How STAR WARS Got Lost in The Holiday Special Variety Experiment with a Julia Child Parody and Jefferson Starship
Watching the Star Wars Holiday Special for the first time felt like a fever dream. A cooking parody inspired by Julia Child. A sultry musical number performed inside a Wookiee living room. A rock band appearing as a hologram in space.
None of it feels like it belongs in Star Wars, and that’s exactly why the special has lived on as one of the strangest pieces of pop culture ever broadcast.
According to director Steve Binder, the chaos was the result of trying to mash Star Wars into a very specific kind of television that dominated the 1970s.
Star Wars Through a Variety TV Lens
Binder came from the world of celebrity-driven TV specials. That background shaped everything about the Star Wars Holiday Special. At the time, variety shows were built around comedy bits, musical performances, and big-name guest appearances. Story always came second.
Binder explains that the biggest mistake was assuming fans would automatically accept that format just because Star Wars characters were involved.
“I think the public wasn't prepared in the television advertising etcetera for what this was. This was not going to be Star Wars 2.”
Instead of a cinematic experience, audiences were handed something closer to a holiday variety revue, complete with sketches that followed television logic, not movie logic.
Harvey Korman and the Cooking Parody
One of the most infamous segments features Harvey Korman performing a broad cooking parody clearly inspired by Julia Child. In any other 1970s variety special, the bit wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow. Dropped into Star Wars, it felt completely alien.
Binder acknowledged how jarring that mix was for fans expecting something closer to the film.
“With expectations so high and here you had Harvey Korman doing a cooking parody of Julia Child in a scene.”
The segment wasn’t designed to expand the Star Wars universe. It was designed to get laughs in a familiar TV format. That disconnect is why it still gets singled out as a symbol of how far the special drifted from its source material.
Diahann Carroll’s Musical Detour
Then there’s the musical number performed by Diahann Carroll, appearing as a hologram for Chewbacca’s father. The scene leans into sensual performance and old-school television staging, which clashed hard with the tone fans associated with Star Wars.
Binder didn’t frame this as a creative misfire so much as a clash of worlds.
“You had Diahann Carroll singing a sexy song in it.”
In the context of variety TV, the segment made sense. Big musical moments were expected. In the context of Star Wars, it felt uncomfortable and confusing, especially for a family audience tuning in during the holidays.
Jefferson Starship in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
The appearance of Jefferson Starship performing as a hologram is anohter surreal moment. A real-world rock band showing up in Star Wars shattered any remaining illusion of immersion.
Binder lists it alongside the other moments that pushed fans away.
“You had Jefferson Starship trying to do a hologram sequence and so forth.”
Again, the intent wasn’t to mock Star Wars. It was to deliver what television executives believed audiences wanted from a holiday special. Music. Familiar faces. Big spectacle. The problem was that Star Wars fans wanted Star Wars storytelling.
When Two Worlds Collided
Looking back, the Star Wars Holiday Special feels less like a bad idea and more like two incompatible formats crashing into each other. Variety television thrived on sketches and performances that stopped the show cold. Star Wars thrived on momentum, world-building, and mythic storytelling.
Binder is clear that the concept itself wasn’t malicious. It was misunderstood.
“This was a variety special focused on selling toys.”
That goal explains why so many strange elements ended up on screen. The special wasn’t trying to deepen the saga. It was trying to entertain a broad TV audience using tools that no longer fit the franchise.
“This is what happens when 1970s variety TV crashes into Star Wars.”
The result is a piece of television that still baffles, amuses, and horrifies viewers decades later. Not because everyone involved lost their minds, but because Star Wars was forced to play by rules it was never meant to follow.
Source: /Film