Everything that's good in The Star Wars Holiday Special

We could go on mocking The Star Wars Holiday Special for a very long time. It is the most bizarrely misconceived product ever to bear the name of the franchise. But is it all bad? Today, Episode Nothing combs the special for good points.

The Star Wars Holiday Special: The 10 Most Excruciating Moments – Part 2

The cast are reunited at the end of
The Star Wars Holiday Special

We’ve had holographic acrobats, a spoof of cookery shows and Luke Skywalker sporting Joanna Lumley’s hair and make-up from The New Avengers. Surely The Star Wars Holiday Special couldn’t get any more bizarre … could it?

The Star Wars Holiday Special: The 10 Most Excruciating Moments – Part 1

An ad for The Star Wars Holiday Special

It’s time we talked about something painful. Today, Episode Nothing begins to look at the single most bizarre moment in the history of Star Wars – the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special.

The cast of Star Wars on TV: the Donny & Marie show, 1977

The bizarre finale of the Donny & Marie Star Wars skit

The Star Wars Holiday Special was not the first time the blockbuster of the century crossed paths with television’s light entertainment industry. Today, Episode Nothing goes back to September 23, 1977, when characters from Star Wars appeared on Donny & Marie.

The story of a boy, a girl and a universe: the original Star Wars teaser trailer from 1976

The 1976 teaser trailer for Star Wars, before the final logo was produced

Almost forty years after cinema audiences saw the first trailer for Star Wars, Episode Nothing considers what people would have made of this strange new movie.

Who was the storm-trooper who bumped his head in Star Wars?

A stormtrooper bumps is head in Star Wars' most famous blooper

At least two actors thought they might have been the stormtrooper who bumps his head in Star Wars' most famous blooper. Episode Nothing considers each one’s case – and reflects on what the interest in this gaffe tells us about the film.

Why the Rogue One re-shoots? Star Wars always was a war movie.

The X-wings attack, World War II-style, in Star Wars

It has been reported that Disney executives, who ordered re-shoots on the forthcoming Rogue One: a Star Wars Story, didn’t like the rough cut of the film because it "had the feel of a war movie”. 

Episode Nothing looks at how odd that quote is, in view of the fact that war movies are a major influence on the original film.