Bill Burr tells Conan he doesn’t get Star Wars hype

Comedian Bill Burr calls the original Star Wars trilogy a “cheesy self help book put in space with muppets” on Conan.

The majority of Americans may be super excited about tonight’s release of the highly anticipated film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but Bill Burr isn’t afraid to buck that trend. The comedian admitted to Conan O’Brien that he doesn’t get the film franchise during Wednesday’s episode of his TBS talk show Conan, a day before O’Brien is set to host the Episode VII cast for an entire episode dedicated to the new Star Wars film.

Burr attributes his antipathy towards the films to having never watched them as a kid, only viewing them years later when he was 27. “Somehow I missed that movie when it came out,” he explained. “I grew up isolated in a weird way. We lived on a busy street, so we were cut off from the other kids.” He added that when he returned to school that fall he had no idea what anyone was talking about when they referenced “the force” or Chewbacca.

However, by the time he did it see years later, he found it to be like a “cheesy self help book put in outer space with muppets,” concluding that perhaps he doesn’t get it because he missed out it since you have to be a kid when you first see it in order to appreciate it.

Still, Burr admits he’s tempted to drive past the line of people waiting to see the movie and yell, “Why does it matter?!” “They’re happy,” responded Conan, a self-admitted Star Wars fanboy.

“You can tell how much that movie is going to make, everybody’s just staring at me,” Burr said, referring to the audience.

He then rattled off a list of the first movies he ever saw in theaters, including For the Love of Benji, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo and Scarface, which he was taken to by his reserved mother when he was 13 and his younger brother was 7. “She didn’t know what it was,” he explained. “She knew it was a gangster movie but she thought it was like Kojak.”

Meanwhile, he described his father – who his character in the upcoming Netflix animated series F is for Family is loosely based on – as volatile. Burr admitted that his dad’s catchphrase while they were growing up was, “I’ll put you through that effin wall,” which didn’t work as well when he said it outside and pointed at the woods. He also described his upbringing as Lord of the Flies due to all the fighting between he and his brothers.

This prompted Conan’s first guest, the legendary actor Dick Van Dyke, to offer to be Burr’s grandpa. “I’m available,” he said.

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Conan closed the interview by talking further about Burr’s new show, set in 1973, a time when kids played with matches and threw rocks at each other because there were no cell phones or video games. F is for Family begins streaming on Netflix this Friday, December 18 when Stars Wars: The Force Awakens will also be in theaters.