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