PT Should "Episode I" have been a TV series?

I know there are many changes that would improve that movie: less Jar Jar, more action in the middle, etc.

But I'm talking about the movie AS IT IS

I have always thought this: if it have been a four part mini series

First episode: from the beginning to the moment they decide to go to Tattoine,
it would be action packed, and awesome first episode

Second episode: from landing on Tattoine to the end of the podrace
the boringness would be split in half and it would end in an action sequence(the race should also have the extended lap 2)

Third episode: from Anakin leaving his mother to the moment they all come back to Naboo
this time the action scene would be at the beginning(Maul vs Qui gon fight)

Fourth episode:
the climactic ending battles
it would be considered an awesome action-packed finale to the "series"

also, it would be on Fox, so people would have seen it free

This way, the same exact movie we know, would have gotten much better reviews

I suggest both people who love or like the movie(like me) and people who hate it, to show it this way to your kids.

 

In answer to the question...

No. Never a TV series.

Film is a special medium; and TPM is the perfect introduction to the SW saga (in my opinion).

I like your breakdown, though. I think you can do the same (four segments) for all the Star Wars movies.

And that's rather interesting, actually. The B-movie serials that Star Wars is based on tended to run to about twelve segments.

Three films in a trilogy = 3 x 4 segments = 12 segments

These films are very cleverly structured. A lot of story detail and meaning emerges from that structure.

And structure is very important in melodic art-forms like music and poetry.

That's my take, anyway.

 

Good heavens no! It's perfect the way it is. If you make the movie a TV production, you might as well do the same to the other movies in the saga.

 

The core of the saga (as in: the episodes with a number) should always be theatrical releases. I love the EU, the TV series and all that, but I think there's a limit to how far crossmedia storytelling should go. A TV-show "Episode I" wouldn't be treated on the same level as the movies. Similar with other media. You can't tell people that they have to read all novels and comics of the new continuity for there to be a point in watching Episode VII.

Having - let's say - a movie "Episode I" followed by a-season-each TV-show "Episode II" and "III" only to be followed by a film again would be making it unnecessarily convoluted. I guess I'd be fine with it if they wanted to turn "Rogue One" or even something designated as "Episode 3.5" into a TV series instead, but TV series, books and comics are always going to be a spin-off of the "real thing", so they should never exceed the core movies in relevance.

Uniformity is pretty important to me. A similar thing would be to take the "Mass Effect" trilogy and release only the last one on the PS3 instead. Yeah, stuff like that happens all the time, but it still sucks.

 

I like Episode I as a movie, and wouldn't want it as a tv series. I disagree on adding the extended pod race scene. The pod race is long enough as is.

 

no.

 

To be honest, in this day and age, TPM probably would've been handled better and had more quality to show if it was indeed a TV show. Origin shows are huge right now...

But no, SW does best in film, and I feel like TPM would either be a one season flop or six seasons of drawn out garbage that isn't necessary to the plot line. I feel spreading a crucial to the saga movie like TPM out would only damage it's already subpar plot line.

 

Purely monetarily, I don't think it could work as a TV series. TPM reportedly cost $115 million. To make something like that on TV, the cost per episode would be so high that I don't think they could justify it, or they'd have to dramatically scale back effects/casting/etc.

For comparison, the Marvel Netflix shows are supposedly budgeted at around $200 million for 60 episodes across 5 series. So roughly $3.43 million per episode. That's already pretty pricey for a television show, and there aren't many effects.

Another decent comparison is Agents of Shield. The pilot supposedly cost $14 million, which looked pretty good, but no where near level of effects a Star Wars show would require.

I'm guessing this is partly why it was difficult to get the reported live action Star Wars show going a few years back. Costs a lot of dough.

But don't getta me wrongo, in general I would like to see a live action Star Wars show.

 

More focus is needed on the lead up to TPM and fallout after it. Movie, tv, book, comic, game etc. Bring it on.

 

No, but maybe a mini tv series showing what happened after TPM, Padme finishing her time as Queen, Anakin becoming a padawan, Obi Wan dealing with Qui Gonn's death, Shmi's life as Anakin, how the Jedi feel about Anakin becoming one of them and Sidious beginning his future clone army.

 

No. I feel like having it as a TV series would undermine its importance. Plus, they probably would have had a smaller budget, and one of the best things about the prequels is the special effects. Taking that away would be bad.

 

oh that would be awful

seasons 1-5: Anakin's life on Tatooine

seasons 6-10: skirmishes and political happenings in the senate..

makes me depressed just thinking about it.

 

Missions with other Jedi?

 

like...border disputes on Ansion you mean?

 

No I don't think so but a TV series set between TPM and AOTC now your talking.

 

There should have been a television series about the adventures of Obi-Wan and Anakin between the first and second film in the trilogy. They could have explored how young, sweet Anakin became a whiny teenager.

 

A TV series wouldn't come close to the scope needed to visualize The Phantom Menace onscreen. While I would feel blessed if we had a TV series that followed the same tone and pacing as any of the theatrical Star Wars films, I wouldn't trade any of those films for the occasion. Anyways, Star Wars pretty much demands the theater experience.

 

0 to 22! LOL
HAPPY 10 Anniversary TPM!

 

10? It was released in 1999.

 

Haha, oops.. Was thinking of ROTS 10th..
*Happy 16th..

 

no.

 

There could still be an animated series about how Obi-Wan and Qui-Gonn worked together before TPM or how Obi-Wan trained Anakin well before the Clone Wars began. I personally would not mind see an animated Jake LLoyd Anakin with a young Obi-Wan.