He’s as famous as they come, and one of the biggest disadvantages of such a status is that people tend to have very long memories of performances that don’t work. For Ford, he was merely fulfilling a contractual obligation, but as time passed, it became a dark cloud that hung so large over his filmography that he decided the best way to confront his performative nadir was to deny its existence.

No one could have predicted before the release of George Lucas’ film Star Wars that it would become the highest-grossing release of all time, win eight Academy Awards for its technological innovations, and launch a multibillion-dollar empire that has remained at the forefront of pop culture consciousness ever since.

Ford’s characteristic grumpiness saw it get tired of answering questions concerning a galaxy far, far away, a long time ago, but one thing he will never answer is the lines of inquiry related to the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. For what? Because, for him, it has been erased from his memory, and he would like everyone to do the same.

Ford pleaded the fifth when asked for his memories of the remarkably shoddy and extremely cheesy TV effort that reunited most of the band and invited random guests including Bea Arthur and Jefferson Starship. “None at all,” was the flat response to all he remembered of his experience. “No, it doesn’t exist.”

Ford would rather pretend the Star Wars Holiday Special didn’t happen, and on the plus side, he found an ally in George Lucas, who couldn’t have agreed more. Although the one-off production was broadcast in November 1978, it was never screened again on official channels, nor was it ever released on home video, on demand or streaming.

It became something of a cult favorite among Star Wars fandom for no other reason than it’s incredibly shitty, but when Lucas refuses to give it a second day in the sun and Ford operates under the impression that it never happened at all, the odds are it’ll be dusted off, restored or remastered in official capacity remains as slim as possible.

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