With a globally recognized product like Star Wars, anyone and everyone can get in on making references and get some easy points. So instantly iconic, every generation has their own version of their Star Wars, and many have successfully parodied it too.
Sharing the same Jim Henson DNA, it could be argued that Star Wars first became something to laugh at via Luke, Leia, and the gang making guest appearances with The Muppets, and by the time George Lucas' prequel series came about, there was a whole host of duff lines and weak performances that were more than easy to mock. Strap yourself in and hit the hyperdrive on the best Star Wars parodies across the galaxy.
9 Fanboys (2009)
As mega fans of the Star Wars film series, a group of pals embark on a mission to steal a rough cut of the upcoming Phantom Menace motion picture as one final hurrah before their friend dies of cancer and misses the film's release. Fanboys, starring Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, and Seth Rogen, isn't a particularly good film, but it captures a moment of such specific fan hype and anticipation very nicely before the credits roll.
8 The Simpsons
The Simpsons could regularly dip in and out of Star Wars references wherever and whenever they liked (doubly so as they are both owned by 20th Century Fox, then Disney). As a result, it's not easy to pick just one moment. Ranking very high is Homer on his way out of Empire Strikes Back, spoiling the twist for everyone in line, and then telling Marge that she's "as pretty as Princess Leia and as smart as Yoda," or Mark Hamill urging Homer to "use the forks" in a knife fight as the Mayor's security. Our pick, though, is the simple John Williams Imperial March soundtrack cut that greets Mr. Burns as he inspects his employees.
7 Spaced
In the show which made Edgar Wright, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg famous, Tim (Pegg) is the Star Wars uber fan. With a job in a comic book store, he actively shouts at children and burns all of his Star Wars stuff on a pyre.
In a series where every other line was a subtle (or not so subtle) homage to a film or TV show, Star Wars ran deep in Spaced and the release of George Lucas' prequel trilogy hit Tim very hard. As far as obsession goes, even Spaced's DVD box art would closely resemble the Star Wars' own.
6 "Star Whores" (Zack and Miri Make a Porno)
In the highly underrated Zack & Miri Make a Porno, adult losers Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) decide to make an adult film to raise some cash, with the goal of selling it to their former high school peers. Referencing a globally beloved film like Star Wars, this is not a beat for beat remake … More a reimagining. Kind of like The Wiz. Former Clerks alumni Jeff Anderson and Jay Mewes return to Smith's canon here as cameraman and porn star respectively.
5 Undercover Boss, Starkiller Base (SNL)
Arguably the best thing to come out of the newest trilogy, Adam Driver reprises his Kylo Ren character for a deceptively high budget reimagining of Undercover Boss in this Saturday Night Live skit. Watching Driver's monotonous, obvious delivery against his minions is hilarious as he moves about under the alias of Matt, the Radar Technician. In a backwards tipping of the cap to one another, the series Star Wars Resistance featured the same costume that Driver wears when undercover, making the sketch somewhat canon in the Star Wars universe.
4 Robot Chicken: Star Wars (2007)
Having spoofed the Star Wars series throughout their run, a feature length special was dedicated entirely to Star Wars. For anyone who has seen Robot Chicken before, you know the score by now. Some bits hit, lots don't, but it is entirely reliant on the viewer to understand the pop culture in the first place for it to work.
In a very nice touch, this doesn't segregate the originals or prequels from one another, combining the lot without feeling at all jarring. Seeing the Palpatine escalator bit being re-enacted in real life at comic cons is a delight in dumb memes consuming themselves.
3 Spaceballs (1987)
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With Rick Moranis as a Darth Vader stand in, and John Candy in place of Chewie, this makes no bones about being a total and all-out spoof of the Star Wars films. Highlights are the fantastically grotesque Pizza the Hutt monster and John Hurt reprising his role from Alien for an all-singing, all-dancing Xenomorph. Generally weaker and having aged worse off than Mel Brooks' other films like The Producers and Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs still remains a cult classic in many of pockets of the universe.
2 Darth Vader Falls In Love (The Peter Serafinowicz Show)
In a severe crossing of HR guidance, Darth Vader falls for a co-worker in Commander Larkin (a pink armored version of himself, with breasts). Serafinowicz's (Shaun of the Dead) impression of the OG series Darth Vader is impeccable, and he's just brilliant when uttering lines like, "I'm fine, I, uh... just need to go to the toilet."
The most ironic thing about this spoof is that Serafinowicz himself voiced Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, making this his unofficial second outing in the series (third if you want to count his inclusion in Spaced). Rather like the SNL sketch, one can marvel at the production value and attention to detail here while laughing your ass off at dumb sight gags like Vader washing his masked face in the sink.
1 Blue Harvest Series (Family Guy)
Lampooning the trilogy with wonderful accuracy, Family Guy could have easily made some cringe-worthy, groan-inducing, copy-and-paste of a series then over 30 years old, but Blue Harvest and its follow-up feature-long episodes knocked it out of the park with their parodies.
Effortlessly transitioning the Spooner Street contingent into the shoes of the Star Wars main cast, this is a consistently hysterical trilogy from the Family Guy brand, and one of the funniest outings across the whole of the series. Creator and voice of Peter, Stewie and Brian, Seth MacFarlane now stars in his own quasi-Star Trek spoof, The Orville (which is genuinely better than any current Star Trek series).