Mark Hamill and James Gunn joke about Star Wars’ disastrous holiday special. The original Star Wars was of course a world-changing blockbuster when it came out in 1977. So it probably seemed like a good idea when the next year George Lucas went ahead with a holiday-themed Star Wars TV special featuring the stars of the original movie along with various popular entertainers of the time.
Infamously the seeming slam-dunk Star Wars Holiday Special turned out to be an ill-conceived disaster that Lucas later tried to erase from the face of the earth. Unfortunately for Lucas, bootleggers circulated copies of the special on VHS, keeping it alive for future Star Wars fans to marvel at. When the internet came along, it only became easier for people to get their hands on the special, adding to its legend.
Though the Star Wars Holiday Special probably should have killed the idea of Christmas-themed shows tied in with popular sci-fi movie franchises forever, Guardians of the Galaxy is now getting one of its own. Recently, Guardians director Gunn revealed on Twitter that he’s finished writing the script for the special, which prompted a quick and hilarious response from Hamill, who of course has plenty of memories of starring in the Star Wars Holiday Special. See Hamill and Gunn's exchange in the space below:
Hamill’s role in the Star Wars Holiday Special is of course particularly infamous as it was shot shortly after his near-fatal car accident when he was still healing from extensive cosmetic surgery. It’s good to know that all these years later Hamill can have a laugh over the special and its many misbegotten segments. Indeed, the only part of the holiday special that has enduring value to fans is the debut appearance of Boba Fett, in animated form, riding a dinosaur. Fewer Star Wars fans have lasting fondness for Harvey Korman’s bizarre cooking bit, the strange holographic musical performances by random ‘70s acts or the hilariously awful “Life Day” song sung by Carrie Fisher.
Being a huge fan of all things sci-fi, Gunn certainly has seen the special himself and knows exactly what can go wrong with such an endeavor. Hopefully, he’s taken a lot of lessons from everything that was done wrong in the Star Wars Holiday Special and will make sure his Guardians of the Galaxy presentation is up to snuff. Of course, given the snarky humor that Guardians is known for, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the special directly nod at its Star Wars-themed predecessor. Indeed, a cameo from Hamill would not be a surprise at all either. Fans however should probably not hold out hope for Lucas dropping in to make fun of his infamous holiday special folly, as he doesn’t seem to have much sense of humor about that particular debacle. Then again, maybe it’s been long enough now that Lucas is willing to hop on board Gunn’s show and poke a little fun at the second-worst decision he ever made regarding the Star Wars universe (the worst of course being Jar Jar Binks).
Source: Mark Hamill/Twitter, James Gunn/Twitter