Star Wars Holiday TV Special…A Brief Look

George Lucas:

“I’m sort of amused by it, because it is so bizarre. It’s definitely avant-garde television. It’s definitely bad enough to be a classic.”

“If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every bootlegged copy of that program and smash it.”

That Force, alas, is not with him!

This show was shown once on national TV on November 17, 1978…and only once…for good reason. It was bad…really bad… almost Paul Lynde Halloween Special bad. Why George Lucas agreed to this I don’t know but he wanted every copy destroyed…copies are still out there and I have one. Now anyone can watch it because it is on Youtube.

I do like watching this show and the Paul Lynde Halloween Special…they are so bad they are good. George Lucas’s original intentions was a sentimental look at Chewbacca’s family during a galactic holiday celebration.

The uh…plot per IMDB was: It is Life Day, a holiday that is celebrated on Chewbacca’s home planet of Kashyyyk. Chewie and Han Solo are trying to get to the planet where Chewie’s family is waiting for him, but the Empire is out searching for the rebels, giving everyone a hard time. While we are waiting, we get a look at the everyday life of a Wookiee family. We meet all the familiar characters from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) and we are introduced to Boba Fett during a short cartoon. We also pay a visit to the Cantina and meet all the monsters again.

Only in the 70s could this show happen…a few of the guest stars were Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman…and to top it off…Jefferson Starship!

 

The Trailer

 

The entire special

 

 

 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

8 thoughts on “Star Wars Holiday TV Special…A Brief Look”

  1. sounds so bad it could be good! I’m going to have to watch it someday when I have a bit more spare time. Back in the day I liked Star wars (the first movie), but I was the right age. I would never ever have believed it would become such an iconic thing and an entire industry, 40 some years on. Wonder if anyone on the cast back then foresaw it either?

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    1. From all I read they didn’t think much of it while they were making it because…one the dialog wasn’t the best in the world…and it was so different than anything else.
      The complete story is what caught traction…and the special effects which were great.
      All in all…it was basically a soap opera in space…saying that…I still like the first three movies.

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      Reply

    1. The one I would suggest over all others…the KING of the bad shows and I watch it every year near Halloween…is the Paul Lynde Halloween Special.
      Kiss made their first TV appearance… it’s a blast to watch just for the guest stars.

      Liked by 1 person

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