| It's a scene that the ranks of Star Wars faithful have | | | | past year, and this popularity has started - in its own |
| committed to memory: Luke Skywalker, cornered by | | | | creeping way - to transform the way people seek |
| a menacing Darth Vader, clings to a thin railing, | | | | out their entertainment. If Google's recent |
| hanging on for dear life - and the future of the | | | | one-billion-dollar purchase of Youtube wasn't proof |
| Rebellion - above a bottomless descent into the | | | | enough, then the internet itself offers plenty of |
| Cloud City. Vader delivers the familiar line, "No - I am | | | | evidence of the growing phenomenon. A growing |
| your father," and Luke offers his devastated | | | | number of blogs with names like |
| response: "That's not true! That's impossible!" The | | | | "FunnyFunnyVideos.net" and "Best on Google Video" |
| exchange is a signature moment in movie history. | | | | sift through the tens of millions of videos posted on |
| But in this version, the Sith Lord has more beans to | | | | the video-hosting sites to find the gems - brief clips |
| spill. "And the Empire will be defeated by ewoks," | | | | like the segments from "Robot Chicken" - and are |
| Vader tells his flabbergasted offspring. "And the | | | | attracting a growing audience online. |
| force?" he continues: "Well, that's just a microscopic | | | | The brief length, the accessibility, the sheer |
| bacteria in your bloodstream." By now, the | | | | abundance of comic video clips on the internet all give |
| once-feuding pair is relaxing over a cup of coffee. | | | | the phenomenon a resemblance to an earlier |
| This is all too much for Luke, this fraternizing with the | | | | entertainment revolution: the nickelodeon. Just as |
| enemy. "If you're not going to take this seriously, I'm | | | | working people around the country flocked to see |
| getting out of here," he says to Vader, and stalks | | | | the latest slapstick comedies on hand-cranked, |
| off in frustration. | | | | personal film-viewing devices at the dawn of cinema, |
| So goes the famous scene in the world of "Robot | | | | so do millions of people scour the internet today for |
| Chicken," a stop-motion animated TV series that airs | | | | the edgiest, most outrageous humor. What they're |
| on Comedy Central. Many of the series' fans, though, | | | | finding at sites like FunnyFunnyVideos.net and Best on |
| know it through another source: the internet. | | | | Google Video represents just the tip of the internet's |
| Video-hosting Web sites like Google Video and | | | | vast iceberg of comedic videos - and that iceberg |
| Youtube have seen their popularity soar over the | | | | grows every day. |