Why were Star Wars 4,5,6 before 1,2,3? Because in charge of sheduling, Yoda was.

Anyone else think seeing Harrison Ford traumatized pretty hilarious.

That Mark Hamill clip at the end tho

Fun fact: the Holiday Special contains the first appearance of Boba Fett in Star Wars (it was released before Empire), and is also the first time we learn his name and hear him speak.

"Everything in Star Wars has a story..." Except for Snoke.

Some people: “omg the Phantom menace or The last Jedi are the worst Star Wars films to come out of the series” Me, an intellectual: “y’all see Chewbacca celebrate Christmas yet?”

They forgot to mention that this bad special also introduced several things that stayed in the Star Wars universe. Chewbacca’s home planet and Boba Fett was also introduced here first

The first episode of The Mandalorian mentions "Life Day". Does that mean the SWHS is canon?

Fun fact: I actually have part of the original script from this special. The part where Leia sings the life day song. I keep it in very good condition. My father brought it around 1995 in an auction before I was even born. It must've been a fortune, he was obsessed with collecting everything Star Wars

Explanation....The 70’s and cocaine.

That's why we can't have pink Vader in Battlefront II.

"There are rules for what belongs in this universe" Disney: How about no

*"Everything in Star Wars has a story"* *Except for Knights Of Ren...*

2:03 Harrison Ford: get off my show... Conan o'Brien: but, it's my show.

Just here to remind everyone that The Mandalorian made the Holiday Special canon.

Happy life day

Star Wars was the first time Studios understood the power of Merchandising and Licensing. They learned this lesson because 20th Century Fox signed all rights over to George Lucas and watched him become a millionaire overnight. Geroge Lucas, when he owned LucasFilms, made more from his Merchandising and Licensing than he ever made from the Box office.

I love how Anthony Daniels face changed at 1:35 when question about Holiday Special came out.

I may have gone too far in a few places....

2:35 Why the hell did I think 2001:A Space Odyssey was released in 2001?!?!

At least it doesn't have paid loot boxes.

My father watched it when he was 6 in Peru. He says it still tromitises him till this day. They advertised it as the Thanksgiving special there, and in Latin America, Thanksgiving well isn't a thing, so that was extremely confusing to them. But then to add, they called it something else in the special, so it was even more confusing.

Rule #1 of Star Wars: We don’t talk about the holiday special

“All around 2011” The last Jedi: **released in 2016** Unfortunately, history will not see it for you that way

Q: Why is Yoda such a good gardener? A: Because he has a green thumb.

“The current trilogy is telling new stories” Debatable.

I know now what I will give my friend for Christmas

At least now I know why it's there

Video did not do an adequate job demonstrating how cringey that special was. You might get the impression that it was like what would happen if the Phantom Menace had a high school drama production budget. And that would indeed be bad. But it was soooo much worse. Think Phantom Menace, high school budget, but also crossed with The Captain & Tennille Show. No, the originals, not the MXC versions. Because that would have been fantastic!

I like how Vox takes the time to read and replay to most of the comments on this video!

“Oh around 2011” OMG Lucas was pretty damn accurate!

"You can't play with it"??. ..someone needs to tell this to Rian Johnson

I watched it. I was committed to completing it. I got drunk halfway through (Christmas Eve), but I still watched it. It was one of the most difficult things to watch. I dare you all to try it out!

"Every character has a story" Up until now....

Harrison Ford's reaction to the mention of the Christmas special on Conan is the best. So funny.

Imagine being a 7th grader (Like me) that had to sit through that mess as it happened in 1978. I was diagnosed with childhood PTSD because of it.

Sounds like Nerdwriter1.

Nice perspectives on the creation of the SW Holiday Special. It is also well worth noting that CBS wanted the special long enough to fill a full hour time slot to sell more commercial air time, so filler material was added which contributed to the train wreck.

Does anyone have that interview clip from the end with Mark? I need to hear the rest!!

Life day was mentioned in the Mandalorian

I kind of love how these weirder things from Star Wars are finding their way back in just in a more creative way.

I wish the Timothey Zahn books were cannon. So good.

The storyline for the Ewok movies came from George Lucas so it was his idea or at the very least he approved the inclusion of a shape-shifting witch (Nightsister) into the Starwars universe.

"You can't play with it now" Then please explain The Last Jedi

It's a shame that Disney has now ruined the sequel trilogy

Please put out a video on the whole Net Neutrality situation!!!!

This cleared up some stuff for me. I remember watching Caravan of Courage and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor as a kid and noticing that they didn't seem to fit within the Star Wars universe.

As much as I do despise the Holiday Special, I can't help but love that it actually exists.

This is so amazing....I did not have to FORCE myself to watch this video....

This is a fantastic video. Superbly produced, edited, compiled etc. Thank you!

Last day of Net Neutrality possibly, anyone nervous?

Ah! Kill it! Kill it with fire!

I watched all of the Christmas special and it is 100x better then Disney Star Wars movies

**Cue fan boy rage comment with unnecessary arguments here**

You forgot the Star Wars Ewok Adventures: Caravan of Courage and Battle for Endor.

Love how Harrison Ford just grabs at Conan when he says "I have a little bit of the tape"

KotOR is still cannon, damit!

Now that "The Last Jedi" is out, this is no longer the worst SW-themed product out there...

I was almost 10 when the special aired, had experienced Star Wars, and was so excited for this special. It was a different time, when if you loved a movie you had nothing to relive it but memories (pre-merch) and in the case of Star Wars a wait of 3 years for another chance to be immersed in that glorious universe. Television had 2 channels, 3 if the weather was right, and programming sucked. This special was to be an amazing gift, a treasure, something to focus on and relish and memorize and rehash endlessly with friends. And it was sooooooo bad. Like soul-crushing bad. Not as bad as a trump presidency but close.

Do a video on shoegaze.

0:33 OMFG I remember my dad showing me the star wars holiday special cuz we where big Star Wars fans, but in the end we got nightmares from Chewbacca’s family.

This was a great analysis. I like your comments that these early "Star Wars" projects were the first attempts to define the universe before the official definitions were created. People were letting their imaginations go wild. Some projects were great and some, like the holiday special, were really strange. It's like that whenever you are expanding a universe. I was a kid when saw the holiday special. It was weird, for sure, and I was disappointed in much of it. But I did like some of the segments (like the animated short and the closing time segment). I also liked the idea that Chewbacca had a family and the Life Day celebration. I did not like the Dionne Warwick virtual reality segment and the cooking show. I also remember the first Marvel comics and how delightfully odd they were. I liked the Holiday Special screenwriter's comment that they wanted to have fun with the concept. That is a great view to have when you think of the kids playing with the figures and dreaming up their own stories. I just don't think it worked out with a variety show format.

-Christmas- *_LIFE DAY_*

"Everything in Star Wars has a story..." except the main antagonist they spent a movie building up just to lazily kill off.

Hold up, so none of Disney's extra story books, that should have explained the story gaps that they didn't explain, aren't cannon.

My theory on the Star Wars Holiday Special is that it's in-universe Imperial propaganda used to make the beloved Rebel leaders look stupid, so that people would side with them. And Life Day is hideously misportrayed, because of Imperial human supremacy. Or, it's awful quality is used to torture Rebel sympathizers until they change sides/commit suicide/turn to stone/go insane/blind and deaf to cope with what they saw/a combination of the above.

It may have only been screened once in the US but it was screened TWICE in Australia (at least in Sydney it was), a few years apart. I watched the first time (we were on holiday - out of town - at my grandfather's place) and the next time we had a vcr, so I taped it.

This did a great job not talking about the holiday special that much.

"You can´t play with it now" lol

I'll never forget exiting the drive-inn after watching Star Wars from the back seat of mom's '71 Fastback. It was a life-changing movie.

Great to see a mostly positive piece on the Expanded Universe, although The crying mountain, and the Crystal Star are a bit of a low blow!

This is the worst and best Star Wars Show at the same time

“There are rules in this universe” Someone should tell rian Johnson that

Here's the scenario: In 1978, CBS was still controlled by the same old men who were making TV shows in the 50s, the kind of shows with Borscht-Belt humor. They were the same kind of men who still wore thick-rimmed glasses and used Vitalis in their hair, and had no idea what to make of this genius maverick George Lucas. They looked at the script and the project and said, "What is this, some kinda space-ape-dog opera? Throw some songs in there! And Art Carney! The kids are gonna wanna see Art Carney!" This is also a condition known as "Dirk Richter Syndrome" as in, "Dirk Richter is 73, and he's dead." While the SWHS had its heart in the right place, the interference from the studio heads who had no idea what they were doing turned it into a laughingstock. As for the original SW cast not wishing to acknowledge the special, I think it's kind of a Dorian Gray thing... they'll spontaneously die if they address its existence.

I actually really liked the cartoon in the middle of it

That end part with Mark Hamill and him talking about his new role in the new movies was really cool.

they should do this again with new generation SW on purpose

As an expanded universe aficionado, I approve this video. But the idea that EU fans were merely "disappointed" is not true. We were PISSED! Sure, there's a LOT of crap in the Expanded Universe, but much of the storyline is simply amazing and could have easily been adapted into multi-billion-dollar grossing movies (examples include material from the first several novels in the "X-Wing" series). Instead Disney opted for a shallow copy of A New Hope that took no risks and left any fan who has invested any serious amount of time into Star Wars yawning. (IMO, even The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were better than The Force Awakens.) What I would have done: throw out all the comics, the graphic novels, and the New Jedi Order, and keep the Thrawn Trilogy, the Bounty Hunter Tales, and the first several X-wing novels.

I’m glad they wiped the canon. I still enjoy the EU, but I don’t want Disney adapting novels or tiptoeing around the overly saturated EU.

To be fair, "why all the long hairy faces?" is just as bad as "Your heart is as cold as this planet," "I don't like sand," and "This is how we win, by saving what we love."

THE PREQUELS WHERE NOT THAT BAD!!! Come at me.

I actually really like the theory put forth here. Star Wars is popular, Pink Lady and Jeff hadn't killed off variety shows, and put that against the backdrop of the cinema scene at the time? To keep Star Wars in the public consciousness, a holiday special variety show is as good as anything.

I was so pissed when they scraped the EU. I absolutely loved the storyline behind Lwhekk, the Emperor reincarnated in Byss, the Yuuzhan vong, Thrawn, and Emperor Fel.

Mark Hamil's last comment there from 1983's Good Morning Britain are so ironic now! Given he did hand down Excalibur to another generation, only for Luke to toss Excalibur over his shoulder saying; "to hell with all that."

To whomever is in charge of this video's settings: Please ban this BIGSURPRISE account that is replying to every comment

I haven't even watched this yet and I can tell you exactly why it happened. You won't understand it, but it's the truth. I was 3 years old in 1977, and though I didn't have any point of reference at the time, I can honestly say that the experience was unlike anything seen before or since. It was an absolute phenomenon. A movie about space and ships and lasers and aliens, which were really just the setting for the hero's journey story that everyone is familiar with everywhere. It was brand new and exciting, but worn out and familiar. The toys didn't come out until I was 4 - in 1978, and the movie was re-released that year as well. There were no vieo store rentals, so there was no way to watch it unless it came out in theaters again. I had "the story of star wars" which was a cassette that was narrated by Roscoe Lee Brown and featured quotes from the movie ( you can find it on YT). But people wanted more. Hard to believe now, but George Lucas and company we're worried that people would forget about star wars if they had to wait 3 years between it and the empire strikes back, so the variety hour thing was put together looking at it now, it's absolutely awful, but seeing Han, Leia, Luke and Darth Vader again was amazing. I remember hoping it would be a tv show. Before the internet, the holiday specialwas so obscure that people like me wondered if we really saw it, or if it was just some weird delusion. No one talked about it or wrote about it . For all we knew it didn't exist. But of course then the internet happened and here we are. So it happened because Star Wars was a phenomenon unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, and they we're worried that people would lose interest in it if they had to wait three years. As for the bizarre cameos, like Bea Arthur and Art Carney - that really does speak to how universally loved the movie was. Everyone had seen it, everyone knew about it, and everyone thought it would be fun to be a part of. It was even bigger than the Beatles because it crossed generations.

"Around 2011"

There's no explaining the holiday special. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

What if i told you there's a full movie on youtube Harrison Ford: *forcechokes him to death even tho he is not force sensitive*

Vox:"More than 40 years after the first release, Star Wars hadnt stop evolving." Me after seeing Treadspeeders:"You meant devolving?"

I have very vague memories of watching Star Wars, the first one, probably in the early 80s, on TV; broadcast by one of the major networks. It was the same movie we all know and love, but because it was on TV it had commercial breaks every 15 minutes or so. What I remember was there being short, say, 15 second segments of the Flintstones which served as an intro and outro to those commercial breaks. It was Fred and Barney looking up at the night sky and cracking jokes about "the wars up there" and stuff like that. My friend tells me I've lost my mind and there was never any such Star Wars--Flintstones crossover. He's convinced that in the dark recesses of my mind I'm conflating a network presentation of Star Wars (which could very likely have happened) with some Flintstones Christmas special or something like that. Maybe they were both on at roughly the same time. Does anyone out there in the KZfaq world have any idea of what I'm talking about? Did anyone else ever see Star Wars on TV with quick, commercial intro/outro spots featuring the Flintstones? I think I am losing my mind.

*did anyone else get chills from that last clip of Mark Hamill?*

I recall having the record when I was a kid. My sister and I loved it! We listened to it every Christmas!

The writer they interviewed seems almost angry that the Holiday Special was so badly received, as if people should've appreciated its experimental brilliance. As if the Holiday Special isn't *universally* and *objectively* bad.

Interesting fact: The Harvard quidditch team has (had?) it in their constitution that no team function were to ever air the holiday special after one fateful end of term party

Answer: Unspurprisingly, it's "they wanted to make a quick buck and keep cashing in on the franchise (before it was a franchise)." Personally, I think the coolest things about this video are the little clips of 1977 and the very first Star Wars craze. It's just cool seeing people from 40 years ago just being people, but in all the retro clothes and hairstyles. :)

6:30 that's Mexico, that's me!! :DDD

6:09 This visual cue pretty much explains what happened to Star Wars.

This is called Learning From Your Mistakes.

I think this is what Disney’s going through. Every release is “Special”, I just hope George lives long enough to smash it all.