Happy Life Day!

[ceebeegee]

Oh my God--another insane giggling fit at work. This is from a site about the ill-fated famous Star Wars Holiday Special:

Bruce Vilanch, co-writer: It was hilarious. It was between "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" and George Lucas wanted to keep the flame alive. It's hysterically bad. I just saw it. I got it from a collector. I didn't realize how poor. I worked on it with George. That's how I got to know him. And he pulled the story out of the vault. It was like "Episode 32" of the saga, and it was the one that was set on the planet of the Wookiees, and the Wookiees were the central characters. Unfortunately all the Wookiees look like me and sound like fat people having orgasms. So, they're tough to write for. Every line of dialogue is "oh, ee, ahh." How do you write that? The Wookiees can't speak, but the Wookiees were the central characters. So I said, "well we have to load this up with stars who sing and dance and do schtick to cover up that the story is about these walking carpets." It was one nightmare after another, but it's a very funny show. At the Cantina on Tatooine, Bea Arthur is the bargirl. To give you some idea what the show is like, Jefferson Starship is on it. Carrie Fisher sings something. It was Thanksgiving.

God, I love bad '70s TV. It's just so much worse than other decades.

ETA:

I must see this!

And just when you think this video couldn't hurt you any more unless it popped out of the VCR at high speed and hit you straight in the face, Carrie Fisher begins to sing. Yes, she sings. And for a second you'll think, "Hey, they're dubbing her," and then you'll think, "No, if they were dubbing her it would sound better." The song itself is intended to be an inspirational variation on the Star Wars theme, but none of that intention shines through.

Comments

[wonderpanther.livejournal.com]

I want to see it, too!!!

[dje2004.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, you've never seen this? At the very least, you must have heard of it, right? It's legendary in Star Wars fandom. It's like George Lucas' insane half-brother that he keeps locked up in the attic and never talks about. He basically put it out to raise enough money to finish TESB, and when you see it, you'll understand why he refuses to ever release it, and barely acknowledges it's existence (I doubt there's any mention of it on the official website): It's spectacularly bad. For someone so obsessed with tinkering and re-tinkering with the Star Wars films until they're perfect, this thing must be like a cancer on Lucas' soul. I saw this when it first aired, and then again some years ago, although I couldn't make it all the way through to the end. It's that bad. If you haven't seen this, you must make every effort to do so as soon as possible. There's a scene where Chewie's father sits down to watch futuristic porn. I am not making this up.

Actually, there is one other very legit reason to watch it: it marks the first appearance of Boba Fett, in a short animated film that appears in the middle of the special. It's the only genuinely good thing about the special.

Oh, by the way, Stomp Tokyo is a great site, and I love their review of this. In fact, you quoted my favorite line from it.

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

There's a scene where Chewie's father sits down to watch futuristic porn. I am not making this up.

Hey, that's what my dad does after a heart-warming Life Day turkey dinner.

[dje2004.livejournal.com]

Ha!

[ceebeegee.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing about this but I didn't see it on TV (although I do remember watching one of the Ewok TV spcials in the '80s with the two kids, and one had curly blonde hair). I'd heard the Holiday Special was spectacularly bad but I had no idea...how in God's name did they get Harrison Ford to agree to be in this? Surely this was not in his original contract. And Bea Arthur? I adore Bea but this just doesn't sound like her thing.

[dje2004.livejournal.com]

Harrison wasn't a big star at the time, and so he probably did it as a favor to George, especially since, in a peripheral way, his own future was tied up in it - he was starring in TESB, and George needed to drum up cash quickly to finish it. I don't know about Bea Arthur, but the whole thing was done in the heyday of the 70s variety-show, so it doesn't really surprise me that she'd be in it, along with Harvey Korman and Jefferson Airplane.

I saw the Ewok movies too, and promptly forgot about them. They were awful, but not in the fun, train-wreck awful way the Holiday Special was. You must, must see this special. And if you do, you should have a viewing party, and invite me over so I can watch it too ;)