You Probably Missed ‘Skeleton Crew’s Star Wars Holiday Special Easter Egg

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.

With only the first two episodes, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has already established itself as another refreshing outing for the Star Wars franchise – that fortunately steers away from the Skywalker Saga drama (at least for now). It gives another glimpse of the galaxy far, far away while still honoring its source material. And to do that, the Jon Watts and Christopher Ford-created series seemingly scraped the bottom of the reference barrel. Episode 1, “This Could Be a Real Adventure,” features a nod to the most infamous release the franchise has seen – the Star Wars Holiday Special. And while this still doesn’t make the cursed special canon, it is a welcome gesture that somehow acknowledges its existence.

‘Skeleton Crew’ Makes a Playful Reference to the ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’

From the start, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew distances itself from regular Star Wars lore. Featuring At Attin, a planet that seemingly shares more in common with cities from our own earth – with suburbs and all – the show offers a vastly different tone. This Goonies-reminiscing adventure focuses on Ravi Cabot-Conyers’ Wim, a human kid who aches for adventure outside the boring jobs that the incipient New Republic has to offer. This leads him to push his highly-lovable alien friend Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) into uncovering what he thinks is a Jedi temple.

But, before things go awry, and while Wim seeks Neel out, a brief sequence references the Star Wars Holiday Special. Before climbing up to the roof of Neel’s house, Wim is able to glimpse Neel’s younger siblings watching a holographic projection of circus-like performers dancing. While this might go unnoticed, the dancers are the exact same as those that appeared in the 1978 special. The dance is part of a whole sequence in which Lumpy – Chewbacca’s son – watches this hauntingly psychedelic performance. Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) having a family might be news, but it was a real thing way back then. In fact, the story of the special revolves around them waiting for his return to celebrate the Wookie equivalent of Christmas – Life Day.

Wait, But Why Is There a Dance Performance in the ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’?

The Star Wars Holiday Special is perhaps the most bonkers production out of the wide array of Star Wars media. It is a campy, low-budget feature that was released through CBS – riding the wave of success after Star Wars: A New Hope – and was never seen again. The circus troupe dance is just the beginning of the weirdness. This, among other segments, is used as a way to distract either Lumpy from waiting for his father, or lurking Imperial agents. Other trippy sequences include a cooking tutorial by comedian Harvey Korman in alien drag, a kaleidoscopic Diahann Carroll performance, a galactic music video by Jefferson Starship, and Bea Arthur as a Tatooine cantina bartender – who also sings!

It all ends in a ceremony around the Tree of Life in which Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia – wait for it – puts lyrics into the Star Wars main theme to close the adventure. While the Star Wars Holiday Special was almost-instantly ignored in canon, it still lives on as a highlight of the saga – mostly because of how ludicrous and awkward it is. But not all things that came from it were disposable. From an animated segment called “The Faithful Wookiee” came the character of Boba Fett. Becoming an instant fan-favorite, the bounty hunter was rescued and aptly used in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

While no one was craving to revive the trippy circus troupe dance sequence – or any of the Star Wars Holiday Special for that matter – what Star Wars: Skeleton Crew did is still a way to honor what the franchise has built. Thus, this is not the first time the special has been referenced. Some years ago, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special was released, honoring the bold experiment that the original was. Pairing this with the recently-announced Disneyland Wookiee Life Day popcorn bucket that also pays homage to the special, perhaps the franchise is ready to acknowledge it as part of its history. This would be a great way to build upon what has come before – regardless of how absurd it may have been – instead of wanting to bury it in oblivion.

New episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew drop at 9 PM ET every Tuesday.

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