Tonight on ABC, (which is owned by Disney) a brand new promotional campaign for Star Wars (another Disney property, as of 2012) was debuted and advertised on social media as #TGITAwakens. TGIT–or Thank God It’s Thursday–is the current three-hour block of programming that takes place on Thursdays, and each show is created or produced by Shonda Rhimes. The #TGITAwakens campaign consisted of three commercial features for which cast members of each of the shows waxed poetic about Star Wars. And then of course, there was a brand new TV spot for The Force Awakens.
So what’s new? Well, not a whole lot, visually. This is essentially a reworked version of the TV spot we covered a few days ago. But, there are two pretty significant 2-second-or-less scenes that are worth noting. The spot finally shows us the scene where Finn and Rey introduce themselves to each other. We know they meet on Jakku (which is basically Rey’s Tattooine), and we see more of Rey using a British accent–an accent that J.J. is likely using to throw us off the trail of her parentage. The second, and arguably BEST SCENE OF THE ENTIRE PROMO COLLECTION THUS FAR is one in which Han Solo hands Rey his blaster and says “Here, you might need this.” Now, this isn’t Han’s classic blaster from the original trilogy, but he’s still handing her a blaster. As opposed to the German Mauser-like blaster of old, the new one has a very revolver-like design — inasmuch as a blaster from a galaxy far, far away would look like a revolver.
The features were heartwarming as well. The first of the #TGIT Star Wars promos focused on actors from Grey’s Anatomy recalling their first connections with the Star Wars films. The actors featured in the first of the promos were Chandra Wilson, Jesse Williams, Kevin McKidd, and Caterina Scorsone. Chandra Wilson plays Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey’s, and the Bailey character is no stranger to Star Wars fandom: in a season four episode when a teenager was encased in concrete, she referenced Han’s brief time being encased in carbonite, as well as his famed Kessel Run. Interweaved with clips from the original trilogy and the upcoming trilogy, the Grey’s actors spoke of “taking part in something huge” with the massive theater release that is coming up.
The Scandal promo was a bit more direct with Kerry Washington comparing Olivia Pope’s ragtag team of Gladiators to the Rebel Alliance. The How to Get Away With Murder promo ended with actors Jack Falahee and Aja Naomi King doing their best wookiee calls. Jack’s was actually pretty impressive, all things considered. Aja’s wasn’t too shabby either.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? Sound off below with your thoughts on the significance between revealing a scene like that to viewers a month ahead of the movie launch. We want to hear it!
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Image via LucasFilms
