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