Thanks to the following article and link on MSNBC:
"The “Star Wars” gang, Bea Arthur and Jefferson Starship, “The Star Wars Holiday Special”
I had heard tell of this not-available-on-video debacle for years, but I’d never gotten to see if for myself until YouTube came along. What’s more, some guys from the sketch comedy group Late Night Explosion were nice enough to edit the entire two-hour special into a five-minute best-of sizzle reel that fits nicely into any Christmas stocking.
It’s hard to say who were the biggest Christmas opportunists here because everyone involved likes to act like it never happened. “Star Wars” creator George Lucas has since been quoted as saying, “That’s one of those things that happened, and I just have to live with it.”
One of the show’s writers, Bruce Vilanch, remembers Lucas being more hands on: “It was between ‘Star Wars’ and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and George Lucas wanted to keep the flame alive,” the former “Hollywood Square” told the Combustible Celluloid Web site. “He pulled the story out of the vault… and the Wookiees were the central characters. Unfortunately, all the Wookiees can’t speak, so they’re tough to write for. So I said, ‘Well, we have to load this up with stars who sing and dance and do shtick to cover up that the story is about these walking carpets.’”
And boy, did they. Jefferson Starship does a number and Carrie Fisher brings it home a ballad about “Life Day.” My favorite musical moment comes courtesy of Bea Arthur who plays a barmaid at the Cantina on Tatooine and sings “Goodnight, But Not Goodbye” to a roomful of boozed-up aliens.
“I was asked to be in it by the composer of that song,” Arthur later told the Portland Mercury. “I had no idea it was even a part of the whole ‘Star Wars’ thing. I just remember singing to a bunch of people with funny heads.”
God, I miss the ’70s."
I was living in Europe when this was originally broadcast - and rarely have I been so happy to be so far away from an American television set.
I watched this for the first time just last night! Rifftrax came out with a riff for it, so we watched it with commentary, which made it bearable (but just barely). Now, I love bad movies–but this may be the worst television thing ever. It’s not hilariously bad except in places; it’s mostly boringly, painfully bad.
But I recommend the Rifftrax, because that makes it better!
Mark Hamill looking like he’s been taking make-up lessons from Tammy Faye… Harrison Ford reduced to hugging Wookies… Carrie Fischer smiling the sweet sweet smile of someone who knows she’s too stoned to remember this cr*p tomorrow… Good times, good times
(And yes, I know Hamill’s make-up is to cover up recent injuries - it does that, but I think the injuries would have looked better!)
Based on the RiffTrax description, the bootleg that they based their commentary on also has the commercials still in. I’m guessing there must be one copy that the bootlegs are sourced from with commercials still intact, including a news teaser for tips on how to fight the frizzies (which was later the inspiration for a running gag in a South Park Christmas show).
I should have clarified that post. There weren’t commercials throughout the special, it was cut and spliced, but at the end of the special there were a bunch of commercials for Star Wars toys, action figures, etc. added. They were pretty nifty.
You’re giving ammunition to the little suicidal redneck in the back of my mind who does things like telling me that swimming The Channel would be a neat thing to try when drunk on a Normandie beach. Right now, he’s telling me that there’s no way that anything could be as bad as people are talking about.
Of course, he told me the same thing about goatse, tubgirl, and lotus breats, too.
This time I’m going to win over the bastard, dammit.
I’ve seen the Holiday special. I described it to several friends who have since expressed a desire to watch it with me some time, and I steadfastly refuse to do so until they get me drunk enough that it sounds like a good idea. Hasn’t happened yet.
