Empire strikes back with adverts

[chipsteak]

I didn't have a VCR until a bit later. I taped SW from STV on the afternoon of 2nd January 1986. If the ads are in the same places, ill know them well by the slight jumps caused by my advert illimination attempts. A few frames of that quad poster would creep in tho.

 

[Spookedhippie]

Any news on rotj odb?

 

[ODB]

Seeing as we're not being all candid about these things, here's the copy of ESB I was sharing via PMs earlier.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/n1djdmhqfpgkaqc/The_Empire_Strikes_Back_-_ITV_Broadcast_Xmas_88.mkv

To recap, it's a rip of an entire Beta 3.5h tape where somebody left it running on Xmas Day 1988 to catch the ESB premier while they were busy. So, it's uninterrupted Christmas Day ITV with Empire - with ads - in the middle.

I don't think these are going to quite have the same mainstream appeal as torrents or pirate videos and we can easily pull them if any trouble comes of it.

In the meantime its the main event. The premiere of ROTJ on Boxing in full, ads, intro and even a Boxing Day lineup:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/q01b6pf2intz0dc/ROTJ_Xmas.zip

Mediafire put up a fight to upload this so I hope it works.

 

[chipsteak]

Agreed.

And wow. Thanks for these - they're gold. My memory of the ROTJ premiere is that they seem to have done their own scan. Like Empire it was unlike the videotape, but here they did some very odd panning and scanning to get Jabba's subtitles on screen.

Boxing Day line-up. I'm actually excited by that!

 

[Grant_C]

Watched ESB Christmas 1988 a million times.

First advert break had the new Ford sierra and Scotch video tape I believe.

Re-recorded, don't fade away.

 

[chipsteak]

It's unusual that ITV didn't hold off a couple of months with their Star Wars premiere and show it at Christmas. Perhaps they felt it was occasion enough to pull in the viewers anyway. That year, on Christmas night, they ran with The Black Hole.

 

[Spookedhippie]

Thanks odb, my Christmas viewing sorted, will download tonight! Spot on grant! I'm there thinking with Rotj first break is just before Luke enters the palace!?

 

[chipsteak]

The Queensway sale is now on! If going to Queensway isn't a ruiner after the excitement of Christmas, I don't know what is. Thank God ROTJ is on the telly.

 

[Twin30mm]

It's unusual that ITV didn't hold off a couple of months with their Star Wars premiere and show it at Christmas. Perhaps they felt it was occasion enough to pull in the viewers anyway. That year, on Christmas night, they ran with The Black Hole.

Always thought it was a bit unusual that they didn't hang on till Christmas.
They would have owned the Christmas Day ratings.

According to this article, ITV paid between £1.5-2.5 million for the rights and screened it pretty much as soon as they could.
Bizarrely, the pre-Christmas advertising revenues were more lucrative than the holiday season.

http://episodenothing.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/a-day-long-remembered-star-wars-comes.html

 

[chipsteak]

I've seen stats about the largest UK tv audiences for film showings and Star Wars didn't make the top ten. Live And Let Die took the top honour. Perhaps the figures were very incomplete as I understand Lew Grade paid a fortune to get SW on UK telly.

We were pretty lucky he did. I recall the rental video of Star Wars coming out around the same time as the ITV showing. This lead to either rumours - or likely just my brother pulling my chain - that the broadcast would get pulled. I don't think free TV Stateside got it until 1983.

 

[naughtyjedi]

myself and my brother were very good at stopping recording at the end of the ad break, then rewinding and sitting there next to the video ready to hit the record button to get it as seamless as we could.

I dont know if thats the first time I became aware of the little lines in the top corner of the screen telling us (or apparently its a regional thing for local adverts to kick in) there was an ad break coming or not.

 

[chipsteak]

Yeah they are very noticable when you see a vhs ripped digital file where the edges are uncropped.

I knew all the dodges, only to now wish I'd kept the adverts in. My ten year-old self wasn't considering that I'd be mad aged 42.

 

[Grant_C]

My ten year-old self wasn't considering that I'd be mad aged 42.

Brilliant :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Spookedhippie]

Just watched the adverts, awesome, thanks odb...but...definitely not the adverts I watched as a kid! Some seem very similar but I remember the Milky Way advert with the red and blue car shown at least twice on the copy my dad recorded off the tv. All the advert timings are right just not the adverts! Has anyone got a different recording of Jedi!? Looking at the dates it would have been the 1990 broadcast

 

[chipsteak]

Just watched the adverts, awesome, thanks odb...but...definitely not the adverts I watched as a kid! Some seem very similar but I remember the Milky Way advert with the red and blue car shown at least twice on the copy my dad recorded off the tv. All the advert timings are right just not the adverts! Has anyone got a different recording of Jedi!? Looking at the dates it would have been the 1990 broadcast

Did you watch it in the Thames region? The adverts were usually a regional thing, and not just the cheapo ones at the end for carpet shops.

After the premieres, you're into very regional territory too. My first taping of Star Wars happened at New Year 1986 and isn't listed anywhere, making me think it was a STV only thing.

 

[Spookedhippie]

Ah ok, well I'm central (which was so lucky with the empire copy you have!) so I'm really looking for a needle in a haystack!?

 

[mark75]

Hello everyone
Hope you don't mind me joining here I've got here from Google may I ask does the copy of Empire have some of Xmas Blind date on before it? and I think some musical program? on the same tape too?
If so I know exactly where the beta tape originated from, I can also remember one of the adverts during Empire was for the Black Lace party album when it shows them singing Agadoo, doing the conga and **** like that :?

Btw great site I've read lots of threads and ended up thinking"**** so it weren't just me who noticed things like that"
Cheers
Mark

 

[Twin30mm]

Hello everyone
Hope you don't mind me joining here I've got here from Google may I ask does the copy of Empire have some of Xmas Blind date on before it? and I think some musical program? on the same tape too?
If so I know exactly where the beta tape originated from, I can also remember one of the adverts during Empire was for the Black Lace party album when it shows them singing Agadoo, doing the conga and **** like that :?

Btw great site I've read lots of threads and ended up thinking"**** so it weren't just me who noticed things like that"
Cheers
Mark

Hi Mark and welcome to the forum.
The ESB download is fantastic.
The copy starts with approx. 40mins of Blind Date (shudder!).
Hilarious 80s fashion and an annoying Scouse bint. What more could you ask for on Xmas Day

There's approx. 20mins of a Michael Crawford "Save the Children" Xmas charity show after ESB.
Can't remember seeing the Black Lace ad you're referring to, but there are a few classic ads on there.
The Deryck Guyler 'Skeleton' Scotch video tape ad and the KitKat pop group one.
"You can't sing, you can't play, you look awful........you'll go a long way!"

 

[scooternick]

And the weetabix advert with the Maradonna handball scene. Considering it was 1988 i'm surprised they let than one go, I would have thought the memories were still too raw to make a joke of it! What a cheating bastard!!

 

[NeilBo]

Thank you to all that have shared your videos of these - I never thought I would have found these again - can't wait to watch!