MARK HAMILL on EIGHT IS ENOUGH (3 OF 4)

EIGHT IS ENOUGH: The pilot for the TV series EIGHT IS ENOUGH began with MARK HAMILL playing the oldest brother David. Hamill appeared only in the pilot. Grant Goodeve replaced the blond Jedi.

MARK HAMILL on EIGHT IS ENOUGH (2 OF 4)

EIGHT IS ENOUGH: The pilot for the TV series EIGHT IS ENOUGH began with MARK HAMILL playing the oldest brother David. Hamill appeared only in the pilot. Grant Goodeve replaced the blond Jedi.

MARK HAMILL on EIGHT IS ENOUGH (1 OF 4)

The pilot for the TV series EIGHT IS ENOUGH began with MARK HAMILL playing the oldest brother David. Hamill appeared only in the pilot. Grant Goodeve replaced the blond Jedi.

GARAGE DOOR

Kenny Dantley (MARK HAMILL) is so excited about his new junkyard discovery, once it's inside the auto class garage he can't wait to close the door. This garage, harboring the Corvette, which is basically the film's McGuffin (essential plot device), is much like another vehicle from STAR WARS holding that movie's key element. 

DOCKING DAYS

Two universes. Two docking bays. One to create, the other to destroy. The CORVETTE driven into the auto shop garage by Mark Hamill. And Mark Hamill and friends being pulled into the Death Star hangar.

FRAME RIDER

Leaving the junk yard

Kenny Dantley (MARK HAMILL) riding his new discovery, the frame of his dream car CORVETTE, to the high school's auto shop.

PAGE ONE: CALIFORNIA DREAMLESS

Chapter 1. Page 1.

Kenny Dantley never dreamed...

When he was fifteen and had fallen off the roof of the trailer and broken his arm, his mother decided to ask the doctor about several things bothering her about her son. “What the hell,” she said, as the taxi dropped them at the emergency entrance of the hospital. Kenny cradling the bent limb, “while we’re here we might as well have him look at your toe, and your ear, and those teeth you say hurt sometimes.”

The duty intern had set the arm and cleaned the accumulated wax out of Kenny’s ears and, after frowning at what he saw inside the boy’s mouth, recommended a dentist as soon as possible.

“One more thing,” his mother said. “The kid says he never dreams. Am I supposed to believe that? I mean, everybody dreams, don’t they?”

The doctor shook his head and frowned. “It could just be, Mrs. Dantley, that Kenny dreams but doesn’t remember. Probably that will change as he grows up.” He paused. “If I were you, I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”

Kenny waited but his mother said nothing else, and they had gone home to the trailer, and his mother had changed back into her slacks and poured herself three fingers of Cutty Sark because, she said, she needed it.

She forgot to take him to the dentist; a year later he went himself and had the teeth pulled out.

Three years had passed since he broke that arm. He had waited to dream, or at least to remember that he had dreamed, but it had not happened. Each dawn when he awoke he waited to remember. He pushed out of his mind all the images that had already begun to crowd upon it, and he had tried to recall where he had traveled in his sleep, and whom he had met, and what adventures he had had. 

But there was nothing. Nothing. Between going to bed and waking there was nothing at all, not even a void, or a chasm, or a gulf, or anything that could be described by those fancy words the Forrie Redman, the English teacher, was always telling him to use. There wasn’t even darkness. There was just nothing… Zilch. Blotto. Zip.

POSTERS YOU'LL NEVER FORGET

Here's a classic poster. The tags read: MARK HAMILL, who you loved in STAR WARS. And ANNIE POTTS, who you'll never forget. This is true. In the 80's and 90's, starring on DESIGNING WOMEN and films like GHOSTBUSTERS and the sequel, Annie had a better career than Mark. But what's really interesting is how similar the image of Hamill beside a sexy woman, much like the original STAR WARS poster that didn't even include Han or Chewie. But at least in the SUMMER poster Kenny's not standing beside his own sister. Imagine if that twist were revealed at the end of the film. They'd have to rename it CHINATOWN SUMMER.

FORCE 10 CORVETTE

The year after STAR WARS, actors MARK HAMILL and HARRISON FORD went from C-List to A-List. As we already know, Mark's first project was CORVETTE SUMMER... and here's a picture of HARRISON FORD driving his own vehicle in the World War II flick FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE.

HOOKER VAN COCKPIT

Today's entry shows us VANESSA played by ANNIE POTTS with MARK HAMILL as Kenny in Vanessa's sexual 70's hump mobile. Looks kinda stuffy in that van, but at least they're not on a perilous mission to Endor.

WRENCH AND LIGHTSABER

A great poster of Kenny Dantley wielding a monkey wrench within the villain's lair: the auto thief garage where his hot Corvette's being kept. How Mark Hamill holds his weapon with a serious scowl is reminiscent of Luke Skywalker about to enter the cavern on Dagobah in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.