# Does Star Trek have its "Star Wars Holiday Special"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [April 6, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247 "2023-04-06T12:55:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/41 "2023-04-06T16:52:32Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What movies have you seen that didn’t involve any editing? Over 20 years after the end of its theatrical run? Very very few. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/42 "2023-04-06T16:53:30Z")
> [@solost](#): > > skits that seem to have been written by Carol Burnett Show writer rejects fired for excessive LSD usage And, in fact, they _were_ written by comedy/variety show writers, including Bruce Vilanch (who was, at that time, a writer for _Donny and Marie_ and _The Brady Bunch Variety Hour_), Pat Proft (who had been a writer for, yes, _The Carol Burnett Show_, as well as Dick Van Dyke’s short-lived variety show, and later wrote many comedy/spoof screenplays, including _Real Genius_ and _The Naked Gun_), and Rod Warren (who’d written for _Donny and Marie_ as well). ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/43 "2023-04-06T16:55:54Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The series’ third season was particularly rife with bad episodes, and those two, specifically, are the ones that I think are the worst; if I had to pick a single worst one, it’d be “Spock’s Brain.” Brain, brain! What is brain? The givers of pain and delight! McCoy: It’s so easy, a child could do it! This episode is so bad it’s great! I love me some Spocks Brain. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/44 "2023-04-06T16:56:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > You hated the Whale Movie? I admit I am in the minority here. But, yes, I hate it. From the opening credits to the very end and everything in between. (Except for Chekov “it is the…ENTERPRISE!” with the awe in his voice.) Thought not anywhere near as much as I hate 5. Sheesh, I think everyone on the planet hates it, except the Shat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/45 "2023-04-06T17:05:40Z")
One good thing that came out of that episode: Craig Huxley, the lead kid, grew up to become a talented musician who invented the [Blaster Beam](https://youtu.be/CEjew239bUU). It was used in ST:TMP to scary effect whenever the giant VGER ship appeared onscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/46 "2023-04-06T17:10:04Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Over 20 years after the end of its theatrical run? Very very few. I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head. But what does when the edit was made have to do with whether the end product is good or not? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/47 "2023-04-06T17:12:31Z")
Anyone remember the Star Trek Halloween episode. Pretty close to as bad as Spock’s Brain. **Season 2 Episode 7, “Catspaw,”** originally aired on October 27, 1967. > **["Star Trek" Catspaw (TV Episode 1967) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708423/)** > > Catspaw: Directed by Joseph Pevney. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Antoinette Bower. Very alien visitors to our galaxy attempt to connect with human consciousness but miss, winding up tapping into the regions of human... Seemed like a Network interference episode to me. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/48 "2023-04-06T17:23:51Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > But what does when the edit was made have to do with whether the end product is good or not? It’s two different end products. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/49 "2023-04-06T17:24:31Z")
Okay, but why is that a problem? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/50 "2023-04-06T17:31:34Z")
To bring this particular discussion full circle, because the original movie was so shitty it required an extensive re-edit so that it could be just _kind of_ shitty. **Cervaise** ’s original point I was responding to was that the heavily re-edited Director’s Cut wasn’t that bad. I argued simply that having to heavily re-edit a film to make it watchable isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/51 "2023-04-06T17:32:38Z")
I enjoy Catspaw…if anything for the “Completely alien” aliens at the end and for the stunt the guy pulls falling off the transporter pad. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/52 "2023-04-06T17:35:28Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **Cervaise** ’s original point I was responding to was that the heavily re-edited Director’s Cut wasn’t that bad. I argued simply that having to heavily re-edit a film to make it watchable isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the original. …but it’s not an endorsement of the original. It’s an endorsement of the re-edited director’s cut. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/53 "2023-04-06T17:36:20Z")
I saw this episode during the original run, and it scared the crap out of me (the three witches part before the landing party gets to the castle: “Caaa-aaa-ppp-taaain Kiiiii-rrrr-kkkk!”) and I love the fact that Robert Bloch wrote it, but yeah, the finished product…how do I put it? It sucked. (Aside: I wrote a fan letter to Robert Bloch a couple of years before he died. He wrote me back a nice card – not just his autograph, but a couple of paragraphs [I’d asked about the Lovecraft circle]. That was very nice of him; he didn’t have to do that.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/54 "2023-04-06T17:38:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > …but it’s not an endorsement of the original. It’s an endorsement of the re-edited director’s cut. How so? I build a shitty chair. You take my shitty chair and fix it into a nice chair. Did you fix it in praise of my shitty chair? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/55 "2023-04-06T17:48:36Z")
Speaking of, I see that there is a new documentary. > **[A new doc finally explains The Star Wars Holiday Special](https://www.polygon.com/23640045/star-wars-holiday-special-documentary-disturbance-in-the-force)** > > 10 important things we learned from watching A Disturbance in the Force at SXSW ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/56 "2023-04-06T17:52:31Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > ST:OS Blooper reel exists. > Bootleg only, as I recall. Roddenberry played it during his lecture tour during the mod-70s, along with the black and white version of The Cage. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/57 "2023-04-06T18:01:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > , if Lucas hadn’t “Ministry of information”'d it out of existence. > > “we have always been at war with Eastasia” > “The SWHS never existed.” Point of Pedantry: Ministry of Truth (Newspeak: Minitrue). Hey, it’s the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/58 "2023-04-06T18:20:51Z")
The completely alien aliens were actually assembled from whatever junk was laying around the studio. The special effects department ran out of budget and had to make do. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/59 "2023-04-06T18:28:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Yes, ST spread their suckitude around several shows, moves and episodes. There’s no _one_ bad thing in total. > > But Wookie porn, long set pieces of the show in Wookie-ese with no subtitles, Carrie Fisher stoned, Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, Jefferson freakin’ Starship! Oh the pain, the pain! The cartoon that represented the first appearance of Boba Fett. I saw TESB and ROTJ, and I couldn’t understand how they knew Boobs Fett’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247/60 "2023-04-06T18:28:57Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > The special effects department ran out of budget and had to make do. Which worked to their great benefit in “Spectre of the Gun”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-star-trek-have-its-star-wars-holiday-special/982247.md?page=4)