How Bad is the Star Wars Holiday Special?
I’ve been working my way through a marathon project: watching the entire Star Wars saga in chronological order. And not just the movies. The animated and live actions TV shows, too. Some parts of it are better than others but I respect that there are Star Wars fans out there with different tastes from me and I wanted to make the effort to appreciate every Star Wars project for its merits.
But last week, I finished A New Hope and I knew that The Empire Strikes Back technically isn’t the next instalment. If I truly want to be 100% inclusive of all Star Wars material, that honor goes to the 1978 CBS television event, The Star Wars Holiday Special.
What is the Star Wars Holiday Special?
If you’ve never heard of it, the Star Wars Holiday Special was a one-time television event that aired 17 November, 1978. It was in the run-up to Thanksgiving and a time of year when networks often featured TV “specials” that featured celebrities, comedians and top singers/bands of the day. It was common for such a special to take the “variety show” format, with a mixture of comedy, music, skits and famous people dropping in. The Star Wars Holiday Special featured all these things, but wrapped them up in a story set in that famous galaxy far, far away.
Suffice to say, it wasn’t received well at the time. It was never broadcast again and was never released on video cassette. It isn’t even available on Disney+ (except for the short cartoon insert which introduces Boba Fett). So if you haven’t heard of it, that’s probably why. That, and I suspect George Lucas did everything in his power to make it disappear from history. He did authorize it, but apparently had nothing to do with making it.
For decades, the Star Wars Holiday Special existed only in our memories, and on a few bootleg video copies that circulated at the fringes of Star Wars fandom. The arrival of YouTube has seen it become publicly available again, so if you’re curious, you can find it here: Star Wars Holiday Special on YouTube
Were the original cast members in the Star Wars Holiday Special?
Yes! And for this reason alone it’s worth checking out. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and James Earl Jones all reprised their roles. But be warned: they are not the focal point of the show and their time on screen is pretty minimal. Memorable AF, but minimal.
Mark Hamill is notable for his curly hair and way too much eye makeup.
Carrie Fisher has admitted that she was totally high throughout the filming – and it shows.
Full credit to Harrison Ford, though. His performance is the most authentic of anyone in the show, despite the substandard writing and absurdity of the plot. He may not have wanted to be there, but he was under contract and he brought his A-game. A true professional.
Were any important characters introduced in the Star Wars Holiday Special?
The special’s biggest claim to fame is that it’s the vehicle through which Boba Fett was introduced. He appears in a short cartoon story that is separate from the show’s main plot – the cartoon is part of the “variety show” mélange of content typical of this kind of TV event – and what’s fascinating is that his persona in the cartoon is pretty much in keeping with the Boba Fett who eventually appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. He looks the same, is pretty bad-ass, is morally grey and is ultimately working for Darth Vader.
The show also introduced us to the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk, which later appeared in Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch.
But the main characters of the Star Wars Holiday Special were Chewbacca’s family: wife Malla, son Lumpy and father Itchy. We’ve never seen them again in any Star Wars production, but we’ve also not seen anything that contradicts them. So are they Star Wars characters now? It depends on what you consider canon.
Is the Star Wars Holiday Special considered canon?
Technically… no. But I think there’s room for interpretation.
On one hand, the fact that George Lucas distanced himself from it back in the 70’s pretty much leaves it out in the canon cold. Plus, when Disney bought Star Wars it declared that everything except the 6 existing movies and The Clones Wars was no longer canon. They were really aiming this decree at the countless novels and comics that had grown into the Expanded Universe, but by definition the Star Wars Holiday Special was swept up in this cleanout of Star Wars properties.
On the other hand, there’s nothing in current canon that contradicts the events of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Kashyyyk is unquestioned as the Wookie homeworld. We do know that the Imperial presence on Kashyyyk increased after the clone wars, which ties in with the events of the special. Chewbacca might have a family, and there’s nothing to prove that Life Day isn’t a Wookie celebration.
Lego Star Wars has certainly paid homage to Life Day, but it isn’t canon either so it’s free to have fun with whatever it wants.
There is only one direct canon connection that exists today, and that’s from Skeleton Crew. In the first episode, Neel’s siblings are watching a holo-video and it is exactly the same line of creepy acrobats that Lumpy watched in the special. Maybe it’s just a tiny Easter egg for hard-core fans, but it’s something.
For now, there is nothing to say that the characters or events of the Star Wars Holiday Special didn’t happen in-universe.
Is the Star Wars Holiday Special bad?
Yes. Yes it is.
I’m not a huge fan of the Prequel Trilogy, but I was able to watch all three movies and enjoy them for their spectacle and story-telling. The Acolyte didn’t exactly land for me, but I could appreciate the big swings it took and the different tone it presented. I can’t say I’m really looking forward to re-watching Resistance when I get there, but I’m going to sit down with an open mind, because it has its charm. Pretty much everything in Star Wars has something cool, or fun, or thrilling, or shocking that makes it stand up and be appreciated.
The Star Wars Holiday Special is just plain bad. It borders on painful. It’s more than 90 minutes long – not much shorter than a feature-length film – but it tells a story that could be summed up in about 10. And yet, somehow, it lasts an eternity as you sit there and watch it. Some of it is boring. Some of it is cheesy. Some of it is downright creepy.
A few years ago my son decided that he wanted to watch it. He found it on YouTube and, after I banned him from the room, went to his bedroom to check it out. He reappeared about 30 minutes later, a thousand-yard stare etched across his young features, and declared, “I’m emotionally scarred for the rest of my life”.
Is there anything good about the Star Wars Holiday Special?
Okay, enough snark. I’ve made a promise to be positive about my Star Wars reviews so here’s what I think is actually not bad about this show.
First, it is genuinely fascinating to see Mark Hamill et al reprise their famous roles. For those of us who have seen every Star Wars movie countless times and can practically recite every scene, seeing Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids in something so unexpected has its charm.
Second, if you happen to be a fan of Jefferson Starship, they appear in this show performing in a proto- music video. That’s probably worth something for rock music history buffs.
Third, Bea Arthur absolutely owns it as the long-suffering barkeep at what must be a competitor to Chalman’s Cantina. She brings her usual wry sass and mixes it with a surprising gentleness, and then she sings a song which is set to a sultry, smooth-jazz version of the original cantina song from A New Hope. Maybe I was going insane by then, but I actually kinda digged it.
So, in conclusion, I’m not going to recommend anything. If you’re curious about the Star Wars Holiday Special, it’s there for your viewing. Check it out if you like, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning, best-selling author and ghostwriter of science fiction and space fantasy series. His newest novel, Light in the Abyss, is now available here.
