Two years ago when the folks over at Family Guy decided to take pop culture riffing to a whole new level for the Season 7 finale, they produced "Blue Harvest", a surprisingly clever, loving parody of Star Wars. From its closing moments it was apparent that a sequel would be inevitable. "Something Something Something Dark Side", the hour-long episode riffing on The Empire Strikes Back was originally supposed to air in 2008, but it got pushed back until just a couple days ago when it was released on DVD. So, how did this parody fair both on its own and compared to "Blue Harvest"?

Right off the bat, easily the most impressive part of "Dark Side" is how faithfully it recreates the visuals and tiny, forgettable moments of Empire. For the most part I don't even think that much detail is necessary, but it certainly does lend some credibility to the entire project. Everything from TIE fighter formations to tossed-off bits of dialogue go exactly according to the original footage, elevating what can only be a hopelessly indulgent project to the pop culture love letter it intends to be.

By the same token, a lot of the humor in "Dark Side" comes from lingering on a lot of those details to bring out some of their inherent absurdity. The characters regularly break the fourth wall to point out one of George Lucas's many glaring plot holes or to address some annoying character elements from a fresh angle. One of the great running jokes in the episode is that Princess Leah spends the better part of The Empire Strikes Back being a nag with too many weird hair styles.

The other main running gag in "Dark Side" is the idea of the Empire as a lame, giant corporation. Stewie/Vader spends most of his time being everybody's square middle manager and there's even a cheesy recruitment video.

Not all of the jokes in the episode work, though. The biggest waste is the frat boy Yoda. Of all the Family Guy characters they could have used to fill that slot, they go for an utterly forgettable one that was never very funny to begin with, then they drag out the bit as if it'll somehow become amusing with enough repetition. The same can be said for most of the AT-AT jokes in the Hoth Battle sequence. Short of one surprisingly edgy pregnancy bit, it feels like we're watching the second-string ideas from the writer's room.

But this is really the case with any episode of Family Guy. The jokes are always hit-or-miss, which is why the show throws so many at its viewers from as many different angles as possible. While I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the FG crew to condense as much A-material as possible for such a hyped-up event, there's really nothing in the show's past to suggest that the writers have a strong enough grasp of what's funny to make the whole project gold.

How much you enjoy "Something Something Something Dark Side" will depend on how much you enjoy Star Wars. It doesn't really stand up to best of Family Guy and it spends more time on fan service than on immediately funny gags. As with "Blue Harvest", it's still admirable how effectively it tells the same story as the movie it parodies in roughly half the time. The final installment of the original trilogy will certainly receive the same treatment. "We Have A Bad Feeling About This", the Return of the Jedi parody, has already been scripted and will probably launch this time next year.