A Disturbance in the Force
How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened
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Narrated by:
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Kirby Heyborne
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By:
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Steve Kozak
About this listen
Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact. George Lucas, who completely disowned the production, reportedly has said, "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it." Just how on earth did this thing ever see the light of day?
To answer that question, as Steven Kozak shows in this fascinating and often hilarious inside look into the making of the Special, you have to understand the cultural moment in which it appeared—a long, long time ago when cheesy variety shows were a staple of network television and Star Wars was not yet the billion-dollar multimedia behemoth that it is today. Kozak explains how the Special was one piece of a PR blitz undertaken by Lucas and his colleagues as they sought to protect the emerging franchise from hostile studio executives. He shows how, despite the involvement of some of the most talented people in the business, creative differences between movie and television writers led to a wildly uneven product. Packed with memorable anecdotes, drawing on new interviews with countless people involved in the production, and told with mingled affection and bewilderment, this never-before-told story gives a fascinating look at a strange moment in pop-culture history.
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SHELVED explores the history and drama behind albums that were deemed too controversial, too far from the beaten path, or too ahead of their time for public consumption. Through interviews with musicians, producers, record executives, and journalists, as well as archival audio, key music and personal storytelling, each episode examines the “shelved” album’s place in musical history, and the spectacles behind each missed or nearly missed release.
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For Real Music Lovers & Music Heads
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Farewell Yellow Brick Road
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Farewell Yellow Brick Road is a celebration of Elton John's record-breaking, globe-spanning farewell tour—from Allentown to Auckland, from Sydney to San Francisco. Featured concerts include Elton’s dazzling performances at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium in November 2022, the finale of which streamed live on Disney+. Fans will be treated to a behind-the-scenes glimpse into every aspect of these spectacular shows, including Elton’s legendary touring wardrobe by Gucci, the set design, official photography, and more.
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Elton is Still Standing...better than ever!
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Alex Newell and the Gospel of a Diva
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From a breakout role in the smash-hit Glee to breaking barriers as the first nonbinary-identifying Tony Award winner for their featured performance in Shucked, Alex Newell is no stranger to the spotlight. Now, listen to the talented trailblazer as you’ve never seen them before in their intimate new show, Alex Newell and the Gospel of a Diva. Alex shares untold stories from their remarkable life and career alongside a selection of their favorite tunes.
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An Entertainer's Entertainer
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Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon
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The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times. But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
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My first review. This book changed me.
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With exclusive insights from the legendary cast, including Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Robert De Niro, and Talia Shire, and commentary from a diverse array of film experts and ardent aficionados, we dissect the film’s magnetic allure and its pervasive influence across our culture. Journey alongside Rebecca Keegan, acclaimed senior film editor at The Hollywood Reporter, as she explores the heart of this cinematic masterpiece through a new lens.
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Deep dive into The Godfather
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After a betrayal at work costs Song Kuan her job, she retreats to her friend Lucy’s idyllic family cabin on a lake in Minnesota to lick her wounds. She devotes herself to recording Ice Cold Cases, a true-crime podcast that she and Lucy cohost with the gleeful energy of obsessed fans—until an anonymous tip about a missing-person case disrupts their equilibrium. Then Lucy disappears, leaving Song alone in an unfriendly and unfamiliar town where locals don’t take kindly to strangers asking questions.
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Asians in MN! I loved it. The vivid sounds of Northern Minnesota totally took me there, and I was hooked into the mystery.
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The Energy Curfew Music Hour
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It’s time to unplug with the Grammy-winning Punch Brothers, fronted by singer-mandolinist Chris Thile, as they bring you a multi-episode musical variety show with dazzling musical guests, like Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Jon Batiste, Norah Jones, James Taylor, and many more.
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Gifted musicians and storytellers right in their element and at the height of their powers
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What listeners say about A Disturbance in the Force
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Keith T
- 10-11-24
Fascinating history of TV variety shows in general
I loved the exploration of the variety show genre, and the early history of the Star Wars craze. I liked the balancing act towards the end: not everyone hated the show, and for some, it was the only Star Wars they knew. I like the calling out of Lucas for how he used up "friends" until they weren't yes men, but at the end it seemed to come back around to some Polly-Annish idea that Lucas cares about anything but money. Well, he also cares about absolute control, so I guess there's that. But references to The Last Jedi make no sense because Lucas had no input on those movies. They're not "his."
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- A. Parham
- 12-18-24
Fascinating and hilarious!
This is a great companion piece to the documentary of the same name. It not only covers the making of the Star Wars Holiday Special, but also the entire history of the weird transition Lucasfilm was going through between Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, as well as the late 70s entertainment landscape more generally. On top of that, it's often laugh out loud funny!
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- Marc R Luce
- 11-23-23
more than just the Holiday Special!
while the holiday special Remains the central subject of the entire book, there are numerous deep, informative and delightful diversions into the entire entertainment industry of the 1970s. unknown and obscure information on Star Wars itself would be more than enough to recommend the book. but in addition to that there is perspective interviews and histories on where popular television itself was as an art form at the time the special was conceived, produced and broadcast. Highly, highly recommended to anyone knowledgeable of or curious about not just the holiday special but 1970s American television.
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- Jam
- 01-08-24
Informative!
A lot of fun info in here I’ve never heard before. A fun book for a guy who saw stars in the theater in 1977.
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- Alan
- 12-28-23
Padded with Information Unrelated to the Special
I’ve been an Audible member for years, and during this time have only ever returned two books. This is one of them.
Aside from the intro, I made it to Chapter 5 with almost no mention or information about the Holiday Special. None of us who buy this need to know the history of how Star Wars was made. The book is simply padded with info about things other than the topic we all bought this for.
Additionally, the book sounds as though it were written by someone who simply read other books or articles as his source material for this one,
There’s also some factual errors. For example, the author mentions “DVD technology” being used to distribute the Holiday Special in the mid ‘90s, but DVD players were a *late* ‘90s product. He says that the Star Wars Early Bird Kit could be used to acquire 4 figures of your choice, when in fact it provided a *specific* 4 figures. Also, Jason Lenzi (look him up on IMDB) is described as an “action figure designer”. Not quite. He owns a toy company (among other things). Oh, and Charles Lippincott is not an unsung hero (“unmentioned” is the word the author uses). He’s mentioned in other books about Star Wars (which is how I’d guess the *author* heard of him).
Lastly, there’s the narrator. If it’s your job to read books, you should take the time to learn how to pronounce any names or words you’re unfamiliar with. It’s not the end of the world, but this narrator just winged it.
I was excited to find a book about the Star Wars Holiday Special. But apparently, this wasn’t it.
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