The Star Wars Holiday Special that Luke Skywalker Hates ft. Adam Pally and Betsy Sodaro | 15

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 25 December 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Back in 1978, George Lucas and CBS created a Star Wars holiday special so staggeringly bad, Lucas has publicly stated he wants it destroyed. The variety show featured Carrie Fisher singing, Wookiee porn, and many, many things that should never be associated with Star Wars. Budget restrictions, Harrison Ford's refusal to sing or dance, and some seriously questionable choices made for a production so chaotic, it's a miracle this thing ever made it to air.

Comedians and Star Wars aficionados Adam Pally (The Mindy Project, Happy Endings) and Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts, Superstore) join Misha to navigate the spacey misadventure of the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Follow The Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the Big Flop early and ad-free.
0:05.3	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:20.0	A group of exhausted actors are sweating their makeup off under hot stage lights in a CBS studio in 1978.
0:28.8	The poor souls are wearing elaborate alien costumes with gigantic, bulbous heads, long green snouts, and warm, stuffy robes.
0:37.9	One is more or less a werewolf.
0:40.6	They're portraying never-before-seen aliens from Star Wars.
0:45.5	Maybe you've heard of it?
0:47.0	These bedraggled aliens have gathered on the iconic set of Moss Isley Cantina,
0:53.2	the seedy bar on Tatooine where Han Solo may or may not have shot first.
0:59.6	But Han Solo, aka Harrison Ford, is not here. Neither is Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker nor
1:06.4	Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. Instead, we see B. Arthur, the star of Maude, a sitcom about a middle-aged
1:14.2	feminist D.4say and future star of the Golden Girls. Not exactly Star Wars adjacent.
1:21.7	B. Arthur glides across the set, singing a dismal song about closing her precious canteena.
1:28.7	It makes no sense in the context of Star Wars, but then again, nothing in CBS's disastrous
1:35.6	Star Wars holiday special does.
1:40.0	Just then, an actor in a stuffy alien suit passes out under the oppressive lights.
1:46.7	They're removed, and the remaining aliens squeeze in closer.
1:50.8	Then another collapses.
1:52.5	And another.
1:54.5	So many characters pass out that B hardly has any aliens left to serenade.
2:01.4	Now she must share the screen with one that looks suspiciously like a vagina.
2:08.6	This is the story of the Star Wars Holiday Special,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.