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Family Guy Season 6 Premier – Review

Family Guy - Blue Harvest
Let met start by saying that if you are a Star Wars fan, you must watch this episode before you can possibly see any spoilers. If you missed the premier, there are links all over on YouTube, or maybe a friend recorded it on their DVR. Just find a way to watch it, then come back and read this review.

First off, the premise for the episode is that power is lost at the Griffin household and Peter must entertain his family with the story of Star Wars. The opening was pretty funny, but the Bush/Cheney bumper sticker on the back of the Star Destroyer really sets the mood for the rest of the episode. The parallels drawn between the oppressive Empire and United States are pretty obvious.

There are really three types of jokes in this episode: 1) dirty jokes, 2) political jokes, and 3) those aimed at inconsistencies in Star Wars. I think that in the end the cheap shots at Star Wars end up being the funniest. My favorite is the bureaucratic approach to exhaust port flaw in the Death Star. Part of the fun in this episode is discovering which character is playing what Star Wars role, assuming you haven’t watched the previews or looked at the posters. Herbert is probably the most obvious foil for Obi-Wan.

Of course the cheap shots aren’t all aimed at Star Wars, as at the conclusion the Family Guy writers criticize themselves for stealing the idea of a special episode from Robot Chicken (which clips can be viewed at Adult Swim). I think that both episodes are hilarious, but come from two totally different angles. The Adult Swim episode is more like a series of skits which cover a variety of scenes from the various Star Wars movies while the Family Guy premier Dark Harvest covers one whole movie from start to finish.

I was amazed at how much content of the movie made it into the approximate 45 minute run time of the episode, 60 minutes if you count commercials. I am not sure if I have just watched Star Wars too many times or not, because it seemed like they covered almost all of the important scenes. Also, the jokes are funny enough laugh at for at least a second time, as I watched this episode again with a friend a few days later and enjoyed myself. So, if you haven’t seen the episode yet, find a way to watch it or else you are missing out on tons of laughs.

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Don’t miss the Family Guy Season 6 PremierDon’t miss the Family Guy Season 6 Premier

Titled “Blue Harvest”, this season premier will be a spoof of Star Wars, my favorite movie series. I normally do reviews after the fact, but I wanted to give everyone an heads-up to check it out when it arrives on Sunday Sept 23, at 9/8c. I can’t wait to see it, and will review it in a follow up post. Check out the movie poster.

Family Guy - Blue Harvest

There is a preview of the first 10 minutes out on YouTube, but it is a poor quality Cam version, I’d suggest just waiting until it comes out and watch the whole thing on TV. If you didn’t already know, Family Guy has made many references to Star Wars in the past. As far as I know this is the first episode dedicated to Star Wars. Essentially it will cover Episode IV: A New Hope. Check out the following 9 scenes out on YouTube as a warm-up. These aren’t all of them though. –update– The video is no longer available, probably thanks to a Fox take down notice.

–update–
I’ve finally made time to write out my review for this episode, check it out under my TV section or the direct link here.

The Lunch LadyThe Lunch Lady

In a completely off topic transition from Sci-Fi, I felt compelled to share this following telephone answering machine message. My wife sent me a quick IM telling me I needed to call this # (I don’t list it here) and “just listen to it.” Apparently this lady is quite eccentric, which I can’t do any justice by trying to describe her. She starts off by reading off a menu with food on it then digresses into song, then wishes everyone safe travels. That sounds normal enough, right?

Here’s The Lunch Lady telephone message. If you like the Lunch Lady, you can visit her official site, The Lunch Lady Fan Club.

Mazes and Monsters is a far-out gameMazes and Monsters is a far-out game

Book Cover

A couple days ago I was able to visit with some friends I haven’t seen in a few years. After one of them cracked open a bottle of wine, we eventually ended up talking about gaming. One thing led to another and one of my friends asked, “Have any of you heard of Mazes and Monsters?” In mere moments we were watching one of the most horrible acting performances I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure if I should be shocked or amazed. In retrospect, the alcohol definitely enhanced the experience. We ended up adding our own commentary, MST3K style. About half way through I regretted that we didn’t start recording our comments to dub in later on. My friend actually had the recording equipment to do it too.

The movie starts out with a scene with a bunch of police cars and fire trucks responding to a missing persons report. A university student got lost in some caverns in a game of Mazes and Monsters that got out of hand. I was battling with trying to figure out if this was supposed to be some type of spoof or just an anti Dungeons and Dragons flick. After watching it all, despite how close it comes to seeming like parody, I think they were actually serious. In the midst of all the no-name actors this guy by the name of Tom Hanks shows up in one of his first roles. I’m sure if you ask him about it today, he’ll try to deny any involvement with this feature.

I’m pretty sure that anyone that has played classic DnD would be amused by this movie. Just watch it with a few friends over a few drinks, and I am sure everyone will have a blast. Here is a clip, it doesn’t contain any real spoilers.