![]() In a now-bittersweet moment, Lucas also reveals that he’s starting work on “The Clone Wars” TV series little did we know that would be his final “Star Wars” contribution, as he sold the franchise to Disney in 2012, ending the era of “Star Wars” as an outlet for creative, rather than derivative, storytelling.) This is hard to reconcile with Lucas’ obsessive perfectionist streak, which caused something like Han gunning down Greedo to bug him for decades. He is unable to identify the themes from Cloud City and the Imperial walker attack when MacFarlane hums them. (Bizarrely, as MacFarlane’s interview of Lucas on the DVD extras shows, the inventor of “Star Wars” is NOT one of those people. The audience is as widespread as “Spaceballs’ ” but all the best gags come from (and are aimed at) people know “A New Hope” inside and out. But the fact that such insider humor appears on the utterly mainstream “Family Guy” is noteworthy. Chris is right that “Robot Chicken” got there first. ![]() “Blue Harvest” bumps things up a notch, supplementing broad humor and pop-culture references with parodies of specific moments in the movie (as my top 10 list below illustrates). ![]() A fight scene includes “Star Warsian” choreography. Brian uses Lando’s arc to illustrate what Peter is going through. Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth GreenĮarlier in “Family Guy’s” run, and also on “The Simpsons,” “Star Wars” gags generally didn’t rise above the level of “Look, we’re referencing ‘Star Wars.’ ” The collection of clips on the “Blue Harvest” DVD illustrates this. Writers: Seth MacFarlane, David Zuckerman, Alec Sulkin The argument at episode’s end between Peter and Chris (voiced by “Robot Chicken” creator Seth Green) about the merits of the “Robot Chicken” “Star Wars” parody from earlier in 2007 encapsulates this point in time.ĭirectors: Dominic Polcino, James Purdum, Peter Shin “Blue Harvest” – named after the fake working title for “Return of the Jedi” – marks a time when “Star Wars” parodies were starting to become ubiquitous and mainstream. He even allowed “Family Guy” to use “Star Wars’ ” music and sound effects, no doubt knowing that it’s a win-win scenario, as he gets free publicity for his franchise. Showing that he’s both a nice guy and a savvy businessman, George Lucas was fine with the idea. According to the DVD’s bonus features, the project came about when Lucasfilm approved all of “Family Guy’s” “Star Wars” parodies and Seth MacFarlane and company figured why not ask if they could do a whole episode? A total ‘Star Wars’ feel Among the DVD extras is a sit-down dialogue between Seth MacFarlane and George Lucas, who says his staff got a kick out of Blue Harvest.There are broad “Star Wars” parodies, and then there are insider-y “Star Wars” parodies, and then there’s a near-perfect mix of the two: The “Family Guy” episode “Blue Harvest,” which aired 10 years ago today. Revelation: The Family Guy gang actually loves and respects George Lucas' history-making saga, and this spoof is as much a tribute as it is puns and non-sequitur references to Sanford and Son and Deal or No Deal. What's unexpected are some sequences that don't have gags at all but are just dead-on recreations of classic Lucasfilm moments, as the gag script follows the original storyline faithfully. Not surprisingly, series creator Seth MacFarlane and the vocal cast seem to be having tons of fun with the Force, delivering big laughs at light speed too bad they end the thing on a somewhat sour note, with young Chris Griffin/Luke Skywalker calling his storyteller father "a big jerk" and leaving (this is an inside-inside joke about Peter/Seth MacFarlane belittling cable TV satire Robot Chicken, done by Chris' voiceover actor Seth Green). ![]() Viewers may be surprised by this extended episode of the animated sitcom that sometimes seems so full of pop-culture references and mini-parodies that the stories barely hold together.
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