Hey, all you Griffinites out there! I just wanted to remind you that the Family Guy tribute to Star Wars, in reality the sixth season premiere, airs tonight at 9 pm. Yes, I'm just as surprised as you that this show, as well as The Simpsons and King of the Hill, are actually airing during the official fall premiere week. Due to previous seasons chocked with baseball, football and American Idol's Tribute to Randy Johnson's Toenails, we usually didn't get to see the season premieres of these shows until election time. Maybe someone over at FOX finally has their head screwed on correctly.

I had a chance to review the episode ahead of time (you'll see my 'very special' post on it this evening) and all I have to say is this: if you like movie spoofs like Airplane and Spaceballs you'll like this Family Guy episode. While it actually sticks to the plot of Star Wars quite well, there are enough silly jokes in there to make the show quite enjoyable. Plus, it's interesting to see how each of the members of the Family Griffin are cast into Star Wars roles.

To whet your appetite, here are a few Star Wars references that were made in previous Family Guy episodes. I like the first one the best: it parodies the ending of the first film. The second one has Luke Skywalker getting a talking to by another X-Wing pilot after bragging about his ability to hit womprats that are two meters in size. What a show-off!

UPDATE: Upon further research Family Guy has aired during September over the last two seasons. Same goes for The Simpsons. I had forgotten that a few episodes aired before taking a break before the World Series. The only one that has had a flexible schedule has been King of the Hill. This is the first season in two years that the premiere of this show has been in September.