The Making of Star Wars, a television special that runs for an hour (or 49 minutes excluding commercials), was both produced and directed by Robert Guenette. Its initial broadcast took place on the ABC Television Network on September 16, 1977. Gary Kurtz, the producer of Star Wars, served as the special's Executive Producer.
The special presents interviews with the writers, producers, and actors of the film then known simply as Star Wars, including Kurtz, George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Alec Guinness. C-3PO (with the voice of Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (performed by Kenny Baker) host the program, while William Conrad provides the voiceover narration. 20th Century Fox Television produced the show in conjunction with the Star Wars Corporation (one of the early subsidiaries of Lucasfilm Ltd.).
Besides Star Wars and Lucas's earlier works, THX 1138 and American Graffiti, the special also incorporates clips from The Black Swan, The Mark of Zorro, My Darling Clementine, the Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe episode "Doom of the Dictator," the Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars episode "The Miracle of Magic," Twelve O'Clock High, and the Atari game Anti-Aircraft, which Fisher is seen playing during her interview segment.
This special marked the debut of Star Wars content in the home video market, initially released in 1979 by Magnetic Video. A re-release occurred in 1980, featuring a trailer for The Empire Strikes Back, which had come out that same year. This trailer was absent from the DVD box set that was released in 2004.
In 1982, 20th Century Fox re-released it on VHS, Betamax, CED, and Laserdisc as a double feature paired with the 1980 special, SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back. It was re-released as a standalone item in Japan on Laserdisc in 1992 and later as a triple feature, combined with SPFX and the 1983 special, Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi. It was also a component of the Star Wars saga Blu-ray box set, which was made available in 2011.
In 1995, a VHS version of this special was offered as a mail-in promotion by the Kellogg Company, coinciding with the final video and Laserdisc releases of the original versions of the original trilogy. This particular version substitutes William Conrad's narration with that of Don LaFontaine, but remains otherwise unchanged. This version has not been released on DVD or any other media format.
Segments from the special were included within The Story of Star Wars, a VideoNow release that was also distributed on DVD as a promotional item at Wal-Mart stores, accompanying the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith.