A Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened

by Steve Kozak

Bea Arthur as the owner of the Mos Eisley Cantina. Long scenes entirely of Wookies bleating at each other, without subtitles. Harvey Korman, in drag, as a four-armed Space Julia Child. Six minutes of Jefferson Starship performing for Art Carney and a bored Imperial Guard. Mark Hamill, fresh from his near-fatal motorcycle accident, slathered in pancake makeup. A salacious holographic burlesque from Diahann Carroll. Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact. George Lucas, who completely disowned the production, reportedly has said, “If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.” Just how on earth did this thing ever see the light of day? To answer that question, as Steven Kozak shows in this fascinating and often hilarious inside look into the making of the Special, you have to understand the cultural moment in which it appeared—a long, long time ago when cheesy variety shows were a staple of network television and Star Wars was not yet the billion-dollar multimedia behemoth that it is today. Kozak explains how the Special was one piece of a PR blitz undertaken by Lucas and his colleagues as they sought to protect the emerging franchise from hostile studio executives. He shows how, despite the involvement of some of the most talented people in the business, creative differences between movie and television writers led to a wildly uneven product. He gives entertaining accounts of the problems that plagued production, which included a ruinously expensive cantina set; the acrimonious departure of the director and Lucas himself; and a furious Grace Slick, just out of rehab, demanding to be included in the production. Packed with memorable anecdotes, drawing on extensive new interviews with countless people involved in the production, and told with mingled affection and bewilderment, this never-before-told story gives a fascinating look at a strange moment in pop-culture history that remains an object of fascination even today.

Genres: Star Wars, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Tv

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2023

Reviews

[Alex Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve seen the infamous special you’ll appreciate this fun look at the endless chain of bad decisions that got them there.
The book also does a great job of reminding us what the entertainment landscape was like in 1978. For instance, Lucas wanted to do a TV special because he was worried people might have forgotten that Star Wars was a thing (a big contrast to today’s marketing-saturated cultural landscape where you could no more forget Star Wars than you could McDonalds or Coca-Cola). TV was also still in the hands of an older generation who loved Variety shows and didn’t “get” Star Wars.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Life Day approaches once again (November 17), I thought it would be fun to read this book about the origin point, the Star Wars Holiday Special. I missed the opportunity to see the documentary film by Steve Kozak, which showed at the Dallas International Film Festival a couple years ago on a night that I was out of town. I was glad the same content was made available in a book, but still, I set my expectations low. How could this be more than a somewhat gimmicky look at one of the worst Star Wars productions in history?

I was wrong. In fact, A Disturbance in the Force brilliantly brings together a lot of information that opens a glimpse into the world of 1970s television (especially the variety show trend so popular at that time), the origin of Star Wars as a cultural phenomenon, and George Lucas’s oversight of the brand. I have read a lot—some in my household would say “too much”—about Star Wars, and still this book shared insights and details that I haven’t found elsewhere. In synthesizing so much information, Kozak presents a general history of an era, beyond just a book about Star Wars.

Does Kozak intend this book as an apologetic for the Holiday Special? I had that concern as I opened the book, because as much of a Star Wars fan as I am, I find the Holiday Special genuinely impossible to watch all in one sitting (or maybe at all). Having finished the book, I think Kozak suggests a fair reevaluation of the show. He doesn’t argue that it is much better than any of us remember, but the context he provides skillfully explains how it fit into the culture of the time in ways that distance the whole production from us today. Its disconnection from what we now know as Star Wars would have been less abrupt for the original viewers, because Star Wars had not yet become the enormous mythology that we know today. The oddness we feel at the variety show format would not have been so foreign to the 1978 audience, as a significant portion of prime-time TV programming during the 1970s was allocated to variety shows (though even for viewers at the time, the combination of Star Wars and variety show was unexpected; many people looked forward to a movie-like story, and what they got was . . . well, not that). And of course, we always have to remember that no one making TV shows at that time expected that anyone in the future would have the ability to watch. Content was much more disposable, so it’s sometimes unfair for us now to mock what people did before.

So how did the Holiday Special happen? With exceptional chaos, poor planning, little oversight from Lucas, inadequate budgets—and all for the overarching purpose of keeping Star Wars in people’s minds so they would buy the Kenner action figures for Christmas that year. The details of the filming process are very dispiriting, as are the stories of people Lucas offended and threw under the Imperial Troop Transporter during his career. (Charles Lippincott’s story is especially heartbreaking. He was the original visionary of Star Wars marketing, and then new management humiliated him and wrote him out of the picture, leading to years of bitterness.) As I read, I got the impression that the whole project should have been shut down early in the process. Had that happened, we would now merely wonder “what might have been,” rather than having to acknowledge Chewbacca’s dad watching a seductive songstress on a VR headset.

Along with the story of the Holiday Special, Kozak also relates the background of the Star Wars episode of the Donny and Marie Osmond Show, the Bing Crosby/David Bowie Christmas duet (one of the things that made the crew hopeful that a Star Wars special could be transcendent), and other TV productions of the era. I’m almost sorry that the book drove me to YouTube to watch that Donny and Marie special, but I’m also grateful to know about it. (And really, the fact that the Osmonds scooped Lucas’s revelation that Luke and Leia are brother and sister . . .)

Though I missed the Holiday Special on its original broadcast (I suppose it’s possible it was on in our house—will have to check with my brother to see if he remembers), I first encountered it in the late 1990s, when I sold my action figure collection online. One of the buyers offered a combination of cash and a VHS copy of the special, and I jumped at the chance, having heard it mentioned over the years but never having seen it. The tape arrived, we put it on . . . and I don’t think we’ve been the same since. (As much as I dislike the special, I have to admit that I do display a Life Day Chewbacca action figure on a shelf in my office during November.) I love reading books about the behind-the-scenes happenings of TV and movies, and A Disturbance in the Force was not only a wonderful read, but I could also find myself in it as one of those people who acquired a bootleg copy on VHS before the days of YouTube. For anyone interested in Star Wars history or the weird era of 1970s television, this book is a treat.

[Jesse Keljo · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who hasn't see the Star Wars Holiday Special, I wasn't sure what I would think about a deep dive into this cultural phenomenon. Thankfully, the roller coaster ride through the drug-fueled world of TV specials in the 1970s that had a brutal collision with Star Wars was absolutely entertaining from start to finish.

If you've seen the special, give it a read. If you haven't seen the special, give it a read! You will be entertained, and the audiobook is a solid way to experience it.

[Bob VW · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic story about a huge train wreck. I remember, as an eight year-old, who loved nothing more than Star Wars in 1978, thinking that I was in for a huge treat when the Star Wars Holiday Special was due to be shown on my local WCBS station in New York. I had goosebumps when they played the CBS “Special” jingle, which always signaled that something really cool was about to be shown on our wooden RCA cabinet TV. Cool enough to bump the Hulk from its regular schedule.

It was then announced by the big-voice guy that the Star Wars Holiday Special was brought to us by General Motors, and I thought that was awesome of General Motors, whoever he was, for brining us this new Star Wars production.

And then the opening scene showed… a big treehouse! And a white Wookiee carving an X-Wing Fighter out of wood! And then lots of grunting. Lots and lots of grunting. Is that a freaking Wookiee child?!? Wow. Then scene after scene started to get… well…. weird. Really weird. And there was a general feeling of malaise that set in. What was happening? I felt like my world was imploding. Is that… singing??? Oh crap. This really sucks. My parents would probably never let me stay up late again. Nor would I probably ask to.

About the only scene that really stuck with me for the rest of my life was when stormtroopers went into the Wookiee kid’s room and ripped the head off of his stuffed Bantha. That was pure drama to an eight year old who was totally obsessed with Star Wars toys. Yikes.

But other than that I must have immediately blocked the horrors of a weird old Wookiee grunting and flapping his jaws as he watched a scantily clad woman on a tv set attached to his head or the old lady singing good night to the cantina aliens including one that poured drinks into his head.

So reading the book was educational and cathartic. The story is thoroughly researched and well-written. It has a lot of first-person accounts from the cast and crew of the show — stories I’d never heard. And while I used to give George Lucas a pass because he said he didn’t have anything to do with it… not any longer. The true story of Lucas’ role in bringing this fresh hell to television shocked and saddened me.

How could you, George?!?

I also enjoyed the interviews with super fans about the special. I especially like Gilbert Gottfried’s comment about how shocked he was that there was a show so bad but that he wasn’t in it. Pure gold.

A great, quick read sure to please any big Star Wars fan.

[Justin Soderberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a cultural phenomenon that is impossible to forget. A whimsical attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the Star Wars franchise, it was a moment in the history of television that has been widely regarded as a complete failure. But how did it come to be? Steve Kozak explores this in A Disturbance in the Force: How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened.

As a fan of Star Wars, we have always been intrigued by the history of this franchise. A Disturbance in the Force provides readers with extensive background information on the infamous Holiday Special, including its origins and production. Kozak explains how the Special was a strategy that George Lucas and his colleagues employed to protect the film's brand from hostile studio executives. The book is not only an in-depth look at the making of the Special but also a fascinating cultural artifact.

One of the most interesting aspects of A Disturbance in the Force is the plethora of interviews with people involved in the making of the Special. Kozak conducted extensive research and spoke with a variety of key players, including writers, producers, and actors. The interviews provide an insider's view of the chaos that surrounded the production of this show and its eventual failure.

Kozak's explanation of the creative differences between movie and television writers also sheds light on the uneven quality of the Holiday Special. The book goes into detail about how the writers attempted to incorporate the different elements of the Star Wars universe into their script, which subsequently resulted in a confusing mess. However, despite its shortcomings, the criticism and embarrassment surrounding the Special has not diminished its cult following.

A Disturbance in the Force is a fun read that explores the behind-the-scenes story of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Kozack does a wonderful job explaining backgrounds on both how Star Wars was created, along with the popularity of variety shows and specials. While we loved this part of the book, some readers might find Kozack veers a bit much into the non-Star Wars Holiday Special content. However, this does not take much away from the overall book.

A Disturbance in the Force is for Star Wars fans and pop-culture enthusiasts alike. Kozak's exploration of the making of the Star Wars Holiday Special is a fascinating look into the history of the Star Wars franchise. The book provides context for why the Special was made and why it turned out so disastrously. It is a story of misguided ambition and cultural significance that has changed the way we view the Star Wars Holiday Special forever.

Originally published: http://capestights.com/fk8

[A Cesspool · Rating 4 out of 5]

primary takeaway: a must for any fan; 
　　　　　　　　　　aligned w J.W. Rinzler and Secret History of SW

Charles Lippincott, the godfather of Star Wars publicity & fandom finally gets, properly, commemorated. Some of the best gems gleamed...
Stan Lee was always a starfcker...

🎬　　“According to Charley Lippincott, Stan Lee initially turned down the Star Wars/Marvel project, until he learned that Alec Guinness would be appearing in the film. After further negotiations about the number of issues to be released prior to the film’s release, Marvel—encouraged by editor Roy Thomas—agreed to produce three comic books before the film’s debut. They would be written and drawn by Thomas and Howard Chaykin, respectively. Production began immediately.”

Whether one of Rinzler's aforementioned Making-of monographs, or Secret History of Star Wars, the absolute thread throughout them all: George Lucas is hopelessly shortsighted (when it comes to authoring original content). His initial Star Wars treatment always consisted of
1) Akira Kurowsawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958), and
2) a Wookie (home) planet
Literally, those two facets: a Kurowsawa ripoff that takes place on a planet inhabited by Wookies....

🎬　　George Lucas might have been holding on to his Wookiee storyline for quite a while. In July 1976, as author Alan Dean Foster was working on the novelization of Star Wars, he had a brainstorming session with Lucas and Lippincott that was recorded on audio tape. Years later, Lippincott transcribed the tape....

Lucas suggested this “big old journal” have “a big, fuzzy storybook quality” to temper the “hard-edged steel sort of science fiction.” He imagined the older Wookiee telling the baby, “Well, now, Uncle Chewbacca brought this back from his adventures, just before he died.”
“What do you think of something like that?” Lucas asked Alan Dean Foster, who said he would give it a try.
Foster still vividly recalls the discussion. “I didn’t think it was a good idea. And I tried to…do a little sidestep."

In the long run, they didn’t use that Wookiee storytelling device story element in Foster’s novel, “but that idea remained in [Lucas’s] head, and it seems that it was the seed for the Holiday Special.”

- - - - - - - - -
re: Lucas' handpicked CEO pos to oversee Lucasfilm, Charles Weber, marginalizing Lippincott out of Bay area entirely...

🎬　　One would think that having a moniker like Charles Lippincott’s “The Star Wars Guy” would be flattering at the offices of Lucasfilm, particularly in the summer of 1977, just months into the jaw-dropping run that Star Wars was on at the time. But for Lucasfilm's [first] CEO Charles Weber, Lippincott’s association with Star Wars dated him. “I think the company outgrew him, ” Weber explains of Lippincott’s sudden marginalization. “Lippincott was an outside person. He was never part of the corporate structure."

Referring to (Lippincot) the vice president of advertising, publicity, promotion, and merchandising for the Star Wars Corporation—a man who two years earlier had left working for Alfred Hitchcock to join Lucas’s grassroots efforts—as an “outside person” seems outrageously dismissive. But Weber describes Lippincott's responsibilities as just being those of “a PR guy” whose input was not needed much anymore.

🎬　　Lippincott was also slandered (in Dale Pollock's Skywalking), but he chose not to enter into the libel lawsuit against Lucas, instead holding in his bitter resentment for decades. However, as time went on, he learned through public disclosures that Lucas and Kurtz had given out shares of Star Wars profits to other collaborators such as composer John Williams, sound editor Ben Burtt, and the law firm of Pollock, Rigrod, and Bloom.

Part of me is like: it's none of Lippincott's business how Lucas might want to waste his earnings; But really? ...Lucas shared profit participation [points] with the lawyers, but not with Charley Lippincott?? That is remarkably shitty ... Lippincott literally kickstarted the fandom when NO ONE believed Star Wars would even make its budget back at the box-office. He trifflin'
= = = = = = = = =

Holiday Special - Who Dropped the Ball?: 
　　　　　　　　　　　The Welches (TV Musicians) vs. Miki Herman (Lucasfilm PA)

🎬　　Miki Herman, Lucasfilm liaison: Ken and Mitzie Welch were in over their heads. They didn’t know how to edit. They would look to myself and Ben Burtt—they would go, ‘Help us… what are we doing?’ It was just like a runaway production for Ken and Mitzie. They just didn’t know how to do it. And it’s unfortunate that they were assigned to be the producers on this, because Smith–Hemion had some top-notch producers. [But] Ken and Mitzie were variety-show producers [who] didn’t know anything about science fiction.”

With all that being said, the question seems fairly obvious: why, as Lucas’s direct liaison—and someone who had been present throughout all of the tapings and edit sessions “to keep [things] as authentic as possible”—didn’t Herman voice any of her many disapprovals during the actual production? Why was the Diahann Carroll segment (or others she disapproved of) allowed to be written in the first place, much less recorded, edited into the show, and broadcast?

Herman defends her decision to not interfere with the production: she was just there to observe. Miki Herman: “Well, we couldn’t, you know, tell them what to do. I mean, that was their project, their show. It was, like, out of control.”

However...

Miki Herman says she did go toe-to-toe with the Nelvana producer Michael Hirsch, who was working on the Boba Fett cartoon, and that Hirsch got very upset with her after she looked at the models Nelvana had drawn for each character and insisted Princess Leia should be wearing a belt. “To me, that was really part of her costume,” Herman recalls. “I was there to make sure their costumes were complete.” Hirsch told her it would be tremendously expensive to start over and add the belt, but Herman insisted. “I mean, that was kind of my job—to be there just to make sure everything was complete. And so he went back and they added a belt to her costume."

Herman’s reasoning on when to intercede and when not to is a tad inconsistent. Why she felt the need to admonish Nelvana over a belt but neglected to speak out about such glaring issues as the fantasizing Wookiee is confusing.

It is also confusing, given how upset Lucas allegedly was about the Special, that there were no repercussions for Herman, being as she was his eyes and ears on the show. She was the one who could have “phoned home” to report what she was seeing.

Jonathan Rinzler: It sounds like the approval systems and what needed to be approved, all that just wasn’t ironed out, because Lucasfilm had never done this kind of stuff before.… That Miki Herman kept her job is a testament to the fact that it probably wasn’t such a big deal. Otherwise, if it’s as bad as everybody says, Miki Herman should have lost her job. And she didn’t.

The difference between ownership and responsibility...

🎬　　Kyle Newman: It would have been out of character for Lucas to surrender all creative control to someone else. This wasn’t something that he totally pawned off to someone else and said, ‘Go do whatever you want.’ He actually set the train in motion. And while he may not have had the time and manned resources to fully stay focused on it, it did pervert into something else. There’s a difference between ownership and responsibility, and I would say George is culpable in the fact that he set it all in motion. He’s also probably culpable because he then didn’t police it. He had the opportunity to probably review it and edit it before it came out. But he either felt it was too far gone or he thought it was fine, and that’s something he can only answer.

Bonus:

🎬　　“As soon as Francis Ford Coppola started on The Godfather (1972), Warner Brod exec, Frank Wells called up Paramount and told them about Coppola’s WB debt and that they might as well turn over Coppola’s salary to them. After the tremendous success of the film, Coppola paid back the initial $300,000 but asked Warner to reconsider demanding the additional $300,000 back, noting it was standard procedure for studios to invest in scripts “on spec.” No-nonsense Wells responded that 'a deal's a deal.'

..actually, we now know, curtesy recently released The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story, that Coppola's charlatan agent, Freddie Fields, assured his client he would resolve the debt amicably, not to worry, and immediately went behind Coppola's back, absconding w $300,000 of the Godfather fee, delivering it directly to WB/Frank Wells on a silver plater. Also, Coppola was 100 correct to ask Wells to rescind the debt since the industry standard towards Development Fees is they're never recalled! That's like paid sabbaticals... Coppola could've spent the money anyway he deemed necessary to their agreement/contract (i.e. producing THX1138, and developing other Zoetrope projects for Warners).
Nevertheless Coppola promptly fired his agent, Freddie Fields.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is definitely a fun and fascinating look at watching a mish-mash train getting put together, taking off, and the subsequent train wreck and wreckage afterwards. It gets a little too sentimental and apologetic at the end, but it was really an interesting and fascinating read.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

No I've not bothered watching it – but reading a book about it, while longer, was probably a lot less scarring. Here is the full story behind the show many Star Wars fans and staff seriously regret – the wordless Wookiee talk ("they sound like fat people having orgasms"), the porn references, the karaoke… Here the book kind of sticks to an expected path, not actually pointing out that George Lucas was a mastermind only once, and that of his first four directed films, three are really quite unwatchably dull or stupid, and pointing the blame in other quarters. Here a lot of the impetus of the Holiday Special was a Warners exec asking for the rights to put THX-1138 (yawn) back out while Star Wars queues were still mahoosive. When he said SW would be gone by a certain point, and when people raved over a dodgy dance piece on a show from The Osmonds empire, it was all guns blazing to keep the burgeoning franchise on the screens – and so it proved twelve months later, when the action figures were actually ready at last and needed selling. In the grey period between ANH and TESB, anything went – and I mean anything.

So the blame, it turns out, can be pointed in many directions. The fillup being on variety shows had given the box office, when Lucas and his graduate cohort were still very sniffy about the small screen. The delay in getting the toys to the stores and them needing a strong advert. And, allegedly new to these pages, the finger Lucas wanted to give to the rival. But that's just the blame for it existing – the blame for it being so execrable is a second side to things. Lucas must – MUST – have top billing here for refusing dubbing and subtitling for the Wookiees, and having actors sweat buckets to end up dubbed by specific bears. The advertisers could take the credit for demanding extra minutes for their ads to pepper the show – it was initially filling an hour slot, which got doubled after Lucas had 'done a DaCosta' and gubbered off to start making something else.

The thing with this book is you have to put about the same level of judgement to it as you do with Lucas. It says a director is something – noted, esteemed, or whatever – and a quick check proves he's done nothing. The author says Bowie vs Crosby is "one of the greatest holiday moments ever recorded", when it's dire on a stick. But the flip of all that is the insight into this saga – and many are the fan turning to this unaware that in one iteration of this long ago, far away world, Han Solo had a Wookiee wife. There is a lot of detail here that shows how far off-canon such ideas now seem, and only furthers the thought that Lucas didn't really have nearly the handle on all this stuff that he needed.

This is, all in all, an equally friendly and nerdish book. It comes down on the charitable appreciation of failure, difference, and efforts to produce something fresh, while being able to scour the blue drafts with aplomb. It does nudge towards hagiography, but it certainly doesn't assassinate anybody or even the Special itself. Being a fan of the niche way into worlds and the edges of the canon I saw this as a great success. But it certainly makes me perfectly OK with the idea of never seeing the subject of all this. A strong four stars.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't recall if I watched the Star Wars Holiday Special back on its one airing in 1978 or not. Odds are I probably tuned in because, like most of my generation, I was really into Star Wars at the time. Whether or not I stayed for the full two hours is debatable, especially given the descriptions I've seen of the special since that time.

If you're like me, you may have wondered just how the infamous special made it to the airwaves to begin with.

And while you still can't officially watch the special, you can read about the factors that went into creating the special.

Steve Kozak's A Disturbance in the Force chronicles the early days of Star Wars when George Lucas was worried the three-year gap between the first and second installments might lead audiences to forget about his movie. With the toy line gearing up for the holiday season in 1978, producing and airing a variety show centered on a "galaxy far, far away" for the 1978 November sweeps seemed like a bit of a no-brainer.

And while various parties associated with the special have long since disavowed their involvement, Kozak talks to as many people who were involved as possible and tries to get some answers to the burning questions many of us have had.

One interesting perspective from Kozaks and many of the contributors to this volume is that if LucasFilm and/or Disney would release an official version of the special, fandom might not judge as harshly as it has been judged. Give the people a chance to see it and possibly understand it, instead of denying it exists and you take away a lot of the stigma.

Another thing that strikes me is the contributions of Charles Lippencott to what many of us think of as Star Wars. Lippencott aggressively marketed the original movie -- creating a buzz at sci-fi cons and via publishing -- and helped make it the massive hit it became. And the contributions of Lippencott also highlight another factor in the world of Star Wars -- the ego of George Lucas. Whether it's Lucas wanting to get back at Warner Brothers for editing his original film THX-1138 or Lucas's seemingly taking credit for the hard work of others in creating and sustaining the franchise, time and again, Lucas appears to be one of the biggest villains at LucasFilm.

All of these things add up to give us two hours of television that Lucas would love to forget and that many would love to have sitting on their shelf of media related to a galaxy far, far away.

Reading this made me almost want to find a good version of YouTube and try watching it. Maybe I will.

I do know the book is a tie-in to a recently released documentary of the same name and now I am intrigued to see it.

[Con · Rating 4 out of 5]

you thought the star wars readings were over?!?!
i watched the holiday special on christmas eve, as when i saw this book at my library earlier this year i knew i had to watch it before diving in. it was bad! but i really liked reading about why it was so bad! the book can get deep into tangental context, but i didn't really mind because those tangents were interesting to me. i could see random facts about 70s tv show culture wouldn't appeal to people who are just reading for star wars stuff though. also, a lot of stuff was continuously repeated throughout multiple chapters, it made me wonder if this was only meant to be half-read?? one of the weirdest omissions though is refusing to acknowledge harvey korman's blackface??? even when including a picture of it?? its especially weird because mark's awful makeup is addressed, and it could've been a similar reason as to why harvey looked like that, because the muas were more used to stage makeup that comes up weirdly on film. like he looks more caked in bronzer than anything super malicious, but to leave it out entirely is so???
anyways, i did enjoy it, and i really appreciated the spotlight on lippincott at the beginning because he was a real blind spot in my star wars knowledge. the beginning was probably my favorite part, because it gave a lot of context to bts stuff about the first movie that stuff people like rinzler, for example, left out (as kozak himself acknowledges.. its good to read star wars stuff not affiliated with lucasfilm, unlike those "making of" books, but kozak is super intertwined with people behind the special so i guess it's a similar situation anyways. still grateful for lippincott's spotlight in particular though!) so, for that alone, i'd probably classify this as a must-read for any star wars heads out there. the name is kinda troll af too LOL

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I love Star Wars, I am not one of those fans who has previously sat and watched the Holiday Special from start to finish. I did, however, know that the animated sequence was the first glimpse of a then-unknown Boba Felt, that Chewbacca's son was named Lumpy, and that it's fun to wish someone a happy Life Day on November 17th. Information I did NOT know that I learned from this book: Patty Maloney, the little person who played Lumpy, was at one time romantically linked to Bob Denver, aka Gilligan of the eponymous isle; Chewbacca's father, Itchy, watches VR porn in the Chewbacca family living room; and that Grace Slick was prevented from appearing with the rest of Jefferson Starship because she was on too many drugs (a situation which actually worked out in her favor). I frequently put the book down to YouTube clips like Gourmaanda's four-armed cooking show, Bea Arthur's cantina song, the Abderrahman family acrobats, as well as Richard Pryor's variety show cantina scene and something with dancing stormtroopers on the Osmonds. As much of a train wreck as the special seems to be, Kozak's book does an excellent job of putting it into perspective. Even though Hollywood doesn't work this way, artists shouldn't be punished for trying something different, even if it turns into glorious cash-grab, drug-fueled dumpster fire. Happy belated Life Day everyone!

[Amber Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d thought I would.

This is a long litany of bad decisions. The tone of Star Wars doomed it to failure to work in the variety show format in my opinion. But variety shows were the rage back then.
The cheap videotape used, the weird variety show choices, the director that hemorrhaged precious time and money, the inappropriate fantasy segment, the overdone makeup job on Hamill’s face….wow.
Thing is, the Boba Fett cartoon was liked. A short made for tv movie in a more dramatic vein like today’s Mandalorian might have fit the general feel and direction of Star Wars better. A lot happens between the films and showing how background characters interacted with the main actors with or without Life Day/a holiday going on would have been cool.
I lost patience at many times with how many bad decisions went unchecked. Late in the book, the author notes there was no overall artistic director and early in the book he noted Lucas wandered off. The Special plainly needed a better premise and stronger hand at the wheel.
I’ve seen it. It’s really corny, peculiar and confusing. Even as a kid it confused me and it really could’ve been more.

[Jakub Brudny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dużo informacji, niekoniecznie powiązanych z tematem, ale intrygujących dla tak zawziętego fana Star Wars jak ja. Temat Star Wars Holiday Special zawsze mnie fascynował - mam wrażenie że ten klimat „lost media”, tajemniczy, pełen legendarnych niedopowiedzeń, wrażenie że to coś skrytego, nieco brudnego, wszystko to, jest dla mnie kwintesencją Expanded Universe, legend, starego kanonu Star Wars. Jest dokładnie tym co sprawia że co roku sięgam po kilka książek z EU, najlepiej z tej dziwnej ery Imperium i postimperalnej.

No ale wracając do samej książki, poza klimatem i wprowadzeniem w temat oferuje sporo ciekawostek idealnych dla nerdów i geeków (piszę to z miłością), na początku znajdziemy dość dokładne opisanie „variety tv”, czyli takich gównoserialików na żywo, w czasie których działy się bardzo rozne i dziwne rzeczy xd Potem przechodzimy przez kulturę telewizyjną od strony producenckiej, od strony studia, a także odbiorców, potem sam proces kręcenia ze wszystkimi zmianami i całym tym chaosem, ważnym wątkiem staje sie animacja o Bobie Fett’cie, a na końcu próby zdmuchnięcia Holiday Specialu z powierzchni ziemi. Świetna książka, cieszę się że na nią trafiłem

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully fun book about the Star Wars Holiday Special. It has countless gems within its pages. Even if you think you know all there is to know about Star Wars—I think I come close—you will find many surprises. Whether you’re a die hard fan of Star Wars, a casual fan, interested in 70s television, or simply enjoy learning behind the scenes facts, “A Disturbance in the Force” is for you. Be sure to check out the movie documentary too. It is every bit its equal.

[Will Plunkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative book, not truly objective in its perspective. While I was alive and a SW fan when the Special first (only?) aired, I only saw it via a bootleg copy decades later. I didn't hate it, but I do recall a very laugh-full time with friends seeing it (and a couple cringe-worthy parts, of course). Even saw the Hollywood play titled Special, which was pretty good for a humorous stage production of something that was basically a non-humorous stage production.

[Eric Sullenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know that this redeems the Holiday Special, but it certainly frames it well as a product of its time - that of the TV Variety Shows & Merchandise Driven Productions. Here's hoping that I get to see the documentary these interviews were done for soon.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are familiar with the Star Wars Holiday Special, love it or hate it, this is the book for you. Everything you wanted to know, didn’t want to know and didn’t know you wanted to know is included. Only 4 stars because some information is repetitive.

[Anna Catherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had interesting information but felt very long, drawn out and ofttimes boring. It made me more excited, oddly enough, to watch the documentary - it seems a story that could be quite a bit more compelling when distilled to its essentials and accompanied by visuals.

[Lynette Bouchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting look behind the curtain of how things get made in Hollywood (or did, in the 70s). And as a Star Wars fan, this was super fun!

[Ben Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the facts and background you could ever want, as well as the special's legacy and crew. Its still rubbish, mind.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.
Absolutely fascinating and interesting.
"Failure is the greatest teacher."

[Michael DeRose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kinda want to see how bad this is now.

[Shawn Robare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is downright fascinating and it really uncovers almost every possible story about the Holiday Special anyone could possibly have. It also does the mystical trick of making me think about the OG trilogy in a whole new light, which 40 odd years later is a real feat. Some of the insights about how this thing came to be really illustrate what Lucas was like and it explains so many of his weird decisions over the years...