Wishing You A Joyous Life Day

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special, the timeless classic in which Han and Luke help Chewie return home to celebrate "Life Day" with his family on his home planet. The special starred all the original Star Wars actors, plus Diahann Carroll, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, Jefferson Starship, and she who had yet to become everyone's favorite Golden Girl, Bea Arthur. The special is best remembered for introducing the character of Boba Fett in an animated sequence, and worst remembered for generally sucking in every possible way.

I was only eight months old when the special aired, so I can't speak for what the hooplah around its original airing might have been. The special has taken on an unintended life as an object of fascination in part because it seems to be the only Star Wars artifact that George Lucas will not exploit to enlarge his coffers. So the question that plagues me is this: was the special originally created as a cash-grab to milk the then-new Star Wars phenomenon, or was this actually an attempt at artistic expression by Lucas (in which case, none of us have anyone to blame for our surprise at the suckitude of the prequels except for ourselves). In other words, does this qualify as Camp, or was it only ever intended to be kitsch?


And then there's Maude...



What could possibly hold up in competition against this... whatever it is? Clearly, I needed to go back to the well of Christmas Specials, and to level the playing field, I thought it would help to focus on pop culture obsessions of the late 1970s. And next to Star Wars, what was the biggest pop culture obsession of the late 1970s? Annie. And luckily, the original Broadway cast of Annie also produced a Christmas special. I've seen less of this one than the Star Wars special, but there's a clip on YouTube featuring the late Dorothy Loudon, the Tony-winning actress who created the role of Miss Hannigan, trying to coax the orchestra into playing at the Christmas party.


Friends of Dorothy?



So here's the thing: I'm pretty sure the Annie Christmas Special was definitely a cash grab, or at best a sort of infomercial for the show. But for my money, I'd say this clip is far classier and more entertaining than anything in the entire Star Wars special. To be fair, I am pitting what is likely the best moment of the Annie show from what is among the worst moments (of a show full of worse and worse moments). But, it's my blog so there you go. Want to argue? Click on the comment button. And whatever you think, cast your vote!



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