060
00:54:22,640 --> 00:54:24,520
Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.