For decades, the Star Wars: Holiday Special has been viewed as one of the great debacles in TV history. Airing in November of 1978, the special was put out a year after the original film was released, when the franchise was perhaps at the height of its popularity. Unfortunately it was an abject disaster that even hardcore fans find impossible to defend.
There is a loose plot to the special that centers on Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca traveling to Chewie’s home planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate Life Day. What follows is 97 minutes of surreal torture, including some laughable characters, Z-grade costumes, and an utterly bizarre musical number by Bea Arthur. George Lucas had almost no creative control over the project, which for the time was viewed as a negative thing.
The Holiday Special was aired only once before being shoved back into the vault to spare people across the globe from ever seeing Chewbacca’s son, Lumpy, ever again. If you're curious to see the third-worst live-action project to ever come out of the Star Wars franchise, FilmGeek-TV has put the Holiday Special online for your viewing displeasure.
[The Playlist via FilmGeek-TV]
