Via Starwars.com:

THE ONLY WELCOMED INTERRUPTION FROM CARTOONS IN 1976.

The dog was barking next to you. Your sister was probably throwing crayons. And out on the edges of your senses, you could feel your math homework, like a miasmic shadow of evil, untouched in your backpack.
You had to close your eyes and clear your mind.

It usually took two remote controls: the massive VCR remote and the smaller one for the TV. You had to put the TV on Channel 3 (or 4) and switch over “Input” to VCR. After a long second, you’d see the signal of your regular programming. You were ready.

As you watched your usual cartoons, you had your finger hovering over the squishy red button that said REC. You were waiting for the Star Wars commercial.

The recent release of the first television spot for Episode VII calls to mind the very first Star Wars TV commercials. Back then, TV was everything. The Internet was science fiction. The idea of an interconnected multimedia virtual network was so outlandish – it didn’t even appear in Star Wars! Lightsabers were actually more believable than smartphones.