Early in A Disturbance in the Force, Biff Bang Pow! founder Jason Lenzi points out that the early part of Star Wars media and fandom was a wild, less thought-out period in which anything could happen — including the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. The documentary charts the development, release, and subsequent reception of that infamous 1978 CBS variety special, but it also creates genuine nostalgia for a time when the galaxy far, far away was, truly, the unknown.
I don’t need to belabor what the Star Wars Holiday Special is — I already covered it several years ago in a Your Weekend Cheesy Movie column — and neither does A Disturbance in the Force. The film, directed by Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak, knows you know the topic well and focuses instead on several key vignettes during its runtime with new interviews and archival footage to explain why, say, the first nine minutes features only Wookie vocalizations or how bewildered Harvey Korman and Beatrice Arthur were when they came in to do their skits. It also honors the tireless crew who made the best of what they had and braved very long days to shoot some truly puzzling television.
The film even gives you someone to blame if you still feel wronged by nature of the Holiday Special. But unlike the more accusatory tone of The People vs. George Lucas, A Disturbance in the Force never rakes the two people most responsible for the special across the coals too much. Like Arthur or writer Bruce Vilanch — one the few credited people involved in the production still alive and willing to talk about it — the documentary casts their contributions in more of a “making due” light. Without giving too much away, they were variety show veterans doing what they knew best while only dimly understanding what Star Wars was in 1978.
Instead of presenting a case against the special’s producers or even Lucasfilm in a punitive light, A Disturbance in the Force recreates the feeling of Star Wars in the late 1970s, before notions of prequels, Darth Vader’s secret identity, the Extended Universe, or Star Wars creator George Lucas‘s supposed great plan entered the public consciousness. At the time, everything was supposition and both Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox positioned Star Wars like any other film sensation at the time — which meant plenty of TV appearances that may run counter to the way the series is perceived now. Well, as long as you disregard the dancing Vaders at Disney World or in bad Microsoft Kinnect games. And in that context, a Star Wars holiday special ceases to be the weirdest idea committed to tape. Especially when one considers that keeping Star Wars fresh in the minds of kids who were begging parents for toys and other merchandise is a key reason why the special happened at all.
Using archival material from other variety shows and specials, the film also highlights just how weird the format was to begin with. Outside of award shows, variety went instinct in the 1980s and to modern eyes, the whole thing looks baffling. As one person points out in the film — echoing a sentiment a old mentor told me in the early 2000s — the aim was to provide something for everyone while not quite entertaining anyone. And when clips of the Holiday Special are presented alongside moments from Donny & Marie, The Brady Bunch Hour, and The Paul Lynde Halloween Special, the Jefferson Starship appearance or the proto-Cirque du Soleil performance make more sense. Well, as much sense as Barry Williams as Greg Brady singing a medley of 1976 chart-toppers does.
And in keeping a more jovial and celebratory tone, the film does something surprising. It makes you empathize with the difficulty in producing a variety show and even makes you long for a more innocent time when it was the sort of thing the networks aired. It also generates that wistful remembrance of a time when Star Wars itself was less restrained in what it could do. Now, everything fits into a timeline and, like a comic book universe, can spill into various films, TV shows, or other ancillary material. While that micromanagement was no doubt a reaction of the Holiday Special‘s dreadful reception, A Disturbance in the Force successfully rebuilds the sensation of the days when Star Wars was brand new, could do anything, and could appear anywhere. Even on Donny & Marie or its own variety show.
Make no mistake, though, the film does not attempt to rehabilitate the Holiday Special — it gleefully admits to it being bad television.
Curiously, Donny & Marie star Donny Osmond ends up being the most level-headed voice in this regard. Although clearly embarrassed by his own variety show, he is also willing to fondly look back on how it entertained people in some small way. Likewise, The Star Wars Holiday Special entertains, even if not the way Lucas, Lucasfilm, or the show’s producers intended. And maybe there is room to consider it in a more fond light when set in its cultural context — a key reason this documentary works so well.
A Disturbance in the Force is available on digital platforms starting today.
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