Yeah, it’s very…disjointed, to say the least.
In 1978, I was hospitalized with pnuemonia, and I had been kind of looking forward to watching the special on the TV in my room, because I was a young teen and I thought Mark Hammill was “teh hotness” at that time. Oh, what a crushing disappointment! Watching the whole thing with a raging fever did nothing to improve it. Ugh!
I just tried to watch it again, had to keep leaving the room. It’s that bad.
And here I thought I had the absolute WORST in TV programming when I got my bootleg DVD.
I have to go searching for this one…
Well, that’s two hours of my life that I’m never getting back.
What were they thinking? The opening 10 minutes with no dialogue, no subtitles, no narration, just Wookie seal-barking? Chewbacca’s dad mashing his jaw in pleasure as he enjoys some interplanetary softcore porn in a virtual reality head-bucket? The imperial stormtroopers being distracted from their urgent search for rebel insurgents to watch a) Jefferson Starship videos and b) Bea Arthur’s turn as a down-on-her-luck cantina owner? Mark Hamill’s make-up was so heavy he might as well have done the thing in drag. And then Princess Leia sings…
Happy frigging Life Day indeed, you bunch of freaks.
I’m a major Star Wars fan. I refuse to watch this. Normally my curiosity would get the better of me, but…no way. Huh uh. I’ve heard too many horror stories.
I just finished watching it.
What the fuck were they thinking?
I am reminded of a great line from Roger Ebert:
The only proper use of any print of this film is to carve it up for banjo picks.
That was as terrible as I’d always imagined it to be. Funny when things work that way.
All right, I’m going in. dons Bad Movie Mask
Wish me luck!
Godspeed, Guinastasia. You’re braver than I am. I was curious once, but after so easily visualizing the “corona” around the actors superimposed on a digital background, and seeing those shots of Mark Hamill, I can’t muster the courage to subject myself to this. Jesus, he really does look like he’s in drag.
Seriously, though, I know Carrie Fisher sampled the blow a goodly number of times back in the day, but was she riding that particular snake when they filmed this?
I think I must have watched this when it first aired but I can’t remember a dang thing about it. My brain must be protecting me by blocking this horrible memory.
Okay, so I’m up to the part where Luke (poor Mark! First he gets in a car accident, then this!) is talking to Chewie’s family on video phone or whatever. So far, it’s more surreal than bad. The part with the acrobats-da’hell?
I also think this might be a lot of fun to watch while under the influence of various illegal substances.
Astounding!
Apparently, the “hybrid” creature design in Alien: Resurrection was based on Chewbacca’s dad! I always knew it was too horrifying to be Giger’s work. 
What’s up with the weird Diana Carrole song? What’s the point? Is that supposed to be Chewie’s dad watching HoloNet pr0n? And this was for kids?
I just want to watch and see the coked out Carrie Fisher. Then I think I’ll turn it off. It’s just…not even painful, but just really stupid and it doesn’t seem to make much sense.
Meh, I give up-the quality is awful so I can’t tell if her eyes are bugged out or not. May I recomend the Clone Wars cartoons instead? They’re excellent.
Hell, the two Ewok movies, even! (I LIKE ewoks, dammit).
I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. I have had the Holiday Special on my computer for years…
I have yet to make it through the opening credits of this thing.
I cannot imagine that this made it past my radar in 1978. I must have seen it. And, if by some miracle it made it past me, I can’t imagine it making it past every kid in the neighborhood - but, I don’t even remember people taking about it until years later. Personally, I think I’ve blocked it out - it was just too traumatic for me.
Guinastasia, how are you making out? Should we send help?
I’m fine. I got bored-no way I’m sitting through two hours of that.
I (almost) watched this recently. I could only take it in short doses, and still haven’t finished. I made the mistake of trying to eat both during the Wookiee porn scene and the ‘I need a drink like Harvey Corman needs a hole in the head’ part. I showed it to some friends and we debated which of his characters is truly the most horrifying.
It’s true; this isn’t Entertainingly Bad. It’s more like, “see if you can watch this” Bad. You can only show it your friends because you either want them to share your misery, or simply expose them to what might be one of the worst things ever. It’s like the bad milk you have to make everyone else smell to show how bad it is.
Our SciFi club showed this in December. Most of the poor, innocent undergrads were laughing, thinking they would enjoy a bad movie. I strenuously recommended alcohol, but was ignored by far too many. During the showing, the energy level in the room kept dropping, laughter was sucked out, eyes glazed over. Half way through, we quit. It just wasn’t worth it.
I think the saddest thing of all was seeing Art Carney in this. It’s too bad that Audrey Meadows was apparently the only one to get royalties from The Honeymooners.
Apparently, my Pit thread on this thing has disappeared, a shame, since it was better than the SWHS.
I noted that Bruce Vilanch has a writing credit on it. I want to know what parts he wrote made it to the final cut, so that I may ridicule and berate him accurately 