The Most Disturbing Moments Of The Star Wars Holiday Special

Everyone has their favorite heartwarming Christmas special, as classics like A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! have brought joy to children and adults for decades. However, not all Christmas specials bring tidings of comfort and joy, and among the most infamous is the Star Wars Holiday Special.
The disturbing 1978 special was created with very little involvement from George Lucas, and it features some of the strangest moments in the history of Star Wars, like Harvey Korman telling you how to assemble some new technology, Harvey Korman hosting a cooking show, and Harvey Korman in an alien bar with Bea Arthur. Let’s take a look at the most disturbing moments in the Star Wars Holiday Special.
#StarWars #Holiday #Special
A family affair | 0:00
Stars bored | 1:40
Gormaanda's Kitchen Nightmares | 2:25
Itchy's Life Day gift | 3:42
A grinding halt | 5:33
Krelman can't take a hint | 6:36
Bea Arthur's powerful pathos | 7:57
Yuletide fascism | 9:00
What even is Life Day? | 9:59
The credits and Kenny Baker | 11:12
That '70s show | 12:25
Read Full Article: www.looper.com/178615/the-mos...

[@Looper]

What's up.....................Chewbacca?

[@RJIS]

Looper *roar roar roar* What was George Lucas smoking to make this?!

[@georgerosebush9754]

@@RJIS He wasn't involved at all

[@RJIS]

George Rosebush oh. But please answer me this, WHAT THE HELL WERE THE FILMMAKERS SMOKING?! Did they take meth, marijuana, crack, and heroin at the same time?!

[@ikbendom5663]

Get rid of the annoying voice over

[@mikesilva3868]

Chef Gormaanda: Stir, whip, stir, whip, whip, whip, stir, beat. Holographic wow: Am found in your eyes only eyes only - I am in your mind as you create me. Ohhh yes... I can feel my creation... [giggles] Holographic wow: I'm getting your message - are you getting mine?" Itchy: [orgasmic sounding] ARRGGHHHUGHH! Holographic wow: Oh... oh... we are excited, aren't we? Princess Leia Organa: [sung to the tune of the star wars theme] A day that takes us through the darkness/a day that leads us into light/a day that we celebrate/the LIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHTTTT!" 😂

[@piyushsharma9486]

This is what they showed the people in bird box.

[@benjaminpittman7503]

Underrated comment

[@joeyruzek5956]

💯💯💯

[@marshmallowbudgie]

this is what the crew of the "Event Horizon" saw

[@gojirazillasaurus6341]

Lol

[@mikesilva3868]

Nope cant go to hell satan still has that restraining order against me r rated joke🤣

[@davesworld7961]

Can't tell if that's Mark Hamill or Ellen DeGeneres.

[@kellyweingart3692]

lol

[@TheOnielBradley]

DavesWorld its the trash one....... disney

[@paponmeowmeow4745]

@@TheOnielBradley wdym. This was made by Lucasfilm, way before Disney owned it. This special was a fail

[@billy9361]

Or David Bowie

[@SquirrelASMR]

@@TheOnielBradley mark hamill hates what disney did to star wars

[@fromthesidelines]

Carrie Fisher had a personal copy of the special on VHS. She often used it to clear her house of guests whenever she decided they were staying longer than they should. She'd pop the tape into her video player, turn it on........and within minutes, she had the house all to herself again. 😀

[@scofieldvictoria]

Genius 😆

[@mikesilva3868]

👍

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Lol

[@101Volts]

I suppose that's more effective than playing Trout Mask Replica on the stereo. If someone did that, I might want to listen to some of it.

[@theasandys]

That is such a Carrie Fisher thing to do

[@OmegaPoint042]

Mark Hamill looks like he is wearing a Mark Hamil mask.

[@ladistar]

Hahahahahahahaha so true

[@yishaqdavid2029]

I think thats because he got into a serious car accident and they had to hide his wounds? Or maybe this was before that even happened. lol

[@josiahhall7588]

lol

[@JeshuaSquirrel]

@@yishaqdavid2029 Mark was still taking painkillers for that accident and the restorative surgery when this was recorded.

[@cardcounter21]

@@JeshuaSquirrel According to Mark the injuries he sustained were greatly exaggerated. The only thing damaged was his nose but he said he enjoys the mythology surrounding the accident!

[@ryaquaza3offical]

I remember watching this when I was younger confused on what the hell was going on, now years later I still have no idea what’s going on, are we sure Carrie was the only one on drugs during production of this?

[@iceadonis6340]

The original is overrated

[@interlace84]

..pretty sure Lucas was experimenting with psychedelics in this time and not having the happiest holidays-- part of it is way more personal and introverted expressionism than I've seen anywhere else in the franchise. dude had balls releasing this even if he hated it afterwards.

[@georgerosebush9754]

@@interlace84 Lucas wasn't involved! Lucasfilm in general didn't make this, they merely lent the rights to the characters, which Lucas of course calls a mistake.

[@interlace84]

@@georgerosebush9754 "Though Lucas is uncredited, it was his idea to build the narrative around Chewbacca's family. CBS hired experienced variety show writers and producers, including writer Bruce Vilanch, who was concerned about the decision to center the special on a species who grunt in a fictional language without subtitles. Regardless, Lucas would not budge on his vision."

[@interlace84]

summed up it did start out to be a lot better with a different script. They had half a dozen meetings with the TV company that was making it. In the end, because of work on promoting Star Wars and working on the next film, they realized they had no time. They had the occasional meetings with the team, provided them with access to props and the actors, and that was it. PS: that's way beyond just lending rights, and even more confusing than I expected. wish I knew what those 6 meetings were like :)

[@appleicloud64gigabytes48]

I forced my father to watch this with me last Christmas. His quote “They had to have been on crack writing this” It was fun seeing him get pissed at the Wookiee sounds lmao

[@Eddie62070]

actually one of the writers WAS doing a lot of blow....so your dad wasn't too far from the mark :)

[@ARJAY_NO]

I can only imagine him yelling at the TV after several minutes of nonsensical rambling 😂😂

[@loumencken9644]

The writers were not on crack, but that is only because crack hadn't been invented yet. But I'm sure they used lots of good, old-fashioned, up-the-nose powdered coke.

[@bigpun7916]

What would have been enjoyable is if the Empire actually wiped out most if the wookies instead of ewoks....that burnt hair smell though .

[@bigpun7916]

@@loumencken9644 there had to be bowls of coke available on set of this hitch mess .

[@billygray6776]

"If i had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it." George Lucas

[@mikem9536]

LOL, He must really love this masterpiece, it wouldn't big such a piece of shit if Lucas wasn't stupid and insisted on no subtitles when the wookies grunt.

[@werdarastrix]

I'm old enough to remember when the Star Wars holiday special aired. All I really remember is being VERY confused.

[@RJIS]

Darastrix Sthyr I feel sorry for you. Did the scars heal?

[@tunguskalumberjack9987]

Same here, man- for years, I thought maybe I had imagined it, because before the internet, very few younger people believed me when I told them about it.

[@tunguskalumberjack9987]

Robert A. Davis Yup! (And he was a jerk!)

[@werdarastrix]

@@RJIS Not yet. haha

[@werdarastrix]

@@radrobd123 Holy shit! You're right! I'd forgotten about that.

[@zargondm]

Why are adult Wookie males attracted to human females????

[@georgerosebush9754]

Because human males are the ones actually watching it, presumably.

[@bocagoodtimes1460]

Even back then Hollywood liberals were doing what they do best! Showcase debauchery!

[@nknighton70]

Wanderlust.

[@jeffm5991]

Because they're so attractive.

[@Googaliemoogalie]

I was wondering this too. His wife is a Wookie, why would he be attracted to a different species?

[@nekorogers]

This is making my cancer spread at twice the normal rate.

[@wndxxi3954]

yikes.

[@maj2809]

I love cancer jokes!

[@jeffm5991]

Ha ha, you're going to die young!

[@MagicCookie2747]

Jeff M wow

[@jeffm5991]

@@MagicCookie2747 What? It's funny. Hes got cancer.

[@Psychol-Snooper]

Mark Hamill was in a really bad accident (1977) that disfigured his face. This is probably why he needed so much make-up. :(

[@TralfazConstruction]

Wasn't he, briefly, a cast member of Eight is Enough? That's easily researchable. I seem to remember reading that contemporaneous to Star Wars release in '77 _just_ as cast members of the movie were getting the initial attention.

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@TralfazConstruction He was in the pilot. He was a general Hollywood TV actor from the early 70s.

[@TralfazConstruction]

@@Psychol-Snooper Thank you. That squares with my recollection now. Best wishes!

[@TralfazConstruction]

@@radrobd123 There's certainly a wealth of information about it on KZbin alone. I remember seeing the clip of Mark Hamill in the pilot somewhere a long time ago. Seeing it just five minutes ago made it come right back to me.

[@HailAnts]

I remember reading about rumors that his ‘accident’ was a botched suicide attempt due to him not being able to handle such rapid fame. Him committing ‘career’ suicide at least (missing his face up)..

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

And I thought Harrison Ford looked bored in Return of the Jedi

[@TaylorKnightCosplay]

That’s because he was bored in Return of the Jedi.

[@aliensoup2420]

And they fed him too much Ham for lunch.

[@jakew1454]

Me: Dad, I watched the Star Wars Holiday Special from beginning to end. My Dad: On purpose?!

[@socialghost4400]

Most disturbing part about the Star Wars holiday special is the fact that it even exists and got approved by George Lukas personally

[@berserkerrage9099]

Lets be honest now George Lucas would have endorsed star wars crack pipes if he thought he would make money

[@iforgot87872]

@@berserkerrage9099 He hates it actually. He tries to pretend it does not exist.

[@andersonbroberg3531]

Like episode 1

[@teamplays2252]

Take your pick! Was it: A) Shrooms B) LSD C) Pills D) "the harder stuff" E) All of the above ..passed around at those 6 meetings they had with Lucas over this? -;)

[@nnnnmhughuuhhjiijj9457]

@@teamplays2252 For real?

[@OhNoNotAgain42]

I was 9 years old. I was so excited for two weeks waiting for this. I still remember my utter disappointment. This show ruined my childhood and is the cause for most of my lifelong personality flaws.

[@sweou]

haha the worst part is the special was so bad there's no way to tell whether you're joking or were actually traumatized for life

[@mikesilva3868]

REX: Welcome aboard. This is Captain REX from the cockpit. I know this is probably your first flight and it's mine too. Ha ha. Well it looks like we'll have a smooth flight to Endor. REX: Sorry, folks! I'm sure I'll do better next time. And I'm still getting used to my programming! REX: Hey! HEY! 😊

[@fromtheblonx]

😂😂😂

[@bac-up6758]

My flaws too except that I never saw it lol

[@Shaden0040]

The whole thing was disturbing.

[@TeezoTarantino]

Thank god this isnt cannon😹😹😹😅

[@alneri8327]

Probably bcs this would shoot U

[@digitaldrvgs]

I wanna pretend it is

[@NikiRGB]

In the official star wars series The Mandalorian they referenced Life Day therefore this is canon

[@liamvega7550]

BestialCreeper well it’s not the creators admitted it’s not

[@verycutetaco]

BestialCreeper It’s extended universe so not canon

[@nancyhajeski3360]

Mystery Science Theater needs to get their hands on this. A RiffTrax version would be priceless.

[@richardmeftah2569]

The most disturbing bit for me was the part between the opening credits and the closing credits!

[@PlasmaCoolantLeak]

I saw some of this at a bar in San Jose. I could see other people looking at the TV, and then resume their drinking. I did the same.

[@adrianagflores5587]

In all fairness It was the 70s . The person who pitched this idea was on shrooms for sure and possibly cocaine.

[@Bigedub101]

Man u can tell... it looks like everyone is on some shrooms

[@heidifedor]

The reason the Wookies wear red robes is because the production couldn’t afford that many full Wookie costumes.

[@tomservo5347]

The Diane Carroll bit borders on softcore porn. It doesn't leave much to the imagination that Itchy would pretend to be scratching something rather ferociously.

[@jboling513]

I see what you did there. well done Mr. Servo.

[@thebrandolorian9037]

I always wondered why Luke never bothered to blink his eyes 👀

[@BiserAngelov1]

There is no other piece of movie, so particularly made for drug fueled trips, like the Holiday Special. The sound, the visual, the 70's mood. Its incredible.

[@nnnnmhughuuhhjiijj9457]

You and Carrie Fisher had same idea.

[@mitchellbolton269]

Lucas' NOW Hope is that this is NOT preserved in the Congressional Library for Cultural or other Historical Significance. Eventually Din Djarin and The Child will time travel, cue "ancient astronaut" theories, and destroy all remaining evidence of such an abomination. With a tear streaming down from inside his helmet, Mando uses his wrist flame thrower to demolish the final remaining copy, we hear Baby Yoda utter its first words: "The Way, This Is" We sadly realize that our existence as well occurs in a galaxy far, far away.

[@Yosef9438]

@@mitchellbolton269 I want some of whatever you're smoking

[@BushcraftingBogan]

My favorite part is how Leia talks about how Wookies should make the holiday their own while hijacking it with a lecture and song of her own. 😂😂😂

[@shawnattwells5355]

My reaction to seeing this back then, is the same as it is now - WTF??!

[@scottyakoubian9238]

I didn’t know there was a Star Wars Holiday special. If this is why Harrison Ford didn’t like Solo, ok, I get it.

[@xr4ti548]

These 'highlites' are nearly as disturbing as the Cats movie trailer.

[@TylerEubank]

Link please

[@TechUnboxingVideos]

🔥"This is better than KZbin rewind" 🔥

[@Mark_o_Helm]

For years i only heard terrible things about the Christmas special. So when i experienced it for the first time myself, I found it hilarious. I laughed a lot and i loved the songs. 🤣🤣🤣 That scene with Bea Arthur and the creepy customer felt very real. 😱

[@Reason4Termination]

3:27 A flat screen TV.. these guys are ahead of their time.

[@zenraven7x301]

Better than the sequel trilogy.

[@teddropstone5962]

I was eight years old, watching this on the night it aired. This might have been my first introduction to "cringeworthy".

[@ellemjay]

I "watched" this when it first aired. By that I mean I tried to watch it and left the room after about 10 minutes. My brother stuck it out and watched it until the end.

[@SnabbKassa]

I thought I could handle dipping into this gently just to laugh at it, but no. Scarred for life.

[@MagicCookie2747]

I’m so glad I had no idea about this

[@thurin84]

i was so excited hearing about the star wars christmas special. and then i saw it and was really confused. and then i didnt think about it again for decades.

[@jonathanmurphy3141]

watched it, in 1978. I was 9 years old. My older brother had the idea, on the cassette recorder, with mic’ our family had to record the audio,…so, after, audio of Wookies for several minutes. Eventually, I found in a comic book shop, around 2001, they had bootleg vhs tapes, for $1 of “the special”. I paid, I watched, -the audio came back to my mind. I drank whiskey watching, and that made the experience much better. I watched it with a good friend, a SW fan, who had not seen it. We drank several beers, and laughed. Before quality copy on KZbin, I loaned my bootleg vhs, to a family at my church. They were doing a marathon of the films. I told them “This is not all very good. Yet, if you are a true fan, you need to experience it once.” After, one of the family asked if they could have the viewing erased from their minds. No!

[@iforgot87872]

Imagine if this happened now with Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega, exactly the same way. I really cant'.

[@Turanic1]

It would be great, that stupid Rey film wouldn't happen

[@perrystalsisworldofbiology767]

1:54 - Mark Hamill? I thought it was Julie Andrews from the Sound of Music!

[@Seekthetruth3000]

Pure comedic gold.

[@Paccyd33]

If anybody here likes doctor who this is basically the equivalent of Dimensions in time

[@Paccyd33]

Layla true!

[@Paccyd33]

Layla LETS ALL ANSWER HIS SOS!

[@lallig8860]

my favorite part is that they HIT the kid like 3 times

[@sullivans2004]

mark hamill in the holiday special was like a testing ground for his joker.

[@dennisfordii9737]

As I watched this video I kept trying to remember if I had ever watched this.....or even heard of it ? Several parts of it seemed familiar though ! And them I realized that it was so traumatic my mind completely erased it- thanks .....now I gotta call my therapist!

[@FrankConquestJr]

So Maude worked at the cantina? LOL

[@glowinggold9488]

maybe thats why she was so grumpy.

[@jasonhuff7725]

Never saw it in 1978, kinda fitting I watched it in 2020 LoL

[@bigpun7916]

When Han killed that storm trooper , thats like one of your drinking buddies coming to your house on Christmas day and killing a cop in front of your family ! ...which can and does happen .

[@ersturdevant2831]

Saw the original airing of SWHS. So bad that the end credits cut early to the local news.

[@octofish]

Saw that upon release. Highly anticipated. What a horrific show. That was so bad, they should roll it on the local "Ghoul" TV/Horror/Comedy shows in every city.

[@stunt805]

That would scare the fuck out of me if I saw that as a kid

[@lapis591]

To be fair, Holiday Special was filmed after Mark Hamill's car accident. I think they wanted to obscure his injuries until it was incorporated into the story in Empire Strikes Back.

[@swes9598]

Me:

[@scottmorrison147]

Disney cashed in on this mess with an exclusive Chewy Pop Funko.

[@sortehuse]

Can't wait for the directors cut 🙂

[@digitalmagicAR]

With the enormous success and popularity of Star Wars and momentum still in full force, all they had to do is make something that wasn't horrible and it would have been a hit. Remarkable how all those big shots involved can result in something like this

[@glowinggold9488]

it was prob a attempt at a shameless rattings grab/

[@eddyz8199]

A Holiday Classic

[@tombutler6451]

Still haven’t seen it all the way through!will do one day on a very very very rainy day 😂

[@adamkhabazian3249]

it's still better than all the sequals and prequals

[@tylerdurden9161]

Very niiice. NOOT!!!

[@MrStickman1997]

The most disturbing thing in the Holiday Special was what they did to Han Solo in the cartoon section...

[@huesaturationintensity]

This shows what the studio executives thought Star Wars was all about.

[@valenciacarlin2357]

I've never been so happy that I was a 3 year old toddler when this show premiered for the first time.

[@yxllowsting]

I’ve never been so happy that I wasn’t alive when this show premiered for the first time

[@Zoomer30]

The only thing that makes The Star Wars Holiday Special bearable. Cocaine Lots and lots of cocaine. (Carrie Fisher said she was high while doing the show, fitting, the writers were high while writing it.)

[@HailAnts]

I always wondered if the leftover cantina costumes and set from this were the reason for the cantina scene in Richard Pryor’s NBC comedy special existing around the same time. His was actually funny..

[@squiggy4339]

"A joy to watch, and yes it's disturbing". Don't know if I've heard that said about any TV show or movie ever before. 😆

[@billgreen4003]

Cool

[@yasmin9473]

God i couldn’t even this video completely

[@matbowman4783]

The suprest childhood memories Are all coming back

[@fredjasper7378]

Life Day means imperial offices and schools are closed. Don't try to go hit up a wookie bank branch either

[@bxlawless100]

Bea Arthur singing traumatized me for life. No joke. What was she doing in Star Wars?

[@bezoticallyyours83]

Maybe she came for her share of the drugs

[@Bikedueder]

She just needed a one time gig between Maude and Golden Girls.

[@godthealmighty4338]

Still better than the prequels and sequels

[@notyetskeletal4809]

I cant watch this again. Even watching this is hard enough.

[@Theasworld1984]

Please tell me there's a rifftrax version of this Christmas special I could only imagine the commentary on it

[@christophergarrett7082]

This special is the weirdest thing ever. I'm pretty sure I saw at one point the wookie get turned on by a hologram

[@derth9230]

somehow this made the entire sequel trilogy feel like a well executed masterpiece

[@RBSmada]

People just can't handle how awesome R2D2 is.

[@MainFrameGamerz]

It's been many decades since I saw it aired, I still to this day haven't fully recovered. 🥺

[@NicholasChorba]

As a kid, maybe 8 years old, my favorite part was the cartoon. The only other things worth watching for me involved seeing the movie characters. Disappointment is the best word to describe my feelings for this show at the time. The minimal amount of Han Solo & Chewbacca was particularly disappointing.

[@Bigfoot_With_Internet_Access]

This why I just stay deep in the woods

[@The12thDoctor]

I will fire the death star laser at your woods.....oh.......wait.....

[@anewokwithinternetaccess117]

Stay out of my forest if you know what's good for you.

[@beaupeterson188]

And people think the prequels where George’s first mistake.

[@retroman1335]

I love the "mrum mrum mrum" sound lumpy makes

[@interlace84]

Bless me, Force, for I visited the dark side.. and upscaled this thing to 60fps and boosted it **cries in agony**

[@kevinmelicant9566]

I love holiday special

[@1beatcher]

Isn't every moment of SW HS a disturbing moment?

[@mrsx7944]

Yes

[@everythingiseverything6740]

I remember not liking the singing and weird dialogue, but when my favorite characters came on screen that was all I needed. A uniquely forgettable experience.

[@charleydraper8656]

My favorite part, was the end

[@heidifedor]

I actually watched this the night it aired.

[@Eddie62070]

me too.....and for an 8-yr old Star Wars nut in 1978, yeah it was pretty disheartening

[@heidifedor]

@@Eddie62070 i was six, so I didn’t know any better. At the time, I thought it was good. At least I had an excuse. My sister was 13, and actually liked it when it aired. But that was because she had a huge fan girl crush on Harrison Ford. In her mind, anything he was in, was good.

[@funkyflights]

What the heck ? Didn’t even know this existed, who wrote this ?

[@Klynch111]

I would have loved to see George lucas reaction when seeing this for the first time 😂

[@Yosef9438]

He approved it then

[@paulsarnik8506]

Love Korman in everything. Except THIS 😮!!! 🤓😎✌🏻

[@KadeemG61]

No wonder why the holiday special still exist on KZbin.

[@CornvilleConsigliere87]

😂 I swear, there's no other decade befitting to this LSD nightmare production than the 70's.

[@luskvideoproductions869]

Was it my imagination, or did this holiday special air the SAME Saturday night where she hosted SNL? Maybe that's not the case for everyone, but I sure as hell remember it playing out that way here in the DFW area back in '78 lol

[@EshaanVaidya]

I live in india and the Star Wars Vintage Collection has not been released yet here and I was really excited and looking forward for it to come and I was really disappointed when it didn’t come

[@rednasseel4113]

I LOVE THE HOLIDAY SPECIAL. I SAW IT WHEN IT AIRED. AND I LOVED THAT IT WAS THE INTRODUCTION OF BOBA FETT!

[@RockU2Death5150]

Intergalactic Disco Nymph sounds like a Seattle underground band similar to the Pixies.

[@ngahuia86]

Acid and hallucinogens were obviously still popular for directors and producers back then

[@josephferrel3413]

Is it me or does Luke look like Ellen in this?

[@Eddie62070]

it's not you