{"id":2284,"date":"2016-01-05T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T17:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/?p=2284"},"modified":"2022-09-05T19:38:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T23:38:12","slug":"the-star-wars-holiday-special-1978-what-has-been-seen-cannot-be-unseen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/the-star-wars-holiday-special-1978-what-has-been-seen-cannot-be-unseen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978).  What has been seen cannot be unseen."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wow. \u00a0I don&#8217;t recall actually watching this <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2 hour television spectacle<\/a> when I was 8 years old. \u00a0But maybe my subconscious blocked it from my memory. \u00a0It had good reason. \u00a0This was probably the worst television variety show that was ever made.<\/p>\n<p>Ever.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s saying a lot because there were a lot of really bad variety shows made in the 70&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2303\" src=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/star-wars-holiday-special.png\" alt=\"star-wars-holiday-special\" width=\"500\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/star-wars-holiday-special.png 500w, http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/star-wars-holiday-special-400x208.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s like watching a train wreck. \u00a0It&#8217;s so horrible. \u00a0And yet you cannot look away.<\/p>\n<p>Try it yourself. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/6hH8rxarVG8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This YouTube version is just over an hour and a half long because all the commercials have been removed. \u00a0There is some copyrighted content in this version so if it gets taken down, just search the Internet for another version.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Star Wars Holiday Special, The (1978) [Nice Copy]\" width=\"474\" height=\"356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6hH8rxarVG8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>George Lucas isn&#8217;t really to blame for this travesty. \u00a0He did not produce it. \u00a0He did not direct it. \u00a0He did not write it. \u00a0He didn&#8217;t even consult on it. \u00a0He was starting to work on his follow-on to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back. \u00a0He did greenlight the Holiday Special, though. \u00a0And that started this big ugly snowball rolling downhill.<\/p>\n<p>The special was broadcast only once on Friday November 17, 1978 which was the week before Thanksgiving. It aired on the CBS television network from 8pm to 10pm, which pre-empted both Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk.<\/p>\n<p>And then everyone promptly tried to forget it ever happened.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2310\" src=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWarsHSposter.jpg\" alt=\"StarWarsHSposter\" width=\"325\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWarsHSposter.jpg 325w, http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/StarWarsHSposter-278x400.jpg 278w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In case you don&#8217;t have the stomach to watch a recording of the entire special, I&#8217;ll summarize. \u00a0The main characters from the Star Wars film were in the television special. \u00a0Reluctantly. \u00a0In several\u00a0scenes it appears their hearts were not really in it, though.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Starring <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mark_Hamill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Hamill<\/a> as Luke Skywalker,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harrison_Ford\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harrison Ford<\/a> as Han Solo, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Carrie_Fisher\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carrie Fisher<\/a> as Princess Leia. \u00a0With <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anthony_Daniels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Daniels<\/a> as C-3PO. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peter_Mayhew\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peter Mayhew<\/a> as Chewbacca. \u00a0R2-D2 as [pause] R2-D2. \u00a0And <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Earl_Jones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Earl Jones<\/a> as the voice of Darth Vader.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The variety skits in the show\u00a0had several high profile guest stars. \u00a0&#8220;With special guest stars, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bea_Arthur\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Beatrice Arthur<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Art_Carney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Art Carney<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diahann_Carroll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Diahann\u00a0Carroll<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jefferson_Starship\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Jefferson Starship<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harvey_Korman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harvey Korman<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Most variety shows had been\u00a0filmed in front of a live studio audience or at least had a post-production laugh track added. \u00a0This special had neither. \u00a0So every time an actor tried to say or do something funny, the viewer got\u00a0an uncomfortable feeling like something odd\u00a0just happened. \u00a0It&#8217;s like when you tell a joke to a room full of people and all you hear are crickets chirping.<\/p>\n<p>Awkward.<\/p>\n<p>The plot, if you can call it that, is very very boring and pointless and only serves to tie together several musical numbers and some attempts at humorous skits. \u00a0I&#8217;m not even going to try to summarize the plot here because it is so long and boring. \u00a0It centers around Chewbacca&#8217;s family on his home planet, though. \u00a0The main characters in the show are Chewie&#8217;s wife, son, and father.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2313\" src=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/wookies.png\" alt=\"wookies\" width=\"295\" height=\"376\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The best part of the show is an animated cartoon that features the debut of a new character named <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Boba_Fett\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boba Fett<\/a>. \u00a0You may have heard of him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/animation.png\" alt=\"animation\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/animation.png 700w, http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/animation-400x225.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you suffer through all the way to the end, you will get a special treat. \u00a0The final musical number sung by Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. \u00a0She&#8217;s not a terrible singer. \u00a0But the whole scene is just as\u00a0uncomfortable as the rest of the show. \u00a0And the finale isn&#8217;t at all inspiring, as it intends to be.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2317\" src=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/leia-singing.jpg\" alt=\"leia-singing\" width=\"532\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/leia-singing.jpg 532w, http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/leia-singing-400x301.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 532px) 100vw, 532px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stuffyoushouldknow.com\/podcasts\/the-star-wars-holiday-special-of-1978\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh and Chuck of the Stuff You Should Know podcast<\/a> for bringing this production back up from the annals of my subconscious and forgotten memories.<\/p>\n<p>And thank you for reading this!<\/p>\n<p>Kurt<br \/>\n(a Star Wars fan since 1977)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wow. \u00a0I don&#8217;t recall actually watching this 2 hour television spectacle when I was 8 years old. \u00a0But maybe my subconscious blocked it from my memory. \u00a0It had good reason. \u00a0This was probably the worst television variety show that was ever made. Ever. And that&#8217;s saying a lot because there were a lot of really [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[112],"tags":[464,348,74,431],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2284"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4092,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2284\/revisions\/4092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}