I am not a huge Star Wars fan.
Don’t get me wrong. I respect the fact that the movies are important to a lot of my close friends and fellow movie bloggers. My boyfriend loves the first three Star Wars films and I’ve told him that if he ever wants me to wear a gold bikini and a chain around my neck, I’ll do it. It’s just that, on a personal level, the Star Wars films don’t do much for me. When people mention Star Wars, I usually think about how I fell asleep 10 minutes into Attack of the Clones and then when my date woke me up at the end of the movie, my bra had mysteriously been undone.
That said, I still knew that when I started my series of Christmas Past posts, I would have to post something about The Star Wars Holiday Special. The Holiday Special aired way back in 1978 and it was apparently such a disaster that George Lucas has spent the past 3 and a half decades trying to convince people that it doesn’t exist.
Perhaps that’s why, when I did a search for the Holiday Special on YouTube, I came across a lot of videos that had been either taken down or had their audio tracks removed.
However, I was able to find a 15 minutes video from a YouTube user who goes by the name of StarWarsFan1975. The Star Wars Holiday Special Retrospective features some background material on the Holiday Special and some of the special’s more bizarre moments.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 
I consider myself a pretty decent Star Wars fan, but this is the first I’ve ever heard of this special. This looks like such a trainwreck, that I wish they had included it on the original trilogy BD set, instead of putting on all the shitty updated special effects.
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I grew up watching the “Star Wars” holiday special. In fact, I recorded it from television, and I watched the tape who knows how many times. I’m not certain what happened to the tape–I do recall that my brother and I were the last people in our school to have a Betamax, and once the Betamax broke down, all that we’d taped on Betamax cassettes–including the “Star Wars” holiday special–was rendered unwatchable.
I bet George Lucas would’ve been relieved to know that.
(Oh, stop snickering, George, you crusty old bastard)
I’m not certain what happened to all those old Betamax tapes, but if I ever do find it, rest assured, I’ll convert it to DVDs and flood the streets with them. I won’t sell them, I’ll just give ’em away, because George Lucas deserves it for being such a bastard, refusing to allow revival cinemas to screen the original “Star Wars” trilogy in its original format.
Besides, we still have Daily Motion to spread the word around:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xn5gsj_the-star-wars-holiday-special_shortfilms
Take that, George Lucas!
(What makes this even more awesome is the person who recorded it left in all the commercials, including a blissfully politically-incorrect spot for “Sheer Indulgence”, as well as a hilarious CBS News Report).
I’m not sure why this “Star Wars” special is so reviled. Honestly, I always enjoyed this show. I really enjoy the segment with Bea Arthur singing in the cantina, as well as the cooking show (“Stir, whip, stir, whip, whip-whip, stir!”). Not sure what was happening in that sequence with Diahann Carroll, though. I can only imagine that Donna Summer read the script and wisely opted out of it.
Seriously, what was it about the year 1978 that made female singers overcome with sexual lust for furry critters?
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Omg – does that bring back the memories!
Lucas should embrace this! It’s funnier than any snl skit in the past 20 years
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