If you’re a “Star Wars” fan then you know of the original infamous “Star Wars Holiday Special.” 

Someone back in the late seventies thought it was a good idea to mix “Star Wars” with a variety show format.  And it aired only one time on CBS on Friday, November 17, 1978 to horrible reviews.  Even worse, it preempted “Wonder Woman” and the “Incredible Hulk.”  Noooooooooo!  (That’s what Vader said.)

There were cameos by most of the original films stars such as Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher (famously singing the “Star Wars” song).  Also starring along our heroes were Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Diahann Carroll, Harvey Corman, and Jefferson Starship! 

It was bad.  Very bad.  Even I haven’t been able to sit through the whole thing without fast-forwarding through it.  But it is like a lost “Star Wars” movie so you have to add it to the collection, right?  Wrong!  It’s never been officially released because everyone involved, including George Lucas, wanted to pretend it never existed.  But thank God for the VHS tape back then.  Many people recorded it and it has been making the bootleg round for years, including YouTube.

I would be negligent if I didn’t at least mention that the best part of the special (yes, there was a ‘best part’) was a cartoon introducing us to the world’s most famous bounty hunter, Boba Fett.  The next time we would see him (in live-action form) was in “The Empire Strikes Back.”

So what was this Holiday Special about?  Something about Life Day and the Wookiees and Han’s attempt to get Chewbacca home to his family to celebrate it with the Empire in pursuit.  It doesn’t really matter.

But this isn’t about the old “Star Wars Holiday Special.”  This is about the NEW “Star Wars Holiday Special.”

Funny or Die has created “The Hypothetical Star Wars Holiday Special,” strangely mocking the old Holiday Special that doesn’t really need mocking (since it is a mock in itself).  And it’s based strictly on what people hypothesized about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” before it was released last week.

I think they captured the essence of what the old Holiday Special represented.  So I present that to you now, along with the first part of the original “Star Wars Holiday Special” below it.  To view the other seven parts, click to pittrek81’s YouTube Channel HERE!

As an added bonus, I’ve included a clip from the time that Conan O’Brien confronted Harrison Ford about the Holiday Special.  Needless to say, he was less than thrilled.