« Duke and DA Nifong | Main | Saudi Royals: Following up »

Its that time of year again

Where we all sit around and enjoy the holiday spirit by mercilessly mocking the genius of George Lucas.

For those of you who are unaware, in 1977 right on the heels of the massively successful release of the original Star Wars, Lucas was talked into doing a "Holiday Special" for CBS. THe decision to engage in this idiocy resulted from a moment of staggering weakness that came out of the bubbly unreal giddiness of the massive success from Star Wars. It was a decision that he would go on to regret for the rest of his life.

Basically, you take characters from "Star Wars", mix in a little "Holiday Special" television commercialism and excrete it out of the bottom end of the CBS television network and guess what comes out? Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Jefferson Starship, cartoons, oh and a chance to hear Carrie Fisher sing on Television. I dont know why Jamie Farr, Gavin Macleod, Maclean Stevenson or Gary Burgdof didnt make the cut. History did not record why they was left out of this chance at stardom,while Harvey Korman and Bea Arthur managed to make the cut. Chalk it up to the value of agents in the right place at the right time.

Thats right children its the famous " Star Wars Holiday Special" in all its glory, served up for posterity on youtube. THe only thing we are missing is a sponsorship by Dolly Madison Cakes and youve got a full blown cross generational tradtion.

So grab a big chunk of peanut brittle and a 44 oz mug of holiday "jolt cola" and prepare to wince mightily at the biggest commercial miscalculation since someone told Michael Jackson about plastic surgery.

Youtube only stores the show in 10 minute sections, so be sure to visit the "related" section to get the rest of this nugget of television history.

Lucas was quoted years later as saying " I'd like to find every copy in the world and smash it with a sledgehammer". Once youve seen it in its entirety, you'll understand why. You'll probably volunteer to hunt down every copy and buy the man a sledgehammer too.

On a personal note, I dont remember watching it in 1977. I do remember thinking it was the dumbest idea I'd ever heard and I just knew that it was going to be awful, so I didnt bother, but I wish I had.

Posted @ December 23, 2006 01:05 PM | Current Affairs

Comments

As a 13 year old I made sure to set aside some time to watch this thing. I recall being pretty amused by the grandpa being named "Itchy", being disappointed that Han & Chewie didn't show up except for a minute at the end, and being bored by the song.

I wasn't observant or informed enough to pick up on Carrie being stoned, or tasteful enough to realize the special was one big steaming pile. Ah, youth.

Posted by: RPD at December 27, 2006 07:16 AM