Short answers, pulled from the story.
Steve Binder is best known as the director of the T.A.M.I. Show, Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special, Diana Ross Live in Central Park, and the Star Wars Holiday Special. He also directed the 1968 Petula Clark NBC special that marked the first time a man and woman of different races exchanged physical contact on American television.
During the taping of a 1968 NBC special, Petula Clark touched the arm of guest Harry Belafonte while performing a duet called "On the Path of Glory." The advertising manager for sponsor Plymouth, Doyle Lott, demanded the moment be cut. Binder, Clark, and her husband-producer refused, destroyed all other takes, and delivered the program with the touch intact. It aired on the 2nd of April, 1968, and is documented as the first time a man and woman of different races exchanged physical contact on American television.
Binder told Elvis directly that he thought his career was "in the toilet," a candor that impressed Presley. Binder also took Presley out onto the street to show him that almost no-one recognized him, addressing any doubts about his relevance. Binder pushed back against Colonel Tom Parker's plan for a Christmas special and instead reunited Elvis with guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer DJ Fontana for informal live-audience sessions.
Yes. The T.A.M.I. Show, directed by Binder in 1964, was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2006. The Library of Congress cited it as culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.
Jack Noseworthy portrayed Binder in the 2005 CBS miniseries Elvis. Dacre Montgomery played Binder in the 2022 film biography of Elvis Presley. A documentary titled Reinventing Elvis: The '68 Comeback, focused on Binder's experience producing the 1968 comeback special, was released on Paramount Plus in 2023.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was a two-hour prime-time CBS broadcast in 1978 that Binder directed. It combined the Star Wars universe with a traditional television variety show format, featuring the original cast alongside actors including Art Carney and Bea Arthur. David Hofstede, author of What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, ranked it number one on that list, calling it "the worst two hours of television ever."