The in-depth report from Vanity Fair about the legendary but reputation-staining “Star Wars Holiday Special” is the best thing we’ve read all week — the idea of a variety show that features Wookies as protagonists and a singing Bea Arthur in the Star Wars cantina has our ironic-nerd nerves tingling.
Too bad George Lucas has famously declared that he would personally “smash” every bootlegged copy of the special, which aired the Friday before Thanksgiving in 1978 and has never been officially aired or released again. According to the VF exclusive, fans see this as the one true embarrassment of the franchise, and everyone involved seems to see it as a black hole of kitsch that should be forgotten.
But we think some smart exec needs to convince Lucas to release the film — it already exists, so why not just take its sell-out nature to the level it deserves, while pleasing curious superfans and the rest of us casual Star Wars viewers? It could become a staple of the retro classic holiday party, and could even make for great Liz Lemon fodder in a future episode of 30 Rock.
{democracy:20}
[update: watch a clip here]