50 most shocking moments in Star Wars history

45. The Star Wars Holiday Special

The Star Wars Holiday Special isn’t something that adds a ton to the Star Wars universe. Christmas/holiday specials have been prominent in television but were a bit more popular back when Star Wars first hit it big with A New Hope.

The Star Wars Holiday Special released on November 17, 1978, and it’s surprising that they were able to get the cast from the movie to go along with something like this. It was not received well by fans or critics.

What the special did give fans, though, was an introduction to Boba Fett. Most people know the bounty hunter from his roles in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but his first appearance was indeed in the Star Wars Holiday Special.

While this may have seemed like a good idea at the time, you can tell that, because of how bad it was, people preferred to forget about it. It was never released on home video or rebroadcast after the initial airing. Although, you can watch the full thing on the internet if you look hard enough on YouTube. You’d be doing so at your own risk though. I haven’t even bothered watching it because I’ve heard how bad it is. (I have seen some clips, though, and that was more than enough for me.)