Clickable Advent Calendar, 20: RiffTrax vs. “The Star Wars Holiday Special”
December 20, 2008 at 9:04 pm by Curt Holman in A&EThis year marks the 30th anniversary of “The Star Wars Holiday Special,” which CBS broadcast on Nov. 17, 1978. I saw it for its original broadcast and have seen it since, but it’s the kind of bizarre pop aberration that’s so strange, it’s easier to think of it as some kind of elaborate hoax (you know, like the fake moon landing) than an entertainment that people created on purpose, with sincerity. Recently I described it to my friend Tim, and explained that while it features cameos from most of the major characters and actors from the original Star Wars, it primarily focuses on Chewbacca’s family — his wife Malla, his father Itchy and his son Lumpy — as they prepare to celebrate the Wookie holiday of “Life Day.” Simply naming the special’s “human” guest stars – including Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Jefferson Airplane and Harvey Korman in three roles – had Tim doubled over in laughter.
“The Star Wars Holiday Special” was broadcast only once in the United States and a few other times in Europe, and has never been released on VHS or DVD. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, particularly Ebay and Youtube, it has resurfaced, to the chagrin of everyone involved. I personally can’t watch it without the protective filter from RiffTrax, as demonstrated in this sample:
But what is RiffTrax, you may ask?
RiffTrax is a spin-off project from some of the stars of “Mystery Science Theatre 3000,” the cult classic movie-heckling series that aired from 1988-1999 (including stints on Comedy Central and Sci Fi). “RiffTrax” is the brainchild of Michael J. Nelson, the show’s former head writer and its “human” (non-puppet) host from 1993-1999. Rather than focus on obscure, terrible movies, Rifftrax makes fun of famous movies that MST3K could never afford, via downloadable audio commentaries: the idea is that you buy or rent a copy of, say, 300 (a film that I enjoy, but cries out for mockery), download the Rifftrax commentary and play it on an iPod, cued up so that the film and the commentary are in sync. Nelson frequently comments with former “MST3K” alums Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett.
Obviously “The Star Wars Holiday Special” is not available on Netflix, but if you can track it down, it’s possibly the ideal RiffTrax target for pop-culture pot-shots, as it somehow combines the worst qualities of the Star Wars franchise and cheesy 1970s variety shows. When the announcer says “… and introducing Chewbacca’s family!” Nelson adds, “And many scream-yourself-awake nightmares!” Compared to “MST3K,” the Rifftrax quips may come at a faster clip and prove even darker and more merciless. Frequently they find humor in comparing the outlandish events of their films to the banality of contemporary office life and suburban culture, with occasional richoshets off weird trends. When Harvey Korman appears as a barfly who drinks through a hole in the top of his head, Corbett asks, “Think there’s a chance that Harvey’s head-hole features prominently in any slash-fiction out there?”
As an added treat, the Rifftrax “The Star Wars Holiday Special” also features comments on the original commercials from 1978: of a “Trailtracker” toy, Corbett remarks, “Unless you had a brick of Black Cats, I can’t imagine that toy being the least entertaining.” Rifftrax commentaries are like one of those bricks of Black Cat firecrackers, and are delightful to explode underneath bad movies and even some good ones.
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