Now hear this, all you “Star Wars” fans!
Listen up, all of you who think the “Star Wars” saga is a big, silly crock!
That covers nearly everyone, right? And none of you should think of missing this week’s “Family Guy,” the Fox cartoon satire that, in a special one-hour season premiere on Sunday, does a wickedly funny spoof of “Star Wars.”
Episode IV, of course.
In this retelling, portly patriarch Peter Griffin is transformed into Han Solo. Wife Lois is Princess Leia. Their tyrannical infant, Stewie, is Darth Vader. Dim-bulb teenage son Chris is Luke Skywalker, and suave family dog Brian is Chewbacca.
And it goes from there, in a dead-on homage that hilariously picks apart “Star Wars,” along with much of real life. And all in just 40 minutes, if you take your lightsaber and zap the commercials.
This special “Family Guy” airs at 9 p.m. But that’s not all the funny business on Fox Sunday night.
At 8 p.m., the 19th-season premiere of “The Simpsons” finds Homer learning how the other half lives, in the person of his wealthy, evil boss Mr. Burns, who treats him to a fancy trip on the corporate jet. This sends Homer into a tailspin. After such luxury, how can he accept going back to being poor?
Then, on “King of the Hill” at 8:30 p.m., Hank and his buddies take his son Bobby to a Texas-Nebraska college football game to formally indoctrinate him as a Longhorns fan. But Hank fumbles the ball.
Other shows to look out for:
Starz is introducing a series of original specials about people, trends and culture in movie entertainment. With film critic Richard Roeper as host, “Starz Inside” kicks off with “Fog City Mavericks: The Filmmakers of San Francisco,” which looks at biggies in the film biz who call the Bay Area home. They include George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Chris Columbus and producer Saul Zaentz, whose comments are intertwined with moments from some of their most memorable works. Future “Starz Inside” editions will focus on vampires in film and the worldwide success of anime. “Fog City Mavericks” premieres at 9 p.m. Monday.
A half-century ago, “Little Rock” became shorthand for both racism and the civil rights struggle. In September 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus defied the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education ruling and ordered the National Guard to bar nine black teenagers from Little Rock’s Central High School. President Dwight Eisenhower responded by sending troops to protect the students as they entered the building. It was a key event in the civil rights movement. But what about Central High today? To mark the 50th anniversary of its forced integration, Little Rock natives Brent and Craig Renaud provide a look at contemporary Central High students — black and white — in the documentary “Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later.” It premieres 8 p.m. Tuesday on HBO.
Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to join Martha Stewart for the full hour of her syndicated talk show on Wednesday. This edition of “The Martha Stewart Show” — with its special message that “everyone has something to give” — will be devoted to the start of a new “giving campaign” — a new initiative that’s in keeping with the theme of Clinton’s recent book, “Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.”
Get this party started with the party animals who populate “Back at the Barnyard,” a new CGI-animated series on Nickelodeon. Based on last year’s feature, “Barnyard,” the series takes place at a farm where animals make merry whenever the farmer’s back is turned. At the center of the shenanigans is fun-loving Otis, who’s surrounded by his best friend and fellow bovine, Bessy; Pip, a wisecracking mouse; and paranoid ferret Freddy. The show, created by Steve Oedekerk (“Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”), premieres at 9 p.m. Saturday. After that, it will air at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
