Best of Star Wars Holiday Special: RiffTrax

[@Teatime4Tom]

The most shocking part of this is that no one's career was destroyed by this production.

[@mfitzburger5137]

We have a tendency to underestimate how dogshit 70s tv programs were, namely the variety specials. Chewbacca's family might be painful, but at least it's not "Lady Bump"!

[@SuperODST1]

It MAY have been what made Carrie Fisher start taking drugs though

[@SuperODST1]

@M Fitzburger Yeah...I was doing research on this recently! Found there are virtually no animated shows from the 70s that anyone remembers today that weren't part of a preexisting franchise. The ones people remember all come from the 60s. The 70s were terrible for TV indeed...

[@Chunkboi]

@@SuperODST1 After this? Her first cocaine may have come by way of her doctor. "After what you went through? This is therapeutic."

[@user-dr2yz8um3d]

The Galaxy avoided falling to the dark side completely

[@d.s.parentsr6502]

"Well, what do you know? It's not everyday you see the stupidest thing you've ever seen."

[@fromthecheapseats7126]

For these three, it actually is.

[@09daniscool]

This is my favorite rifftrax/mst3k line ever.

[@jonleonard1555]

I share the Star Wars Holiday Special with every family event we're invited to. Strangely we're never invited back.

[@thingfish000]

This is enough to make one hate Star Wars. Of course, I have hated Star Wars since the late 1980s.

[@SpeedTiberius]

Galaxy-brained attempt to avoid the in-laws.

[@PariahQuail]

Carrie Fisher used to put this on whenever she wanted to end a party at her place. It worked

[@PariahQuail]

@@thingfish000was it the Ewoks???

[@JeffaMorrison]

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Chewbacca’s lifeless stare!”

[@RobotoSan]

Let's face it, the best part of The Star Wars Holiday Special -are- is the commercials.

[@seanramsdell4117]

Same with the Super Bowl (game varies)

[@pollydoom5039]

I like Itchys hologram dancer Scene and the Grampa watching a hot video in a VR chair.

[@RobotoSan]

@@pollydoom5039 Right on! You do you 👍🙂 (Edit: No sarcasm meant, on re-reading it comes off a bit snarky even with the emojis.)

[@GeronKizan]

Tobor approves of this comment.

[@williamcrowe2576]

Agreed.

[@RGDcommentnode]

Why is Grandpa Wookiee looking at VR porn in the middle of the living room!?

[@AdrianColley]

Because he can.

[@Chunkboi]

Because your arm isn't the only thing a Wookiee can rip out when he's angry. Best leave him to it, because one way or another, something's getting yanked.

[@47Jaspers]

Let the wookiee wank

[@jeffreyriley8742]

They need to do entire videos where they just riff on old commercials.

[@Anynom]

Just consider that the man who has put out a dozen versions of the original trilogy on home media has NEVER allowed an official release of this in any way. That says it all.

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

But it's no longer up to George, which is presumably why RiffTrax is now able to sell a VOD of the show, whereas when they first released the audio riff, you had to pair it up with a copy of the special you'd download from KZbin precursor Google Video. Still amazes me RiffTrax was able to get all the necessary rights clearances for the VOD release, though!

[@dilligaf9282]

God, I'm old enough to remember having watched that when it aired on TV. And the only good thing I remember about it was the cartoon segment, and wishing the whole show was the cartoon.

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

I tried to watch the whole thing last year, but didn't get as far as the cartoon before my brain started threatening pack its bags and sue me for divorce.

[@Travelling_with_my_dog]

Until the day I die I will never understand WHO thought ANY of this was a good idea.

[@Chunkboi]

Never drink and produce.

[@jkdbuck7670]

The network wanted that sweet, sweet Star Wars cash.

[@HerrDeutschBlood]

I’m sure it was some coked up fantasy by one of the producers at CBS who just happened to know George Lucas fairly well after his recent success with his movie Star Wars.

[@MajorSeventh]

Probably the same people who thought _Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park_ was a good idea.

[@Kitsaplorax]

I never saw this when it first came out. I'm glad I now have the maturity to appreciate it for what it was-some network executive's fever dream on a budget.

[@msgfrmdaactionman3000]

They probably paid TONS of money for it with all the stars in it! Plus Jefferson Starship too.

[@evenstoats2639]

Cocainè fever dream.

[@JPMadden]

This is the first riff I bought and it remains my favorite. Well worth the $10 I paid.

[@bewdragon2908]

Time for a re-riff, bring the girls too!

[@AdrianColley]

You monster!

[@kogcc]

Yeah, a live riff for Christmas.

[@myrv_the_ocelot]

great idea! 😄

[@kogcc]

Wow. Only ten minutes and it still felt like the entire hour. I remember being a ten-year-old kid watching this and being so disappointed after waiting more than a year for anything Star Wars. (Because, kids, back then, there was one movie that was never shown on TV and we didn't have VCRs yet, and there was no streaming, Disney+, or cable stations showing the movies every other weekend. We waited forever for anything Star Wars and they gave us this, forcing kids like me to really, really try to like it but failing miserably. It may actually be source of my PTST.)

[@killdozer1974]

I hate to tell you, but the whole thing is actually two hours.

[@kogcc]

@@killdozer1974 However long it is, it is what they show in hell.

[@rightwired]

"Take care of my friends" pleads Leia, with her friends poking through her dress.

[@lafcursiax]

Never thought I'd see the words "the best" in the same sentence as "Star Wars Holiday Special..." Even more shocked that it's an accurate description in this case!

[@SonicStantz]

"Will you light this guy on fire?"

[@junipersr]

Ah yes, the one piece of Star Wars media that Disney still refuses to accept as canon.

[@kanna-san.]

Sadly

[@AdrianColley]

Do you really want to see a special edition, with extra CGI?

[@alexherbst9477]

Disneyland had some kind of Life Day celebration on November 17th, so they definitely recognize it

[@Chunkboi]

@@AdrianColley The CGI is less offensive to me than when he started changing the plot elements. And in many places the practicals remained...

[@kylebennett789]

Don't forget 90% of the extended universe

[@johngulyas695]

I remember watching this when it aired and NO, my parents didn’t buy me Tobor!

[@karnerblue7658]

Lol Did you have any of the other toys that were advertised?

[@johngulyas695]

@@karnerblue7658 We had the Elton John Holographic Table but after I spilled my refrigerated dough on it, it wouldn’t “Wa-Da-Wa” anymore

[@skumchiken01]

glad I'm not the only one lol

[@choosecarefully408]

I do too & 1) it couldn't hold my attention. But 2) my older brother who was a Good Consumer who did whatever TV told him to also never mentioned this special ever again. My brother gets attached to things. Easily. That this special turned him off to Star Wars is saying a lot.

[@thingfish000]

I had Tobor. 😝

[@edwardleemiller-eo8jp]

Still less embarrassing for Harrison Ford than “Dial of Destiny”.

[@ACameronUK]

…it’s hard to believe this exists - both before and after you watch it 🙃

[@TheNDJustice]

“Life Day eats…” -Micheal Nelson

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

1:12 That's my old French teacher, Mrs Murphy.

[@scottjones9310]

"Best of Star Wars Holiday Special" ... this is going to be a short episode.

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

Thank goodness it was too short to show any more of Grampa Wookie steaming up over soft porn disco.

[@mjjoe76]

Clearly the “best” was the riffs and not the special.

[@ammagnolia]

So coked up lol!!!

[@riffgroove]

I was 7 years old when I watched this air on television. This was before PVRs or even VHS players yet at that point. So if you didn't happen to see when it was on, you missed out. Even at that tender age, I remember telling my friends at school the next day who missed it that it was "weird and boring."

[@mikesilva3868]

Best part was the cartoon sequence I have seen this movie uncut on a bootlegged website in 2007 I have watched it 10 times love the rifftrax version too😎

[@MalakyoftheOSR]

That is the only part from this on Disney+.

[@only257]

@@MalakyoftheOSR its on youtube too🎉

[@CrisCozy]

@2:53 "So coked up” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Tunesmyth]

Notice the weather report during the show that announced the first major snowfall of the worst US winter on record?

[@JamieSwitzer]

i could've sworn Rifftrax uploaded the whole thing on youtube before.

[@michaeljones9301]

Cut your own hair at General Motors?

[@bpivr]

There was a lot of cocaine in Hollywood in the 70’s.

[@srbrant5391]

If _Star Wars_ can survive this, it can survive anything.

[@Chunkboi]

It survived Jar-Jar binks.

[@denisecrawford269]

I never knew this special existed until I came across it on Rifftrax! How did I miss this gem as a kid? Thankfully I did! So glad you guys did this, I never understood the Bea Author, Harvey Corman references before watching it. Happy Life day everyone!

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

I'm in the UK and was 14 at the time. I was furious that it wasn't shown here. I was an ungrateful little git.

[@ClayLoomis1958]

Yeah, when I think of Star Wars, I think Art Carney. Superb casting.

[@michaelblythe5094]

Hilarious. The old commercials brought me back. Love the dated jokes that only someone a certain age would get LOL!

[@sfighter0085]

Ah yes, the one Star Wars related thing that George Lucas truly regrets. Great Riffing!

[@thegamethemovie9605]

I regret his special edition butchery of the original trilogy.

[@Chunkboi]

@@thegamethemovie9605 I know...I mean the enhancement of the visuals and adding in of some deleted material was one thing...but when he started messing with story and plot elements? It's why I still maintain a laserdisc player...primitive as it is, I have the original trilogy definitive collection, restored from the original films before they degraded to nothing...and guess what? HAN SHOT FIRST!!!

[@viewtiful1doubleokamihand253]

"What happened...?" Han Solo from this piece of shit. Love it.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

You just know George Lucas cries out "NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!" every time this is mentioned.

[@monicareyes1712]

True 😂

[@kogcc]

George Lucas put out his own Order 66 to hunt down and destroy all copies

[@anonagain]

I never know whether to celebrate Life Day or Festivus.

[@stormthrush37]

Well if the days don't overlap you can know the joy of celebrating them both!

[@Montaq_]

Depends on how many grievances you have to air.

[@FrenchPaul1988]

Isn't Life Day a Space Thanksgiving ? This special aired in mid-November IIRC.

[@alissapadilla6924]

"Thank you for being a friend!"

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

Dear Tucker Carlson: As this historical footage clearly shows, undocumented aliens started the war on Christmas a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away from your gated community

[@arbknight12]

“Ve came for Life Day punch, un you vill be vatching football with us NO?!” (German accent)

[@Chunkboi]

Or as Doug Walker put it… “Ve hear you’ve been hiding Jewish Evoks!”

[@mikececconi2677]

Still better than Jar-Jar!

[@elzibiel]

so, let me get this straight... the guy who put in all that crappy CGI into the "updates" and made Han shoot second in "self defense" as well as put a scream in Luke's mouth as he dropped down the Cloud City void (at least in ONE of the special editions) was against an official release of this masterpiece? I'd have thought that guy would be all for it. this entire debacle was more tolerable than that one "Jedi Rocks" sequence.

[@proto-geek248]

Unquestionably canon.

[@Evil0tto]

Compared to the Rise of Skywalker this special is dignified and coherent.

[@msgfrmdaactionman3000]

OMG a furry reference, genius! And a Bea Arthur nads joke! Harvey Korman gives new meaning to the term "I'm gonna Skull F U." Thanks Rifftrax.

[@stormthrush37]

6:48 IIIIIIIIIIIIII AAAAAAAAAAAAMMM BEA ARTHURRRRRRRR! I AM BEA ARTHUR!

[@AdrianColley]

I get the impression that Bea Arthur used to be famous even before Golden Girls. You don't suppose that the Holiday Special was her big breakthrough, do you?

[@oceandawn26]

@@AdrianColley I think Bea Arthur's big break was a show called 'Maude' in the 1970's, where she was the lead actress. How she got roped into this holiday...thing, however, I just...I have no idea.

[@hankw69]

Wookie 'Life Day' is the natural conclusion of being spiritual but not religious.

[@fulcifan6946]

So coked up 😂😂

[@AdrianColley]

And not just the actors! But the writers and set designers too!

[@LordmonkeyTRM]

Do yourself a favour and buy this top tier riff

[@ArchibaldClumpy]

The only Rifftrax that feels like a movie marathon to finish.

[@only257]

Hilarious riffing😂

[@powerhorsea1a376]

Lovin it! 😆🥳

[@HerrDeutschBlood]

With all the merchandise Disney has made from the Star Wars Holiday Special in their theme parks, you’d think that they would have it readily available on their streaming platform, Disney Plus.

[@sirdrakey]

I love this!

[@moebetta4224]

I am guilty. I have actually watched this on acid. It didn't help.

[@Shades14]

2:04 Say the line, Mike!

[@thegamethemovie9605]

In retrospect, it's weird that this special is more loyal to the original movies than any of the recent movies 😬

[@suchiuomizu]

Why are some Star Wars fans so stupid?

[@bobafettjr85]

Even though it was only 10 minutes it felt like half an hour even with the jokes added. That's how bad the Star Wars Holiday Special is.

[@randomreviews4278]

Better than the special it self

[@ToylandChairman666]

Saw this without the commentary once or twice, and it's a rough one. Can't watch this without the RiffTrax commentary.

[@swingbossa]

Moichandising!

[@xtinman420x8]

3:56 is that B. Arthur?!

[@drppr76]

Yes

[@KentheDeer]

Still, it's better than the Disney trilogy...

[@blastedquinn98]

3:17 what is this? Fantastic planet!?

[@351cleavland]

This is the soiled underwear of the SW franchise.

[@DanHarkless_Halloween_YTPs_etc]

Never occurred to me until this viewing that the actor playing Malla was most likely a dude. Yup, Mickey Morton, who played lots of giants and monsters in his long TV career, from 1959 to 1990, including on the original _Star Trek._ Can't be that many actors, especially before the 2000s, who appeared in both franchises.

[@jigmeoser]

Art Carvey in lounge wear.

[@1Raphael]

👍👍AWESOME

[@karenstarr]

Didn’t Rifftrax upload the whole thing to KZbin before?

[@wickedjay13]

Tbh, I like the holiday special. It's no better than any other goofy 70's special and it is pretty hilarious, even if it's only ironically funny.

[@oceandawn26]

Just who or what was this holiday special made for? Also, will Disney ever have the guts to make a sequel trilogy to this? Rian Johnson might be available...

[@AlcoholicBoredom]

I hope all of you saved the entire special while it was still up here. (If you don’t know how to download KZbin videos, then you’re probably old enough to have watched the special when it originally aired on TV.)

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

You mean it's not available any more? How will I get over my disappointment? Oh, I just did.

[@Graytail]

02:55 Its probbably all that got her to do this crap. 03:46 So, does that make grandpa there a 'skinny' ? Dont look at me like that Bill you had a go at furries ealier... 08:15 After many hours of filming, the wookie family's actors finally succumb to heat exhaustion. 08:55 Why YES R2, it IS very convenient that this part of the desert is totally flat and isnt getting into your wheels. 09:05 The Empire is so advanced, look! They have ATARI!

[@Chunkboi]

I wonder if an R2 series astromech uses a low-power repulsorlift. Industrial Automation and Incom really made robust hardware. Kicked the shit out of that Seinar crap… Well, that and when you give your pilot adequate shielding and of course, train them fully, they have the advantage.

[@helensmith5474]

At least I can see the previous garbage!

[@Dragonwolves1997]

Jokes aside I really love this special.

[@kenistheticzero3612]

I have been a Star Wars fan since the 80s. I had enough sense to never watch the Holiday Special.

[@donfisherjr.2404]

Amazingly, this show made more sense than "The Last Jedi" or "Rise of Skywalker."

[@TheAwmoody]

Funny these clips are not in order. But it still makes no sense lol.

[@emisthem6562]

I finally understand why Mark Hamill wants to smash every copy of this with a sledgehammer 😂

[@JamieSwitzer]

George Lucas I believe was the one who wanted to do that! 😂

[@Naro_Rivers]

I’m a furry and no, I’m not turned on by wookiees~

[@Chunkboi]

Cuteness isn’t always helpless. Look at the Ewoks…unlike the Gungans, they learned fast, adapted, and turned the tide of battle. That, and their shamans have Force training. They could learn to be Yoda-esque Jedi…if you are diminutive in size…use the superball method.

[@Naro_Rivers]

@@Chunkboi Do they have Force training? Huh, today I learned~ And while I’m not sure what prompted it, I do agree with your first statement, especially as my furry character is an otter. Otters are adorable, but they are opportunistic hunters, very territorial, and capable of taking down creatures many times their size working together.

[@msgfrmdaactionman3000]

Not even Chewie? His Dad? Or his Son? C'mon man.

[@stephaniecowans3646]

What stranglehold/dirt did Lucas have on the principal actors to get them to agree to be in this production? I wonder if Harrison Ford has blocked this from his memory? 🤢

[@Chunkboi]

Maybe this was just something they thought they were doing for fun…but only saw pieces of the puzzle.

[@Shamandigi62091]

this still better than Disney star wars

[@Nobody_Special310]

Star Wars was all downhill from here.

[@albrown7977]

4:47 It Seems pointless to wear a apron when you are covered in fur.

[@jonathancharron7360]

Why make a "best of" when last year you released the full movie?

[@RobotoSan]

Actually they didn't release the full movie, left out the Boba Fett cartoon and Starship song.

[@wileyschmitt]

@@RobotoSan And Mike has yet to 'light the sky on fire' no matter how much Marty Balin asked.

[@RobotoSan]

@@wileyschmitt To be fair, Mike's name appears nowhere in the lyrics. He wants *YOU*, and by implication, us (including Mike) to light the sky on fire. I say let Marty Balin set the sky ablaze himself. Even though he wasn't a direct part of it, he owes me blood for "We Built This City". They all do.

[@Anynom]

Would you actually sit through the whole thing?

[@AdrianColley]

Because of the Geneva Convention?

[@arricammarques1955]

This was painful to watch as a child.

[@slowneutron6163]

This was probably the worst thing that ever happened. And don't give me that WWII shit.

[@caleb88k]

My God!! After seeing this "Life Day" Star Wars Holiday Special, I've changed my mind on being anti abortion! lol

[@margaretcorleoneblues]

This is amazing 😂