Today, in honor of Star Wars Day (“May the 4th be with you.”), we’ve gathered together 12 funny references to Star Wars from your favorite television shows. Read on to relive your favorite moments from the sci-fi franchise in parody form.
12. Scrubs
J.D.’s daydreams often takes his audience to strange worlds and weird fantasies. But this time we’re treated to a Scrubs version of Star Wars where the Janitor is a Wookie and battles are fought with laser pens. And, gasp, it’s a world where Turk has hair.
11. Robot Chicken
This stop-motion, sketch comedy show from Adult Swim, does a wonderful job depicting its take on Star Wars. In this scene, Emperor Palpatine is a particularly mean boss to Darth Vader. This sketch allows viewers to peek into a particularly funny business meeting with the emperor, and paints Darth Vader as just another pathetic bumbling employee.
10. Pinky and the Brain “Star Warners”
The entire episode takes Pinky and the Brain’s traditional quest for world-domination and expands it to the universe in this Star Wars parody. The best part? Almost every character from Animaniacs is involved. You can watch the whole episode below.
9. Coupling
“Never! You killed my erection!”
“No, Patrick. I am your erection.”
The popular Brit-com takes a fairly well-known male sexual issue and compares it to battling Darth Vader.
8. The Simpsons:
There’s a intense, allergen-ridden fight scene between Principal Skinner and Bart. The reference comes in when the entire scene is scored with music from Star Wars and the their stick/sword-fight resembles the use of light sabers.
7. That 70s Show: “A New Hope” Episode
The entire episode is centered around a viewing of Star Wars by the main male characters of the cast. Eric Foreman, the main character even has a dream sequence about the movie, in which he is Luke Skywalker and his love interest, Donna, is Princess Leia.
6. Futurama
“What the Hoth?”
It’s not just a Star Wars-style battle. It’s also a parody of Civil War reenactments. Because in the Futurama universe, Sith invasions are actually a part of human history.
5. Friends: Ross’ Princess Leia Fantasy
Talking about sexual fantasies with a significant other is awkward enough without bringing up the iconic sci-fi film. But when Ross mentions his Princess Leia/gold bikini fantasy and Rachel actually tries to act it out for him, things take an unexpected turn for the worse. But don’t worry Rachel, we promise: it wasn’t your buns.
4. Family Guy: Darth Stewie Talks Real Estate
Some of the best television references to Star Wars take an iconic character from the franchise and put them in everyday situations. In the following clip from Family Guy’s multi-part Star Wars parody, Stewie/Darth Vader talks with his staff about the re-sale value of the Death Star in the Los Angeles real estate market. Oh also, there’s even some telekinetic choking when Stewie/Darth Vader is displeased.
3. Arrested Development: George Michael and Buster Reenact Fight Scenes From Star Wars
Arrested Development’s fourth season is coming up soon (May 26!) and before you binge-watch the entire series on Netflix, you need to know about AD’s own tribute to Star Wars. While it’s almost a given that someone as geeky and as young as George Michael would film himself reenacting scenes from Star Wars, soon after his embarrassing footage, AD still manages to surprise its fans with another wonderful comedic gift: Buster’s reenactment of the franchise. Enjoy.
2. South Park: The “Starvin’ Marvin in Space” Episode
This episode from season three of Comedy Central’s widely-successful animated series, features a number of references to Star Wars, including a funny depiction of actress Sally Struthers as a Jabba the Hut-like villain. But there was one reference that took the Star Wars Day, Millennium Falcon-shaped cake: those bastards didn’t just kill Kenny, they froze him in carbonite. Just like Han Solo.
1. 30 Rock: Liz Lemon and Jury Duty
What does it really take to get out jury duty? We still don’t know. In this episode, Liz attempts to turn her obsessive love for Star Wars into a viable way out of jury duty only to find out that her brand of quirky-sci-fi nerd is no match for the other levels of weird lurking in New York City. Dressing up as Princess Leia, waving around back-issues of 80s-era Playgirl and telling judges that you’re merely a hologram just isn’t enough anymore.