# The Star Wars Holiday Special **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214 "2002-04-23T21:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/21 "2002-04-24T04:34:59Z")
You only think you have gone to hell by watching this! Amateurs you all!!! I was a little kid and I still thought it sucked. On top of what every one has suffered, I remember watching it. . . In Spanish. . . Badly dubbed :eek: (The cartoon was ok IMO but it could have been that the Spanish voice actors did a great job. I do not dare see this _rotenuss opus_ in the original English) ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/22 "2002-04-24T12:47:41Z")
A friend snagged me a VHS copy a few years ago and I watched it with some friends who hadn’t seen it before. My god. Beyond boring. That’s the worst thing about it - it’s soul-crushingly dull. And the “humor”. Oy. Still, if they released a three-pack of figures of Itchy, Lumpy, and Mala, I’d be all over it. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/23 "2002-04-24T12:51:51Z")
Man alive, this show is terrible. And people who haven’t seen it often seem to think it’s bad in a MST way, but it’s not, it’s just BAD. It’s Chewie’s father who watches the porn, btw, not Lumpy. And he makes, uh, creepy Wookie noises when he watches. This is the only part that I don’t remember _at all_ from watching it when it originally aired, I’m wondering if my mom yanked me out of the room. It’s also painful when it uses clips from the movie (say, a long shot of Darth Vader walking) and then switches to video for the dialogue. Actually, I think the cartoon is the _best_ part. No, wait, the best part of watching it on bootlegged video is that it includes the commericials that aired with it. Remember the Reggie Bar? Plus lots of spots for the Star Wars toys, of course. There’s one ad that urges us to remember to look for the union label, which is almost haunting because it brought back one of those weird visceral memories of the soaring unemployment at the time, and how perpetually worried my parents were during those years. One plus for the show is that now several of my hardcore SW geek friends and I exchange “Life Day” cards instead of Christmas cards. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/24 "2002-04-24T13:04:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > \*\* > It’s Chewie’s father who watches the porn, btw, not Lumpy. And he makes, uh, creepy Wookie noises when he watches. This is the only part that I don’t remember _at all_ from watching it when it originally aired, I’m wondering if my mom yanked me out of the room. > > \*\* I thought Lumpy was the grampa. Must be Scratchy then. Regardless it was the old grey wookiee (he ain’t what he used to be.) My copy of the “special” (and I use that word like I would in “special ed”) doesn’t have the commercials ecsept for a couple for the Star Wars toys at the end. Someone thought they were being considerate I guess. And I always thought it was “Light Day.” Good Lord, now I’ll have to go watch it again to straighten it out. Help me. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/25 "2002-04-24T13:40:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\* > > Still, if they released a three-pack of figures of Itchy, Lumpy, and Mala, I’d be all over it. \*\* If you believe _ToyFare_ magazine, the best toy mag in the world, they created them but never released them. They showed pix of the three wookies and a Life Day Chewie, Harvey Korman in drag, Art Carney, and the one that makes me think maybe they weren’t real, CyberPorn Chick. ToyFare is notoriously good at making their own custom figures, but I think they were being up front with this article. BTW, in my previous post, I meant “Itchy” not “Scratchy” but I think you can understand the mistake. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/26 "2002-04-24T18:33:33Z")
Let’s not forget (the miniaturized) Jefferson Starship’s rambling non-song. Re: Leia and Luke: I always just assumed they were both on coke at the time. And I thought Luke’s motorcycle crash didn’t come until after they filmed Empire–hence his wickedly bad hair, which had to cover his forehead. My favorite points of the special: - The leather van seats they use in the falcon’s cockpit set - the fact that R2 is holding a pair of pliers ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/27 "2002-04-24T19:06:04Z")
Nope, and it was a car accident-according to interviews I’ve read, Mark was listening to the _1812 Overture_ in his new sports car, and took a turn too fast. (From what I understand, the 1812 is one of the most dangerous pieces to listen to while driving, of course, I could just speaking out of my arse.) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/28 "2002-04-24T19:27:16Z")
George Lucas had a tounge-in-cheek interview with _TV Guide_ a couple months ago to tie in with the tounge-in-cheek web-documentary _R2-D2: Behind the Dome_. He mentioned R2 became such a star, he wanted to write something of his own. Lucas stated is wasn’t very good-“It was called _The Star Wars Christmas Special_ or something like that…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pbrtallboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f475e1/32.png) [@pbrtallboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbrtallboy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/29 "2002-04-24T19:32:44Z")
so, what DO you buy a wookie for Christmas (when he already has a comb)? ---
**Author:** ![TigoleBitties](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TigoleBitties](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TigoleBitties)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/30 "2002-04-24T19:45:04Z")
I own this car crash of a bad special Hilarious parts: -Check out Carrie Fisher. She has publically admitted being hevily into drugs at the time of this filming and boy does it show. She is so coked up Chewbacca has to support her from falling over. And scan her eyeballs in the closeups. If she didn’t snort one right before they said action, I will personally take off my shirt and eat it. -And remember those people wondering why some people got pissy about Nstink being in the latest movie? Some answers come with the oh so groovy stylings of JEFFERSON STARSHIP…yea woo! Boy if that dont date it, nothin will God help us, Lucas was totally wacked out on filmstrip processing fluid when he greenlit this tripe. I have randomly inserted the great Wookie musical number in a few all night bad film a thons and it never stops to bring the house down. Only dont try to watch the whole thing at once. This is not good/bad entertainment (like bad b movies), this is bad/bad to the extreme. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/31 "2002-04-24T20:22:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pbrtallboy \* > \*\*so, what DO you buy a wookie for Christmas (when he already has a comb)? \*\* A brush. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/32 "2002-04-24T21:17:47Z")
Is it me or does Chewbacca’s son (Chewy? Lumpy? Moldy? Skanky? Itchy? Prickly? oh, whatever) bear a striking resemblance to Michael Landon? 😃 - s.e. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/33 "2002-04-24T21:37:43Z")
And is it me or is it not interesting that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, that Wookie treehouses were furnished in the gaudy style of the late 1970s? Must have been ahead of their time, those wacky Wookies. 😉 - s.e. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/34 "2002-04-25T01:21:24Z")
There was another **Cafe Society** thread about this piece of televised dog poop less than half a year ago: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99567](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99567) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/35 "2002-04-25T01:29:27Z")
Max Carnage wrote: > [@](#): > > And I remembered Harvey Corman cooking (“Stir, whip, stir, whip, whip, stir, stir”) That was “Stir, whip, stir, whip, whip, whip, stir, **beat!** ”, mister! He/she had three arms. And I remember this having **only** ever seen it the one time it aired back in 1977/78. That’s how indelibly burned into my memory it is. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/36 "2002-04-25T02:07:47Z")
Tee-Hee! And don’t forget, there are LYRICS to the Star Wars Theme! And Carrie Fisher sings 'em at the end! I found this on Morpheus some time ago – it’s two DIVX files, one 114 megs and the other 116 megs. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/37 "2002-04-25T02:14:41Z")
Dammit. I will read the OP closely before posting. I will read the OP closely before posting. I will read the OP closely before posting. I will read the OP closely before posting. I will read the OP closely before posting. Maybe I won’t repeat points made by the OP now. ---
**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 25, 2002, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/38 "2002-04-25T12:58:09Z")
Sid & Marty Kroft did the special FX. You know, the ones who did HR Puffinstuff? That’s why the set and costumes looked so cheap. A coworker bought this tape off E Bay, then let me borrow it, and I threw together a viewing party. We wound up fast forwarding our way through easily half of it. It got to the point where we couldn’t even laugh at how bad it was. For instance, the beginning scene shows the mama wookie and the baby wookie screaming at each other and waving their arms for about 15 mnutes. Then, the baby wookie takes out the trash. A real cheese fondue moment was Harrison Ford telling the wookies “You are all really special to me.” You can just see Ford’s abject embarassment at having to speak that line. Plus, near the end, where the only action scene took place, Chewbacca and Solo distract a little shrimp of a storm trooper, causing him to drop his gun. He then dives for it, crashes through the treehouse railing and falls to his death. This is the same railing that’s kept 800-lb wookies from falling over for years. To anybody who’s interested in seeing it, it’s not so bad it’s good. It’s so bad it’s BAAAAAAAAD. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/39 "2002-04-25T14:18:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > **Max Carnage wrote: > That was “Stir, whip, stir, whip, whip, whip, stir, beat!”, mister! He/she had three arms.** Four arms. I have it on my PC at work. 😛 - s.e. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214/40 "2002-04-30T11:11:17Z")
Oh lord…I watched this with my dad. He hadn’t seen the movie, so he was even more lost. After a few minutes of Wookie noises, I lost interest and probably started reading a book. I heard my dad say, “I hope **Star Wars** wasn’t like this!” in a really disgruntled tone. Huh? I mean, those Wookie voices are annoying, but… A little later, he asked if I’d mind if he switched channels and I said no. Flash forward twenty years. Mr. Rilch: “Did you ever see the Star Wars Holiday Special?” Me: “Oh, about a half hour of it. I remember my dad got really offended. Granted, it was stupid to have all Wookies talking without subtitles, but he acted like it was obscene!” Mr. Rilch: “Uh…It **was** obscene…You don’t remember that the grandpa was watching porn?” Me: “Oh my god. They put that in something kids were watching with their parents? No wonder he was so disgusted!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-star-wars-holiday-special/105214.md?page=1)