46 years ago tonight.
Spoilers All Things STAR WARS - News, Speculation & Spoilers Thread
- Thread starter Reverend
- Start date
Dear Yoda!
No one wanted a Young Han Solo movie, and if for some reason such a thing were inevitable, they needed a different person in the lead role.
It really is amazing the franchise survived that so early in it's run.
Whenever people go "So and so ruined Star Wars!" I just look at this.
Star Wars has survived way worse. The hand wringing and whinging and declarations against Lucas/Disney/Kennedy are over the top ridiculousness.
Star Wars: Visions Season 3 has been announced, and will release next year!
Seems only appropriate that they return to Japan for this one, given Tokyo will be hosting Celebration next year. Mostly I'm just glad 'Production I.G.' are back, and hope they do a follow-up to season 1's 'Ninth Jedi' (though something wholly new will be great to see too!)
Seems only appropriate that they return to Japan for this one, given Tokyo will be hosting Celebration next year. Mostly I'm just glad 'Production I.G.' are back, and hope they do a follow-up to season 1's 'Ninth Jedi' (though something wholly new will be great to see too!)
The Holiday Special aired exactly once 46 years ago, before VCRs were a thing, and was never officially released, let alone easily viewable until... that above video hit YouTube eight years ago? Most casual audiences have probably never heard of it, never mind remember it, any more than they remember the Droids or Ewoks cartoons, and surely only the especially morbidly curious fans have actually watched it. (Said YouTube upload has less than half the views of the RedLetterMedia TRoS review, and that's just three guys talking in a dark room.)
You can call it the worst thing SW has ever made quality-wise if you like (I've never bothered to see it, so I have no opinion), but to suggest it was worse for the franchise overall than the narratively disastrous Sequel Trilogy and the epic bumbling of the past few Disney years, IMO, is laughable.
That's my opinion.
Mileage will vary. I think the Clone Wars film was the worst for the franchise and was only saved by an improving show. But I can't rate the ST as worse.
The franchise will survive or not. I care not as I have more than sufficient Star Wars content for me.
I watched it the evening it aired. It was good to see the principals in costume again.
"Survived?" Unlike the endless bad content of today's SW franchise, in 1978, The Holiday Special was a one-off TV production, not an expensive series of movie disasters that negatively colored the IP in the eyes of moviegoers. Star Wars was a cultural phenomenon so significant that it was not judged by the TV special, and for those who were not there at the time, SW fans were getting their first bits of news about the early production of what was then called "Star Wars 2". That was what moviegoers were focusing on, not the TV special.
An often overlooked, important historical note about The Holiday Special's quick fade after its November 17th broadcast, was the news media of the world was getting rapidly updated reports from Guyana regarding the assassination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan and the subsequent, related mass murders at Jonestown & Georgetown. That dominated all news, and general conversation, even among children, who were not shielded from the coverage, which quickly became one of the stories of the century. With innumerable people getting a daily fill of the gruesome event in Guyana, no TV series aired that week was taking some higher priority in the memories or minds of people, especially in America, the home of the majority of the victims.
Even if the horrors of Jones' final act had not occurred, the SWHS was not viewed as some major failing of Lucas, the separate, burgeoning film series or the concept overall, unlike the troubles of the present day Disney-controlled franchise.
Quite true. Star Wars as art holding cultural importance ended in the 1980s. The Disney-era of SW is a hollow shell of that.
Last edited:
And the Prequels also a hollow shell of OT glory too. Problems with Star Wars preceded Disney..
There have been uploads of it on YouTube going back to 2006. Though I've never gotten around to watching it, beside the Boba Fett cartoon, which is officially available on Disney+ and as an easter egg on the Blu-ray set of the OT and PT.
The PT was an artistic debacle, yes, but one thing it and the Clone Wars series never did was poison the well for post-RotJ storytelling. Disney managed to do that in their very first movie, and the franchise still hasn't recovered...
Thank you for this valuable context. As a San Franciscan, I of course know about Jonestown, but had no idea it happened the day after the Holiday Special aired.
Honestly, I don't see much post ROTJ stories anyway. The novels didn't draw me in, the sequels are ok. Not as bad as the PT but ok. But, post ROTJ was always underwhelming for me.
So, I guess when people say "Disney poisoned the well" I'm like, "I was there long before this."
The ST didn't do that either. The post-ROTJ era is still viable as demonstrated by Mandalorian and other things.
Yeah, the three Sequels are my least favorite SW films and by a mile but I don't view them as "poisoning the well" for post-OT writing content. If anything I just view them as narratively weak entries that don't go in a direction I'd want and that's that.
How dare you bring rational clear-headed thinking into a conversation about Star Wars!
The check cleared. That's why. 
A great description of many post ROTJ stories for me.