Suffering Through the Star Wars Holiday Special

The Star Wars Holiday Special is the stuff of legends, coming out after the success of the first Star Wars movie in 1978.  The special capitalized on the popularity of the movie, a way to keep the budding franchise in everyone's mind before VCR's were widely available, giving movie goers a chance to see their new favorite characters on the small screen.

It's rumored that the Holiday Special was so bad that George Lucas wanted it erased from peoples memories... (in the same vein as "Han shot first").  Thankfully the VCR came out in 1977, and lucky for us some people taped it, and the show can now be found on YouTube.

I grew up hearing about the Star Wars Holiday Special, wondering if it was real or not, hearing about the catastrophic legend.  Turns out the special was real, like a mystical beast coming to life.  So... I went to YouTube and finally sat through all 1hr. 37 mins...

And it lives up to the hype, fully earning it's 2.2/10 IMDb score and 27% Rotten Tomatoes score.  Apparently 44% of Google Users like this special.  Who are you!!?? :P

Okay, in all fun, it was weird.  I'll only see it once.  The special is just a really weird mix of music acts, Wookies jabbering for eons with no subtitles, a random animation section in the middle, etc, oh... and Mark Hamill wearing too much makeup.  

The story line is simple, Chewie needs to get home to celebrate Life Day, a Wookie holiday, to see his family.  Also, Chewie is an absentee Dad as his parents take care of his son.  Han tries to get his friend home while the Empire is making everything difficult. 

Honestly, though, the most redeeming section of this show was a "Day in the Life on Tatooine," watching a guy fall in love with a bartender at the Cantina.  I don't remember the name of the lady bartender, but she was awesome.  That character needs to come back in some way, somewhere.  Also, the cooking demonstration Chewie's Mom does was amusing, albeit a bit strange and odd... random... everything is just so random...

So... I've now seen the Star Wars Holiday Special. I don't think I'm all the better for it, but a childhood mystery has now been solved, so that's good, I guess.  

Also, Disneyland celebrated Life Day at Galaxies Edge last November.  I wasn't there for it, but there's videos of the event on YouTube.  A bunch of fans wearing red cloaks while holding glowing orbs.  Actually, it looks fun.

Well,

Hope you're having a great holiday and a Merry Christmas.

Sarah

P.S.... Han shot first.

 P.P.S. "Come back soon, I'll be waiting." ~ That bartender lady.