Classics The Holiday Special - General Discussion

Here is some info I posted to my local Pittsburgh board.

The Holiday Special. Time for a special entry, as in special olympics kind of special. Yes, it is time to offer up some information of dubious value concerning that event that aired Nov. 17, Friday, 1978, on CBS from 8-10pm EST. I missed the original airing to go to a junior high school dance. That caused me a lot of anguish, at least until I later saw the thing. Now it is anguish to watch it.

Starlog Magazine gave their #19 cover to the special, calling it "Cantina Reunion: Star Wars TV special." And hey, it did sound enticing - based on how popular the film was then. But wait, isn?t that Beatrice (Maude) Arthur among the aliens in the picture? What's SHE doing there? We better see what it says on 50. Here's most of the 1-page article by Natalie Millar, with my comments in brackets:

"Star Wars invadesTV. A behind the scenes look at the CBS Star Wars TV special, a star-studded affair that broke all the rules regarding the do's and don'ts of television [mostly the don'ts].

Last month CBS aired one of the most ambitious television spectaculars ever attempted by an American network, the Star Wars Holiday Special. The original Star Wars scenario, penned by Rod Warren, Bruce Vilanch, Leonard Ripps, and Pat Proft, ran for two hours, cost over a million dollars to produce, and had a taping schedule of an entire month?rather unheard of in the TV business. Because of its totally unique approach to television, the Star Wars special presented its makers with some equally unique problems as well.

The plot, for instance, was long in coming. Some sort of format had to be constructed that would allow the re-uniting of Star Wars' stars Peter Mayhew, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Tony Daniels. Finally, a storyline was conceived in which Chewbacca would attempt to visit his home planet and his family (wife Malla, Grandpa Itchy and son Lumpy) in time for the celebration of Life Day. The plot paired the Star Wars cast with guest stars Beatrice Arthur, Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll, Art Carney, The Jefferson Starship, and a horde of new alien characters.

The elements called for in the script presented the show's creative team with a sometimes sticky situation. The special, geared for a family audience, had to present its alien horde as realistically as possible, and dramatically as well. The show's first director, David Acomba, left in the middle of production because of "artistic differences". He was replaced by veteran TV director Steve Binder. Under Binder's guidance, the aliens paraded before the camera in an orderly fashion?with quite a few surprises. For instance, although Darth Vader didn't make the show (he appears in voice only), intergalactic bounty hunter, Boba Ftt [sic] a villain form the upcoming Star Wars sequel film, did.

Binder's creature complications were manifold. For Bea Arthur's Cantina sequence, all of the original film's alien barflies were resurrected under the supervision of makeup whiz Rick baker, who added two new faces to the crowd: The Lion Man and the Baboon Man. These makeups were fairly complicated, taking two and one half hours to apply (as opposed to the rest of the cantina cutups who sported slip-on masks).

The taping of the scene took from six one morning until six the next, with the creature actors suffering from heat and claustrophobia through take after seemingly endless take. Makeup man Baker was astonished to see Cantina band members squeezing their masks in order to increase their oxygen flow. As a result of their prodding, at least one band member has a dent in his head throughout the finished sequence.

Even stalwart R2-D2 presented problems during the show. Artoo (not portrayed by Kenny Baker, but rather by a remote-controlled model, a hollow shell and an unnamed actor) was scheduled to sign autographs at a special photo session following the completion of the cantina sequence. Unfortunately, his robotics were a bit off that day and the remote controlled mo

 

Shhh! Don't tell anyone, [edited]

YJ edit: You're right, don't tell anyone about bootleg copies, or where to obtain them.

 

I've never seen it, but I'm interested in it. Guess I'll have to hope and pray Lucas changes his mind about it.

 

I dont think your prays will be answered.

 

The "Nemoidains" mentioned are not Nemoidains, but the species of which they were once a part, the Duro. The Duro in the Special were re-used from Star Wars, you can see them in ANH's cantina scene.

TC

 

Well you learn something new everday

 

It's just that something, somewhere, went terribly wrong

they aired it.

 

you know what i think the holiday special needs? from what i hear, its worse than many b-movies. and everyone knows what makes any b-movie better...

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000!

the holiday special is science fiction, and its a mystery why it was ever made!


005

 

that would be perfect

 

I know it is not allowed to post illegal ways to get the movie, but are there any legal ways to obtain it?

 

There's a holiday film festival in Canada that shows the Holiday Special every year.

Other than that, no.

TC

 

The reason Mark Hammill looks so...odd, is because prior to the filming of The Holiday Special, he was involved in a car accident, and had to undergo a bit of cosmetic um..enhancement. That's why if you notice in Jedi, he looks different than he does in the other 2 movies; and it's not because of age.

-LCJ

 

Pain, suffering, embarrassment, I feel. Something terrible has happened. George Lucas is in pain. Terrible pain.

 

Bea Arthur should not have a place in the Star Wars universe.

 

Or any universe...

 

Come on, The Holiday Special is not all that bad. It is corny, but its Star Wars. Its better having Star Wars than having no Star Wars. Plus, I think it cool that Chewie's family is introduced. The holiday special is way overly criticised.

 

No Way!!! Golden Girls Rule!!!

 

I'm digging up this thread to ask if I should watch it. I think I'm to the point where I'd have to see a pretty huuuuuuge embarresment to not like star wars. (I cringe at the thought) Do you think I could handle all that crap at one time? Is it too much to handle? Or should I watch it? I need advice. I don't want to ruine star wars for myself. But, I also want to see it.

 

Go ahead and watch it. If you don't like it, don't watch it again. It's as simple as that.

 

I've watched it three times, and it's STILL hilarious. I love it, but then, I love "'Manos', the Hands of Fate". So there you go.

I'd love to have a watchable copy of the thing (mine is reeeeeeeeeeeeeally badly degenerated) but I don't see Lucas approving a DVD release...

btw, Carnor Jax, a car acccident is no excuse for Mark looking EXACTLY like Haylie Mills.

 

If you can imagine a "Matrix Easter Special", starring the whole cast of the Matrix films, plus special appearances by Gomer Pyle, Bernie Mac, Black Sabbath and the Spice Girls, you can start to appreciate the unvelievably bizarre nature of this thing.

After hearing about the Star Wars Holiday Special for years, I finally saw this thing last night. (Either that or it was a really strange dream.) I was completely floored. What an amazing, historical oddity.

I'm still sorting it out. The very loooong close-up of Diahann Carroll's face with purple hair repeating things about minutes and fantasies, ad nauseum. The little alien jesters that caper about endlessly on the game board. Jefferson Starship singing a song to The great god Kopa Khan(?!) Very long periods of dialogue that are just Wookiees growling at each other with no subtitles. Harvey Korman poring drinks into the top of his head while rodians and ithorians look on.

I will never be the same.

 

I remember someone telling me they'd just watched the Holiday Special and was in severe pain from it. I said, "Why didn't you do something more fun, like walk barefoot over broken glass and rusty nails?"

 

Um...I [edited] tried to watch it...but it was way too painful and boring.

YJ edit: Don't mention illegal ways of obtaining the show.

 

Ooh, do it, do it!

TC