I’ve spent the last week putting the spotlight on weird Christmas movies and there’s no way in hell I’m going to neglect the most infamous Christmas-related atrocity of all time: The Star Wars Holiday Special! For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, this epic failure aired on television in 1978 and managed to assemble all the original Star Wars cast members and characters (along with some gratuitous guest stars like Art Carney, Beatrice Arthur and Jefferson Starship!) for a story about Chewbacca trying to make it back to his home planet to celebrate “Life Day”, the Wookiee version of Christmas, with his family. The final result was such an embarrassment that George Lucas has personally seen to it that the Holiday Special has never aired on TV again or officially been released on home video in any format. Just think about that for a second. George Lucas has milked the Star Wars cash cow so much that the man is practically a dairy farmer, but he still refuses to budge and allow the Holiday Special to be released on DVD. That’s right, George Lucas is turning down an opportunity TO MAKE MONEY!! That should speak volumes of how embarrassingly bad the Holiday Special really is! Of course, it’s probably the most sought-after bootleg of all time and I personally bought a VHS copy of it many years ago. I have lent the tape out to more people than I can count and after watching it, they always ask: “Why did you do this to me?!”. Anyway, if you’ve never seen The Holiday Special, but are still curious about it, this clip condenses it down to fifteen minutes, so it will save you the pain of having to sit through the whole thing. It also provides a brief backstory about how the Holiday Special came to be and even includes some hilarious footage of Conan O’Brien showing a clip to an embarrassed Harrison Ford. No wonder Harrison Ford was high as a kite the last time he appeared on his show!
Anyway, happy holidays, everyone, and have yourself a Merry Christmas! Or should I say Happy Life Day…