Laugh it Up Fuzzball: Review by Alex J. Cavanaugh

The Family Guy Trilogy boxed set

Created by Seth MacFarlane, The Family Guy TV series spoofs the Star Wars saga. Endorsed by George Lucas, this boxed set features all three short films and many extras. Both the final installment, It’s A Trap, and the boxed set were released on December 21, 2010.

Blue Harvest (Star Wars) Running time: 48 min.

The idea of a Star Wars spoof began with Robot Chicken before MacFarlane decided to let the Family Guy clan tackle the movie. Blue Harvest, the real ‘”fake” working title of Empire Strikes Back, goes after Star Wars with a vengeance. Son Chris is Skywalker, Peter plays Han Solo, Lois is Princess Leia, Brian the dog is Chewbacca, and Stewie is Lord Vader. (As a running joke, Meg has a brief, non-speaking creature role in all three films.) There’s numerous guest voices, including Leslie Nielson and a slew of Airplane jokes. MacFarlane kept a lot of the original dialog for this first installment, playing it safe. One of the best Family Guy lines comes after Leia asks Luke if he’s not a little fat for a Storm Trooper - “Stay here and rot, you stuck up ___!” Overall, Blue Harvest kicks off the series well.

Something Something Something Dark Side (The Empire Strikes Back) Running time: 54 min.

Empire is the best movie of the original trilogy, and its spoof follows suit. With the formula established, MacFarlane really lets loose the humor and more liberties are taken. There’s dozens of memorable lines and the best one comes just before Solo is frozen. (Since the trilogy is unrated, that line cannot be repeated here!) This episode features some live-action shots, including Dolph’s training scene from Rocky IV. Consuela the maid makes an appearance on the Death Star, informing Vadar he needs Windex. Yoda plays it straight while the crew of the Death Star… not so straight. And Solo requests a new call name - Carlos Spicy Weiner. (Really - I can’t make this stuff up!) The best of the three, it’s worth the price of the boxed set alone.

It’s A Trap (Return of the Jedi)
Running time: 57 min.

In the beginning scrolling text, MacFarlane admits the studio forced them to do a third movie. It shows - the engine is finally running out of steam. It’s A Trap also boasts the longest running time, which does not work well in its favor. It does contain some funny moments, though. Consuela is back, claiming Jabba the Hutt is not home. When an Ewok is killed, his friend nudges him sadly and then commencing to chewing on his arm. This installment does rely heavily on foul language and contains the fewest guest appearances. Rush Limbaugh returns for a third time and Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn appear as their Star Trek characters. While it’s the least effective of the series, It’s A Trap does wrap up the Star Wars sage nicely.



If you’re not a fan of Family Guy, this trilogy will NOT change your mind! There’s a fine line between humorous and offensive, and Family Guy gleefully jumps over that line at every chance. (On the plus side, it’s an equal opportunity offender.)

However if you do enjoy crude humor, this boxed set will induce many laughs. If you’re a fan of the show, Laugh It Up Fuzzball is a must-own!

Own this box set? What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below!

This review was brought to you by Alex J. Cavanaugh exclusively as part of a guest writer post for TheMovie411. Alex is the author of popular novel CassaStar and winner of Best Sci-Fi blog 2010 in TheMovie411 Blog Awards- Thank you Alex for this review!