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. 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
Showing that he’s both a nice guy and a savvy businessman, George Lucas was fine with the idea. 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.
“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. 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.
“Family Guy: Blue Harvest” (2007)
Directors: Dominic Polcino, James Purdum, Peter Shin
Writers: Seth MacFarlane, David Zuckerman, Alec Sulkin
Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green
Earlier 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. Brian uses Lando’s arc to illustrate what Peter is going through. A fight scene includes “Star Warsian” choreography. That sort of thing.
Hilarity in the details
“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). Chris is right that “Robot Chicken” got there first. But the fact that such insider humor appears on the utterly mainstream “Family Guy” is noteworthy. 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.
(Bizarrely, as MacFarlane’s interview of Lucas on the DVD extras shows, the inventor of “Star Wars” is NOT one of those people. He is unable to identify the themes from Cloud City and the Imperial walker attack when MacFarlane hums them. This is hard to reconcile with Lucas’ obsessive perfectionist streak, which caused something like Han gunning down Greedo to bug him for decades.
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.)
Another time-capsule element is that “Blue Harvest” was a must-see TV event. The inevitable (and inevitably less good) “Empire” and “Jedi” parodies would hit DVD before their TV airing, but for the first one, folks were encouraged to gather around their set, just as the Griffins do at the beginning of the episode.
Here are my 10 favorite gags from “Family Guy: Blue Harvest”:
1. “I’m taking this couch”
“Friends” got there first in illustrating the awkwardness of moving a couch, but “Family Guy” ups the absurdity when Han (Peter) takes a couch from the trash compactor amid the gang’s escape from the Death Star. The writers play the note effectively from there, from Tarkin (Adam West) realizing it’s his discarded Kool-Aid-stained couch to Han and Chewbacca (Brian) lounging on it as they clear the TIE fighters from the Death Star trench.
2. “Yeah, get estimates, yeah”
The exhaust port is the Death Star’s only weakness, but it can be fixed tomorrow if cost is not issue. However, Darth Vader (Stewie) wants an estimate. If one wants to be picky, the writers are mixing up a government with a corporation: Since the Empire is the former, why would it be fiscally responsible with taxpayer money? Comic-book parodist Kevin Rubio did a similar gag in “A Death Star is Born” (2000) in “Star Wars Tales,” where the Emperor pinches pennies on things like railings.
3. “Why would you hang that up? It looks so tantalizing”
Watto is my favorite “Phantom Menace” character, and the illustrators and voice actor nails it when the buzzing Toydarian crashes into a lightsaber fly-trap.
4. “A few maneuvers”
Sometimes on a major film undertaking, the script doesn’t quite match up with the special effects. When Lucas wrote the Han Solo line “I know a few maneuvers. We’ll lose ’em,” he no doubt figured it would be followed by the Millennium Falcon doing some aerial acrobatics, perhaps like when it is dodging the Star Destroyers in “Empire.” Instead, the Falcon just lists slightly to the left, as Luke (Chris) points out.
5. “You mean that thing you just found out about three hours ago?”
In the “Star Wars” trilogy, the characters undergo epic hero’s journeys in what is honestly too short of a time frame. (Because the action moves so fast, we don’t have time to stop and think about it.) Luke is crushed by the death of someone he’s known for less than a day. He’s exuberant that he has struck a blow against the Empire, even though he wanted to attend the Imperial Academy a couple days earlier. And, as this gag highlights, he’s a huffy religious zealot about the Force, which he himself doubted mere hours ago.
6. “All right, now what do I click?”
Leia (Lois) runs into technical headaches while Artoo (Cleveland) plays the patient IT guy. It doesn’t rise to the level of the “Office Space” crew smashing old printers, but many of us can relate to being frustrated when computer instructions are something less than intuitive.
7. The repeated TIE fighter special effects shot
In a similar situation to the lack of maneuvering by the Falcon (see No. 4), the notoriously belabored special effects team used the same shot of a TIE fighter attacking the Millennium Falcon twice as our heroes flee the Death Star. The error doesn’t hurt the film much, but it’s something serious fans notice. “Blue Harvest” proves it is written by true fans by repeating the shot FOUR times.
8. “Kids, you noticing all this plight?”
Having the Griswold clan from the “Vacation” movies ride their space-station-wagon a bit too close to the Death Star battle is a solid joke. “Blue Harvest” gets serious bonus point for being so committed to it that it cast Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo to deliver the lines.
9. “Aren’t you a little fat for a stormtrooper”
This slight alteration to the original line fits perfectly with the fact that – in contrast to “Star Wars” – almost everyone on “Family Guy” is fat. And it still serves the purpose of showing Princess Leia’s snarky attitude.
10. “This is Han Solo, and I’m going to be keeping you company for the next few hours, right here on the midnight shift”
Han Solo’s attempt to pass off the shootout in the prison wing as a “slight weapons malfunction” is the funniest part of “A New Hope,” so it creates anticipation that “Family Guy” will do something just as funny with it. Wisely, the writers don’t step on the original joke, but rather, they extend it into the absurd by having Han act as a radio DJ.
What are your favorite gags from “Family Guy: Blue Harvest?” Share your lists below.