Be sure to clear your viewing schedule this Saturday. Following the tragic deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds last week, HBO has moved up the airing of a documentary on the two titled Bright Lights.
When 2016 decided it couldn’t let us escape without one final sucker punch in the emotional gut and decided to take Fisher and Reynolds mere hours apart, HBO decided to move the air date for Bright Lights from Mother’s Day (when it was originally intended as a tribute to Reynolds) to this Saturday to honour the iconic pair. Bright Lights documents the complicated, sometimes troubled but always loving relationship the two shared and was made with the full co-operation of the Reynolds/Fisher family.
Fisher was known to entire generations as Princess Leia but also carved out a respectable career as an accomplished writer, satirist and comedic actress. She was always candid about her struggles with addiction, substance abuse and bi-polar disorder and recently made headlines by officially revealing her brief love affair with Star Wars co-star Harrison Ford while filming Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. The Princes Diarist (her second autobiography) was released last November and immediately shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list following her death. Fisher died December 27th after suffering an apparent heart attack on a flight between London and Los Angeles December 23rd. She was 60.
Debbie Reynolds, who shot to stardom in 1952’s Singing in the Rain and whose career spanned seven decades, died from a stroke the following day. According to Hollywood lore, Reynolds career was shaped by a coin toss when she was just sixteen. Discovered by both Warner Brothers and MGM at the 1948 Miss Burbank contest, the two studios flipped a coin for the right to hire her. Even though Warner won, Reynolds would eventually wind up with MGM after leaving Warner Brothers two years later. It was with MGM she would make Rain and find her fame. In 1966 she was nominated for Best Actress for her groundbreaking role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Debbie Reynolds was 84. One of the final things she said was “I miss her so much. I just want to be with Carrie.”
A joint memorial service will be held for the pair on Thursday. Bright Lights airs Saturday, January 7th on HBO.
