Fictional dysfunctional families make for better dramas, and they’re often the driving force behind spectacular comedies as well. So, why not combine them? This video of Star Wars narrated like Arrested Development will totally make you see both seri…
Fictional dysfunctional families make for better dramas, and they’re often the driving force behind spectacular comedies as well. So, why not combine them? This video of Star Wars narrated like Arrested Development will totally make you see both series in a new way. With Arrested Development Season 5 and Solo: A Star Wars Story just around the corner, the good folks at The Star Wars Show teamed up with Arrested Development narrator Ron Howard to celebrate the surprising ways the two series overlap. What followed was a trailer for the entire saga of Star Wars, edited together and narrated as if it were a regular episode of the Netflix sitcom. It’s a real treat for fans of both properties — and it’s not even a little bit cornball.
It’s literally a faithful recreation of the beginning of any episode of Arrested Development, but featuring characters from (and the plot of) Star Wars: A New Hope. That’s the first Star Wars, and the only film in the series affectionately known as plain old “Star Wars,” for those of you who are just newly embracing the nerd life.
Shoutout to Howard for straightforwardly narrating the bit as if it really were just another day of work on Arrested Development. The video is made all the more delightful by the fact that Star Wars was a recurring joke in the Arrested Development universe; both George-Michael Bluth and Buster Bluth displayed a fondness for recreating the “Star Wars Kid” lightsaber video when alone. (Hey, the show’s first run was from 2003-2006. Widely known cultural references were different then.)
The Star Wars trailer as narrated by Howard is immensely rewarding for megafans. To borrow a phrase, it has everything: the “Mr. F” gag with intergalactic bounty hunter Boba Fett, flashbacks that prove just how adept the cast is at lying, incestuous overtones, meta self-aware references (“Hey, that would make a great movie!”), Arrested Development ‘s catchy background music, and the show’s sound effects in general. It even weaves in less well-known jokes from the series, like the Pete Rose slide, and it’s even more perfect because of the whole Luke and Leia are twins thing. George Michael and Maeby are only first cousins, after all.
It’s impossible to choose one highlight from the incredible clip, but with a lightsaber to the head, it has to be the final moments of the trailer. As most know by now — and turn back if you’ve never seen Empire Strikes Back or any movie in the Star Wars universe that isn’t a prequel or A New Hope — Darth Vader cuts off Luke Skywalker’s hand. Something similar happens in Arrested Development, as the youngest Bluth sibling loses his hand to a loose seal. The phrase “loose seal” happens to rhyme with his overbearing mother’s name, Lucille, and his needy, elderly girlfriend, who is also named Lucille. As the overlapping jokes reach a crescendo, Howard’s narration leaves fans with one last perfect joke. Luke, screaming in agony over his father cutting off his hand, finally “learns a lesson”: That’s why you always leave a note. You didn’t think they’d forget a J. Walter Weatherman reference, did you?
Of course, this isn’t totally random. Howard might narrate (and produce and occasionally direct) Arrested Development, but that’s not all he’s up to these days. After a series of changes behind the scenes, Howard ultimately became the director for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Since the Star Wars spinoff arrives later in May, and a newly arranged season of Arrested Development drops on May 4, this Star Wars and Arrested Development blend is like the perfect cross-promotion for all things Howard.
All it needs is actor Bryce Dallas Howard — his daughter — to pop up and plug her role in this summer’s Jurassic World sequel for this to be a full-blown advertisement. Even if it is semi a commercial for Solo, it’s just so good. May the Force be with you.
