Mayhem: The 1970s You Never Knew, Episode 9

The Preamble

Sharon McMahon

Government, History, Storytelling, Education

4.9 • 15.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Did you know that Star Wars almost started a war in real life, over a sandcrawler model? Would the film have been so wildly successful if someone else had been cast in the role of Han Solo, such as – let’s say – Christopher Walken? How would a band today be received if their drug use was so integral to their music, that they considered thanking their dealer in the liner notes? And let’s take that iPhone from your pocket, and compare it to the speed of an Apple II computer in 1977, which was 3,000 times slower. Join us as we explore revolutionary cultural shifts in the late 70s, and how these phenomena have evolved in the last four decades.

Writer, Host, and Executive Producer: Sharon McMahon

Audio Producer: Jenny Snyder

Writers and Researchers: Amy Watkin, Mandy Reid, and Kari Anton

Production Coordinator: Andrea Champoux

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Imagine you in a nice comfy seat with your hands behind your head taking in the views instead of taking on the road maybe even taking a nap. That's the bliss of getting where you need to go
0:16.1	without worrying about driving. Book your train journey via avantiawestcoast.co. Ovanti West Coast.
0:25.0	Feel good travel. Imagine that it's 1977 and you're making a movie. So let me give you a list of supplies you're going to need. First, you'll
0:45.2	definitely want some recordings of Bears and Walruses because obviously
0:50.8	their vocalizations are similar to the sounds one of your characters makes.
0:55.6	Next, you're going to want to make a bunch of little model spaceships, but make them act more like fighter jets on screen.
1:06.6	And side note, to do this you will need an entirely new type of camera, so definitely get start on that and finally while you're out
1:15.5	grab an ice cream maker some bubble wrap maybe a dog toy just some random things that we can
1:22.4	spray paint to make them look like futuristic
1:25.9	devices or parts of costumes. You know like the usual stuff. Get started on those errands, please. You're about to make one of the biggest
1:36.4	movies of all time. I'm Sharon McMahon, and here's where it gets interesting.
1:45.6	George Lucas started imagining what he called his space opera way back in
1:51.0	1971 the same year that he founded his entertainment company, Lucas Film.
1:55.0	Though he was relatively new to movie making, Lucas had some big plans.
2:00.0	While dreaming about his space opera, Lucas released another movie and that one did really well.
2:07.0	Maybe you've seen or heard of American graffiti starring Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfus, Cindy Williams, and an unknown actor named Harrison Ford.
2:19.8	Because American graffiti was so successful, Lucas was offered several other film projects, but he was determined to work on his own ideas and turned back to his space opera.
2:31.0	Universal Studios and United Artists passed on their chances to make this strange film.
2:37.0	George Lucas was actually glad that these big studios turned him down
2:41.0	as he wanted more creative control over the film than they were likely to grant.
2:46.0	In 1973, George Lucas met with Alan Ladd Jr. President of 20th Century Fox, Laddie, as he was known, was excited about Lucas's
2:56.7	success with American graffiti.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sharon McMahon, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Sharon McMahon and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.