The Star Wars Holiday Special is legendary. And like most legendary things, it’s hard to praise or criticize. If I say it sucks, you already know that. If I say it’s great, okay, it’s not great.
Ostensibly, it’s supposed to be funny. And in retrospect it kind of is. The jokes all fall so flat it plays as a quasi-canonical Tim & Eric episode. And the cameos — Bea Arthur, Jefferson Starship, etc. — all emphasize a cultural phenomenon spinning completely out of control.
But the Wookies. Oh God, the Wookies.
Placing the emphasis on Wookies is supposed to distance Life Day from Christmas. But in doing so, the writers — who, to be fair, had little contact with George Lucas — create a family of groaning mimes whose comedy is wholly predicated on abuse and suffering.
So, in other words, awesome.
Mike Drucker is a lovely man with many positive characteristics. He has written for Saturday Night Live, The Onion, McSweeney’s, and Nintendo. He’s also a stand-up or something, I guess.