TVSquad

Family Guy's Star Wars parody, Blue Harvest, was arguably the most popular and influential event episode in the show's history. So, the bar is set high for Seth MacFarlane's Empire Strikes Back send-up, Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside.

According to Fox's news release on the upcoming DVD, the plot sticks to the same lines as Empire: "Darth Vader (Stewie) is hunting the rebel Luke Skywalker (Chris) and his troops relentlessly across the galaxy."

"On the ice planet Hoth, Luke has a vision of his late mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Herbert), telling him to go to the Dagobah system to learn the ways of the Force under Jedi Master Yoda (Carl). Meanwhile Princess Leia (Lois) finds herself taking a shine to the scruffy pilot Han Solo (Peter) and, against all odds, the two soon fall in love. But an encounter with Han's old friend Lando Calrissian (Mort) lands them in the clutches of the Empire. Envisioning this, Luke chooses to forgo his Jedi training to save his friends. It all comes to a head in a climactic confrontation with Darth Vader himself."

Along the way, it's safe to predict that there will be a ton of digression gags, occasional toilet humor, practically no sign of Meg Griffin, and a song or two. And it should prove an affectionate parody, as all parties involve seem to share a love for the source material.

The 44-minute run-time is ambitious for a single plot TV episode -- even if it is straight to disc. The DVD streets on December 22 for $22.98.