Let's face it, there's a reason the science fantasy epic disappointment Dune never reached the audience that it had hoped it would. Can you remember one moment of humor?
Star Wars always took itself seriously, but never too seriously. The family of characters bantered with each other. A wookie laughed. R2-D2 seemingly had a dirty line of insults hidden within his hilarious boops and beeps. Leia had classic lines involving "walking carpets" and "nerf herders." Even the wise Jedi Master Yoda had some early zingers.
Humor keeps audiences at ease because in the end, it's about entertainment. While we want to see good fighting evil, epic lightsaber battles, and space ships blowing each other up, we also want to be able to smile and laugh just as much. The Star Wars saga delivers in that respect.
