WEBVTT - SYSK Selects: The Star Wars Holiday Special of 1978 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:04.400 Hello everybody. It's that time of year again for our 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:08.360 new annual tradition. This is the second year we're doing it, 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:13.080 of releasing our episode on the horrible, Terrible Star Wars 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.920 Christmas Special. By goodness, I am making this a holiday 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:20.119 tradition and I'm cramming it into our s y s 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:24.880 K Selects feed yet again. So enjoy getting the Christmas spirit. 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:31.680 Happy life day, everybody. Welcome to Stuff you should know 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:40.559 from how Stuff Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:45.000 the podcast. I'm Josh Clark with Charles W. Chuckers Bryant 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:52.000 and Jerry Jerome Roland. Uh. Who's the Wookie mother? Yeah? Mala? 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.560 That was the Wookie wife. Oh and mother? Yeah? Sure, 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:01.280 Chewbacca's momb is not with them Anymonger she left, she 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.400 was not about to appear in that. She went out 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:07.760 the window. I'm excited about this. I have to say 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.120 we should say Happy Star Wars Day. Yeah. Today is 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:17.119 um December. Um, I have my opening night tickets? Do 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:23.760 you really sure? Wow? You know? I do you into it? Oh? Yeah, 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:25.720 well I will definitely go see it in the theater, 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:28.840 but um, why won't be the opening night? Sure? I've 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:33.559 gotten really adept at like, ignoring spoilers, people talking about 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.839 stuff all like, so I can I could conceivably see 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:40.520 this movie a month after it comes out and still 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:45.800 going fresh. It's I'm an ostrich. Yeah you black yourself out, Yeah, 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:50.200 you go dark? Do I make myself go to sleep face? 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.520 You go to the dark side. I've been there a 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.360 while now. Uh well, Happy Star Wars Day though, I'm 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:59.760 sure that I think this pairs nicely with Christmas Star 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.200 Wars Day. It's all come together. Yes, Um, we already 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.640 missed Life Day though, so happy belated Life Day. Are 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.040 they celebrating it this year? November? Yeah? But it's every 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:16.160 three years? Mm hmm our cane man job. Okay, so 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.840 it's every three years. Started in nineteen seventy eight. Let's 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:24.520 do the math, shall we? Mm hmmm, quick math break. 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:28.960 I believe that two thousand fourteen was the last Life Day. 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.200 May we just missed and then again in twenty seventeen. Okay, 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.200 so seventeen we'll celebrate Life Day. We'll put on our 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:41.000 red robes, are ultralong, straight ironed wigs, and we'll celebrate 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.200 Life Day the way it was meant to. Yes, And 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.440 if you have no idea what we're talking about We 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:50.480 are talking about Life Day, which is a celebration, uh 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.000 that Wookies in the Star Wars universe have every three years. Yeah, 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:59.839 it's like their Christmas or the Kanza, their tent supposedly 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.200 sort of like Earth. They two. They celebrate the diversity 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:06.239 of their ecosystem and also remembrance of the dead, and 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:09.360 they also give gifts. They're like the Finns basically. Yeah, 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.079 it's a it's a very interesting part of the Star 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.480 Wars canon. It is, and it's almost entirely made up, 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.600 dashed off you could possibly say, by um, George Lucas 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:24.880 in the seventies, um, And it's the basis of what 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.800 is become derided as like one of the worst things 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.440 that ever happened to the Star Wars galaxy. Well, not 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:35.000 only that, one of the worst things ever aired on television. Yeah, 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.720 this galaxy. Yeah, at first, that sounds like hyperbole, Like, 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.120 come on, it's because it was Star Wars. We had 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.360 high expectations. But it's really that bad. Yeah. The people 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.880 who say that haven't seen even a second of it. Yeah. Yeah, however, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.240 I watched it, uh when I was a kid. Then 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:56.200 again this week, and you watched it twice this week. Yeah, 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.880 I watched it last night and this morning. There's something 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.760 about it. It's as morizing, it really is. It's one 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:05.240 of those things that you start watching it and you 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:07.720 want to turn it off, but you want to see 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.680 just how absurd it can get. Almost Yeah, and it 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:14.760 starts absurd, it stays absurd in the middle, it's increasingly 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:19.240 more absurd, it's a little less absurd, finishes super absurd. Yeah, 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.000 it's just a train wreck in every single sense of 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:26.240 the word. Talk to bottom. It's extraordinarily difficult to overstate 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:28.919 how bad this is. And some people you know, in 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.000 researching this, you read about it, you read descriptions of 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:36.080 these things, and it just can't possibly be gotten across 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.680 until you see it. So luckily, as we will see, 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.560 you can go onto YouTube and watch it, and you 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.640 may even enjoy this episode more if you pause, go 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:48.880 spend two hours watching this thing, and then come back 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.520 and laugh along with us. Yeah, there's a great Over 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.080 the years, there have been many segments of it on 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:58.239 YouTube from badly dub VHS tapes, but there's one really 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.919 pretty good version of it in full um brought to 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.120 you by W. H. I. O. Dayton Ohio Channel seven 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.440 because that flashes up on the screen periodically. Man, it 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:13.520 is high quality. It looks good, and it has to 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:18.760 basically be the copy that the actual UM affiliate broadcast. Yeah, 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.520 it's like that, that quality compared to the other stuff 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:26.320 floating around on YouTube, clearly recorded on a R which 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.400 we're really expensive, very expensive. I did some calculating on 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:33.080 west Egg UM, so the average VCR went for about 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:35.800 a thousand dollars. There were brand new it's amazing thousand 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:37.839 dollars in nineteen seventy eight money, so they were about 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:41.839 thirty eight hundred dollars in two thousand fourteen money. Luckily, 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.000 there were some rich people out there recording this stuff, 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:48.479 and the wealthy have saved us all again yet again, 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:51.920 as they always do. Uh. We need to shout out 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.080 some articles that we use for this. There's great a 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:57.800 great article in Vanity Fair called the Han Solo Comedy 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:03.040 Our exclamation Point by Frank did Jacomo. And then there's 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:05.599 the Star Wars Holiday Special was the worst thing on 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.960 television ever by So when we kind of know Alex 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:13.520 Pasternak uh from Motherboard Yeah, which is uh not wired, 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:17.280 it's uh vice. We wrote a little bit for Motherboard 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:19.120 back then, and we had a call with that, like 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:23.279 we're like old motherboard vets basically, and was there one more? 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:25.919 There was another one and I don't know who wrote 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.960 this one chuck. Uh, yeah, it's the titles the Star 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.120 Wars Holiday Special. George Lucas wants to smash every copy 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:37.080 of with a sledgehammer, which was a famous quote, uh 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.839 supposedly at a convention by Lucas, Yes, which is not correct. 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.480 He didn't ever say that. No, okay, that that sounded 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:45.960 like something that people made up. Yes, but if you 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.840 go on the internet you will quickly believe that he did. 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.279 Apparently didn't, So I'm sure he felt that way though, clearly, 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.800 because he did appear on Robot Chicken and I think 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.400 two thousand five on the Therapist Couch talking about how 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.880 much he hated the special. Alright, so let's set the background, 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.760 shall we shall we go back to summer, getting the 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:14.360 old way back machine. All right, let's do it. All right, 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.520 here we are, there's Waterson. Yeah, I'm just a little 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:21.320 six year old excited about Star Wars. I am, I've 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:23.800 just turned one. Yes, you don't know what's up yet. 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:28.320 I please forgive me if I urinate myself, no problem. Okay. 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:31.360 Uh so what has happened is Star Wars has become 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:36.520 a huge, huge hit, seemingly out of nowhere, establishing George 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.520 Lucas is one of the brilliant young minds in filmmaking. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.920 Even though it in his first movie, it was his first, huge, 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.680 huge breakout hit. Oh yeah, for sure, talk I mean 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.080 talk about a breakout hit like no one had ever 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.160 seen anything like it before two thousand one had come 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:55.400 out in the late sixties. But it wasn't it's still 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.400 it still isn't accessible to all audiences. You know, it's 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:01.200 kind of cerebral film. Yeah, it's not an adventure movie. 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.600 This was This is like basically swashbuckling on the screen, 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.120 but you know, in a galaxy far far away. Star 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:10.120 Wars just changed everything and it came on just like 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.440 a hammer um and a new hope. By the way, yes, 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:16.280 and then then we're going to get stuff wrong, nerds, 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:18.679 So yes, just go ahead and get your little fingers 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.320 ready to email us. Like if it wasn't driven home 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:23.080 that I'm not a nerd by the fact that I 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.200 don't have opening night tickets or any tickets yet. Give 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:30.840 me a break and by proxy chuck to Okay, thank you. So, um, 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:36.040 it's it's hard to stay how great Star Wars was 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.120 in everyone's mind, right. Bill Murray came out with that 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.080 lounge singer Star Wars thing. It was everywhere and if 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:44.079 you if you just listen to the lyrics of it, 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.199 he's really it's just Bill Murray singing about how much 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:53.680 Star Wars is awesome. Right. So, by the following year, Um, 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.360 George Lucas was he wanted to figure out a way 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.520 to keep audiences just engaged with the whole Star Wars 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.920 franchise that he was just starting to build. But he 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.200 knew the Empire Strikes Back was a couple more years out, 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:10.040 so um he I think he was approached by some 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.560 TV executives who said, have you considered doing some sort 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:17.120 of TV special? They're all the rage right now. We 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.360 have a we have a graphic that's really awesome that 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.400 we set aside just for TV specials here at CBS. 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.600 Why don't you let us let's get together and do 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.680 a Star Wars special. That's right. Producers Gary Smith and 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:34.160 Dwight Himmi on, Uh, We're working over at CBS, and 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.240 they said, this is a great way to keep the 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.319 spirit alive while you're making your other movie. Maybe move 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:44.439 some more toys. Yeah, which George Lucas got to. So 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.040 it was right before Thanksgiving, and he said, there'll be 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.640 a lot of people watching TV um pre holiday season, 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.720 or I guess in the holiday season. Well, the weekend 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.600 before Thanksgiving, it's like everybody's shopping, sitting around family like 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.960 waiting to actually do stuff. That's perfect time to broad 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.040 cast something on TV. So Lucas says, all right, let's 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.560 do this. I don't have a ton of time, but 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.760 how about this. I'll get I'll get a story together, 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.559 and then you can go hire a whiz bang team 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:16.040 of veteran writers and producers and directors whatever genre you 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.559 think is appropriate. And those are the words that will 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:22.960 haunt you, George Lucas to his grave. Yeah, so Lucas said, 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.920 here's my idea. I wanted to be based um on Wookiees, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.640 and I wanted to take place on their home planet 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.559 of Kizuk or Wookie planet. See is that how you 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:37.440 say Kazuk. That's how it's pronounced in the episode the 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:41.760 Holiday Special, but it's also pronounced different ways. Other times 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.040 I would have pronounced that Cashi e E got spell 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:50.360 it k a s h y y y K, which 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.559 I mean, I guess that sounds like Chewbuck is planet 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:56.920 sure also called G five Wookie planets see or Eaton 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.360 is a mid rim planet. Right. So the whole reason 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:03.720 apparently that George Lucas was interested in featuring the Wookies 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.280 was it is what we in show business call low 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.360 hanging fruit. The reason why it was low hanging fruit 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:14.160 was because they had just established the different scenes that 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:18.880 would make the cut for Empire Strikes Back and uh, 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.240 what how did you pronounce it? Again? Kazook had not 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.880 made the cut. Uh. Even prior to this, apparently for 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.199 a new hope, George Lucas had whipped up a forty 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.640 page what's known as the Wookie Bible. It's like a 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:35.800 forty page supplement that's all about Kazook and Wookies and 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:40.559 Chewbacca and his family and everything about Wookie Doom. Right, 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.160 So he's like, I've got this thing already, you know 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.920 established I love Wookies. Um, they didn't make the cut. 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.400 I'm a little sad about that. They're not gonna Kazuok 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:51.680 is not gonna show up in an Empire strikes back. 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:56.280 Let's let's build the entire special around wookies. It's basically 0:11:56.280 --> 0:12:00.440 the one demand me George Lucas has. That's I'll be 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:02.880 totally hands off from this point on which you kind 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.960 of was. He totally wasn't It was actually this experience 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.840 that apparently taught him to be the very hands on 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.440 person that he is famous for being. It came out 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.040 of this Christmas special. Absolutely he was burned, and um 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.719 he had an iron grip after that on everything. So 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.520 here's some some of the folks behind it. Bruce Valanche, 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:26.360 famous TV writer. You've probably seen him on Hollywood Squares. 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.319 Wasn't he suspected of being Thomas pinch On for a while? 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.960 I don't know, or was Thomas pinch On on Hollywood Squares? 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:38.280 I have no idea. I may be confabulating some stuff confounding. Yeah, 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.160 there's some kind of some sort going on. It sounds 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.160 like it. So Valanche was hired as a writer. A 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:48.080 guy named Lenny Rips was hired as a writer who 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.160 has some great quotes in that Vanity Fair article he does. 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.800 His first quote was, we were really excited because this 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:58.880 is Star Wars. How could it lose famous last words? 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.600 Who else was sired? There was a husband and wife team, 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:08.440 the welch Is, who are the parents of folk singer 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:11.520 Gillian Welch. I'm a big fan of and I had 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:15.160 no idea that her parents. They were producers slash songwriters 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.640 of the day. They were big on the variety show scene, 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.240 which would turn out to be a really key cog 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.600 in this whole experience. So I feel like, right about here, 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:28.280 Jerry should insert a needle coming off of a record 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:33.480 sound effect. Okay, thanks Jerry, So Chuck, you just said 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:36.480 singer songwriters. Yeah, what would that have to do with 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:41.120 Star Wars? Yeah? Well, actually, in this Star Wars holiday special, 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.240 for those of you hadn't seen it, there are musical numbers. 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:47.760 They decided from the outset that there should be musical numbers. 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:50.040 And the reason that they decided that there should be 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.400 musical numbers is because the people who sold George Lucas 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.000 and at the time it was Star the Star Wars 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.520 Corporation was what it was called um On. The idea 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.839 of doing this TV special was that everyone would love 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.520 a variety show. Yea, it was the seventies. Great idea, 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:08.560 let's do a Variety Show. The problem was this, Apparently 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.920 George Lucas didn't watch enough TV, and he also overly 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:16.960 trusted people who talked to him because by yes, variety 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:22.160 shows had dominated television for over ten years, but it 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.280 had come to an end. It was getting stale. Yeah, 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.720 we're talking to Carol Burnett show. One of my favorite 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:31.280 had just been canceled after eleven seasons, Big Red Flag, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.760 Sonny and Chair had just had its last season. Um, 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.200 I mean what else, like he Hall was he? I 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:42.400 was still going on, probably still on solid golden yet 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.840 to come on and take up the mantel that that 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:48.120 would variety show. Oh, it was a little bit and 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.239 there was talking in between the songs. Remember the Mandrell's 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:54.600 Sister show. I never watched that one. Well, it's with 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:58.120 that country chic thing that happened. Yeah, it was a 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.120 big deal in the it's kind of happening a in 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.720 I think, Oh, because of that dude, the guy who 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.280 won all the c m A Awards. I don't know, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.320 he's like he's he came along. He's like actually country. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:13.120 His dad's like a coal miner for real from Kentucky. 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:15.840 I think I know you mean Chris something. Yeah, he's 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.080 he is good. He's come along and been like, what 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.120 are you guys doing? Well, there's a revival in like 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.400 good country music again. That's like in the tradition of Merle, 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.000 Haggard and Cash. And I guess that's probably where the 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.920 Country Sheet came from, because there was actually good country 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.880 going on. Yeah, Johnny Cash out of Variety Show? Did 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.000 he really? Yeah? I knew they did, like a Sunday 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.120 singing thing like out in Virginia. Yeah, he had his own. 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.240 Variety Show is actually pretty good. There's some like really 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.760 great performances. Do you know how many nerds are like, 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:45.520 get back to Star Wars? I know, I'm so sorry. 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.720 All right, So the Variety Show is is dying sort of, 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.240 and so they figure, what a great time to take 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.840 the biggest movie property on the planet and wedge it 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:59.280 into the Variety Show milieu. I don't know if wedge 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.200 is the right word. I think maybe uh, nestle it 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:05.320 in there and then start hitting it with the blunt 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.120 edge of an axe until it mashes into that crevice. 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.560 You know. Because this is the time when Fantasy Island 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:16.520 had just started. Um Mork and Mindy was about to 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:21.080 change things Charlie's Angels was getting huge. It basically television 0:16:21.120 --> 0:16:25.480 as we knew it from two whenever the real world 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.680 came along. Just escape as television is what they called 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.280 it was was starting and it was the hip new thing. 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.280 So basically, if they had turned Han Solo and Princess 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:38.360 Leiah and Luke Skywalker into maybe you know, sexy detectives, 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.400 it might have gone over even better. But they went 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.480 the other way. They decided to latch onto this extraordinarily 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:49.600 stale um genre of television and they hired the best 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.120 in the business, like there was there was. There was 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:54.120 a quote from I think Lenny RiPPs who was saying, 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:58.080 like we had literally a dream team, a variety show 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:02.480 dream team, and everybody was good. But there were probably 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.760 no bad welders on the Titanic. He there. That's a 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.480 great quote. Yeah. The guy they hired to direct it 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.840 initially was a dude named David A. Coomba, and he 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.880 had made his name for Welcome to the Fillmore East. 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:17.639 It was a concert documentary with Van Mortrison, Van Morrison 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:20.639 and the Birds in nine one, and he actually was 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.399 at usc Film School at the same time as Lucas. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.600 Even though they didn't know each other, and um, he 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.640 only ended up directing about three segments of the thing 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.440 before he quit. Yet before he walked off, some say 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:35.080 he was actually let go, but we'll get to him 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.840 in a minute and who replaced him. As as we 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:41.160 get along down this uh gross road, well, let's let's 0:17:41.320 --> 0:18:06.879 take a little break because I'm I'm overly excited. Okay, alright, 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.600 so we've established most of the main players. We'll we'll 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:13.040 get to a few more. We should point out that, um, 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:18.280 Mark hamill And and Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.280 they had no grounds to refuse to be on this basically, yeah, 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.280 pretty much. They were not huge, huge stars, yet they 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:28.280 could throw their weight around and say this is terrible 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:30.320 and I'm not doing it. They were. They were big 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.040 overnight because of Star Wars, for sure, but they weren't 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.640 to the adoring public back at the studio. They could 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.199 still be bossed around. And this is the result of it. 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.119 And you can tell also, um, just from watching the 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:48.159 actual special, like Harrison Ford is not happy to be 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:53.480 there at any point. Um, Princess Leiah is clearly on drugs. 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:57.960 Uh was she on drugs at this point? She? If 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:00.960 you watch it, she's she's on drugs, Especially the ending 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.359 scene Mark Campbell, it was looks like he's happy to 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:07.200 be there. Actually he was fine, but apparently he said no, 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.399 I'm I'm not doing a musical number. And if you 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.400 watch his part, wedging a musical number in there would 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:18.320 have been even more painful. Um. But they everybody who 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.000 was part of the actual Star Wars franchise that wasn't 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:25.160 wearing like a full body costume was like, I really 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.600 wish I wasn't here, And you can tell, oh yeah. 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:31.200 In fact, in the opening uh credit sequence, they're showing 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.760 the picture that you know, the faces of the people, 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:36.760 and you see Harrison Ford as if he's flying the 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:38.960 Millennium Falcon, and you can you can just hear the 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.560 guy off screen going now look at the camera and 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.600 just give a nod. Just look at the camera and 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:45.760 give a nod. And he finally you can tell he's 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:47.679 piste off and he looks up at the camera and 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.000 just sort of smirks yeah and points at the camera 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:51.920 like okay, I'm looking at the camera, and then goes 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.800 back to what he's doing. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. I 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.719 felt bad for him so early on Valanche and others 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:00.000 did you did you feel bad for him? Though? Really? 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.880 I mean, like, come on, it's Harrison Ford's Hans Solo. 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:07.840 He has to go do this for like five days. Yeah, 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:10.600 I felt terrible for him. I think it's hilarious that 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.679 they had to do this, especially now. Well, early on, 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:15.840 Valanche and others knew that they may be in trouble 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:20.440 because they decided not to subtitle any of the Wookie dialogue, 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.840 and they literally started after a brief opening scene setting 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.800 it up here. Here's the basic plot is, Han Solo 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.960 is trying to get Chewbacca back to Kazook in time 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.480 for Life Day so we can celebrate with his family. 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:37.360 That's the basis of the entire two ys. The basis 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.960 the entire two hours. They encounter a space battle and 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:44.119 they're delayed, and the next two hours are kind of 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:48.320 what's going on while the delay is happening back on Kazoo, 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:51.080 back on Kazook. Because you hear, like, okay, well, Han 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.680 Solo and Chewbacca evading the Imperial Guard and all that 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:58.080 stuff for two hours. I would watch that. I would too. 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:01.840 That's not what they show killing time at the Wookie household. 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:05.200 That is what they show. Yeah, that's what they do. 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:08.840 It's people hanging out waiting for Chewbacca, worrying about him, 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.919 and then killing time while they wait for him to 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.280 come back. Literally, so um and so hold on. So 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:17.680 you say there's a setup, right, Yeah, that's the initial 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.760 setup and then chuck. That's followed by this. Yeah, it's 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:29.080 followed by literally ten minutes, ten solid minutes of incomprehensible 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:32.359 Wookie speak. So let's let's join it for a second, 0:21:32.359 --> 0:22:19.679 shall we. Yeah, let's all enjoy it. And again, you 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:24.120 said ten minutes, and you're not exaggerating, you're not being hyperbolic. 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:27.280 You can time it. That's it's ten minutes of wook 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:30.760 He's talking to each other with no subtitles. Fortunately, I 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:33.439 couldn't follow it at first, like I didn't even know 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:36.280 who it was. I thought it was might have been 0:22:36.880 --> 0:22:40.919 Chewbacca's mom and dad. Oh that's a little brother. And 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:43.280 I don't find out until later when Mark Cambell shows 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:48.520 up via skype call and says, he really explains everything 0:22:48.520 --> 0:22:53.360 that had just happened, Like, you're Chewbacca's father, Itchy, you're 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:59.280 Chewbacca's son, uh, lumpy Lumpy, and you're Chewbacca's wife. Oh mama, yeah, 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:03.000 thank you. So before everybody starts like freaking out, we 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.879 know that that's actually their nicknames. Their real names are. 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:11.520 His father is a Ti chick cook, a Ti chick cook, 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.840 it's really hard to pronounce. Mulatto Buck is his wife, 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:19.520 and his son is Lumpo war Rump but as named 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:22.560 by Lucas. But yeah, but Lucas also named him Lumpy 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:27.919 Itchy and Mala so um. They're all back there wringing 0:23:27.960 --> 0:23:30.080 their hands, trying to figure out ways to pass the 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.640 time until they get word from Chewbacca that he's made 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:38.720 it to uh what is it ketchuck z kazuok um 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:43.280 just ketchup ketchup or cats up if you're fancy. Um. 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:48.320 But Chewbacca is having trouble getting back to Katchuk because 0:23:48.800 --> 0:23:54.280 there's Kazuk because there's a blockade by the Empire and 0:23:54.280 --> 0:23:57.560 they're looking for rebels, specifically Chewbacca. Who I didn't realize this. 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:00.640 He's the most famous Wookie of all. Did you know that? Yeah, 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:03.120 of course I didn't know that. Well, I mean he's 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:05.800 the only one that really appears in the movies. I 0:24:05.840 --> 0:24:09.480 mean that we're seeing, like you know, these people's view 0:24:09.640 --> 0:24:13.840 of the universe. What about back on Zook. Yeah, he 0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:16.520 might have just been a fly by night wookie, right, yeah, 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:19.240 but not the case, very famous wookie. Yeah, and he 0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:22.440 really loved it, like soak in his fame. All right, 0:24:22.520 --> 0:24:25.560 So he realizes there's a problem. Valanche. He goes to 0:24:25.640 --> 0:24:28.960 Lucas and it's like, I don't know, man, this is 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:32.720