Caffeinated Clint
You’ve probably all heard me crap on – wait! let me finish the sentence before you start nodding! – about the Tatooine Tarnishing “Star Wars Holiday Special” of 1978. Reuniting the cast of the 1977 hit – Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, the Droids, Darth Vader, Chewie – and introducing us to new characters played by the likes of Bea Arthur and Art CarneyDarth Vad (Florence Henderson and John Denver must have been busy), the car wreck of a special had the rebels headed to Chewbacca’s home planet for ‘life day’, only to discover that the Empire had followed them.
From Princess Leia ‘singing’ the “Star Wars” theme song at the end of the special (to the tune of John Williams’ score) to Luke Skywalker’s dire need of a haircut, the “Holiday Special” was a wart on the franchise. To this day, it’s never been officially released (I, fortunately, caught it on TV before it was demoted to the backroom of the Lucasfilm archives – don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t of seen it!?). In fact, I believe the only person that owns a legit, crystal clear quality copy of the “Holiday Special” – outside of Lucasfilm – is Carrie Fisher – who agreed to do the commentary on the “Star Wars”in exchange for a copy.
Here’s what Lucasfilm are keeping from you :
Now the guys at Funny or Die have crafted their own “Holiday Special” – this one a Christmasty treat to “TRON” fans.
This one features Jeff Bridges, Rip Taylor, Gabe Kaplan from “Welcome Back Kotter”, the Fraggle Rock gang, Jefferson Starship, Burt Reynolds and More!!
