The Star Wars
Holiday Special aired on CBS on November 17, 1978. It starred the original cast
but for Alec Guiness (Obi-Wan wisely bowed out). There's an 11 minute cartoon noted for Boba Fett's intro. The show was not made by George Lucas (too busy
working on Empire Strikes Back). Scenario uh, is Chewie's tryin' to get back to
his family on Kashyyyk for a Wookie Holiday: Lifeday. Four musical (?) parts include the
Star Wars theme, sung (?) by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). So bad it aired once and was
never released on video. Lucas reportedly (and we believe it) said he'd like to see every
copy destroyed. Uh, Mr. Lucas? We know it still
keeps popping up for Star Wars masochists.
Star Wars Holiday has begun to take on a
different significance with Phantom Menace and now Attack of the Clones.
Most fans now are familiar with the "Star Wars Flu" or "Holiday" which
occurs on new sequel release week. We however, are referring to the 1978 TV presentation:
ethereal dreams hover pleasantly enough, but likely our defense mechanisms functioned and
blocked it all out. The disappointing Phantom Menace, has caused the
TV Special (?) to emerge from our protected psyches. It's all over the web. It's on tape,
with old commercials intact, and rumored to be on off-tv (not unlike off-broadway)
channels. Writing nor music (?) it's no Charlie Brown.
No matter how people view it, some crazy body's actually bothered to catalogue it and put it on
the net for downloading. Evermore bizarre, the whole thing developed into a curiosity,
while some folks feel it is a not-so-special.
Others feel it filled a droid, er void.
Still others feel that parody
is best.
Most viewed it as a merchandising ploy: my eldest once
called Star Wars the "Granddaddy of all Merchandising" to which I
replied, "Wanna' bet?" Then I reeled off some of my treasures.
The cast: Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, Anthony
Daniels as C-3PO, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, R2-D2 as R2, James Earl Jones as the voice of
Darth Vader, and the ever non-distinct imperial officers and stormtroopers.
Unlike Popeye, it's not just for kids, it's for
the very,very dark side.
We do strongly recommend however, 
Hardware Wars,
noted as "The Most Popular Short Film of the Year" at the Chicago Film Festival.
It also has the superior endorsement: George Lucas said it is "my favorite 'Star
Wars' parody" on the Big Breakfast Show, London, August 1999.
"You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss three bucks goodbye."
©2003 R K Puma
rk@rkpuma.com
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