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Star Wars TV Specials

Ewoks: Caravan of Courage (a.k.a. The Ewok Adventure)

Star WarsAn Ewok named Deej sets out on his primitive hang-glider to search for his two missing sons. He finds them stuck on a cliff and testily rescues them. On their way back to the Ewok village, Deej and his boys investigate a strange object Deej spotted from the air. It turns out to be a small space vehicle which appears to have no occupants. But when the inquisitive Ewoks look inside, they find a small human child. Moments after she is discovered, the young girl’s teenage brother bursts into the ship, trying to protect her, but the Ewoks overpower him and take both of them to their village. Cindel Towani, the girl, has fallen ill since her parents disappeared, and her brother Mace is powerless to help. The Ewoks nurse Cindel back to health, and now all the human children have to worry about is finding their missing parents, repairing their crashed ship, and going home. After the two children make a nearly-disastrous attempt to go it alone, Ewok medicine man Logray uses a little bit of Ewok magic to find where the human adults are…and the answer isn’t good. Mace and Cindel’s parents are being held by an enormous creature called the Gorax. Even though the Ewoks know how to reach the lair of the Gorax, none have ever returned from the monster’s clutches. Nevertheless, Logray decides that his tribe will help the marooned children rescue their parents. Mace, Cindel, Wicket, and the rest of the Ewoks set out on a treacherous journey across the third moon of Endor to challenge the Gorax…but when the time comes, Mace will have to defeat the Gorax alone.

Order the DVDsscreenplay by Bob Carrau
story by George Lucas
directed by John Korty
music by Peter Bernstein (Ewoks theme by John Williams)

Cast: Eric Walker (Mace Towani), Warwick Davis (Wicket), Fionnula Flanagan (Catarine Towani), Guy Boyd (Jeremitt Towani), Aubree Miller (Cindel Towani), Dan Frishman (Deej), Debbie Carrington (Weechee), Tony Cox (Widdle), Kevin Thompson (Chukla-Trok), Margarita Fernandez (Kalnk), Pam Grizz (Shodu), Bobby Bell (Logray), Burl Ives (Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Droids

The White Witch

DroidsDumped overboard with the cargo as their smuggler owner saves his own skin, Artoo and Threepio find themselves on a desert planet where two speeder racers happen to be practicing. The small-time racers, Jord Dusat and Thall Joban, pick up the droids. Dusat is particularly enthusiastic to have found an R2 unit, since they’ll need one to help pilot The White Witch, a speeder they’ve been customizing for the upcoming Boonta Race. But they’re not alone on this planet: a woman named Kea Moll is observing the racers and their new droids from a distance, and Tig Fromm, the heir to an interplanetary crime syndicate, intends to destroy Dusat and Joban before they can stumble across Fromm’s secret base of operations.

written by Peter Sauder
directed by Ken Stephenson
music by Patricia Cullen, David Greene and David W. Shaw
theme song by Stewart Copeland

DroidsVoice Cast: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter MacNeill (Jord Dusat), Rob Cowan (Thall Joban), Lesleh Donaldson (Kea Moll), John Stocker (Vlix)

Notes: The Boonta Race is presumably related to the Boonta Eve pod race seen in Episode I (a movie which wouldn’t be made for another 14 years). With Tig Fromm’s mention of Jabba as a rival crime boss, it’s possible that the unidentified desert world is Tatooine (presumably Threepio wouldn’t recognize it as his memory was ordered wiped at the end of Episode III).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Droids Star Wars

Escape Into Terror

DroidsAt the secluded home of Kea Moll’s family, Thall and Jord continue to make much-needed repairs to their ship; Threepio and Artoo have to contend with the duties and responsibilities of Bantha farming. The droids stumble across a hidden chamber – the control room of a small, secret Rebel base. It’s only now that Kea reveals her sympathies to the rebellion, and the reason she’s been helping the two speeder racers. Sise Fromm’s criminal syndicate has built a powerful weapon called the Trigon One, and his son Tig Fromm’s blundering has given the Alliance a chance to obtain it.

written by Peter Sauder
directed by Ken Stephenson
music by Patricia Cullen, David Greene and David W. Shaw
theme song by Stewart Copeland

DroidsVoice Cast: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter MacNeill (Jord Dusat), Rob Cowan (Thall Joban), Lesleh Donaldson (Kea Moll), John Stocker (Vlix)

Notes: The canon-bending unlikelihood of the droids starting out in Bail Organa’s possession at the end of Episode III, going through the animated series’ progression of owners, and returning to Organa’s service in time for the original trilogy becomes less unlikely if one considers the possibility that the droids were sent to Kea Moll’s family by fellow Rebel Organa in the first place…

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Droids Star Wars

The Trigon Unleashed

DroidsThall and Artoo set out to rendezvous with Jord and Kea’s mother, who have just hidden the Fromm gang’s Trigon battleship. But things don’t go as planned: the rendezvous never happens. Waiting at Kea Moll’s family compound, Threepio intercepts transmissions between Tig Fromm and Sise Fromm, revealing that the compound is surrounded by Fromm henchmen. Thall returns, having guessed that things have gone horribly wrong, to rescue Threepio and Kea, but their attempt to escape from the Fromm gang lands them in a trap. Sise Fromm has two hostages – Jord and Kea’s mother – and wants Thall to tell him where the Trigon is hidden. Even when this information is spilled, however, the droids are ahead of Fromm’s men.

Droidswritten by Richard Beban and Peter Sauder
directed by Ken Stephenson
music by Patricia Cullen, David Greene and David W. Shaw
theme song by Stewart Copeland

Voice Cast: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter MacNeill (Jord Dusat), Rob Cowan (Thall Joban), Lesleh Donaldson (Kea Moll), John Stocker (Vlix)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Droids Star Wars

A Race To The Finish

DroidsThall and Jord, with Kea Moll and the droids in tow, are well on their way to the Boonta Speeder Race when their ship is attacked. The ship pursuing them, however, has limited speed and weapons – the best that Sise Fromm and the remnants of his crime gang can afford after the costly loss of the Trigon. Thall and Jord escape, so Sise Fromm calls in a favor from a bounty hunter: he wants the speeder racers and their friends captured and brought to him. The bounty hunter who owes him a favor is Boba Fett.

written by Richard Beban and Peter Sauder
directed by Ken Stephenson
music by Patricia Cullen, David Greene and David W. Shaw
theme song by Stewart Copeland

Voice Cast: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Dan Hennessey (Jord Dusat), Rob DroidsCowan (Thall Joban), Lesleh Donaldson (Kea Moll), Don Francks (Boba Fett), Graeme Campbell (Proto One) John Stocker (Vlix), Winston Rekert (Sise Fromm)

Notes: Droids is divided up into three serialized stories showing Artoo and Threepio working for different masters, and this episode concludes what is essentially a four-part story detailing their service to Thall Joben and friends. Boba Fett is the first original series character other than the droids to appear in the series, and it’s a bit of a homecoming for the bounty hunter: his first appearance was in an animated segment of the Star Wars Holiday Special, and that segment – like the Droids series – was produced by Canadian animation studio Nelvana. Threepio claims that he and BL-17 “graduated from the same production facility,” though it may be a fabrication on the part of BL-17 (a droid taking orders from Boba Fett) to gain Threepio’s trust. If one is trying to work Droids into the continuity of the years between the prequel and original trilogies, Threepio has already had his mind wiped at Bail Organa’s instruction, and whatever “production facility” he might be remembering may be a fabrication planted during that memory wipe to prevent Threepio from remembering that he was constructed by Anakin Skywalker.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Droids Star Wars

The Lost Prince

DroidsThreepio and Artoo find work at a diner, though they’re not ideally suited to work as servers and find themselves unemployed again in record time, though not before they overhear word that bounty hunter IG-88 is on the trail of someone nearby. Threepio and Artoo are auctioned off, with another dilapidated droid, to a new master, Jann Tosh, to help with his Uncle Gundy’s mining operation. But the third droid isn’t a droid – it’s a living being incapable of speech, but, after eating a king-sized breakfast, is more than capable of working in the mines. But who is this new worker, and why are other parties dangerously interested in him?

Droidswritten by Richard Beban and Peter Sauder
directed by Ken Stephenson
music by Patricia Cullen, David Greene and David W. Shaw
theme song by Stewart Copeland

Voice Cast: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Don Francks (Jann Tosh), Dan Hennessey (Uncle Gundy / Yorpa / Vinga / Jyn Obah), Taborah Johnson (Jessica Meade), Michel LeFebvre (Mon Julpa), John Stocker (Sollag)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Droids Star Wars

The New King

DroidsJann Tosh and the droids flee the mining planet, trying to return Mon Julpa to high rightful place on the throne of the planet Tamuzan; they discover that their pilot is none other than Jessica Meade, making this the second time she has saved their skins. But they’re being followed by a bounty hunter: IG-88 is in pursuit. On Tamuzan itself, they’re no safer – in Mon Julpa’s absence, a struggle for power has broken out, with rivals vying for the throne. Artoo and Threepio may have to stage a coup of their own to ensure that Mon Julpa is crowned as Tamuzan’s king.

Droidswritten by Richard Beban and Peter Sauder
directed by Ken Stephenson
music by Patricia Cullen, David Greene and David W. Shaw
theme song by Stewart Copeland

Voice Cast: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Don Francks (Jann Tosh), Dan Hennessey (Uncle Gundy / Yorpa / Vinga / Jyn Obah), Taborah Johnson (Jessica Meade), Michel LeFebvre (Mon Julpa), John Stocker (Sollag)

Notes: Mon Julpa’s rival for the throne is given a voice performance that sounds uncannily like the voice of Saw Gererra.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Star Wars TV Specials

Ewoks: The Battle For Endor

Star WarsThe Towani family is preparing to leave the third moon of Endor. But as Jeremitt is making final repairs to the spacecraft, a band of armed marauders attacks the Ewok village. The Ewoks are either herded into primitive vehicles or killed. Mace puts up a valiant fight, but he and his mother are both killed in the attack. Cindel runs back to find her father being held prisoner by more marauders and a witch named Charal who appears to be human. Jeremitt buys enough time for Cindel to escape, but he too is killed. Cindel and Wicket are captured and thrown into a wagon with the surviving Ewoks. They both manage to escape, but they must outrun marauders and brave some indigenous predators as well. They finally befriend a strange, fast-moving creature called Teek, who leads them to an isolated house deep in the woods. The house belongs to an old man named Noa, whose two-man exploration ship crash-landed on the Ewoks’ moon back in the heyday of the Empire, stranding him ever since. Cindel and Wicket stay with Noa and Teek for a few days, but Cindel is kidnapped by Charal. Charal’s master, the marauder king Terak, has stolen a power cell from the Towanis’ ship. He can’t figure out how to use the object’s “magic,” and has instructed the witch to capture the one remaining person who knows anything about it. If Cindel can’t give Terak the answers he wants to hear, she, Charal and all of the captured Ewoks will die. Noa, Wicket and Teek set out to rescue her…but even once all of the Ewoks are set free, they’re hardly any match for Terak’s army. When it is revealed that Noa’s ship is still intact, and lacks only the power cell from the Towanis’ ship to escape, the already high stakes are raised even further.

Order the DVDsscreenplay by Ken Wheat and Jim Wheat
story by George Lucas
directed by Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat
music by Peter Bernstein

Cast: Wilford Brimley (Noa), Warwick Davis (Wicket), Aubree Miller (Cindel Towani), Sian Phillips (Charal), Carel Struycken (Terak), Niki Botelho (Teek), Paul Gleason (Jeremitt Towani), Eric Walker (Mace Towani), Marianne Horne (Young witch), Daniel Frishman (Deej), Tony Cox (Willy), Pam Grizz (Shodu), Roger Johnson (Lieutenant), Michael Pritchard (Card player #2), Johnny Weissmuller Jr. (Card player #2), Malumba Anderson Ewoks: Battle For Endor(Marauder), Tom Calabrese (Marauder), Scott Cooper (Marauder), Scott Cowan (Marauder), Dan Cunningham (Marauder), Charles Davis (Marauder), Mike Dito (Marauder), Scott Ferry (Marauder), Michael Franti (Marauder), Andre Keys (Marauder), Jerry Keys (Marauder), Jerry Martin (Marauder), Brendan Reitz (Marauder), Marques Strane (Marauder), Peter Thiebeaux (Marauder), Bill Tilman (Marauder), Dawn Abbey (Ewok), Anthony Bagnarol (Ewok), Mary Henning (Ewok), Bethany Jewett (Ewok), Michael Lipsky (Ewok), Steve Morgan (Ewok), Matthew Roloff (Ewok), Irving Scible Jr. (Ewok), Judi Weaver (Ewok), Darryl Henriques, Sydney Walker, Kevin Pollack, Ken Grantham, Mark Dodson, Rick Cimino (Ewok and Marauder voices)

Notes: Blurrgs, a beast of burden featured more prominently in The Mandalorian, are first seen here in stop-motion form.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Ewoks Star Wars

The Season Scepter

EwoksTeebo the Ewok, again practicing magic, seems to change the seasons from summer to winter in the blink of an eye. Racing to seek the advice of Ewok leader Logray, Wicket, Teebo and the other Ewoks find not their chief, but a message from the Leaf Queen relayed by the Sun Star: the Sun King needs Logray’s help urgently. Wicket and his friends answer that call instead – not really the help the Sun King was expecting – but on the way to the Sun King’s palace, they’re attacked by the minions of the Snow King, who has stolen the Season Scepter from his brother and turned summer to winter. Those minions capture Kneesaa, and now Wicket will have to rescue her and steal the Season Scepter back…or it may be winter on Endor forever.

Ewokswritten by Bob Carrau
directed by Dale Schott
music by Patrick Gleeson

Cast: Denny Delk (Wicket), James Cranna (Teebo), Sue Murphy (Latara), Jeanne Reynolds (Kneesaa / Malani), Rick Cimino (Chief Chirpa / Logray)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Radio & Audio Dramas Star Wars

Tales Of The Jedi

Star Wars: Tales Of The JediBrothers Ulic Qel-Droma and Cay Qel-Droma, and their Twi’lek friend Tott Doneeta, are recent graduates to the rank of Jedi Knight. They are assigned to restore the peace on the planet Onderon by Jedi Master Arca, their mentor, who has enough faith in them to send them there alone. But on Onderon, the three young Jedi discover that the situation is more complicated than they had been led to believe. A war between the dwellers of a great walled city and a faction of outcasts who have learned to ride vicious airborne beasts could end with a marriage that could unite both sides, but Ulic and his fellow Jedi are nearly tricked into putting a stop to it. When they learn that the Dark Side is strong in the ruthless rulers of the city of Iziz, Cay and Tott worry that they won’t be able to take on the Dark Side practitioners without more experienced Jedi help; Ulic convinces them otherwise, but even with the young Jedis’ skills and bravery, victory will come at a high cost.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a young Jedi is cut down before the eyes of his wife and child by thugs working for Bogga the Hutt. The newly widowed Nomi Sunrider, who herself has latent Force potential, picks up her fallen husband’s lightsaber, kills her attackers and escapes with her daughter. She seeks out the Jedi Master her husband was seeking, only to find that his new mentor wasn’t human at all – or, for that matter, humanoid. If she can overcome her preconceptions about the Jedi and the Force, and her aversion to ever wielding a lightsaber again, Nomi may herself become a Jedi…just in time to witness first-hand an unusually bold uprising by the Dark Lords of the Sith and their followers.

Order this CDwritten by John Whitman
based on the comic by Tom Veitch
directed by Kevin Thomsen
music by John Williams

Cast: David Scott Gordon (Ulic Qel-Droma), Skip Lackey (Cay Qel-Droma), Mark Feuerstein (Tott), Melanie Mitchell (Nomi Sunrider), Larry Keith (Master Arca / King Omin), Paul Condylis (Master Thon), Thom Christopher (Freedon Nadd), Michael Louden (Oss), Christopher Sena (Andur / Satal), Aden Gillet (Oron), Peter Newman (Novar), Chris Phillips (Threedee / Gudb), Tony Sperry (Quanto / Rek), Ben Lipitz (Nikto), Bud Thorpe (Bogga the Hutt / Warb Null), John Randolph Jones (Gobee), Allison Dougherty (Princess Galia), Garet Scott (Aleema), Kim Brown (Vima), Teri Keane (Queen Amanoa), Jay Gregory (Holocron Gatekeeper), Barbara Gilbert (Computer), Peter Larkin (Narrator)

Notes: Thom Christopher is best known in SF circles for starring as Hawk in the second season of Buck Rogers.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
National Public Radio Star Wars

Tatooine Haunts

Return Of The Jedi NPR Radio DramaOn Tatooine, Luke Skywalker is occupying Ben Kenobi’s old desert hut, preparing a new lightsaber for himself – to be wielded in the artificial hand that has replaced the one Darth Vader cut off at Cloud City. A carefully orchestrated plan to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt is finally set into motion, despite Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca having seemingly vanished after coming to Tatooine themselves. Luke sends R2-D2 and C-3PO to Jabba, with orders for Artoo to play a message Luke has recorded for Jabba’s eyes only. But when Artoo plays that message, Threepio is horrified to hear Luke’s voice offering the droids to Jabba as a gift – as a token of his esteem in hopes that a deal regarding Han Solo can be worked out. Artoo is pressed into service as a waiter aboard Jabba’s sail barge, and Threepio is forced to serve as the sluglike ganglord’s interpreter. A new bounty hunter, Boussh, arrives – with Chewbacca in chains. Jabba is delighted by the new arrival and allows Boussh to stay in his palace, but the bounty hunter is not all that he – or she – appears.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
additional material by John Whitman
based on the screenplay Return Of The Jedi by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

Season Three Cast: Joshua Fardon (Luke Skywalker), Perry King (Han Solo), Ann Sachs (Princess Leia Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Bernard Behrens (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Ayre Gross (Lando Calrissian), Edward Asner (Jabba The Hutt), Paul Hecht (The Emperor), John Lithgow (Yoda), Brock Peters (Lord Darth Vader)

Season Three Supporting Cast: Ed Begley Jr. (Boba Fett), Samantha Bennett (Arica), David Birney (Anakin Skywalker), Peter Dennis (Moff Jerjerrod), David Dukes (Bib Fortuna), Peter Michael Goetz (General Madine), Ian Gomez (Salacious Crumb), Martin Jarvis (Barada), Jon Matthews (Wedge), Natalija Nogulich (Mon Mothma), Mark Adair Rios (Admiral Ackbar), Yeardley Smith (9D9), Tom Virtue (Major Derlin), Ken Hiller (Narrator), with Samantha Bennett, Rick Hall, Andrew Hawkes, Sherman Howard, Karl Johnson, John Kapelos, Ron Le Paz, Joe Liss, Paul Mercier, Steven Petrarca, Jonathan Penner, Gil Segel, Nia Vardalos and Ron West

Categories
National Public Radio Star Wars

Fast Friends

Return Of The Jedi NPR Radio DramaHan has been released from his carbonite prison by the bounty hunter Boushh, who has in turn been unmasked as Princess Leia – just in time for both to be captured by Jabba the Hutt. Leia is put in chains (and not much else) to serve as Jabba’s new dancing girl, and discovers that more help is already close at hand – Lando Calrissian has disguised himself to take the place of one of Jabba’s palace guards. Han and Chewie are reunited in Jabba’s dungeons, but the reunion may be a short-lived one – both are sentenced to death. A mysterious figure arrives in the dead of night, convincing Jabba’s lackeys to give him access to the gangster lord himself. The stranger reveals himself to be Luke, here to bargain for the release of his friends. Even though he has arrived unarmed, Luke demonstrates an increasing command of the Force as a weapon when the negotiations turn hostile.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
additional material by John Whitman
based on the screenplay Return Of The Jedi by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

See the first episode for cast information.

Categories
National Public Radio Star Wars

Prophecies And Destinies

Return Of The Jedi NPR Radio DramaSentenced to die by digestion in the belly of the Sarlacc, Luke and his friends stage their last stand in a desperate battle aboard Jabba’s sail barges. After blasting their way out of captivity, the Rebels have a new obstacle to contend with – Imperial star destroyers have blockaded Tatooine. Artoo signals the surviving bounty hunters and mercenaries at Jabba’s palace to convince them that the Empire is here for them, and a fierce firefight ensues – during which the Millennium Falcon and Luke’s X-Wing are able to slip away without firing a shot. Luke, with Artoo in tow, splits off to visit Jedi Master Yoda on Dagobah, while the Falcon rejoins the Rebel fleet. Darth Vader arrives aboard the still unfinished second Death Star, and while his presence is enough to stir terror in the heart of the Imperial officer overseeing the station’s construction, Vader brings even darker news: Emperor Palpatine himself is en route to the Death Star as well, intent on personally witnessing the destruction of the Rebellion. And perhaps the Emperor is closer to his goal than he realizes, for across the galaxy, before Luke’s eyes, and before he has completed his training, the last Jedi Master has become one with the Force.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
additional material by John Whitman
based on the screenplay Return Of The Jedi by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

See the first episode for cast information.

Notes: A bit of throwaway dialogue in this episode – written well after Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy of novels – tries to set one foot into the expanded universe when Han says he heard that Lando “almost wrecked the Falcon on Coruscant” – which seems like an insanely dangerous place for anyone to take the Falcon if, as implied in the prequel trilogy, it becomes the seat of the Imperial government. Then again, maybe it’s a different Coruscant, as here the planet’s name is pronounced “chorus can’t.”

Categories
National Public Radio Star Wars

Pattern And Web

Return Of The Jedi NPR Radio DramaGathered near the planet Sullust, the Rebel fleet is preparing for an all-out, last-ditch attack against the Imperial forces. Lando, piloting the Falcon, will lead Rebel fighters in a direct assault on the new Death Star, while Han will lead a ground assault on the third moon of Endor to take out a shield generator protecting the space station. Chewie, Leia, Luke and the droids join Han’s team bound for Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. Once there, the Rebels find the Empire is guarding its installation more heavily than expected – Imperial scout troops on speeder bikes spot Han and Chewie and take off to sound the alarm. Luke and Leia give chase on a leftover speeder, and Luke “liberates” a speeder of his own from one of the Imperial troops in midair. But when Luke finishes off the last of the troops, he returns to Han, only to discover that Leia hasn’t returned.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
additional material by John Whitman
based on the screenplay Return Of The Jedi by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

See the first episode for cast information.

Notes: As Mon Mothma, Natalija Nogulich is on familiar ground – in her previous recurring role as Admiral Nechayev, she had been directing Starfleet strategy in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.

Categories
National Public Radio Star Wars

So Turns A Galaxy, So Turns A Wheel

Return Of The Jedi NPR Radio DramaHan, Luke, Chewie and the droids are captured by furry natives of the third moon of Endor while searching for Leia. The primitive creatures are quite impressed with Threepio, thinking that he’s a god – and Luke uses that opportunity to impress them even further with a demonstration of the Force. Threepio brokers an alliance between the Rebels and the furry Ewoks, and discovers that they’re no happier about the Imperial presence in their forests than the Rebels are. But even when the Ewoks offer their help, something troubles Luke – namely a revelation from Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi that Leia is his sister. Luke shares this with her, and then goes off to face his destiny, in the form of Darth Vader and the Emperor, alone.

Order this CDwritten by Brian Daley
additional material by John Whitman
based on the screenplay Return Of The Jedi by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
directed by John Madden
music by John Williams

See the first episode for cast information.