Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space-opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is also the prime single reason why Mork & Mindy came into being, with nods inevitably being given to it through the shows run, both in regards to visual cues and character references from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.
About Star Wars[]
The movie stars the then virtually unknown trio of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, backed by the twin British classical powerhouses of Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, along with David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew.
Lucas had the idea for a science-fiction film in the vein of Flash Gordon around the time he completed his first film, THX 1138 (1971) and began working on a treatment after the release of American Graffiti (1973). Star Wars takes place "a long time ago", in a fictional universe inhabited by both humans and various alien species; most of the known galaxy is ruled by the tyrannical Galactic Empire, which is only opposed by the Rebel Alliance, a group of freedom fighters. The narrative of the film focuses on the hero journey of Luke Skywalker (Hamill), an everyman who becomes caught in the galactic conflict between the Empire and the Rebellion after coming into possession of two droids, R2-D2 (Baker) and C-3PO (Daniels), who are carrying the schematics of the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star. While attempting to deliver the droids to the Rebellion, Luke is joined by wizened Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness), who teaches him about the metaphysical power known as "the Force", cynical smuggler Han Solo (Ford), his Wookiee companion Chewbacca (Mayhew), and Rebellion leader Princess Leia (Fisher). Meanwhile, Imperial officers Darth Vader (Prowse, voiced by Jones), a Sith Lord, and Grand Moff Tarkin (Cushing), the commander of the Death Star, seek to retrieve the stolen schematics and locate the Rebellion's secret base.
After a turbulent production, Star Wars was released in a limited number of theaters in the United States on May 25, 1977, and quickly became a blockbuster hit, leading to it being expanded to a much wider release. The film opened to critical acclaim, most notably for its groundbreaking visual effects. It grossed a total of $775 million (over $550 million during its initial run), surpassing Jaws (1975) to become the highest-grossing film at the time until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second-highest-grossing film in North America (behind Gone with the Wind) and the fourth-highest-grossing film in the world. It received ten Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), winning seven. In 1989, it became one of the first 25 films that was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". At the time, it was the most recent film in the registry and the only one chosen from the 1970s. In 2004, its soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry, and was additionally listed by the American Film Institute as the best movie score of all time a year later. Today, it is widely regarded by many in the motion picture industry as one of the greatest and most important films in cinema history.
Mork & Mindy[]
Mork & Mindy came into being almost solely on the back of the massive world wide hit that Star Wars became in 1977, not only rocking the box office, changing the face of Hollywood forever, but it had grabbed hold of an entire generation's imagination. Garry Marshall on finding that son, Scott was no longer really watching Happy Days, asked him why and found that the youngster thought it just wasn't that interesting. When he asked his son what would appeal to him, Scott replied, aliens.
Wanting to catch a hold of a little of that zeitgeist, Marshall approached a (highly dubious) writers room and asked them to come up with an alien character for an episode of the show. The rest becoming almost a unique piece of unpredictable and serendipitous television history.
Mork's Multiple References[]
- A Mommy for Morky - Mork brings Mindy upstairs to proudly display to her the makeover he's done on his attic room since he moved in there, a Star Wars Movie poster hanging upside down by his bed.
- Mork's First Christmas - One of Mork's Christmas presents from Mindy is a toy R2D2 robot.
- In Mork We Trust - Bickley tells Mindy that the sound of her party above his head sounds like R2D2 doing a soft shoe shuffle.
- Gunfight at the Mork-Kay Corral - Mork refers to Billy as 'Little Yoda' in regards to his perceived wisdom.
- There's a New Mork in Town - The Swords of Cletus used in the Hollitacker give off the same sound as Lightsabers.