Family Guy: Star Wars Episode

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."

Imperial Officer: "Exactly, and even to get within range of it, you gotta skim along this whole trench, it's not a big deal."

Darth Stewie: "Can't we board it up, or put some plywood over it or something?"

Imperial Officer: "Well that would look terrible. I mean we gotta think about resale."

Darth Stewie: "Resale, what are you talking about? This property's right above Sunset. The value's only gonna go up."

Imperial Officer: "Lord Vader, your inside references to the Los Angeles Real Estate Market haven't given you the clairvoyance to turn a profit on that condo in Glendale. Nor has it..."

Darth Stewie: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

The star is Herbert the pervert, the non-threatening pedophile (oxymoronic, I know). As Obi Wan Kenobi, he was the highlight, the scene stealer. This creepy old guy has surpassed Mr. Burns as favorite animated old coot! (Uncle Ruckus from Boondocks gives him a run for his money.) They also gave Herbert his second song and dance number of the Family Guy Series. When Herbert suspects he's not long for this world, he sings to Skywalker (Luke). His cover of the Dirty Dancing standard "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" is Hilarious!

This year, the Emmy went to friendly competition Robot Chicken. They have a little bit of fun with that at the very end. But next year, I think it's a shoe in that Family Guy gets the Emmy. And this is the episode to do it.