Family Guy: Star Wars Episode

Fall TV Review

They'll be referencing this at the water cooler for weeks to come. It's more of homage than it is a parody. They recreate all the cinematic angles from Star Wars. They even go so far in detail to replicate body language and weird physical quirks. The animation sequences even include the newer sequences that Lucas added in the Digitally Remastered Rerelease. It's brilliant. All the characters of Family Guy maintain their integrity, or lack thereof. Meaning they are true to the characters that Seth created.

Quagmire is C3PO and Cleveland is R2D2. Lois is Leia, Peter is Han, Bryan is Chewie, Chris is Luke, and you gotta see Meg for yourself. And guest stars abound. Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Phil Lamar, Helen Reddy. They even got Rush Limbaugh to lampoon himself.

Even in a galaxy far, far, away, with all the wonderful minutiae, they still get in plenty of pop culture references. Princess Leia hides the plans to the Deathstar in a Deal or no Deal briefcase parody. The Jawas reenact the classic 80's Grey Poupon Commercial. They even sneak in two references to the 80's classic Airplane. During the awesome X-Wing pilot check in before the final dogfight in space, we see pilots Red Three, Red Six, Red Five, Red Buttons, Red Fox, Big Red, Red October, etc.

In jokes aplenty for the die hard Star Wars Fans. Like the lame maneuvers that Han makes when escaping from Tattoine. Or Han incorrectly referring to a parsec as a measurement of distance, when it's a measurement of time. Or Luke, after just learning about the force, being an ardent devotee and judging Han over his lack of belief. The reason the Imperial Fighters are called Tie Fighters.

There is even a much deserved salute to composer John Williams. And a playful dis to Danny Elfman.

The show is pretty faithful to the dialogue of the original. Which brings about the power of the homage, while the characters themselves infuse humor into memorable lines. Top that Shakespeare.

An example, Darth Stewie discussing the "pretty big design flaw of the newly constructed Deathstar."

Imperial Officer: "The holes only two meters across."

Grand Moff: "That's no bigger than a womp rat."