The announcement a few weeks ago that Disney would be producing three new movies to extend the Star Wars franchise beyond George Lucas’ original six films has been a frequent topic of discussion in our newsroom, particularly for staff writers Matthew Shepard and Ty Rushing.

Somehow, last Friday, the topic became a point of discussion once again with Matthew explaining how the Star Wars Holiday Special, which aired during the Christmas season of 1978 was the worst chapter of the franchise’s storied history. That’s really saying something, since he thinks the “prequel” movies were so bad they shouldn’t even be considered Star Wars canon.

But I couldn’t let that one stand, even as bad — even by George Lucas’ standards – as the Holiday Special was. Growing up when Star Wars was the culture, not just a component of it, I knew there were far worse chapters lurking out there to be discovered.