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Star Wars Holiday Special Released on DVD

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the bringing-back-an-old-friend dept.

Crow T. Trollbot writes "LucasFilm has finally released the long-delayed and never-awaited Star Wars Holiday Special (aka A Very Wookiee Christmas) on a special "Platinum Edition" DVD. Long maligned as the worst project ever associated with the Star Wars universe, the LucasFilm DVD includes all the original special (complete with Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, and The Jefferson Starship), plus a short documentary, The Highway to Life Day: My Search for the Star Wars Holiday Special. The reviewer isn't impressed. "If you want to hang onto any fond childhood memories George Lucas hasn't already managed to destroy, avoid The Star Wars Holiday Special like the Crimson Plague.""

78 comments

  1. please please please by krudler · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    can I get an april 1st 1st post? star trek pwns!

    1. Re:please please please by charleste · · Score: 1

      Although this is *probably* an April 1st post: I *did* see this special as a little kid - I was 10 years old. To me, the cool part was that we finally got to see another Wookie.

  2. first post!!!!! by wildchild978 · · Score: 1

    YEAH BABY YEAH!!! don't use caps... it's like Yelling

  3. Is it just me by jam244 · · Score: 1

    Is it just me or is this the world /. April Fool's Day EVER?

    1. Re:Is it just me by Wandering+Wombat · · Score: 2, Funny

      It might be you, if that sentence made any sense......

      --
      I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
  4. Third post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yay

    1. Re:Third post! by wildchild978 · · Score: 1

      dude! can't you count? 1...2...3...4...5! Fifth post. Mmmkay?

    2. Re:Third post! by BTWR · · Score: 1
      I think that instead of trying to subtlely plant a fake April Fool's joke somewhere on the main page, the guys at Slashdot decided to be real toungue-in-cheek and post nothing (or almost nothing) but ridiculously fake/campy stories (SW Christmas Special! Yahoo+Google=YaGoohoo!gle, etc.)

      Personally, I don't think there was a possibility of falling for anything today, so I think this idea was the next best idea. Much better than unsucessfully posting one fake story and instantly having the first post prove it as a joke.

    3. Re:Third post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, it was April 1st joke...ehm... slashdot style.

    4. Re:Third post! by Karma+Farmer · · Score: 1

      What, exactly, would a subtle Slashdot April Fools joke look like? Perhaps they'd mispell a word or two? Maybe the writeups wouldn't match the article? The writeup would be a blatant troll? They'd post the same story three times in the same day?

      Seriously, what could they do to be "subtle"?

  5. Sob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sniffle. That's enough.

    I'm too depressed even to try for a "first post".

    Sob.

  6. April Fools Jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    /unsubscribe

  7. this hasn't been funny for twenty years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why do they keep making this joke?

  8. Seriously by Homicide · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Give up with these tired old stories.
    Yes it's april fools, we get the bloody picture. *enough*

    1. Re:Seriously by falxx · · Score: 1

      The problem tho', is that this isn't one.

      It's just a -very- bad memory, to some.

      At one point, Lucas himself was actually trying to buy up all masters, just to stop it from broadcasting ever again. He failed [;

      --
      falxx
  9. really hilarious by jagsy · · Score: 2, Informative

    I seem to remember 10 full minutes of nothing but Wookies talking, and a rock concert by jefferson starship inside a computer.

    1. Re:really hilarious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back in 1978(?) I was turned off by the wookies, and so agreed to go ice-skating with this *gUrl*, and then while she was getting ready to go I sm0kked a little fr0p and by the time the Starship came on I was convinced I was walking out on the best thing that had ever been on teevee.

      But I've never been able to reality-test...

    2. Re:really hilarious by cmburns69 · · Score: 1
      And who could forget a tone-deaf Princess Leia signing the fabulous Life Day song:
      LEIA
      (singing)
      We celebrate a day of peace. A day of
      harmony. A day of joy we can all share
      together joyously. A day that takes us
      through the darkness. A day that leads us
      into might. A day that makes us want to
      celebrate the light. A day that brings the
      promise that one day, we'll be free to
      live, to laugh, to dream, to grow, to
      trust, to love, to be.


      (Lyrics and complete transcript.)
      --
      Online Starcraft RPG? At
      Dietary fiber is like asynchronous IO-- Non-blocking!
    3. Re:really hilarious by neurojab · · Score: 1

      I seem to remember 10 full minutes of nothing but Wookies talking, and a rock concert by jefferson starship inside a computer.

      No... hilarious is watching someone get hit on the head with a "gong" sound effect.

      The star wars holiday special, on the other hand, is sheer pain - only to be enjoyed by Star Wars fans that have a truly masochistic side.

      Try, just try, to watch "Itchy" (chewie's elderly father) use a holo-imaging-device to get off to Diahann Carroll.

      Then try to watch Mark Hammil with enough make up on to pass for a drag queen, hug a wookie.

      I'm sorry, it's not funny. It's just too horrible to watch. I've seen it, but not all at once. I can only take it in small doses.

  10. Something happened 04/01 by PMJ2kx · · Score: 1

    Slashdot gets slashdotted! Film at 11!

  11. In other news by Man+in+Spandex · · Score: 1

    George Lucas is being praised by hardcore Star Wars fans around the world in the Netherlands begging for his autograph on a picture of Jar Jar Binks :X

    1. Re:In other news by Wandering+Wombat · · Score: 1

      How can he be priased by hardcore fans around the world only in the Netherlands? Thats like saying I have girlfriends around the world, a few blocks away.

      --
      I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
  12. Ebay by thesupermikey · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just bought a bootleg on ebay...like 3 days ago. I wonder if i can get out if it.

    --
    Mikey
    I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
    1. Re:Ebay by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny
      I just bought a bootleg on ebay...like 3 days ago. I wonder if i can get out if it.

      How much did the seller pay you to take it of their hands?

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Ebay by GeorgeMcBay · · Score: 1

      Man, you never have moderator points when you really need 'em.

      Mod parent up +10 Funny.

      Of course, the fact that every single April 1st day joke I've seen on the net this year has been totally stupid & not at all funny might be altering my standards of funny today.

    3. Re:Ebay by thesupermikey · · Score: 1

      Man i paid like 50$. I figure thats a good deal for a beta-max copy.

      --
      Mikey
      I've always been the kinda guy to fall for the girl dressed like an eskimo.
  13. First, bitches! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First bitches!

  14. Damn by code+shady · · Score: 1

    I bet all those Great Slashdot Blackout dorks are sitting in their basements smug as hell right now.

    --
    Look out honey cause I'm usin' technology
    Ain't got time to make no apologies
  15. eh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    loljews

  16. What is the sound of two wookies fucking??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mmmmmgggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!1111

  17. First Post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    April fool day sux

  18. I hate George Lucas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that is all

  19. There is need for ... by Tribbin · · Score: 1

    There is need for more humor at work.

    It increases productivity as you see how much is getting done on april 1st.

    --
    If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
  20. Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Oh please, God, please speed up time to make April 2 arrive faster.

  21. right.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm thinking this is fake.

  22. Help! by valkraider · · Score: 1, Troll

    When will it end...

  23. Wow....new stories every 3 minutes now... by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Even the trolls're having trouble keeping up with the editors today. Looks like every April Fool story submitted is making it through :)

    Appreciate their (the editors') special effort today though...had my bellyfool of laughs through the day.

    Hope the whiny comment posters would STFU though. Lighten up folks.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
    1. Re:Wow....new stories every 3 minutes now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go fuck yourself, shithead.

    2. Re:Wow....new stories every 3 minutes now... by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      After 6 years or so of the same lame crap I think we have a right to whine. If it were clever, I wouldn't complain. If it were funny, I wouldn't complain. If it involved more than two neurons worth of creativity I wouldn't complain. It's just sad really. A good April Fool's joke looks real at first, until you read it. A good April Fool's joke taker you by surprise. And finally, a good April Fool's joke isn't as dumb as a box of hammers.

      Besides, don't tell us not to whine, it's the official pastime of /.

      I'm glad I wasn't aware of this Special when I was 12 because it would been really embarrassing to be expecting something really cool (after all the movie was life-alteringly cool for someone my age) and having my parents wonder what kind of childish crap this Star Wars thing was after seeing Itchy and Scratchy and Poochy and Bea Arthur. Actually, my Dad knew the movie was cool, he went with me.

      I have this morbid fascination with relentlessly bad kitsch, perhaps from a dozen years of watching MST3K, or maybe it's generic in those of us who grew up in the 70's, and I downloaded (yes, MPAA, come and get me) the SWHS or whatever it was called, and I have to say, even though parts of it were so bad I got cancer and died twice, it wasn't all bad.

      As probably noted elsewhere, the Boba Fett cartoon was actually pretty cool, and drawn in a really neat style that is not unlike Genndy Tartakovsky's (however you spell it) work. I was actually impressed at the concept of long scenes acted out with no English dialog (in a suburban American kitchen... it was a cool idea, but not well executed).

      The musical numbers were like some kind of nightmare after eating $20 of food at Taco Bell, and after about the first half you realize it's actually more dull than bad (and it's really bad). But still it's a fascinating example of the fact that despite his brilliance in many respects George Lucas could (and still can) be a total hack.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  24. cute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cute

  25. Enough already by Jumbo+Jimbo · · Score: 0, Troll

    Did someone not get enough April Fools when they were a kid and have to take it out on us?

  26. Stir, whip by ichthus · · Score: 1

    Sure, April fools and all that. Was it really that bad? I think I was 7 or so when it was aired. All I remember is Chewie's mom watching a cooking show. On the show, a four-armed woman was cooking and utilizing all of her four arms to mix, pour, sift, etc. Chewie's mom was getting flustered, because she couldn't keep up. The four-armed chef was saying, "Stir... whip... stir... whip...," and mamma wookie was howling or barking, or whatever it is that pissed-off wookies do.

    --
    sig: sauer
    1. Re:Stir, whip by neurojab · · Score: 1

      Was it really that bad?

      It's all relative I suppose. Was the black plague bad?

    2. Re:Stir, whip by Deosyne · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but it sure beat watching the Star Wars Holiday Special.

      Seriously, its really that bad.

  27. Pleasssssse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Please, please. *Please* make it stop. Next year I'm sleeping through April 1st.

  28. Uh-huh by fpp · · Score: 1

    This coming from the guy who said if he had a hammer and enough time he'd track down every bootlegged copy of the show and smash it...

  29. Filter? by NoodleSlayer · · Score: 0, Troll

    Is there any way to get a filter to remove out all the April Fools Day joke articles on Slashdot?

    It's getting old. Really.

    1. Re:Filter? by op12 · · Score: 1

      Yes, just redirect Slashdot to here.

  30. Now it's getting really annoying ... by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 1

    Jokes stop being funny at some point, where they start being annoying. And This joke was never fun in the same place, since this kind of behavior from the editors is the kind we get everyday in /. (dupes, false historys, etc.), only today they are actually making an effort to do it worse than they do everyday.

    --
    WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
  31. he isn't this really... by TheLevelHeadedOne · · Score: 0

    ...similar to that "Earth at Night" picture showing artificial human lights http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html [nasa.gov]

    oops...guess that was the last article...

    --

    Twin or more? ITA
    Apache/Spring/La
  32. Sweet.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These April Fools posts are so lame that any schmuck can get on and get a FP. This may well be the only reply you'll see to this article.

  33. Please God Make It Stop. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    We've only had about 4 real stories today, and most /.ers are staying away.

    What happened to April Fool's jokes stopping at 12 midday?
    Wouldn't that be a nice tack to take for next year?

    Or how about one story next year that is just for people to put all the April Fools jokes in the comments so we don't have to get a load of stories on the front page about them?

  34. Exclusive! by The-Bus · · Score: 1

    Wow, it looks like scans of the cover have already hit the net.

    *sigh*

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  35. "Enhanced" Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In this "improved" version, Bea Arthur has been digitally replaced by Kid Rock.

    Wonders never cease.

  36. The main problem I have by muertos · · Score: 1

    And it's just like the old debate about if a tree falls in a forest...I have these modpoints, but it's April 1st...

  37. First Post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    April Fools, suckers!

  38. Good grief by Mascot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    All other sites on the net: Be careful so you don't get caught out by the april fool joke.

    Slashdot: No worries. They're all jokes. Go elsewhere for real news.

    This is one tradition I could do without.

  39. Purists beware by varmint+jerky · · Score: 1

    Yes, but I hear that in this edition Diahann Carroll shoots first...

  40. worst project by HermDog · · Score: 1
    Long maligned as the worst project ever associated with the Star Wars universe

    Well, that was before Jar-jar and mitocondria came along.

    --
    JADBP
  41. wait a minute... by SkippyTPE · · Score: 1

    Long maligned as the worst project ever associated with the Star Wars universe

    I thought that was Episode one??

  42. Fool me by Richard+Allen · · Score: 4, Funny

    You can fool me once.
    You can fool me twice.
    You can fool me three times.
    You can fool me four times.
    You can fool me five times.
    You can fool me six times.
    You can fool me seven times.
    You can fool me eight times.
    You can fool me nine times.
    You can fool me ten times.
    You can fool me eleven times.
    You can fool me twelve times.
    You can fool me thirteen times.
    You can fool me fourteen times.
    You can fool me fifteen times.

    But you can't fool me sixteen times!!

    1. Re:Fool me by jon_c · · Score: 1

      You must be nearly a 4 bits!

      --
      this is my sig.
  43. Hollywood won't fool me again! by rjelks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's no way I'm going right out to buy this. Just wait, six months after I purchase it, they'll come out with the Star Wars Holiday Special: Extreme, Director's Cut, Extended Version. I already own like nine versions of the LOTR DVD's.

    --


    Tech News, Reviews and Tutorials
  44. It's my #1 eMule download... by EnronHaliburton2004 · · Score: 1

    Here's the really sick part.

    I have an eMule repository with a bunch of documents, legit software, a few cracks, Mame roms and lost videos like the Star Wars Holiday special. No porn, no warez.

    The Star Wars Holiday special is *easily* my number one upload... 235MB of cheese in two .avi files.

    --
    94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
  45. Bah by saddino · · Score: 1

    Since I already own the way superior LaserDisc edition, why should I care?

    P.S. Does anyone know if there's a tube amp powered MP3 player? I want some way of adding back the "warmth" to my ripped ELO LPs. TIA.

    1. Re:Bah by Student_Tech · · Score: 1

      I don't know about a dedicated tube amp mp3 player, but I remember seeing a motherboard a few weeks ago with tubes in the built-in sound card stuff.
      Found the product page and there is quite a bit on google from pre-April 1st, so I think that one is real.
      So get the motherboard and you could build your own mp3 player, although it probably won't be as portable as you might like.

  46. The real reason why Lucas is not publically... by SageMadHatter · · Score: 1

    ...releasing the SWHS footage... he plans of inserting it into the original triology for the next revision that he will be doing to it.

  47. Come on! by neckdeepinspecialsau · · Score: 1

    You guys could at least put a little effort into this!

  48. Seriously, Please DONT... by Valiss · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...give George Lucas any new ideas. I swear he'll take this and run.

    --

    -Valiss
  49. wasn't it the "Crimson Forever?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember an old comic book annual...

  50. Where to Buy the Star Wars Holiday Special by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FYI, superhappyfun.com has the Star Wars Holiday Special for sale on DVD format.

  51. If only it were true by bubkus_jones · · Score: 1

    I'd buy it.

  52. This is real! Video Here! by Mr_J_Bean · · Score: 1

    Who knew this really existed! Video linked here

  53. but I already have it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I have a copy. What special features will this new one have to make me want it over my currnt DVD version?

  54. Public Service Messages! by bitrex · · Score: 1

    I want the Star Wars public service message collection on DVD!

    C3PO - "R2D2! You're on fire! Why, R2D2 you've found a cigarette. Smoking is terrible for your lungs, and very bad for your heart. I don't think it makes you look grownup at all!"

  55. Episode One by denissmith · · Score: 1

    I saw Episode One, and this can't be worse than that.

    --
    I have nothing to hide. So, why are you spying on me?
  56. You mean it's really not being released on DVD? by camcloud1 · · Score: 0

    Damn!