Although Grammy Award-winning musician, satirist, TV personality and accordionist extraordinaire "Weird Al" Yankovic may appear to have followed all his dreams, you might not be aware that he once tried unsuccessfully to join the Skywalker family.

"When I was busy coming up with material for 'The Weird Al Show' (my Saturday morning series on CBS), the writers and I would slip in as many Star Wars references as we possibly could," Yankovic remembers. "My absolute favorite bit got cut before we were ever able to shoot it, though. I had written a segment called 'Cutting Room Floor' in which I explained how I was in the original Star Wars playing Luke's annoying younger brother but all of my scenes got cut out. We were then going to show all the deleted scenes -- which would be actual scenes from Star Wars with me green-screened into them, seamlessly interacting with the characters."

Yankovic continues, "Of course, we had to get clearances from everybody before CBS would agree to let us shoot it. In the end, George Lucas signed off on it, and Sir Alec Guinness signed off on it, but Mark Hamill would not agree to let us use any footage with him in it -- so unfortunately, the whole bit had to be scrapped. It's too bad, because I think it would have been the funniest thing in the whole series."

Even though his attempt to sneak into scenes in A New Hope were thwarted, he'd be happy with a cameo appearance in the future live-action Star Wars TV show. "One year for Halloween, I dressed up like Frank -- the guy that would restock the vending machines on the Death Star before it blew up," Yankovic says. "Coincidentally, Frank looks amazingly similar to the way I normally do in real life. For the show, I would want to play a character that didn't have to wear a lot of prosthetic make-up. That would be a real pain to do every day -- although if that's what it takes for me to play Jar Jar's wacky next-door neighbor Larry, then I'm willing to suffer for my art."

For three decades Yankovic has made a career out transforming contemporary hit songs by musical artists such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Coolio, Nirvana and Green Day into hilarious pop culture parodies. His Star Wars-flavored hits "Yoda," "The Saga Begins," and most recently "White and Nerdy" are often heard sung by fans waiting in line at sci-fi conventions and movie theaters.

"Prior to The Empire Strikes Back, the thought of writing a song about Yoda had never occurred to me," Yankovic remembers. "But Yoda was certainly the break-out character from that movie, and I remember I was toying around with the idea of writing a song about him. I was still in college at the time, and a friend of mine named Mike suggested that I do the song to the tune of 'Lola' -- which I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of myself, since I was such a huge Kinks fan. Anyway, I wrote the song, recorded it on a 4-track cassette Portastudio (this was the original accordion-only version, mind you) and sent it to the "Dr. Demento Show," where it logged many, many weeks in the #1 position on his Funny Five countdown."

Another fan-favorite, "The Saga Begins," parodies the classic tune "American Pie" by Don McLean. Yankovic crafted alternative lyrics revealing the story of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace told from Obi-Wan Kenobi's perspective.

"I actually wrote 'The Saga Begins' before I ever saw the movie," Yankovic says. "I wanted to get the parody out absolutely as soon as possible after the movie premiered in theaters, so I scanned the Internet for leaks and rumors, pieced together the plot as best as I could, and then wrote and recorded the song based on that. I actually did wait until I was able to go to the charity screening of The Phantom Menace before I actually mastered the album -- just in case all those Internet leaks were completely bogus. I certainly expected the song to do well, just based on the fact that it was based on Episode I, which I think was the most heavily-anticipated film of my lifetime."

"There are some fans in the San Francisco Bay area that have been working on a 'Special Edition' of the video for 'The Saga Begins' in their spare time," Yankovic adds. "I don't have any idea how far along they are on it, but it's been seven years in the making so far. I can't wait to see it!"

Yankovic is now promoting his latest album, Straight Outta Lynwood which parodies such musical acts as R. Kelly, Cake, Usher, Sparks, Rage Against the Machine, Green Day and Brian Wilson, among others. The album's first single "White & Nerdy" parodies Chamillionaire's gangsta rap anthem "Ridin,'" and features the ultimate geek culture checklist including references to retro video games, Dungeons & Dragons, M.I.T., comic books, math, computer science, Segway PT and of course, Star Wars.

"To be honest, there really were a lot more Star Trek than Star Wars references in the song itself, so I thought I should even the score a bit when it came time to shoot the video -- which is why I incorporated 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' and the Star Wars Kid," Yankovic says.

The video shows Yankovic re-enacting Star Wars Kid's infamous lightsaber twirl, and excitedly buying a bootleg of 'The Star Wars Holiday Special' in a back alley. It also features a cameo from fellow Star Wars fan and actor Seth Green, as he shows off well-stocked shelves full of action figures.

"Oddly enough, I don't collect action figures," Yankovic admits. "That's one box I'll have to leave unchecked on my 'nerdy scorecard.' I do get Star Wars-related gifts from fans all the time, and I keep and proudly display as many as my wife will allow. I've got a Darth Vader telephone in storage somewhere -- apparently, that one didn't make the cut. My booking agent got me a beautiful life-size Yoda one year for Christmas which is currently living under my computer desk. Actually, that Yoda made a brief appearance (from the back) in my video for 'The Saga Begins.'"

While Yankovic has been a fan of the saga ever since he first stood "in longest movie line I had ever seen in my entire life" to see A New Hope, he had no idea that the filmmaker himself appreciated his filk-song talents. "A couple years ago I finally met Mr. Lucas at a benefit for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation," Yankovic says. "He was the nicest guy in the world, and made a point of telling me that his kids were big fans of mine -- which completely blew my mind."

As Yankovic continues to entertain fans with his wacky anthems, it's obvious that Star Wars will always have a special place in his musical repertoire."Star Wars is the definitive pop cultural touchstone," Yankovic explains. "The movies are so much more than just movies -- they're a true communal experience as well as a universe unto themselves. Everybody has seen it, and the few freaks that haven't seen it have probably been exposed to enough Star Wars references and catch phrases in their lifetimes that they feel like they've seen it. And most Star Wars parodies (certainly mine, anyway) are basically written as love letters to the franchise. We're just fans, paying our respects in our own twisted way."

To find out more about "Weird Al" Yankovic, visit his official site here. Also check out "Weird Al" Yankovic on MySpace to listen to music tracks.

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