Tuesday, December 15, 2015

(Sorta) Remembering those Family Guy Star Wars spoof specials

Continuing on the Star Wars celebration in honor of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, who else remember the time that FOX's animated sitcom, Family Guy, once spoofed the Star Wars trilogy from A NEW HOPE to the RETURN OF THE JEDI? Yes, I know, that show is well notorious for putting Star Wars references through the years and who can blame them? It's the producers to blame for putting Star Wars jokes in the hit TV show but the biggest of all the Star Wars jokes in the show is those Family Guy Star Wars spoof specials, just to keep them from moaning about this show has too much Star Wars jokes on it.

For some purposes, the Family Guy producers imagine what would Luke Skywalker be like if Darth Vader is his brother, Han Solo is his dad, and Princess Leia is his mom. That's why they've pitched in Chris Griffin as Luke, Stewie Griffin as Darth Vader, Peter Griffin as Han Solo, and Lois Griffin as Princess Leia, among many others including Brian as Chewbacca, Cleveland as R2-D2, Quagmire as C-3PO, and Herbert as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

First up, there's FAMILY GUY's take on STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE, called Blue Harvest. Well, you don't need me to explain about what just happened, it's more of Family Guy's retelling of the first Star Wars film made. From Mos Eisley to the Millennium Falcon, there is no bit of A NEW HOPE is safe from signature Family Guy moments. We kinda enjoy the one part where Herbert (as Obi-Wan) does Dirty Dancing.  The sofa joke is not so bad, but the climactic battle at the Death Star is what punched me through.


Two years later, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK has been spoofed and retold in SOMETHING, SOMETHING SOMETHING DARK SIDE. Yep, that title of Family Guy's spoof of The Empire Strikes Back kinda remind you of a cutaway gag where the Emperor tries to figure out the Star Wars dialog. "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side. Something Something Complete." Anyway, in here, Luke (Chris) has a vision of his late mentor Obi-Wan (Herbert), telling him to go through the Dagobah system to meet Yoda (Carl). Meanwhile, Leia (Lois) and Han (Peter) are in love until a fateful encounter with Lando Calrissian (Mort) lured him to the Empire. It all ends when Luke faces off with Darth Vader and there goes...well, you know the iconic part.


IT'S A TRAP is the conclusion of the Family Guy Star Wars spoof specials and it's basically the spoofed version of STAR WARS: THE RETURN OF THE JEDI. In the finale, we can see Lois' dad, Carter, (who was Uncle Owen in the first one) re-emerged as the nefarious Emperor Palpatine as well as Peter's paraplegic best friend Joe as Jabba the Hutt. Cleveland Show's Rallo and Fred and American Dad's Klaus made special appearances as well. It's worth more enjoyable to watch than seeing Luke (Chris) accidentally broke Darth Vader (Stewie)'s head before escaping the second Death Star, getting ready to be blown by the rebel squadrons.


So, those Family Guy Star Wars spoof specials, they maybe more of an insult to the original Star Wars films buy for an average Family Guy fan, they're worth enjoyable to watch over and over and over again. Sadly though, these hilarious trilogies were not as hilarious as what the stop-motion gag show Robot Chicken did to Star Wars. That thing comes later.

If you haven't seen these three specials, they're available to stream via Amazon or Netflix. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is showing in theaters this 18th of December. And watch Family Guy on FOX. Check local listings.

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