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Blue Harvest (Family Guy)
Encyclopedia
"Blue Harvest" is the hour-long premiere to the sixth season of the FOX
series Family Guy
and the first part of the series' trilogy Laugh It Up, Fuzzball
. It originally aired on September 23, 2007. The episode is a retelling and parody
of the 1977 blockbuster film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
, recasting the show's characters into Star Wars
roles. For this purpose, and for the first time in the history of Family Guy, this episode runs an hour long with commercials (48 minutes for the DVD version). It was also made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise. The name "Blue Harvest
" was the fake working title for the 1983 production of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
.
It was written by Alec Sulkin
and is directed by Dominic Polcino
. It guest starred Kirker Butler, Steve Callaghan
, Chevy Chase
, Beverly D'Angelo
, Mick Hucknall
, Rush Limbaugh
, Helen Reddy
, Alex Thomas, Don Tai, and Judd Nelson
. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
are watching Phil Mickelson
play in a golf tournament on television, the power goes out
and they are left with no other form of entertainment. While they wait for the power to return, Peter
tells the story of Star Wars
, with the Family Guy characters re-imagined as Star Wars characters.
An expository opening crawl
reveals spoilers such as Darth Vader
being Luke Skywalker
's father and Princess Leia being his sister before talking about Angelina Jolie
's nude scene in Gia
.
After the crawl a Rebel ship
is captured by a Star Destroyer
with a Bush
/Cheney
'04 bumper sticker. On the ship are the droids C-3PO
(Quagmire
) and R2-D2
(Cleveland
). While the ship is boarded by stormtrooper
s, Princess Leia (Lois
) tries to send an MPEG
to Obi-Wan Kenobi
through R2, but encounters so many complications that R2 offers to deliver the message himself. Leia is captured by Darth Vader (Stewie
) while R2 and C-3PO flee to Tatooine
in an escape pod, where they are captured by Jawas.
The droids are sold to a family of moisture farmers, where nephew Luke Skywalker (Chris
) wishes to join the Rebellion
and fight the Empire
, while enjoying John Williams
and the London Symphony Orchestra
performing in the background. While cleaning the droids Luke stumbles upon Leia's message inside R2, who later leaves the farm. Luke and C-3PO pursue him but are attacked by Sand People. Luke is knocked out by one of them (Opie) and is found by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Herbert
), who takes them to his hut. Leia's message explains that R2 contains the plans to the Death Star
, which must be sent to her father on her home planet of Alderaan; she then says that Obi-Wan owes her family for covering up his "little problem
". After fast-forwarding through the incriminating parts of the message, Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must learn the ways of the Force
and accompany him to Alderaan, and gives him his own lightsaber
. Realizing that the Empire must be looking for the droids, Luke returns home to discover that his home has been destroyed and his aunt and uncle killed, along with John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. Luke is more concerned with Williams' death, since the film must now be scored by Danny Elfman
, whom Luke beheads after hearing a few seconds of the theme from Desperate Housewives
. Regardless, the original score
plays throughout the rest of the episode.
Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids travel to Mos Eisley
to find a ship and pilot to take them to Alderaan. At a local cantina they hire smuggler Han Solo
(Peter) and his Wookiee
co-pilot Chewbacca
(Brian
), who agree to take them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon
. The group is spotted by stormtroopers and flees into space, evading pursuing Star Destroyers before jumping into hyperspace
, traveling through the time vortex
tunnel from the Fourth Doctor
opening of Doctor Who
. Leia is imprisoned on the Death Star, where commanding officer Grand Moff Tarkin
(Mayor Adam West
) has Alderaan destroyed to test the space station's "planet blower-upper gun
".
The Millennium Falcon exits hyperspace into the middle of an Asteroid field where Alderaan once was. The ship is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. Disguising themselves as stormtroopers, Han and Luke set off to rescue the captive Princess while Obi-Wan goes to shut off the tractor beam, after a rendition of The Time of my Life by David Cook
. Han, Luke and Chewie rescue Leia, and the four dive into a garbage chute to escape stormtroopers. Ending up in a garbage compactor with a skulking dianoga (Meg
) in the murky water, they are nearly crushed until C-3PO gets high off marijuana R2-D2 gave him earlier and leans against the off switch. As they flee the Death Star, Han and Chewie insist on taking a couch they found in the garbage. Obi-Wan turns off the tractor beam before being confronted by Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel; Obi-Wan's blade falls limp
until he sees Luke. Vader strikes Obi-Wan down as the others board the Falcon, taking the couch with them.
Warding off a group of "Thai Fighters
" sent to stop them (with a good luck wish from Leslie Nielsen
), the Falcon journeys to the Rebel base at Yavin IV where the Death Star plans are analyzed by the Rebels and a weakness is found. The attack requires a pilot to skim along a trench in a one-man starfighter to attack an exhaust port added for aesthetics
; they watch an instructional video featuring Magic Johnson
that explains the strategy. Luke joins the assault team while Han collects his reward for the rescue (a gift basket with meager prizes) and leaves. The Rebel fighters suffer heavy losses during the assault. During his run, Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice telling him to use the Force, and he turns off his targeting computer. Vader appears with his own group of fighters, and is about to fire at Luke's ship when Han arrives in the Millennium Falcon and attacks Vader and his wingmen, sending Vader's ship careening off into space. Guided by the Force, Luke fires into the port, destroying the Death Star, and he returns to the Rebel base with his friends to celebrate their victory.
As Peter wraps up the story the power comes back on. Everyone thanks Peter for keeping them entertained, though Chris points out that Robot Chicken
already did the same thing three months earlier. A discussion follows in which Peter denigrates that show as Chris defends it. Chris leaves the room in frustration as Peter hums part of the Star Wars end credits music.
, a series of clips was shown at a panel for Family Guy from the season premiere episode, showing the Family Guy characters as Star Wars characters. The episode aired on September 23, 2007, with some slight changes from the clips shown at Comic Con. Parts of this episode were shown at Star Wars Celebration
IV, at which Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane
, a Star Wars fan since childhood, was a special guest, and again at Comic-Con International
2007. The episode was officially endorsed by Lucasfilm
, especially George Lucas
, who revealed in his conversation with MacFarlane that he has TiVo
ed every single episode of Family Guy without having to buy the DVD
s and, apart from Jackass
, it is the only show he watches. MacFarlane said they were extremely helpful when the Family Guy crew wanted to parody their works.
Rush Limbaugh
makes a cameo as a conservative Tatooine
radio commentator. Chevy Chase
and Beverly D'Angelo
reprise their roles from National Lampoon's Vacation
as Clark
and Ellen Griswold. Mick Hucknall
of Simply Red
and Helen Reddy
also provide their own voices. In the DVD
release, Judd Nelson
reprises his role from The Breakfast Club
as John Bender during the Rebels
' briefing.
's Frazier Moore
called it "a dead-on homage that hilariously picks apart Star Wars, along with much of real life". Newsday
s Diane Werts rendered a more mixed verdict, saying the episode "veer[s] wildly from bull's-eye satire
to gotta-fill-time-now exposition", and was not as enjoyable for non-Star Wars fans. Jon Caraminica of the Los Angeles Times
felt it worked by playing to the show's strength, its cutaway gags, by being "almost entirely an aside". He wondered if the Robot Chicken conversation at the end was "a note of self-doubt, maybe, masking as self-awareness." The Parents Television Council
, a group that has frequently criticized Family Guy, criticized the episode for sexual dialogue that it perceived to be frequent in the episode, enough for the episode to have an "S" content descriptor for sexual content; the episode was rated TV-14-DLV on Fox.
This episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour Or More), but lost to rival South Park
s "Imaginationland
". It won a Saturn Award
for Best Presentation on Television.
" was put into production, and parodies The Empire Strikes Back. It was released on December 22, 2009. On May 22, 2011 a Return of the Jedi parody was aired on Fox in the United States. It is titled "It's a Trap!", which is a reference to a line from the movie when the rebel fleet above Endor is attacked by Imperial forces.
The Fox Network has released a special DVD of "Blue Harvest" on January 15, 2008 in both regular and special editions. Extras include about four minutes of exclusive DVD material, an uncensored audio track, animatics and commentary by the Family Guy staff, interviews with Seth MacFarlane and George Lucas
, a sneak preview to "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" and a table read of dialogue from the episode. In addition, the special edition release will come exclusively with collectible packaging, a 3-D battle scene and glasses, a themed T-shirt, Size XL, trading cards, and brochure which will contain a letter from MacFarlane, script excerpts, pictures and so on. An official website for the DVD has been made with DVD info, games, clips, behind the scenes and more.
The episode was later re-released on Blu-ray, on December 21, 2010, as part of the Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy Blu-ray set. It is not available separately. Although the episode is presented in 1080p, it is actually just upscaled SD.
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
series Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
and the first part of the series' trilogy Laugh It Up, Fuzzball
Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy
Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy consists of three episode specials from the American animated television series Family Guy. The episodes are a remake parody of the original Star Wars films A New Hope , The Empire Strikes Back , and Return of the Jedi...
. It originally aired on September 23, 2007. The episode is a retelling and parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the 1977 blockbuster film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
, recasting the show's characters into Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
roles. For this purpose, and for the first time in the history of Family Guy, this episode runs an hour long with commercials (48 minutes for the DVD version). It was also made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars franchise. The name "Blue Harvest
Blue Harvest
Blue Harvest was a fake working title used to hide the 1982 production of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the third installment of the Star Wars film series...
" was the fake working title for the 1983 production of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
.
It was written by Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin
Alec Sulkin is an American television writer. Most notable for writing and producing several episodes of the animated series Family Guy, he has also contributed to The Cleveland Show, another series by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane....
and is directed by Dominic Polcino
Dominic Polcino
Dominic Polcino is an animation director who has worked on The Simpsons, Mission Hill, King of the Hill, and Family Guy. Dominic worked on the first season of Family Guy, then left to direct for King of the Hill and then returned to Family Guy...
. It guest starred Kirker Butler, Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan
Steve Callaghan is an American screenwriter, producer and voice actor, best known for his work on Family Guy. He is a graduate of the Department of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
, Mick Hucknall
Mick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
, Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
, Alex Thomas, Don Tai, and Judd Nelson
Judd Nelson
Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
While the GriffinsGriffin family
The Griffin family is a family from the animated television series Family Guy. The Griffins are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Peter and Lois, their three children Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their dog Brian. They live at 31 Spooner Street in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode...
are watching Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson is an American professional golfer. He has won four major championships and a total of 39 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed...
play in a golf tournament on television, the power goes out
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
and they are left with no other form of entertainment. While they wait for the power to return, Peter
Peter Griffin
Peter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
tells the story of Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, with the Family Guy characters re-imagined as Star Wars characters.
An expository opening crawl
Star Wars opening crawl
Each film in the Star Wars series opens with a crawl of text which provides an explanation of the backstory and context of the film...
reveals spoilers such as Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
being Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
's father and Princess Leia being his sister before talking about Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
's nude scene in Gia
Gia
Gia is a 1998 biographical television film about the life of model Gia Marie Carangi starring Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Mercedes Ruehl, and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was directed by Michael Cristofer and written by Cristofer and Jay McInerney...
.
After the crawl a Rebel ship
Tantive IV
The Tantive IV is a fictional spaceship in the Star Wars film series. It was used by Bail Organa in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and by Leia Organa in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and was the first vessel audiences saw when Star Wars premiered in 1977...
is captured by a Star Destroyer
Star Destroyer
Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , is "the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet"...
with a Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
/Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
'04 bumper sticker. On the ship are the droids C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
(Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire
Glenn Quagmire, often referred to as just Quagmire, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. Quagmire is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family. He is best known for his hypersexuality...
) and R2-D2
R2-D2
R2-D2 , is a character in the Star Wars universe. An astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character throughout all six Star Wars films. Along with his droid companion C-3PO, he joins or supports Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga...
(Cleveland
Cleveland Brown
Cleveland Orenthal Brown is a character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is voiced by Mike Henry. In the first seven seasons of Family Guy, Brown is a frequently recurring character. As one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends,...
). While the ship is boarded by stormtrooper
Stormtrooper
Stormtroopers were specialist soldiers of the German Army in World War I. In the last years of the war, Stoßtruppen were trained to fight with "infiltration tactics", part of the Germans' new method of attack on enemy trenches...
s, Princess Leia (Lois
Lois Griffin
Lois Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by writer Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Lois was created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane...
) tries to send an MPEG
Moving Picture Experts Group
The Moving Picture Experts Group is a working group of experts that was formed by ISO and IEC to set standards for audio and video compression and transmission. It was established in 1988 by the initiative of Hiroshi Yasuda and Leonardo Chiariglione, who has been from the beginning the Chairman...
to Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...
through R2, but encounters so many complications that R2 offers to deliver the message himself. Leia is captured by Darth Vader (Stewie
Stewie Griffin
Stewie Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. Once obsessed with world domination and matricide, Stewie is the youngest child of Peter and Lois Griffin, and the brother of Chris and Meg....
) while R2 and C-3PO flee to Tatooine
Tatooine
Tatooine is a fictional planet and setting for many key scenes in the Star Wars saga, appearing in every Star Wars film except The Empire Strikes Back, although it is mentioned at the end of the movie...
in an escape pod, where they are captured by Jawas.
The droids are sold to a family of moisture farmers, where nephew Luke Skywalker (Chris
Chris Griffin
Chris Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is the son and middle child of Peter and Lois Griffin, brother of Stewie and Meg Griffin. Chris is voiced by Seth Green.-Personality:...
) wishes to join the Rebellion
Rebel Alliance
The Alliance to Restore the Republic is an interstellar faction of the fictional universe of Star Wars....
and fight the Empire
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
The Galactic Empire is one of the main factions in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It is a galaxy-spanning regime established by the series' lead villain, Palpatine, to replace the Galactic Republic in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The Galactic Empire is introduced in Star Wars...
, while enjoying John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
and the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
performing in the background. While cleaning the droids Luke stumbles upon Leia's message inside R2, who later leaves the farm. Luke and C-3PO pursue him but are attacked by Sand People. Luke is knocked out by one of them (Opie) and is found by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Herbert
Herbert (Family Guy)
Herbert is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by writer and voice actor Mike Henry, who created and designed the character...
), who takes them to his hut. Leia's message explains that R2 contains the plans to the Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
, which must be sent to her father on her home planet of Alderaan; she then says that Obi-Wan owes her family for covering up his "little problem
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
". After fast-forwarding through the incriminating parts of the message, Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must learn the ways of the Force
Force (Star Wars)
The Force is a binding, metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the fictional universe of the Star Wars galaxy created by George Lucas. Mentioned in the first film in the series, it is integral to all subsequent incarnations of Star Wars, including the expanded universe of comic books, novels, and...
and accompany him to Alderaan, and gives him his own lightsaber
Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, a "laser sword." It consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of light about 1.33 metres long. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for close...
. Realizing that the Empire must be looking for the droids, Luke returns home to discover that his home has been destroyed and his aunt and uncle killed, along with John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. Luke is more concerned with Williams' death, since the film must now be scored by Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
, whom Luke beheads after hearing a few seconds of the theme from Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
. Regardless, the original score
Star Wars music
The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars films by composer John Williams from 1977 to 1983 for the Original Trilogy, and 1999 to 2005 for the Prequel Trilogy. It includes the Star Wars: The Clone Wars music written by Kevin Kiner...
plays throughout the rest of the episode.
Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids travel to Mos Eisley
Mos Eisley
Mos Eisley is a setting in the fictional Star Wars universe. It is introduced as a spaceport town on the planet Tatooine. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi describes Mos Eisley as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy." It is the home of the Mos Eisley Cantina and Figrin D'an...
to find a ship and pilot to take them to Alderaan. At a local cantina they hire smuggler Han Solo
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise played by Harrison Ford. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire...
(Peter) and his Wookiee
Wookiee
Wookiees are a species of bipeds in the Star Wars universe. The most notable Wookiee is Chewbacca, a companion to Han Solo.-Inspiration:...
co-pilot Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
(Brian
Brian Griffin
Brian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
), who agree to take them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon
Millennium Falcon
The Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca...
. The group is spotted by stormtroopers and flees into space, evading pursuing Star Destroyers before jumping into hyperspace
Hyperspace (science fiction)
Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device...
, traveling through the time vortex
Time vortex (Doctor Who)
In the science fiction television series Doctor Who, the time vortex is the medium that the TARDIS and other time machines travel through...
tunnel from the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
opening of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. Leia is imprisoned on the Death Star, where commanding officer Grand Moff Tarkin
Grand Moff Tarkin
Governor Wilhuff Tarkin or Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing as the main antagonist of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, played by British actor Peter Cushing. A younger version of the character makes a brief cameo in the prequel film Star Wars...
(Mayor Adam West
Adam West (Family Guy)
Adam West, also known as Mayor West, is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. The character, voiced by the actor of the same name, is the eccentric mayor of the town of Quahog, Rhode Island, where the series is set.-Character:...
) has Alderaan destroyed to test the space station's "planet blower-upper gun
Planet killer
In science fiction, a planet killer, planet buster, or similar variations on that meaning, is a fictional object or device capable of either destroying an entire planet or otherwise rendering it uninhabitable - a variety of a doomsday device....
".
The Millennium Falcon exits hyperspace into the middle of an Asteroid field where Alderaan once was. The ship is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. Disguising themselves as stormtroopers, Han and Luke set off to rescue the captive Princess while Obi-Wan goes to shut off the tractor beam, after a rendition of The Time of my Life by David Cook
The Time of My Life (David Cook song)
"The Time of My Life" is the coronation song and the debut single for the winner of the seventh season of American Idol, David Cook.-Background:...
. Han, Luke and Chewie rescue Leia, and the four dive into a garbage chute to escape stormtroopers. Ending up in a garbage compactor with a skulking dianoga (Meg
Meg Griffin
Meg Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is the eldest child of Lois and Peter and elder sister of Chris and Stewie. Meg is considered as the black sheep of the series due to the lack of attention she receives....
) in the murky water, they are nearly crushed until C-3PO gets high off marijuana R2-D2 gave him earlier and leans against the off switch. As they flee the Death Star, Han and Chewie insist on taking a couch they found in the garbage. Obi-Wan turns off the tractor beam before being confronted by Darth Vader in a lightsaber duel; Obi-Wan's blade falls limp
Erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual performance....
until he sees Luke. Vader strikes Obi-Wan down as the others board the Falcon, taking the couch with them.
Warding off a group of "Thai Fighters
TIE fighter
TIE fighters are fictional starfighters in the Star Wars universe. Propelled by Twin Ion Engines , TIE fighters are depicted as fast, fragile starfighters produced by Sienar Fleet Systems for the Galactic Empire...
" sent to stop them (with a good luck wish from Leslie Nielsen
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
), the Falcon journeys to the Rebel base at Yavin IV where the Death Star plans are analyzed by the Rebels and a weakness is found. The attack requires a pilot to skim along a trench in a one-man starfighter to attack an exhaust port added for aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
; they watch an instructional video featuring Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers...
that explains the strategy. Luke joins the assault team while Han collects his reward for the rescue (a gift basket with meager prizes) and leaves. The Rebel fighters suffer heavy losses during the assault. During his run, Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice telling him to use the Force, and he turns off his targeting computer. Vader appears with his own group of fighters, and is about to fire at Luke's ship when Han arrives in the Millennium Falcon and attacks Vader and his wingmen, sending Vader's ship careening off into space. Guided by the Force, Luke fires into the port, destroying the Death Star, and he returns to the Rebel base with his friends to celebrate their victory.
As Peter wraps up the story the power comes back on. Everyone thanks Peter for keeping them entertained, though Chris points out that Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
already did the same thing three months earlier. A discussion follows in which Peter denigrates that show as Chris defends it. Chris leaves the room in frustration as Peter hums part of the Star Wars end credits music.
Production
At the 2007 Comic ConComic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
, a series of clips was shown at a panel for Family Guy from the season premiere episode, showing the Family Guy characters as Star Wars characters. The episode aired on September 23, 2007, with some slight changes from the clips shown at Comic Con. Parts of this episode were shown at Star Wars Celebration
Star Wars Celebration
Star Wars Celebration is a fan gathering to celebrate the release of a Star Wars franchise movie. It all began in 1999, when Lucasfilm held the Star Wars Celebration in Denver, Colorado to celebrate the upcoming release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace...
IV, at which Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
, a Star Wars fan since childhood, was a special guest, and again at Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
2007. The episode was officially endorsed by Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Limited is an American film production company founded by George Lucas in 1971, based in San Francisco, California. Lucas is the company's current chairman and CEO, and Micheline Chau is the president and COO....
, especially George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
, who revealed in his conversation with MacFarlane that he has TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
ed every single episode of Family Guy without having to buy the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s and, apart from Jackass
Jackass (TV series)
jackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
, it is the only show he watches. MacFarlane said they were extremely helpful when the Family Guy crew wanted to parody their works.
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
makes a cameo as a conservative Tatooine
Tatooine
Tatooine is a fictional planet and setting for many key scenes in the Star Wars saga, appearing in every Star Wars film except The Empire Strikes Back, although it is mentioned at the end of the movie...
radio commentator. Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
and Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
reprise their roles from National Lampoon's Vacation
National Lampoon's Vacation
Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...
as Clark
National Lampoon's Vacation (film series)
National Lampoon's Vacation is a series of comedy films that were originally inspired by National Lampoon magazine. The series primarily features the misadventures of the Griswold family, whose attempts to enjoy vacations and holidays are plagued with continual disasters and strangely ridiculous...
and Ellen Griswold. Mick Hucknall
Mick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
of Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
and Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
also provide their own voices. In the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release, Judd Nelson
Judd Nelson
Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
reprises his role from The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen drama film written and directed by John Hughes. The storyline follows five teenagers as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes.-Plot:The plot follows five students at...
as John Bender during the Rebels
Rebel Alliance
The Alliance to Restore the Republic is an interstellar faction of the fictional universe of Star Wars....
' briefing.
Reception
Reviews of this episode were generally positive. Critically, the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
's Frazier Moore
Frazier Moore
Frazier Moore, Jr. is a television critic for the Associated Press.-Background:Moore was born in Atlanta to El'Eckler Ussery Moore and Frazier Moore, Sr., a professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Georgia. Moore grew up in Athens, Georgia, and attended the University of...
called it "a dead-on homage that hilariously picks apart Star Wars, along with much of real life". Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
s Diane Werts rendered a more mixed verdict, saying the episode "veer[s] wildly from bull's-eye satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
to gotta-fill-time-now exposition", and was not as enjoyable for non-Star Wars fans. Jon Caraminica of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
felt it worked by playing to the show's strength, its cutaway gags, by being "almost entirely an aside". He wondered if the Robot Chicken conversation at the end was "a note of self-doubt, maybe, masking as self-awareness." The Parents Television Council
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
, a group that has frequently criticized Family Guy, criticized the episode for sexual dialogue that it perceived to be frequent in the episode, enough for the episode to have an "S" content descriptor for sexual content; the episode was rated TV-14-DLV on Fox.
This episode was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour Or More), but lost to rival South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
s "Imaginationland
Imaginationland
"Imaginationland" is a three-part episode of the American animated television series South Park.*Episode I*Episode II*Episode III...
". It won a Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Presentation on Television.
Sequels and DVD release
With the episode's ratings success, a sequel episode entitled "Something, Something, Something, Dark SideSomething, Something, Something, Dark Side
"Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" is the season finale of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy and part of the series's trilogy Laugh It Up, Fuzzball. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on May 23, 2010...
" was put into production, and parodies The Empire Strikes Back. It was released on December 22, 2009. On May 22, 2011 a Return of the Jedi parody was aired on Fox in the United States. It is titled "It's a Trap!", which is a reference to a line from the movie when the rebel fleet above Endor is attacked by Imperial forces.
The Fox Network has released a special DVD of "Blue Harvest" on January 15, 2008 in both regular and special editions. Extras include about four minutes of exclusive DVD material, an uncensored audio track, animatics and commentary by the Family Guy staff, interviews with Seth MacFarlane and George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
, a sneak preview to "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side" and a table read of dialogue from the episode. In addition, the special edition release will come exclusively with collectible packaging, a 3-D battle scene and glasses, a themed T-shirt, Size XL, trading cards, and brochure which will contain a letter from MacFarlane, script excerpts, pictures and so on. An official website for the DVD has been made with DVD info, games, clips, behind the scenes and more.
The episode was later re-released on Blu-ray, on December 21, 2010, as part of the Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy Blu-ray set. It is not available separately. Although the episode is presented in 1080p, it is actually just upscaled SD.