Can ESPN2’s Star Wars Halloween Special turn out worse than the hated Holiday Special?

By Rick Marshall October 30, 2014

disney announces star wars halloween special espn2

In Star Wars lore, there are few projects as universally ridiculed as the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, an ill-conceived mess of a themed television feature that even the prequel trilogy’s apologists concede was a low point in the franchise’s history. Almost 40 years later, the Star Wars Halloween Special is coming to television, and it’s premiering in a very unexpected place: ESPN2.

The half-hour show will air Thursday, October 30, on the Disney-owned network and will reportedly feature the cast of ESPN2’s SportsNation in an adventure involving live-action franchise characters Han Solo, Boba Fett, Yoda, Darth Vader, R2D2, Chewbacca, and C-3PO, as well as characters from Disney XD’s animated series Star Wars Rebels. The Hollywood Reporter debuted a teaser for the Star Wars Halloween Special in which host Michelle Beadle goes full Jedi when co-hosts Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley are taken captive by Darth Vader and the Empire.

Recommended Videos

The teaser also features an appearance by NBA great Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who’s apparently a Jedi Master in addition to being one of the greatest professional basketball players of all time — which actually explains a lot.

According to THR’s preview, the special will involve a redesign of the SportsNation set to make it look like the interior of the Millennium Falcon, and will offer a sneak peek at an upcoming episode of Star Wars Rebels.

Disney’s Star Wars Halloween Special airs tonight (October 30) at 7:30pm ET on ESPN2 and will re-air on Halloween (October 31) at 3pm. You can watch the teaser for the episode below:

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Entertainment

The best animated movies on Netflix right now

A cat points a bat at another cat in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

While Nimona has been the big Netflix original animated film of the summer, it's far from the only addition to the lineup. Netflix is making sure that animation fans are well served in August with the first two Despicable Me movies, Bee Movie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. However, Netflix's biggest recent addition is one of 2022's biggest animated hits: DreamWorks' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Netflix's deals with Sony Pictures Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Universal Pictures have given it a powerhouse library of animated films. And that's before we even get into Netflix's impressive originals like The Sea Beast. To help you keep track of what's new and what you can stream right now, we've updated our list of the best animated movies on Netflix.

Entertainment

From Barbarella to Howard the Duck: the 7 cheesiest sci-fi movies ever

Howard the Duck in "Howard the Duck."

The science-fiction genre has a vast smorgasbord of cheesy films stretching way back to the early days of cinema. Such pictures are known for their weird stories, unrealistic dialogue, low-budget productions, and exaggerated acting.

While many of these films have been panned by critics and audiences alike, some of them have garnered success for being "so bad, they're good." Whether or not they have been held up by a dedicated fan base, these seven movies stand out as the cream of the cheesy sci-fi crop.
Flash Gordon (1980)

Entertainment

10 best Batman stories ever, ranked

Batman Year One cover

Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, the Dark Knight never misses his mark. He operates like a well-oiled machine tracking bad guys, beating them to a bloody pulp, and throwing them in the slammer - or Arkham Asylum should they be anyone of Gotham's notable supervillains. As the brainchild of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, an artist and writer duo, Batman has been pounding the pavement of Gotham ever since his debut in Detective Comics in 1939. He's undergone a number of changes since his original conception ultimately becoming the brooding powerhouse we know today.

Most understand the basic tenants of Batman these days. His parents were murdered before his young eyes leading him down this path of personal vindication and pursuit of justice. Batman, in most iterations, never resorts to killing -- the one crime that separates his outlaw vigilante operations from the real criminals. Of course, it wasn't always that way. In Batman's earliest days, he had no qualms about ending the lives of baddies on the streets. Even now, some stories and films like Tim Burton's gothic take on the character depict him looking on with cold and uncaring glares as criminals meet their end. Regardless, Batman is mostly a well-established hero simply seeking justice and there are countless stories of the Caped Crusader. Let's take a look at the best among them.
10. Hush