Movies - The Star Wars Holiday Special

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	Movies - The Star Wars Holiday Special

The Star Wars Holiday Special was a two-hour television special (including commercials) set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was broadcast one time only on Friday, November 17, 1978 on CBS-TV from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (EST). In it, Chewbacca and Han Solo visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day. Along the way, they are pursued by agents of the Galactic Empire who are searching for rebels on the planet. The special introduces three members of Chewbacca's family: his father Itchy, his wife Malla, and his son Lumpy.

The main storyline of the film, which is set in 0 ABY, transpires on the Wookiee home planet of Kashyyyk. During the course of the film, scenes also take place in outer space and in such spacecraft as the famous Millennium Falcon and an Imperial Star Destroyer. The variety-show segments and cartoon introduce a few other locales, such as a cantina on the desert planet of Tatooine and a water planet known as Panna.

The program also features some cameos (although the cameo actors are listed as stars) by other Star Wars characters, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia (who sings the film's "theme song", set to the music of John Williams' Star Wars theme, near the end). The program is probably best known for an animated cartoon produced by Toronto-based Nelvana that introduces, for the first official time in the Star Wars universe, the bounty hunter Boba Fett. It was the first film produced of three official Star Wars spin-off films. Though the program received excellent ratings for its one-time airing, Star Wars creator George Lucas, who created its original story, removed his story credit from the special. Despite scathing reviews, this film is considered the first canonical sequel to A New Hope.

Production

In May 1978, the Star Wars phenomenon was at its height. That month, someone at 20th Century Fox suggested to Lucasfilm that they allow the creation of a Star Wars-themed holiday special. At the time, according to a Star Wars license manager, Lucasfilm had been receiving many different tie-in requests, most of which they had turned down. However, George Lucas liked the idea, and green-lit the production with the idea that it would keep Star Wars alive in the minds of the fans and the general public. He sat down with the show's producers and penned a basic story outline for what he wanted to happen in the show.

The pervading theme of the story focuses on Chewbacca returning home to his family for Life Day. Lucas supervised the initial draft of the script, attended a few production meetings, and supervised work on the animated segment. However, he had little involvement beyond this due to the demands of producing The Empire Strikes Back.

In later drafts of the script, the show's producers, Ken and Mitzie Welch, intervened and rewrote much of what Lucas had intended. The story remained, but the content was vastly different. After five drafts and many additions, subtractions, and changes to Lucas's original concept for the film, the script was completed sometime in October of 1978.

A Gary Smith-Dwight Hemion Production in association with 20th Century Fox Television, The Star Wars Holiday Special was produced with a budget of a little over a million dollars. At the time, it was considered one of the most expensive TV endeavors of its kind. Taping began in October and ended sometime in November. David Acomba, the original director hired for the show, was an old roommate of Lucas's from his years at USC and knew his film-making style quite well. Acomba only managed to shoot the Cantina sequence of the special before he was fired by the producers due to "creative differences." A new director was hired, Steve Binder, who was apparently much less familiar with Lucas's work, or with Star Wars. Lucas, who had had very little to do with production since his initial plot outline, was given a private screening of the completed film before it aired.

According to reports, he was disgusted with what the producers had done to his story and greatly disliked the special. Rumor has it that he had signed an agreement for it to air at least once, and after seeing it, decided that it would never again be shown on any network after its first airing. The show was greatly hyped on broadcast TV, however, prior to its debut on November 17. Although ratings were excellent, since the airing many have considered it a general disappointment, and even an insult to the Star Wars saga.

Reception

For the most part, The Star Wars Holiday Special has received a large amount of criticism, both from Star Wars fans and the general public. David Hofstede, author of What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events In Television History, ranked the holiday special at number one, calling it "the worst two hours of television ever." Shepard Smith, a news anchor for the FOX News Channel, referred to it as a "70's train wreck, combining the worst of Star Wars with the utter worst of variety television." Actor Phillip Bloch explained on a TV Land special entitled "The 100 Most Unexpected TV moments," that the special "just wasn't working. It was just so surreal." On the same program, Ralph Garman, a voice actor for the show Family Guy, explained that "The Star Wars Holiday Special is one of the most infamous television programs in history. And it's so bad that it actually comes around to good again." Most critics have expressed similar views of the special. Generally, it has never been well-received by fans, who often see it as silly, with some even viewing it as an insult to the Star Wars series.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Star Wars Holiday Special ]

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