1978 Star Wars Holiday Special Commercials -- all 19 minutes of them!

[@bravogolfhotel]

I'm fascinated by the way these ads are more gentle and naive than modern commercials, but at the same time more blunt and crass...

[@only257]

THE FINAL AD IS THE SAME ACTOR WHO DID LAND OF THE LOST TV SHOW FROM 1974 AND BIONIC WOMAN TV SHOW FROM THE 70S⭐️

[@LOTLore]

this is true, and also 11:45. Rest in Peace Spencer Milligan!

[@upyr1]

The best 19 minutes of the whole broadcast

[@darwincity]

You forgot the "fighting the freezies" in the NYC broadcast.

[@jasoncmclean]

True, though Bea Arthur singing with the Cantina Band was actually pretty good. Too bad you had to sit through almost 90 minutes of Wookie without subtitles to get to it.

[@TheStevehuff]

Sean patrick Maiorca I agree but I have no clue what compelled me to watch this.

[@TheStevehuff]

darwincity Do you have this on VHS?

[@alexandercrews1194]

literally

[@jsokobo]

"Tobor is robot spelled backwards." Yes, thank you. I definitely needed that explained.

[@stephenking5852]

Remember that movie, Shark Boy and Lava Girl? They had a character with the same name for the same reason.

[@kennyaustin429]

Nilbog!!! It's goblin spelled backwards!

[@fromthesidelines]

"🎶Call Tobor....the 8th MAN! Quick, call Tobor, the mightiest robot of them all!!!! 🎶" (1965 "8th MAN" theme)

[@merlinvillarr2879]

These commercials are more entertaining than the holiday special itself

[@only257]

Agreed 🍕

[@reubensane5539]

The commercials are priceless, window into another time,many still relevant.

[@Zoomer30]

I had the R2D2. A friend of mine at work has a serious Star Wars collection and got the Death Star with trash compactor. Big find.

[@chrisaguilera1564]

You know what's truly amazing? Even 39 years ago Stan Lee was still old.

[@todtubetod]

Gotta love the newslady. No nonsense and short and sweet.

[@xenazon9731]

todtubetod Marlene Sanders is an award-winning journalist. She is a pioneer for women in broadcasting. I'm shocked that people don't recognize her! www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/my-mom-top-journalist

[@magnificentfailure2390]

+Xena Zon I recognized her, but I always did pay attention to the news.

[@jasonbertalotto2355]

@@magnificentfailure2390 RIP Marlene Sanders

[@TheZXKUQYB]

Somewhere in the reaches of my mind these commercials were forgotten as the Stars Wars Special was, thankfully.

[@SMFCNA]

7:27 The Neutron Bomb: "Thats THE bomb that kills people, but leaves buildings standing!" (C). Lol, like its a goddamn marketing catchphrase or something.

[@jblair5492]

"look for the union label" - well that fell on deaf ears. lol

[@JereForsyth]

The products sucked becsuse of poor craftsmanship 123man.blogspot.com

[@JonathanMartin884]

Corporations successfully broke unions, this is what happens when corporations run the government. Thanks Reagan!

[@JoelandtheBots]

"General Motors, 50% less jive than those turkeys at Ford!"

[@redgeneral5792]

General Motors. Robots building transportation to serve people.

[@mulletboater]

actually, modern auto factories use a more advanced automation than that. its called Tobor.

[@eidos1975]

Check. And mate.

[@sangowarriorslayer]

Will it fly

[@Yamamanama]

A turkey is a bad person.

[@nlpnt]

Wow, each one just builds onto the nostalgia trip - Toys made to look like custom vans! Union-made underwear! Iron Dukes! Brezhnev! The Wiz! Mercury station wagons! "Emma" as a stereotypical little-old-lady name rather than a stereotypical teen/twentysomething one!

[@Crurned]

Neutron bomb!!! I feel like I am watching those faux Robocop commercials.

[@MrDavidh4]

I'll buy THAT for a dollar! lol

[@louistournas120]

7:20 THE NEUTRON BOMB

[@scriptandscalpel]

NEW SPORTS MODELS FROM YAMAHA!

[@michaelsaunders1400]

*_🎵 EFFICIENCY AND PROGRESS... IS OURS ONCE-A MORE!!! 🎵_*

[@almightytallestred]

All the commercials that ran between the '78 Star Wars Special? Wow, that is what I call some thorough archiving, my man. Respect!

[@LadyMcGiusti]

OMG, ads for All in the Family and Dallas! The late 70's were truly a Golden Age.

[@daroachdoggjr5799]

"one nurse said 'all of the men must've been out shoveling snow' " fucking dead

[@thelegendaryblackbeastofaa115]

I have a weird fetish for any video footage or artifacts from past decades, even ones as recent as the 80s and 90s. This was really cool to see, commercials in the '70s. Thanks for posting!

[@darwincity]

And you get a double surprise, with commercials from the 70's AND from an evening where a legendarily crap TV program was broadcast.

[@drygnfyre]

I don't know if I have a fetish for old commercials, but they are always interesting to watch because you can usually gleam a lot about society at the time. Commercials from the first half of the 90s, for example, still gave out phone numbers instead of website addresses. Commercials from the 70s showed telephones being given as gifts. And so on. You can notice various trends and styles as advertising changes over the decades.

[@MASSEFFECTfan101]

"You want Tobor." "If your Parents love you, they will buy you Tobor."

[@jupreindeer]

Televisions worked that way, once upon a time. "Look, ma. No batteries!"

[@exiledhobbit1441]

17:56 for best commercial. Star Wars Collection by Kenner. The Electronic Laser Battle is the best... May the Force be with you... and your children...

[@girochin007]

I always wondered what "The Consumer Catalog" was after seeing the commercials all the time when I was kid... After seeing this I finally searched out what it was. A catalog to order government publications aimed at consumers... Guess we needed it back then since we didn't have Google. They actually still publish the thing and still in Pueblo, Colorado. One of (my) life's mysteries finally answered.

[@joeblowski2547]

i was so fascinated with pueblo, colorodo when i was a little little kid. it was the mysterious place where all this information came from.

[@BushcraftingBogan]

The toy commercial contained more Star Wars content than the whole special.

[@mikesilva3868]

Agreed 😊

[@1964DB]

My husband's uncle was a welder for GM. Made great money. Now he's a millionaire.

[@TheSpritz0]

One of my friends in the Army had a brown Chevette (a new one, surprise gift from his parents) and we used to go shopping, sightseeing, etc... on weekends everyone chipped in on gas, etc... I clearly remember he never needed anything repaired on that car, just oil/filter changes for the 8 years I knew him!!!!

[@dreadfulspiller8766]

I'd kill to be able to go back to 78.

[@steveng.willis618]

I sure miss the 70's, such a great time for a kid!

[@funkotron9198]

I had that tie fighter at 18:13. Those spring loaded wings would really fly off with gusto when you pushed the button.

[@dma69nyc]

These commercials really take me back. I was about 8 or 9 back then. Never had a Tobor but did have the remote control R2D2 and even tried the Reggie bar. Memories.

[@Elistarielle]

The title made me think these were commercials advertising the Holiday Special.

[@mulletboater]

If someone found a tape dated before this with trailers for the special, that would be amazing. Though, i think they may have not done any network promotion beforehand. people saw "star wars special broadcast" in TV Guide and thought it was a special airing of New Hope, so, they made damn good and sure to tape it. It explains how multiple recordings survived from a time when almost no one had a VCR yet.

[@christiansurname1212]

Someday we will watch today's commercials on KZbin, to see what we skipped on the DVR.

[@studapeppahead5384]

Hungry Jack....wow. I haven't heard that jingle in 30 years!

[@fromthesidelines]

Marlene Sanders, who worked for CBS News for many years, died in July 2015.

[@deathproofpony]

Oh my god... Reggie bars. I loved those when I was a kid.

[@grahamkristensen9301]

When I first heard that union song, I was thinking "Why does this sound so familiar?" And then I realized that this is the song sung by the freaks from that South Park episode about Maury.

[@ratclone]

@LE Also SNL "dope growers union"

[@tishtashtishtash]

originally “look for the silver lining” from broadway

[@MandrakeMoorglade]

South Park got so many references from these commercials. "Fighting the Frizzies at 11"

[@Super_Mario128]

Howdy Ho!

[@UltimateOmegaRed]

1:19 "It'll be fun for approx-ima-tely... 3.7 seconds!"

[@WreckingWood]

3:06 "You know, I miss shrill union anthems, I wish they bring them back!!"

[@fromthesidelines]

8:20- Bobby Vinton would later appear as a guest on the Krofft's "PINK LADY {& JEFF}" on NBC- but his appearance was during an episode that was cancelled before it was scheduled in April 1980 (it's on KZbin).

[@richardgadberry8398]

1:30 No! Not a wavy line! DEAR GOD YOU'RE INSANE!!!

[@jasonbertalotto4296]

These ads are the sheer indulgence for the mind!🎅🏻✌🏻️☔️

[@klausstock8020]

No, they aren't. Well, at least the one 2:46 is disturbing. I just don't want my undergarments being touched by these guys.

[@anthonyz7000]

Sounds like Leslie Nielsen ("Naked Gun") doing the voice over for the Whirlpool ad at 10:46.

[@grimandproper]

Lt. Frank Drebin... Appliance Squad.

[@dr.arikgreenberg25]

Thank you SO much for posting this. These commercials were the backdrop of my childhood. Brings me back! Way back!

[@psychocircus7002]

"The men must have been out shoving snow.." I died!!! lol

[@Silenced23]

"This side of the medicine chest is mine, is has a lot of things for a cold, it has my Vicodan, Xanax, Ambian, and Marijuana"

[@gonzalosaavedra6153]

Am i the only one who thinks 70's commercials are far better than nowadays commercials? I mean, look at them, they are so strictly product focused, not trying to associate it with fashion or lifestyle.

[@josh24441]

I remember trail trackers!! After a few times they stopped working!!!!!

[@epaddon]

That's Michael "Time to Make the Donuts" Vale in the Consumer Catalog spot.

[@archer1949]

Was that Whirlpool ad written by Ayn Rand?

[@dantelovesbeatrice]

I've not looked at all of the comments - to see if anyone brought this up, but (for all of you 1970's "Land of the Lost"-fans) Spencer Milligan (who played Rick Marshall) appeared in two commercials they just showed - as the pharmacist & the "Colony"-wine guy. It's odd to see him outside of that main role; though I (also) caught him on an episode of "Gun-Smoke" once, and (possibly) on "McCloud". Andrew (7-10-16) (4:12 a.m.)

[@UnivegaSuperSport]

I was about to mention him in a reply. Glad I didn't have to scroll down too far to see yours. Didn't recognize him as pharmacist, but recognized him from the wine commercial.

[@brianarbenz1329]

He went from defending his children from dinosaurs to picking the right wine. A considerably less intense life.

[@only257]

@@UnivegaSuperSport i was going to say thing 🍿

[@UnivegaSuperSport]

@@only257 5-year old reply and now I have the Land of the Lost theme song stuck in my head.

[@TheZXKUQYB]

5:18 Here we have the Iron Duke the 4 cylinder engine they used until 1992. It was in the Sunbird, Firebird, 6000, Fiero, and Grand am. Pontiac when in doubt slap another Iron Duke engine in different body and sell it until we fold

[@TheBabashee]

These ads are incredibly socially-conscious compared to those of today. I was 24 when theses were aired. I thought times was miserable, what with disco fever, crass commercialism, etc., but I'd give anything to be in that era instead of the current one.

[@tonelemoan]

The past is often a safe haven. Fewer surprises than the future I guess.

[@tishtashtishtash]

sorry to rain on your parade, but you only remember the good things and not the bad ones: hyperinflation, long gas lines, horrible cars without air bags or a/c, having to look through microfilm for answers to simple questions. if you were able to go back, don’t be surprised if you come right back, a la the Twilight Zone episode that starred Buster Keaton.

[@CreesNostalgiaHut]

Disco fever was EXCELLENT... it was FRESH NEW MUSIC inspired by SOUL.

[@wundermut]

HEY! At 5:16 its Hyde from That 70s Show!!!

[@danthemango]

5:16 "We will take engines off the line for a bad paint job, and that's no jive, man."

[@jbjacobs9514]

When the Union was strong, wow!

[@kenetickups6146]

good ole days when workers had a say

[@prestonnevins]

Dammit, Reggies are still time-locked back in 1978. I want me some!

[@johnm3310]

They were good. I didn't like Reggie, yet his candy bar was tasty. Me and my friends would walk two miles to the 7-11 and two miles back to buy baseball cards, slurpees and candy, we were 10,11,12 year olds. Money we earned mowing lawns. No way that happens now. Have a great day to anyone that views this post!

[@tishtashtishtash]

most of us were told to not talk to strangers, keep out of trouble, and come back before dark, and to not die. others than that, we could’ve biked from NY to Jersey and no one would’ve known.

[@fromthesidelines]

Lloyd Bridges is the announcer in the Contac ad at 8:01; Edward Binns, for Consumer Catalog PSA, at 9:23 [Michael Vale, later seen in the famous "time to make the donuts" ads for Dunkin' Donuts, is the "fatso"].

[@brentmann2988]

6:13 the voice of the great Karl Weber for Pillsbury cakes mixes. You might remember his gravelly voice on spots for Alka-Seltzer, Boar's Head deli meats and Castrol GTX motor oil. 9:20 the distinctive voice of Ed Binns telling you how to get your free "Consumer Catalog." TV Commercials in the 70s were really interesting because they featured a lot of terrific voice-overs by seasoned actors, guys who had appeared in Broadway plays and radio dramas. Karl Weber and Ed Binns are two prime examples of VO talents with this sort of background.

[@brianarbenz1329]

You really know your voice actors. I have long been intrigued by the voices we always heard, most prominently Alexander Scourby and Peter Thomas, who had a near duopoly on narration and announcing in my youth.

[@brianarbenz1329]

It sounded like Leslie Nielsen doing the Whirlpool hoypoloy about America in danger of losing something. If that was him, then the ad would have outsourced the voice to a Canadian.

[@brentmann2988]

@@brianarbenz1329 10:45 That's an interesting call on Leslie Nielsen. There are certainly parts of this voice-over that sound like him.

[@brentmann2988]

@@brianarbenz1329 Yes, Alexander Scourby and Peter Thomas were the deans of narration in the 70s and 80s. They had a sophisticated, educated sound that really stood out.

[@richardgadberry8398]

0:07 "WHERE'S MY FLYING CAR?!" 1:17 "Do you like crayons? Do you like trucks? Well, now you can cause several collisions with your crayons." 1:53 "Oh, now you're just talking turkey."

[@KingswayMovies]

10:17 - get ready 80's Ladies the 80's are almost here!

[@donskiver]

I can't believe I watched the whole fucking thing.

[@TheCausalParadox]

It's fascinating. Like looking through a time portal.

[@only257]

@@TheCausalParadox 😇

[@tacob69]

If you look at the one that says Dolly Saturday at 7pm the channel is a Baltimore channel and I have a friend who has worked there for along time.Im going to see if they have the full special.

[@silvereagle2061]

At 12:03 its Spencer Milligan who played Rick Marshall in "Land of the Lost"

[@mikesilva3868]

You've got your circus on my ice! You've got your ice on my circus! Two bad things that go worse together!"😂

[@donerkebep]

I wonder how much crossover there REALLY was between Star Wars fans and panty hose buyers!

[@tishtashtishtash]

moms … moms watching with their kids (probably in shock about the quality of the broadcast)

[@graymanmedia]

I would have hated being a young boy during the Sheer Indulgence Ad while his mom & dad was in the room.

[@jasonbertalotto2355]

Spells uh oh

[@plawson8577]

@@jasonbertalotto2355 The BELT would be headed his way. This was the 70s, Corporal Punishment was Celebrated.

[@MichiganPeatMoss]

Wow, flashbacks, right down to the Anacin commercial. :)

[@mmmfloorpie]

"The Wiz is..." "The Wiz was... A total flop!" These commercials kinda make me want to get a job at GM!

[@James76sManyFaces]

Unlike the Broadway musical, because that was closer to the book (albeit not having Toto go to Oz with Dorothy, or having Dorothy and her friends journey to the Quadling Country - which some people feel is unnecessary in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - and instead be teleported to Glinda's ruby palace by Addaperle, or having the Kalidahs have heads of tigers and bodies of bears, or having the Queen of the Field Mice present - although her part was cut out of the musical and the Field Mice were changed to the Mouse Squad because of executive meddling). It also had a song that was cut before it premiered on Broadway ("You Can't Win," sung by the Winkies to Dorothy in the musical, but sung by the Scarecrow and the Crows in the movie) that I would like to see be restored to its proper place in a new movie adaptation by Universal, - if they ever adapt The Wiz for the big screen again - rather than swapping places with it and "(I Was Born) On the Day Before Yesterday", like the St. Louis Municipal Opera (MUNY) 2010's staging of The Wiz did (in other words, obviously, the Scarecrow and Crows in that production sang "You Can't Win" and Dorothy and her friends sang a rewritten-for-the-production version of "On the Day Before Yesterday"). Plus, the Broadway musical was actually pretty good (although I haven't seen it live, just the 1984 revival production of it, here on KZbin).

[@tishtashtishtash]

they should’ve kept Denise Williams in the role. she was actually a girl, instead of near-middle-aged Diana Ross. it’s as if Meryl Streep played Dorothy today!

[@fromthesidelines]

​Berry Gordy *insisted* on Diana for the movie.

[@jefflebowski918]

The commercials were more entertaining than the special, thanks for posting...they bring back memories.

[@Jonsey-lm5sv]

I remember all these ads like it was yesterday. It's crazy how almost 40 yrs later I can quote those ads exactly. And that CBS lineup was so great..All in the Family, Alice, Dallas, etc. Good memories!

[@thadbaxter]

"Tobor is robot spelled backwards"

[@epaddon]

This is from WMAR, so Baltimoreans weren't told about "Fighting the frizzies at 11."

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Yeah, that was New York!

[@fluffdegoss]

10:46-Leslie Nielson narrates... a Whirlpool commercial?

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

"Explains what happened to GM." Well they're still in one piece somewhat, the plant a mile down the street from me still stands.

[@DarthCipient]

Willie loves soldering. Good on ya Willie!

[@Zoomer30]

Wow, the drama. Her husband may 😨 NOT BE THE FATHER!

[@macadoo1588]

Old commercials are a great window to look back in time

[@AtlantaCommercials96]

It's weird that South Park made not only one but references to the ads featured during the special. Must've had a VHS copy back in the late 90's. "Fighting The Frizzies At 11"

[@mdcraig62]

18:30 Since the XP-38's came out these just aren't in demand.

[@DrEarthwormRobotnik]

10:06 "Tobor is robot spelled backwards.." Yeah, no shit.

[@MsKiTTy1138]

ANY commercials where a god send that nite. the commercial breaks where better then the Star Wars Holiday Special. I was 11 when that travesty aired, I was already a star wars fan, & proud member of the Lucasfilm fan club, getting my monthly newsletter of bantha tracks. all was well with the world then the Star Wars Holiday Special came on. waited all week to see it, the hype was out. I felt like Ralphie who had his eye's shot out.

[@only257]

Huge Star Wars fan too saw the Star Wars holiday special on a bootlegged website in 2007 it was recorded from a bootleg that was from a Chicago station though it was terrible but watchable i also saw the rifftrax version on a another bootlegged website 📼

[@WorthingtonSDA]

The best part of the special!

[@AllisonDancerChick1982]

Pure nostalgic gold...love!

[@canislatrans8285]

OMG the exact ads I watched! Baltimore area. When did this actually air ( I'll go look it up)? I probably saw the only Star Wars ad and said "mommy, daddy, I want the death star playset!" And then they obliged, cuz I got it.

[@crashburn3292]

7:20 That CBS News Break, was the only source of news you'd see until you got the paper the next morning. And if you wanted to learn about something, like for your homework, you had to either go to the library, or dig into the your parents encyclopedia set.

[@Musicradio77Network]

I like to see Lego versions of these original commercials to be appearing on the upcoming “Lego Star Wars Holiday Special” on Disney+ along with a Lego version of Rolland Smith as an anchorman where he would say “Fighting the Frizzies at 11!”.

[@HHFD50]

"Most of the men must've been out shoveling snow" ROFLMAO

[@mcqueenfanman]

That news break could have been on snl.

[@Ryan-vt3np]

40 years after the fact that Colony Wine commercial screams "somebody's about to get roofied!"

[@HEHEHE_I_AM_A_MASKED_WARRIA]

A two-hour movie with only 19 minutes of ads? Holy shit.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

And people complain about ads now.

[@smittykins]

13:12-“But we’re still sin-gle!”

[@MawileMage]

Definitely never would've guessed that a third of the commercials in this break would be about women's underwear...

[@johnbanks4761]

love seeing the old shows and adverts

[@dazwannawzad9272]

No wonder I've never seen The Wild Geese, it was only shown in 3 select theaters 2 years before I was born! Must...have...Tobor...

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

It was before my time but I hear these were better than the actual show. :P

[@paulmarkmoffat4638]

If I was a kid I will go nuts.

[@kylep120]

1978: "let's have our advertisements be based on the jobs of people who assemble our products rather than the quality of the product themselves."

[@tjszuch]

Where's the frizzles?! Did I miss it?! I just watched the whole thing?!

[@smittykins]

That's on the NYC version. This is from Baltimore.

[@Mastermind8908]

Wait, is that why that one Christmas episode of South Park had a reporter constantly saying "Fighting the Frizzies, at 11."?

[@RobertRhoades2]

Bingo

[@fromthesidelines]

That was a station I.D. reminder from Rolland Smith, anchor of WCBS-TV's 11pm newscast in New York at the time. "Fighting the frizzies- at 11."

[@dcsmooth]

3:07 “Look for the true freak label!”

[@joediesen1]

3:45 The 1978 version of getting a phone for Christmas

[@rdillon517]

2:46 to bad they were on the losing side. Politicians made it impossible to compete with world trade.