The Holiday Special has charm and cheese, and isn’t supposed to be part of the film series. The PT is just bad. Bad films, bad Star Wars. Though, Rifftrax applies to both candidates, so they’re comparable in that respect.
I was hoping that The Holiday Special would be cheesy goodness, but it just turned out to be a boring mess, with no coherent story of any kind, far too many subplots, and awful acting. Say what you will about the acting in the PT, but nothing is as bad and Harrison Ford saying “You’re all like family to me.” The prequels are a mess, but The Holiday Special is just a wreck.