- Post
- #301942
- Topic
- Preserving the...<em>cringe</em>...Star Wars Holiday Special (Released)
- Link
- https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/301942/action/topic#301942
- Time
Originally posted by: LinkTGF
First off I want to say hello to everyone here - this is my first post here and I'm loving the atmosphere here - editors and preservationists collaborating on various projects!
I'm more experienced in sound editing (not great but better than most) and this kinda thing always intrigued me...
Anyways, I have a bit of rumor I heard from a fairly reliable source concerning the Holiday Special - apparently Australia's FoxTel (sp?) station had entered into talks with LucasFilms to promote a one-off 30th anniversary airing of the Holiday Special for next year, with the possibility of a new George Lucas chat about the history of the special afterwards.
I'm not really too sure about the truth behind this but as I said the person I heard this from is usually pretty knowledgeable about the Holiday Special
As for if it will be remastered/cleaned up? Can't say, but I'm sure George still has the original negative up there at Skywalker Ranch in the vault
First off I want to say hello to everyone here - this is my first post here and I'm loving the atmosphere here - editors and preservationists collaborating on various projects!
I'm more experienced in sound editing (not great but better than most) and this kinda thing always intrigued me...
Anyways, I have a bit of rumor I heard from a fairly reliable source concerning the Holiday Special - apparently Australia's FoxTel (sp?) station had entered into talks with LucasFilms to promote a one-off 30th anniversary airing of the Holiday Special for next year, with the possibility of a new George Lucas chat about the history of the special afterwards.
I'm not really too sure about the truth behind this but as I said the person I heard this from is usually pretty knowledgeable about the Holiday Special
As for if it will be remastered/cleaned up? Can't say, but I'm sure George still has the original negative up there at Skywalker Ranch in the vault
Since it's been aired in Australia at least two times (perhaps even three times), it's not outside the realm of possibility. I would be surprised if Lucas allows it given his distain for the program, but he may have no say in the matter. I'm a bit curious how it was allowed to have been aired as many times as it has. Perhaps a loophole in the ownership / broadcast rights. The program was produced by Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion for 20th Century Fox Television and CBS. He may own the program (as it was transferred to him back in the 80s from Smith-Hemion Productions) and the rights to the characters, but he may not own the broadcast rights (domestic or international). Then you have Home Video / DVD distribution rights... It's a legal nightmare... it's a wonder anything gets aired or released to dvd. If you want to see how complicated it can get, read about the legal issues encountered with the Dean Martin show, Greg Garrison and NBC: http://thegolddiggers.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/whose-show-is-it-anyway/ Another example is the Batman TV series from the 60s... you've got 3 or 4 owners, who can't agree, so it's hung up in legal limbo.
Anyway, the last I heard (a couple of years ago) was that Lucasfilm doesn't have the master tapes... they are apparently still in the posession of Smith-Hemion. The only copy Lucasfilm has is a poor quality VHS dub... no better than the rest of us. You'd think they would at least preserve the masters if they cared, but they may not "technically" own the tapes.