Star Wars... *Bubble Gum For The Brain' By JERRY BUCK AP Television Writer HOLLYWOOD (AP) - "I don't sing, I don't dance, and don't ask me," says Harrison Ford of "Star Wars" fame. Ford, the laconic Han Solo of the swashbuckling space epic, said he leaves the singing to Carrie Fisher. At least she's the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. But Ford, along with Mark Hamill, 3CPO, R2D2 and Chewbacca, stick to their characters and the tenuous plot for "The Star Wars Holiday Special" tomorrow night on CBS. Is it an exploitation of the biggest grossing movie of all time? You bet, but relax and enjoy it. It's bubble gum for the brain. It loosely centers on the family of Chewbacca, Solo's 7-foot-2 Wookiee co-pilot, on the planet of Kazzook. At home are his wife, Malla; his father, Itchy, and his son, Lumpy. It's Life Day on Kazzook, and the Wookiees are visited by many of the stars of the movie and are entertained by Beatrice Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll and the Jefferson Starship. Miss Arthur tends a bar not unlike that on Tatooine that attracted such strange customers in the movie. She looks like she could handle the crowd. The special has its own dazzling special effects. Part of it is found in the Wookiees' sophisticated electronic equipment. Diahann Carroll appears as a water goddess singing only for Itchy's enjoyment. And when Lumpy gets bored, he plays halographic TV cassettes in which the characters emerge full-size from the screen. The Jefferson Starship comes in an electronic music box. Co-producer Ken Welch said, "We wanted to do things you've never seen before. For one sequence we've got the camera in a lighted mirror box and it endlessly repeats the image to infinity." Most of the "Star Wars" cast - Ford as Solo, Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Miss Fisher a Princess Leia, Anthony Daniels as 3CPO and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca will assemble early next year in Norway for the first movie sequel, set on an ice planet. Undoubtedly Darth Vader, given voice by James Earl Jones, will be there, too. Miss Fisher, attired in Princess Leia's white gown and with her dark hair up in buns, said, "I've never been more excited. I get a new gown and a new hair style for the movie." Ford credits "Star Wars" with putting his career together, but claims to be a "15-year overnight success." Since then he's starred in "Force 10 from Navarone" and the World War II romance "Hanover Street." He said, "It's the movie that made the world safe for war movies." Daniels came here for the special after completing a run in South Africa in the play "P.S., Your Cat Is Dead," in which he played an American cat burglar. "That was a great chance to get away from C3PO," Daniels said. "He's zappy and has a great sense of humor. C3PO is terribly formal, which gives him his sense of humor." Mayhew said after his role as Chewbacca he went back to his old job as a hospital orderly. "But it was no great strain on me," he said. "It was what I had done before and I enjoyed it. I'm basically out of it now. Mark Hamill was another unknown whose career went into orbit after "Star Wars." He starred in **Corvette Summer" and in the upcoming "Big Red One.' "All our personalities are close to our characters," Hamill said. "George Lucas cast it that way. I'm very pop oriented. I love being on bubble gum cards.» Mark Hamill A family of Wookies Art Carney Diahann Carroll DISCOVER THE ACTION TENNIS WEEKENDS As Little As $4.25* per hour (*per person, doubles) Algonquin Racquet Club Open Time Play Mixed Doubles (Sun.) Men's Doubles (Round Robin-Sat.) • Women's Doubles FREE Beginner Clinic Sat. CALL NOW 386-9570 125 Algonquin Parkway, Whippany
