𝑨 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚...
Simply listed as "Star Wars" in some newspapers, young viewers that scoured the TV listings and saw a two-hour timeblock on Friday night taken up by a program with this title flipped their lids. Fighting against Mom's desired choice of a Thanksgiving Love Boat, and Dad wanting to watch part two of the miniseries Pearl; the ones that were successful were treated to Wookie uncle Itchy watching what amounted to Wookie porn, a femme looking Luke with tons of makeup hiding a recent injury, Bea Arthur singing at the Tattooine bar, and other cocaine-fueled fantasies of TV writers...
The Special was rarely spoken of again, (and then only in legend) and George Lucas denied its existence for decades. But it was no fantasy – no careless product of wild imagination. No, my friends. Its existence is a matter of undeniable fact.
The 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡, which aired only once on November 17, 1978, is often considered one of the worst television programs ever made. CBS, hoping to capitalize on the success of the 1977 film Star Wars, approached George Lucas about producing a holiday special. Lucas was focused on other projects and handed creative control to producers with only one caveat: the special must revolve around Chewbacca and his family celebrating “Life Day” on their home planet of Kashyyyk. (Gesundheit.) What resulted was one of the more inexplicable entries in sci-fi history.
Faced with a limited budget and a cast that seemed less than enthusiastic about participating, producers created a bizarre variety show that included musical numbers, comedy skits, and even a virtual reality-induced sexual fantasy sequence involving Chewbacca’s father and singer Diahann Carroll.
𝑶𝒉... 𝒐𝒉... 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒆?
While viewers had high hopes as it opened with Han and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon, after the credits, a nine-minute segment of Chewbacca's Wookie family grunting at each other in the Wookie language with no subtitles gave viewers an idea of what they were in for. In true 70s variety show tradition, guest stars like Bea Arthur sang in the Mos Eisley cantina, Harvey Korman appeared in multiple roles (including a four-armed chef and a malfunctioning android - 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒓, 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕!), and Jefferson Starship performing their song “Light the Sky on Fire”.
The special was met with widespread criticism from fans and critics alike, and many questioned Mark Hamill's visual appearance, as he wore heavy stage makeup to disguise scars from a recent car accident. However, one of the better contributions of the special was an animated segment that introduced bounty hunter Boba Fett to the Star Wars universe. This cartoon, produced by Nelvana Ltd., was praised for its animation style and its exciting storyline.
George Lucas has famously disowned the Star Wars Holiday Special, claiming he would destroy every copy if he could. Carrie Fisher also was known to play the special on home video if she wanted guests to leave. Despite its infamy, the Star Wars Holiday Special has achieved cult status among some fans, who appreciate its unintentional humor and its bizarre place in Star Wars history. For many years, it was only found on bootleg videos sold at conventions, but several years ago a new copy was discovered at a local TV station and posted to YouTube for our viewing pleasure.
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