I have never seen anything like the two-part STAR WARS spoof that FAMILY GUY trotted out for its latest season premier. If this show wasn't light-years ahead of THE SIMPSONS already, it surely was with this incredible saga. I cannot imagine how many weeks or months went into piecing this mini-epic together. The plot has FAMILY GUY patriarch Peter Griffin (voiced by show creator Seth McFarlane) telling his family a variation on the original Star Wars story with himself as Han Solo and everyone he knows standing in for the other characters. His wife, for instance, is Princess Leia, and their dog is Chewbaca. Baby Stewie is Darth Vader, of all people. Keep in mind FAMILY GUY is a Fox show, and 20th Century Fox owns the STAR WARS movies, so McFarlane was able to avail himself of music, sound effects and images from the original STAR WARS movie. The seamless integration of these authentic STAR WARS bits in this cartoon turns this two-parter from an ordinary TV cartoon into something else entirely. If you haven't seen this, make sure you watch for it. It marks a turning point in the history of TV cartooning. Obviously, subsequent episodes will never be able to live up to it, but they need not. I think McFarlane wanted to kick THE SIMPSONS' ass for the season starter. If you saw the season starter for THE SIMPSONS, I am sure you will agree. A sidenote: When Peter has finished spinning his STAR WARS yarn, he and son Chris, voiced by the highly versatile Seth Green, argue briefly but sharply about a Cartoon Network show called ROBOT CHICKEN. Chris, who loves the show, points out ROBOT CHICKEN did a spoof of STAR WARS long before FAMILY GUY's version, while Peter disdains and dismisses and insults ROBOT CHICKEN. Green is the creator of ROBOT CHICKEN. Talk about an inside joke. Maybe the greatest inside joke ever perpetuated. What a perfect ending to a perfect yarn.

In Britain this two-part Family Guy special, celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the first in the Star Wars Trilogy, was released separately (not in a season box set),and what a special it is. When the TV stops working, the Griffin family: Lois (Alex Borstein),Stewie (MacFarlane),Chris (Seth Green) and Meg (Mila Kunis); listen to Peter (Seth MacFarlane) tell the story of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and this is when the story sees the fantastic spoof of the first great movie. You probably know the story: R2-D2 (Cleveland, voiced by Mike Henry) and C-3PO (Quagmire, voiced by MacFarlane) escape an attacked ship. Princess Leia (Lois) is kidnapped by Darth Vader (Stewie) and Governor Tarkin (Adam West). Luke Skywalker (Chris) dreams of leaving home, and when his Uncle Owen (Lois's dad, voiced by MacFarlane) and Aunt Beru (Lois's mum, voiced by Borstein) are killed by stormtroopers, Obi-Won Kenobi (Herbert the old paedophile, voiced by Henry) takes him to become a Jedi, and get off the planet with the help of Han Solo (Peter) and Chewbacca (Brian, voiced by MacFarlane) in the Millennium Falcon. Obviously they go on the Death Star, Obi-Won is killed by Vader, and the Rebels get together against the Empire to destroy the space station. Oh, and Meg by the way is the creature in the garbage shoot. Phew! Also starring MacFarlane as Tom Tucker, Lori Alan as Diane Simmons, Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold, Mick Hucknall, Phil LaMarr as Ollie Williams and Patrick Warburton as Joe Swanson. For anyone that doesn't know (apart from maybe the mega Star Wars fanatics),Blue Harvest was the fake working title for Return of the Jedi. The jokes, including a mock of Dirty Dancing's "I've Had the Time of My Life", the music of John Williams (and Danny Elfman),quotes in the film, and some cool animated effects, this is an essential spoof for any fan of Star Wars and/or Family Guy. Very good!

i thought this was a very funny and clever parody of the first Star Wars film.it's basically the characters from Family guy portraying the characters from the film.there are some inspired choices in which characters portray who.some of the lines are very funny.everything is very fast paced.it stays pretty true to the original film,while adding it's own unique spin.the DVD running time is listed as 48 minutes(it's actually a bit longer than that)so it's obviously condensed.anyway,i laughed a lot.as an aside,i noticed this particular episode seems toned down in term of pushing the envelope,at least compared to other episodes of Family Guy i have seen.maybe it's just my imagination,but,it doesn't seem as sick and twisted or perverse,though there is still some of that element.and yet it's still riotously funny.th version i watched is from Laugh it up Fuzzball:The Family Guy Trilogy collection which contains all three parodies of the first three original Star Wars films.for me Family Guy:Blue Harvest is an 8/10