Hot on the heels of the success of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, the third-highest grossing music biopic since the 1970s, Steve Binder, the Emmy-winning director of Elvis Presley’s electrifying ’68 Comeback Special, is producing a documentary about the experience. Elvis & Steve: The Making of the ’68 Comeback Special will delve into the behind-the-scenes drama that seemed to loom over almost every frame of the NBC program that catapulted Presley back into people’s homes and hearts. Documentary on Elvis Presley’s ”68 Comeback Special’ Coming – Billboard
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pop-up ads on one site in my life! On the phone, it’s even worse! I gave up reading it! I’ll try again some point. I’m very interested in this.
The announcement in the headline is the gist of it. Should be out in 2023 for the special's 55th anniversary.
Binder is really old (89) and has failing eyesight, so this will be a tough show to do. But not impossible. A friend of mine interviewed him on the phone last year and said his stories were riveting. One of the most remarkable was that Col. Tom Parker was not happy with the idea of the special (which was echoed in the Elvis movie), and tried to sabotage it by tossing a pile of the free tickets into an NBC guard booth. Binder said he found out about that the day before the taping at NBC, and frantically called a friend at KHJ radio and they had a quick radio giveaway over the next 18 hours to make sure the audience was packed with fans.
wow. I remember when the raw footage was aired; I was spellbound. The last time I liked Elvis. Like someone said, 'he WANTED to be loved again.' Despite the annoying tambourine, it showed the man's voice was still great and he looked wonderful as well. Anyone else I would have tired of hearing multiple takes of 'Baby What You Want Me To Do,' but not Elvis. I best this is going to be really interesting.
Binder has got a massive resume on IMDB. To him, the awful Star Wars Holiday Special is just one of many variety shows he did in the 1970s -- maybe a bigger budget than most, but nothing great. He was just a journeyman director doing what the producers told him to do. Mitzi McCall and Charlie Brill, who both worked on the show, have said that Lucas was there most of the time and approved the story, the jokes, the songs, everything. I certainly don't think the director was the problem -- the director doesn't generally have the power in television, since TV is a producer's medium.