The $9 t-shirt deal of the day over at Teefury today mashes up Star Wars with Watchmen in “Who Watches the Empire” by artist Jonah Block.

The sale at Teefury began at midnight EST (Thursday, December 9, 2010) and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it’s gone forever.

The t-shirt design takes the bloodied yellow smiley face icon from Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel Watchmen (and also the movie adaptation) and replaces the face with that of a stormtrooper, the imperial soldiers of the Empire in the original Star Wars film trilogy.

On The Today Show this morning, New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza outside of NBC Studios was transformed into a Star Wars spectacular for the show’s annual “Halloween on the Plaza” holiday broadcast.

The cast of the morning show donned costumes from the Star Wars saga with Kathie Lee Gifford as C-3PO, Natalie Morales as Queen Padme Amidala, Hoda Kotb as Yoda, Ann Curry as Darth Vader, Meredith Vieira as Princess Leia, Matt Lauer as Luke Skywalker, and Al Roker as Han Solo. Star Wars creator George Lucas and his people at Lucasfilm provided real props from the films, including an X-Wing fighter and the Emperor’s chair.

We also found out that Friend of Doom Lou Platania, a member of the 501st Legion, was one of the Stormtroopers on the elaborate Today Show set and that he was the trooper next to the X-Wing in the first video embedded here below. (Go Lou!)

Check out more video from the show here below, including a behind-the-scenes look at the planning and prepping for this special Star Wars-themed episode.