5 Bizarre moments from the Star Wars Holiday Special
By Kelley Hey
This year marks 40 years since the premiere of the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special. Here are 5 moments that highlight just how bizarre that special was.
Forty years ago,fans of the 1977 sci-fi hit Star Wars, sat down in front of their televisions ready to watch their favorite characters in a holiday-themed fantastic adventure in space. What a shock these fans must have had when instead of a fun and entertaining romp, they witnessed over an hour Chewbacca’s family frittering away their day.
The Star Wars Holiday Special is perhaps the most infamous piece of Star Wars media. Movie critics and Star Wars fans have ridiculed and made fun of it. It is so wonderfully terrible and bizarre that it is comparable to films like The Room and Birdemic. It is so notoriously bad that it since its premiere, it never aired on television again.
So what happens in The Star Wars Holiday Special exactly? Nothing much of substance. The basic plot of the special revolves around Chewbacca’s family waiting for Chewie to come home for “Life Day”, which is basically the Wookiee version of Christmas.
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We meet Malla, Lumpy, and Itchy, Chewie’s wife, son, and father respectively. Most of the Star Wars main characters make guest appearances throughout. It’s mostly a series of odd, disjointed segments that makes the special start feeling like a fever dream after a while.
Just how odd is it? Here are 5 bizarre moments from The Star Wars Holiday Special…
#1 Chewie’s wife receives a cooking lesson
No, we don’t follow the exciting lives of Luke, Han, and Leia. Instead, we get scenes of a Wookiee family’s domestic life. One of these scenes is of Chewie’s wife, Malla, watching a cooking show and trying to follow along. The star of the show is a creepy alien with multiple arms.
There is no point to this segment … and it goes on for more than three minutes. It doesn’t advance the plot and doesn’t have an ounce of entertaining or humorous material in it. It’s like being stuck in a nightmare you can’t wake up from.
#2 Chewie’s dad basically gets VR porn
Yes, you read that correctly, unfortunately. A trader, played by Art Carney, visits the family and gives the wookies presents. His gift for Itchy is a device that is comparable to our modern VR. When Itchy uses it, he sees a human woman who says she is there for him and is his “fantasy”. It’s wrong and disturbing on so many levels.
#3 The Jefferson Starship performance
Shortly after the visit from the trader, Chewie’s family receives an unexpected visit from the Empire, who are searching for Chewbacca. During this scene, an Imperial officer sits down and watches Jefferson Starship perform a full song. Think of the inanity of that. It’s one of the segments that feel more like a fever dream and less like a Star Wars TV-film.
#4 Space Bea Arthur
In the middle of this nonsensical hodgepodge, the great Bea Arthur treats us to a musical number. In this scene, she plays a worker of the cantina who is desperately trying to get her customers to leave before the Imperial curfew that was recently set. This is a segment that is so out there and bizarre it’s kind of brilliant. Somehow Bea Arthur singing in the Star Wars universe just seems right.
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#5 Life Day Celebration
At the end of the special, Chewie makes it home in time for the Life Day celebration. Dressed in Snuggie-like attire and holding some kind of wookie version of snow-globes, the family literally walks in space into a star to reach a sacred tree. It’s as insane as it sounds. Also, Princess Leia sings. It’s the cherry on top of this bizarre ice cream sundae.
Have you seen any part of The Star Wars Holiday Special? Comment below!