We begin a new segment on Podcast Stardust discussing some of the best parodies of Star Wars. This episode features the 1978 short film Hardware Wars.
Star Wars has a long tradition of being parodied. Space Balls, Saturday Night Live, Robot Chicken, and others have famously parodied the galaxy far, far away over the years. With this episode of Podcast Stardust, we are celebrating the parodies by introducing a new segment: “Laugh It Up, Fuzzball.” With this semi-regular series, we are looking back at the Star Wars parodies from over the years. We’ll discuss their history, what made them funny, our favorite moments, what they tell us about Star Wars, and what influence, if any, they had going forward.
In this edition of “Laugh It Up, Fuzzball,” we are going back to the original Star Wars parody to discuss Hardware Wars. This 1978 parody was a low budget production that employed everyday props from the kitchen and the hardware store to recreate many of the special effects from Star Wars. Told in the format of a theatrical movie trailer, Hardware Wars lovingly recreates Star Wars while poking light fun at the movie that kicked off the franchise.
You can find Hardware Wars on YouTube here.
In this fully armed and operational episode of Podcast Stardust, we discuss:
- What “Laugh It Up, Fuzzball” is about and why we started this new segment,
- The history of Hardware Wars,
- The format of this parody as a mock movie trailer,
- The success of Hardware Wars,
- Paul Fress, the narrator,
- The cast of Hardware Wars,
- Many of the props of this mock trailer,
- Our favorite moments and jokes, and
- The influence Hardware Wars had going forward.
Thanks for joining us for another episode. Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and spread the word to all of your Star Wars friends. May the Force be with you!
Don’t forget to check out our last episode featuring our discussion of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in episode 852.
Contact the Hosts
Dennis Keithly can be followed @DJKver2 and Jay Krebs is @JoyceKrebs.
Follow Jay’s cosplay adventures at J.Snips Cosplay on Instagram.
Find all of our episodes and Jay’s unboxing videos on YouTube.
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Podcast Stardust is the fully armed and operational podcast inspired by the code name for the Death Star. Hosted by first-generation Star Wars fans, Dennis Keithly and Jay Krebs, Podcast Stardust endeavors to bring thought provoking discussion on recent Star Wars news on a weekly basis. Between news episodes, Dennis and Jay review the latest episodes from Star Wars television covering everything from Resistance, Rebels, and The Clone Wars to The Mandalorian and other live action productions on Disney+. Of course, Podcast Stardust wouldn’t be complete without thematic discussions, top ten lists, and interviews on everything from Star Wars literature, comics, and the films themselves.