Thursday, July 16, 2009

Top Ten Star Wars References on TV


Okay, let's do this list properly. Since I haven't put together a long Top Ten list in a while, and because I couldn't stop thinking of other TV Star Wars references, I have to expand upon my previous post. Let's not forget that Star Wars already has it's own cartoon, but it sucks so much bantha poodoo that I will not be showcasing it here.

Even though George Lucas is intent on putting a live-action Star Wars show on the air, he's a little late to the party. For this edition of Rerun Season, we're going to take a brief look at some of the shows that have used Star Wars for humor.

BONUS CLIP: I debated whether or not to slide this in at number 10, but you have to admire Scrubs' effort to go all out with costumes, so this gets bumped into the honorable mentions category.



10. SCRUBS


It's a pretty watered down Star Wars reference that anyone would get, but I like it because they go all out with costumes AND even though Turk is black, he passes on Lando and plays Han Solo instead.





9. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Even though this is a parody of the Star Wars kid, I'll let it slide because I, too, once pretended to duel with lightsabers (we used a mop as Darth Maul's doubled bladed saber and ski poles as regular light sabers).





8. SOUTH PARK

At last, something good has resulted from that dreadful Vader scene...





7. BIG BANG THEORY


It's amazing that, out of all the random Star Wars characters, Admiral Ackbar is among the most popular side characters. Frankly, I can't quite figure out what sort of battle commander would jump out of hyperspace RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE ENEMY!!! Maybe if they had stopped out of range of the Death Star, they could send in recon and figure out it's a trap. Great strategy, Ackbar.




6. FAMILY GUY


How the hell did Family Guy get an Emmy Nom for Best Comedy before much better cartoons like The Simpsons, South Park, and Futurama? It hasn't been funny in a long long time, but the voters will shower it with praise like the equally overrated 30 Rock. ugh... Anyway, they did a complete show built around Star Wars, and I love this clip just because Peter is singing the battle music. Also, for anyone who cares, they are called TIE Fighters because they are powered by Twin Ion Engines (and no, I didn't have to look that up.)




5. THE SIMPSONS


An impressively choreographed fight sequence from an episode I've never seen, this clip earns high marks for the name of the factory.






4. THE OFFICE


It's Halloween at Dunder Mifflin, and Dwight must feel like many other nerds out there who deal with people that just don't understand Star Wars. Also, Jim's costume is retarded.





3. L O S T


I'll leave it to Doc Jensen to figure out the meaning and symbolism behind the mythological connections in Star Wars and LOST. For this post, we only care about the jokes. In 'Some Like it Hoth,' Hurley attempts to improve upon Episode II by giving Chewbacca a more important role. I still don't know if this scene is one of the best or worst things in the history of LOST.




2. FRIENDS


Do you ever wonder what happened to Carrie Fisher? Once upon a time, she was a stone cold fox in a slave bikini. Now she has a lesbian haircut and a voice that sounds like a mix between cigarette smoke and the flu. Nonetheless, an episode of Friends wisely pointed out that, for some guys, it's not about slutty nurses or schoolgirls.





1. ROBOT CHICKEN

No one will ever top the Robot Chicken Star Wars special. Ever. Family Guy thinks jokes about TIE Fighters are funny, while Robot Chicken considers more clever things like Palpatine's reaction to the destruction of the first Death Star. It's utterly brilliant. For more stuff, watch this clip, especially because it includes a hilarious Boba Fett skit. Or, if you want to kill even more time at work, watch the full first episode here. "YOUR TASTEBUDS CAN'T REPEL FLAVOR OF THAT MAGNITUDE!"


1 comment:

Dave said...

hurley wasn't writing for episode 2. it was movie 2, episode 5 oooooo

so long 'lost genius' too.