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Blue Harvest
What better way to launch Family Guy's sixth season and commemorate Star Wars' 30th anniversary than with this double-length Very Special Episode, a full-scale, awesomely animated spoof that recasts George Lucas' saga with Family Guy's galaxy of characters: Chris (Seth Green) is Luke; Lois (Alex Borstein) is Princess Leia; Peter (Seth McFarlane) is Han Solo, but not, as expected, Jabba the Hut; Brian (Seth, again) is Chewbacca; Quagmire (and again, Seth) is C3PO; Cleveland is R2D2; Herbert, the creepy senior pedophile, is Obi-Wan (both voiced by Mike Henry); and, of course, Stewie (Seth, already) is Darth
Blue Harvest
What better way to launch Family Guy's sixth season and commemorate Star Wars' 30th anniversary than with this double-length Very Special Episode, a full-scale, awesomely animated spoof that recasts George Lucas' saga with Family Guy's galaxy of characters: Chris (Seth Green) is Luke; Lois (Alex Borstein) is Princess Leia; Peter (Seth McFarlane) is Han Solo, but not, as expected, Jabba the Hut; Brian (Seth, again) is Chewbacca; Quagmire (and again, Seth) is C3PO; Cleveland is R2D2; Herbert, the creepy senior pedophile, is Obi-Wan (both voiced by Mike Henry); and, of course, Stewie (Seth, already) is Darth Vader ("My diapers have gone over to the dark side"). Poor Meg is reduced to a cameo as the hideous reptilian creature that haunts the garbage compactor. Blue Harvest is reverently faithful to A New Hope, while engaging in typical Family Guy pop-culture references (everything from those old Grey Poupon commercials to Doctor Who, Airplane, Dirty Dancing, and Deal or No Deal) and bizarre digressions (the iconic opening crawl detours into an appreciation of a "way naked" Angelina Jolie in Gia). Along for the wild ride are Judd Nelson, who contributes a voice cameo as John Bender for a Breakfast Club gag, Rush Limbaugh railing against futuristic affirmative action on Tatooine talk radio, and Beverly D'Angelo and Chevy Chase as the vacationing Griswolds observing the rebellion from their orbiting station wagon. A Star Wars spoof in 2007 isn't exactly uncharted territory. As Chris Griffin notes in this episode's final moments, Robot Chicken brilliantly did it months earlier (and let us not forget Mel Brooks' Spaceballs from 1987; or, on second thought...). But the Force is strong with Family Guy, and who could resist the opportunity to hear the Muzak playing in a Death Star elevator? --Donald Liebenson
Something, Something, Something, Darkside
Chris Griffin is right: when it comes to obsessive geekery and mining absurdity from the minutiae of the Star Wars universe, the comic force is stronger with Robot Chicken. But Family Guy strikes back with the second episode in its goof on the original holy trilogy. The animation is more impressive than the jokes, which are scattered all over the galaxy--the good (an Empire recruitment film), the bad (Yoda's teachings revolve around guy-movie trivia), and the ugly (wholly gratuitous--and here unbleeped--F-bombs). Devoted viewers will catch in-jokes inside of other in-jokes (this program takes its title from the season 5 episode "Barely Legal," in which the Emperor discovers the formula for great Star Wars dialogue). There is some interesting stunt casting with nebbish Mort Goldman as Lando Calrissian and the Giant Chicken as Boba Fett. James Caan cameos, as does, sorta, Tom Selleck. And Meg is once again reduced to embodying a hideous space creature, although at least she gets a line of dialogue. The DVD and Blu-ray editions contain metachlorine-rich extra features, including lively (and at times slanderous) audio commentary by Seth MacFarlane, Seth Green, writer Kirker Butler, director Dominic Polcino, and others; optional trivia pop-ups; and a table read of the Something, Something script. There is also a sneak-preview table read of the next installment, We Have a Bad Feeling About This. If I were an Ewok, I'd be worried, or on the phone to a lawyer. --Donald Liebenson
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Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Release date: 21 December 2010
Number of discs: 3
EAN: 0024543714347 UPC: 024543714347
Tags: Animation (2), Alex Borstein (1), Peter Griffin (1), Airline Pilot (1), Evil Monkey (1), Animated Series (1), Cartoon Dog (1), Giant Chicken (1), Mike Henry (1), Stewie Griffin (1), Neil Goldman (1), Mort Goldman (1), Glenn Quagmire (1), Joe Swanson (1), Homicidal Baby (1), Toy Factory (1), Talking Baby (1), Rhode Island (1), Mayor (1)
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