SKot said:

Joel said:

That's what I thought, but couldn't articulate at 1AM. Thank you!

I suppose that Star Wars was such a juggernaut by fall of 1978, a press junket wasn't really needed? I'd love to see more contemporary mentions.

It would definitely be great to see more of this kind of thing...but oddly enough, there just doesn't seem have been much of anything done for promotion on TV or otherwise. One does have to bear in mind the rarity of VCRs in 1978 - but even still, I doubt there was ever much more shown other than the usual CBS TV bumpers (which can be seen on YouTube).

Even in print, the only contemporary things promoting the Holiday Special that have turned up are a short blurb in TV guide with the 1-page ad, some local newspaper blurbs, and an article with photos in Starlog magazine. Then pretty much silence on the subject until the 90s.

--SKot

I'm pretty sure there was a ton of promotion. Kenner mentioned the HS in it's catalogs featuring the new Boba Fett figure. It's just a lot of this stuff wasn't preserved, due to it's ephemeral nature.

People have long collected Tv Guide, but the local versions that came tucked in the Sunday paper were more likely to get tossed.

I regularly encountered people in the 80's who disputed the special ever existed, or thought I was talking about the Donny and Marie skit. The rise of the internet was certainly the game changer in all of this.

There is a story that someone did screen a copy of the HS at the 10th anniversary con in their hotel room, and Peter Mayhew showed up to watch it.