{"id":77048,"date":"2023-12-22T10:05:21","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T16:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=77048"},"modified":"2023-12-22T10:05:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T16:05:25","slug":"have-you-seen-the-star-wars-holiday-special-1978","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=77048","title":{"rendered":"Have you seen&#8230;&#8217;The Star Wars Holiday Special&#8217; (1978)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By JOHN BILLINGER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Merry Christmas. It\u2019s the greatest time of the year. No question. This is the day that the entire month and even year has been building up to. It saddens me that I spent it watching the \u201cStar Wars Holiday Special.\u201d I genuinely do make horrible use of my time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ok, here is a little background on this special that I\u2019m sure most people haven\u2019t heard have because it has thankfully sunk into obscurity for the most part. The year was 1978 and the original \u201cStar Wars\u201d had just been released the previous year. Back then, \u201cStar Wars\u201d wasn\u2019t a franchise that neckbeards complained about on the internet, but just a really cool movie. Actually, not just a really cool movie, but a really great movie that pushed the boundary of storytelling, and special effects, and became the highest-grossing film ever made up until that point. And it was no surprise that the sequels were green-lit, and were in pre-production by 1978.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cast of the original film had been making appearances on talk shows and variety shows, so the idea of doing a television special about \u201cStar Wars\u201d starring the original cast was eventually pitched by CBS, and after some discussion was made, was given the green light. George Lucas and company ultimately had little to do with the production of the special, as they were far too busy with the production of the sequels, but he did provide the basic framing device of the special, which was that most of it would revolve around Chewbacca\u2019s family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Star Wars Holiday Special&quot; promo - 1978\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sinGe3nCJts?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The resulting holiday special featured most of the original film\u2019s original cast (Mark Hamil, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and James Earl Jones), and a bunch of popular 1970s-era guest stars, such as Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, Diahann Caroll, and the band the Jefferson Starship. The special was a variety show, and was mostly live-action&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>but did include an animated segment that was made by an animation studio called Nelvana which later produced the 80s \u201cStar Wars\u201d animated series \u201cDroids.\u201d The special aired on November 17th, 1978. It was from then on known as \u201cthe worst two hours of television ever\u201d according to the book \u201cWhat Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having seen the whole thing, I agree. I can also easily see why this thing never aired again or had an official home video release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" data-attachment-id=\"77051\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=77051\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?fit=1200%2C675\" data-orig-size=\"1200,675\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"han\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;This special remains the only time Harrison Ford has ever played Han Solo outside of the movies.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?fit=370%2C208\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?fit=790%2C444\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?resize=790%2C444\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-77051\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?resize=1024%2C576 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?resize=370%2C208 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?resize=150%2C84 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?resize=768%2C432 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/han.jpg?w=1200 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption><strong>This special remains the only time Harrison Ford has ever played Han Solo outside of the movies.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s really hard, to sum up, the \u201cplot\u201d of this special. In a nutshell, Chewbacca and Han Solo are running late, and are racing across the galaxy to get to Chewbacca\u2019s home planet to visit Chewbacca\u2019s family for Life Day. First off, what Life Day is, is never explained to the audience, but according to production notes it\u2019s a combination of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Make of that as you will. Second, yes Chewbacca had a family this whole time. Introduced and only appearing in this special are Chewbacca\u2019s wife Malla, his son Lumpy, and his father Itchy. Most of the special (as suggested by George Lucas) is focused on his family. And most of it is just them interacting with each other, and you better believe that there are no subtitles. You\u2019re just<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>watching and listening to wookies roar at each other. The segments with them are truly a test of patience. It\u2019s like if someone made a sitcom of the first 10 minutes of \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey.\u201d The wookies also make contact with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia to ask where Han and Chewie are. Their response can be summed up as: \u201cI don\u2019t know where they are, but I\u2019m sure they\u2019re on their way.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, this is a variety show, so there are a bunch of other very boring segments that make up the film. First, there\u2019s a segment where Lumpy is watching a hologram of a dancing Cirque du Soleil-type show, which goes on for like five minutes, and by the end of it, you feel like you\u2019re brain dead. Nothing else can be said about this scene.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then Harvey Korman comes over to the Wookie household, to give the family Life Day presents. He gives Mala a kitchen thing, Lumpy a computer thing, and Itchy a virtual reality chair thing. Itchy finds the virtual reality chair useful, as he watches a weird video of special guest star Diahann Caroll, speaking suggestively to Itchy, and she sings a suggestive song.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then there are two painfully long and repetitive scenes of special guest star Art Carney doing an instructional video of some kind. One is a cooking show where he wears an outfit that resembles Lady Tremaine from the original Disney \u201cCinderella,\u201d and then there\u2019s an instructional how to put together a computer video in which he pretends to be a robot. A potential game one could play while watching these scenes is \u201cspot the joke\u201d, but honestly nothing funny ever happens so there would be no winner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another segment is a Jefferson Starship music video. I really have nothing more to say about it. It\u2019s a boring segment that plays no role, but at least it confirms that rock music exists in a galaxy far, far away. There\u2019s also the Bea Arthur segment, where it\u2019s a documentary of life on the desert planet Tatooine. It\u2019s revealed that Bea Arthur was the owner of the cantina, but the Empire is closing down the cantina, and she sings a long boring song about how the customers of the bar are her friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"524\" data-attachment-id=\"77050\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=77050\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?fit=867%2C575\" data-orig-size=\"867,575\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"cartoonsw2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?fit=370%2C245\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?fit=790%2C524\" data-id=\"77050\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?resize=790%2C524\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-77050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?w=867 867w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?resize=370%2C245 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?resize=150%2C99 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw2.jpg?resize=768%2C509 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" data-attachment-id=\"77049\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?attachment_id=77049\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?fit=1906%2C1072\" data-orig-size=\"1906,1072\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"cartoonsw1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?fit=370%2C208\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?fit=790%2C444\" data-id=\"77049\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?resize=790%2C444\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-77049\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?w=1906 1906w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?resize=370%2C208 370w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?resize=1024%2C576 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?resize=150%2C84 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?resize=768%2C432 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cartoonsw1.jpg?resize=1536%2C864 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/figure>\n<figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\"><strong><strong>The cartoon segment has been released on a Blu-ray set and on Disney+ and remains the only segment of this special to have received an official release.<\/strong><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The one segment that stands out is the cartoon. At one point, Lumpy starts watching a cartoon that exists within the Star Wars universe. The cartoon is titled \u201cThe Faithful Wookie\u201d, and follows Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and R2-D2 on a mission to rescue Han and Chewie. During their adventure, they encounter a bounty hunter. But not just any bounty hunter. It\u2019s Boba Fett in his first appearance before his appearance in \u201cEmpire Strikes Back.\u201d Even though that film was still in pre-production at that point, but Lucas allowed him to be used in the Special for some unknown reason. I take it that Lucas later regretted having Boba Fett appear in this, as in the special editions of \u201cA New Hope,\u201d he added a cameo of Boba in the Jabba scene, almost as if to discredit the holiday special place in Boba\u2019s history.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This animated segment is considered to be the best aspect of the special, but it\u2019s not really saying much. The animation is odd. It resembles a mix between the 80s \u201cDroids\u201d animated series, old McDonald&#8217;s cartoons, and those infamous \u201cZelda\u201d CD-i games. Other aspects of the cartoon are odd as well. C-3PO blinks and has an elongated neck, Han Solo\u2019s face is stretched at an odd angle, Harrison Ford sounds like he couldn\u2019t have cared less when he was recording his lines, and the whole concept of the cartoon within the special doesn\u2019t even make sense. The idea is that Lumpy is watching this cartoon about his Dad. Why is there an in-universe cartoon&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>about his Dad and his friend\u2019s adventures? The only explanation I could come up with is that it\u2019s rebel propaganda. The cartoon is bad and is only the best aspect of the whole thing because there is finally something of a plot.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is only so much I can say about each of the segments. They\u2019re all unfunny, boring, repetitive, and a true test of patience to get through. Every second of this special makes you yearn to turn it off so you don\u2019t have to watch it anymore, but I had to continue, not for this article, but because ever since I had first heard of this special, I kind of wanted to watch the whole thing just to see what it was like, and so I can say that I\u2019ve seen it. Surprisingly despite the fact that this only aired once and has never seen an official release on home video, it\u2019s been bootlegged many times and has been uploaded to YouTube. It hasn\u2019t been taken down, as that would mean that someone would have to acknowledge that they own it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each year, I would say that this would be the year I would finally watch it, but then I would never watch it. But not last year. Last year, I said I would finally watch it. I sat down to watch it, and 15 minutes later I stopped watching because I needed a break. The next day, I decided to watch it again, and 15 minutes later I decided I needed another break. I planned to get back to it again the next day, but for \u201csome reason\u201d I never got back to it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year I made another attempt, and I decided to have a friend watch it with me for emotional support. We managed to watch the whole thing. My friend who watched it with me described the movie as \u201cThis movie is like that feeling when you\u2019re sick. Like, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on, my head hurts, and I don\u2019t want to feel like this anymore.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, I have nothing more to say. \u201cThe Star Wars Holiday Special\u201d is the worst thing produced in the Star Wars canon. It\u2019s worse than the prequels or the sequels. At least, they have a story. This was just awful. I get that George Lucas didn\u2019t have much to do with the final product beyond the license approval and plot suggestion, but I feel like someone could\u2019ve come up with a better story. It\u2019s also the worst holiday special ever produced. As said earlier, Life Day is the holiday, and this special gives the audience little idea of what this fictitious holiday is about, except going by the ending it might be cult-influenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s my Christmas present to anyone who reads this: don\u2019t watch \u201cThe Star Wars Holiday Special.\u201d It will take decades off your life expectancy, kill your brain cells, and make you lose your faith in humanity. If you\u2019re one of those who say \u201cThe Last Jedi\u201d is the worst thing in the franchise, I can say with certainty that you have no idea what you are talking about.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In any case, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By JOHN BILLINGER Tiger Media Network Merry Christmas. It\u2019s the greatest time of the year. No question. This is the day that the entire month&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":77052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3391,3505,55],"tags":[14981,15517,21,3005,15559],"class_list":["post-77048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-movie-reviews","category-local-movies","category-opinion","tag-john-billinger","tag-move-reviews","tag-movies-2","tag-star-wars","tag-the-star-wars-holiday-special"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/starwarsthumbnail.jpg?fit=493%2C397","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77053,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77048\/revisions\/77053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}