What most people seem to forget about Star Wars -- especially those who only know about it through the re-releases or, worse yet, the prequels -- is that it was a movie initially intended FOR CHILDREN. It's the reason it didn't veer into the dark territory of Star Trek or the dystopia of any of Kubrick's films (although, given what Anakin Skywalker would turn out to be as a teenager, a little gravitas would not have hurt the franchise).

Which is why it's nothing if not curiously strange as to why Star Wars creator George Lucas would like everyone to forget The Star Wars Holiday Special. Now, granted, its premise is hokey -- Luke Skywalker and Han Solo battle "evil Imperial forces" to get Chewbacca home to Chewie's home planet of Kashyyyk in order to celebrate "Life Day," which is the Wookiee version of Christmas -- and Lord knows we didn't need to see Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) sing the film's theme song (trust me, it's all sorts of wrong). But it only aired once on television -- on Nov.17, 1978, at 8:00 p.m. on CBS; it pre-empted "Wonder Woman" & "The Incredible Hulk" -- and frankly, it deserves to be included in the "Star Wars" canon, if for no other reason than it introduced the world to Boba Fett for the first time (at that particular moment in history; as the prequels would show us, Boba's back-story is a LOT darker than it really deserved to be).

Not to mention the all-star cast -- Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll, The Jefferson Starship -- that did pretty well, considering the crap script that they had to work with. But George Lucas really went a little too hard in the paint when he said in an interview that, "If I had the time and a hammer, I would track down every copy of that program and smash it." (Mostly because Carrie Fisher's line of "showing it to friends at parties, mainly when I want them to leave" is infinitely funnier...) After all, this is a man who will openly admit to having created Jar Jar Binks. (Note: While I'm a fan of Star Wars, and I cried like a baby when I met George Lucas, true love means loving both the flaws and the benefits... and being able to recognize each.)

And not for anything... Diahann Carroll saying that Chewbacca's 350-year-old father needs to "experience" her in a sexual way is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS.

Since I know my fellow Star Wars heads would like nothing more than to see this monstrosity of a special in its entirety...I bring you The Star Wars Holiday Special. Sorry, George. Merry Christmas to my fellow Star Wars heads!


The Star Wars Holiday Special

by FilmGeek-TV