Star wars tv series

MooMoney: Ya, you're right. Animation is original, its not like there are many animated shows on t.v right now or anything.

As for the "good looking" actor thing. Hamill will not be the main character, it sounds like he won'te ven be in every show. And most people I know don't stop watching a show just because theres an older actor in it. This is the most ridiculious argument against a show I've ever heard, its just not an issue.

And you talk about it "hurting" Star Wars if it fails, well if people like it it won't "hurt it" it all, it will just increase interest in it. But then again Mark Hamill's not the most attract guy on the planet, so no one really want to watch it anyway right?

It sounds like the rumors of the show aren't what you wanted to see so you're saying it will suck, just like people did with TPM, it wasn't excatly how they saw the new Star Wars so they bashed. Wait and see what they do before you start saying it will fail.

 

Sluggo-Forget the whole Mark Hamil attractive thing I don't know where I was going with that...On the other hand, if Mark Hamil is going to be in this series then obviously its going to be about Luke and the series will probably occur after ROTJ..Being that Hamilton is old and in my opinion hasn't aged well Luke by the end of the ROTJ is I believe still young soooooo having Mark Hamil playing Luke a young one at won't come off as believable, especially for us Star Wars fans...

And you say people will watch the series no matter what, your saying that from a Star Wars fan perspective. Let's face it if the series was a flop and we were told it was only going to be on for a year all us Star Wars fans will still watch it but, what about the people who know nothing about Star Wars. The real under-lining reason as to why Lucas would create a series on television is not only to please Star Wars fans because, he isn't making anymore Star Wars films its really to exband his fan base and get more people particularly a younger generation hooked to the Star Wars phenomenon. So if this series starts off on the wrong foot and fails Lucas' fails and Star Wars as a whole fails and if that happens people especially that younger generation that never seen a Star Wars movie will be less willing to see all the films after viewing a flop of a Star Wars television series..and though this might sound extreme...thats where Star Wars ends for us all...

Sidenote: Yes Sluggo you called me out on the fact I hate the idea of a back story about Luke...I never liked Luke's character to begin with and I think the OT is centered so much around him that we don't need more of him...its time for a new idea, a new character and one all television veiwing audience can relate too...

 

MooMoney: If you look at the links I posted here the rumors about the show are that Luke will be a supporting character, not in every show and act as a mentor to the young, new Jedi.

I never said people will watch it no matter what, thats a risk you always take with a t.v show, live or cartoon. There will not be many people who will watch the series who have never seen the movies, thats a segment of the population that doesn't exist. As for it "ending" star wars, a failed T.V show will not impact on books as long as they sell.

 

Yeah I'd expect Luke to be in less than half the episodes each season.

 

Sluggo-Yea but Star Wars never started out as a book though, it started out on the screen. And, if it dies on the screen big or small its dies period. Sure there will be books, games, and comic books still out there that relates to Star Wars but, thats not enough us that not why we fell in love with the whole Star Wars spectacle in the first place. The whole reason we grew up loving Star Wars because, it gave us something visual that stirrs our imaginations and gives us that warm fuzzy feeling inside everytime we watch it; it allowed us to escape and dream. Yea, sure a book can do that same thing but, not everyon likes books as they like movies and some people have a harder time understanding or coming up with images when reading a book.

The future of Star Wars isn't in books or comics but in television. And us die hard fans will enjoy the series no matter what but like I said for those that don't know about Star Wars specifically the younger generation will not be so easily hooked if the series sucks or is too hard to understand and once that happens Star Wars ends with that generation. The tourch so to speak doesn't go passed on. Seriously, if I was a five year old watching a Star Wars television series and thought it sucked you think I want to go out and buy the movies or play the games or read the books and such, no. Lucas needs to approach this television series like he approached ANH, make it simple and give us enough so that we understand whats going on but, not too much so we are coming back begging for more....

 

MooMoney: Except it was a book series (Zahns) that brought Star Wars back in the early and mid 90's and lead to the PT trilogy. As long as there is money to be made in publishing Star Wars novels and comics books, they will be published, simple as that. Reguardless of whether or not a tv series does well or bombs.

And like I said, the segment of the population, that hasn't seen the movies but would watch the show is very small if existent at all. You're talking about something that isn't an issue. Its not like the series is going to come out 10-15 years after the last movie.

 

Okay this is the last thing am going to emphasize...everyone such as Sluggo believes everyone knows something or a great deal about Star Wars and I say thats false ...

Heres an example I used before to prove my point:

I attend a college that as a student population of 2,000 or more give and take. And the majority of them grew up in the 80s like myself around the same time that Star Wars was still a big deal...Anyway, am sure if not everybody as heard of the comedian Dan Cook well he came to my college to perform his stand up routine and close to my entire college went to go see him...well during his stand up Cook mentions he bought a new apartment and he call it the Death Star because, get this "not fully operational" you know how many students got his joke out of the 100s attanding his stand up? Only six including me got the joke...And to reiterate the majority of students there at the time grew up in the 80s and Star Wars was or even bigger then opposed to the late 70s when it first came out...

Trust me there a lot of people both young and old that don't know Star Wars as you think everyone else does...

 

Moomoney: You're missing the point. I'm not saying everyone knows and likes star wars. I'm saying those who do not like it or don't watch the movies aren't going to be interested in the t.v show anyway. A t.v show is not going to be anyones first look at Star Wars. No one is going to turn the channel and say "Star Wars, whats this, I've never heard of it before". It is entrenched in pop-culture enough that even if a person doesn't like or watch the movies they know about them. And if they havn't watched the movies its clear they have no interest to see them, and aren't going to take the time to watch the t.v show.

And even if it does bomb, as long as they can make money with novels and comics they will keep publishing them. A bombed t.v show will kill SW.

 

I think you need to step out of a Star Wars fan's mind and into a mind of a person that never heard or seen Star Wars. And if it does bomb Star Wars will go down hill. You say without a television show we can get by with the books, comics and such yea but even those aspects of the entire Star Wars saga will die down cause there won't be a newer generation of fans to keep on buying them due to a bomb television show that wasn't appealing to them. Like I said if your not interested in it from the begining you won't be interested in it later on...

And, you say that it doesn't matter if it doesn't appeal to an audience that never seen or heard of Star Wars before but, in all honesty it really does. To reiterate, Lucas intent is true intent like any smart business person is get a bigger fan base and attract more people to Star Wars especially the younger generation that is starting or hasn't gotten a whiff of it. The series isn't for Star Wars fans, I mean Lucas doesn't have to make a series because, there won't be any more films for Star War fans to enjoy...And in order to get a bigger fan base you have to want and hope a lot of people tune into the television series...

 

MooMoney: Star Wars is so ingrained in our pop-culture finding someone who has never heard of it would be like finding someone who has never heard of Star Trek or the Simpson's or Batman. A person many not be a fan, may never have seen the movies, but they've heard of it.

You have to get this through your head, the only people who are going to watch a show are the fans of Star wars to begin with. No one has choosen not to watch the movies is going to watch a t.v show. There is no one out there who hasn't the movies (and in todays world the reason someone hasn't seen them is cause they don't want too) that is going to be interested by a t.v show. Its not like this show is coming out 10 or 20 years after the series, its coming out a year or two after the last movie. A bombed t.v show will NOT mean the end of Star Wars, the movies will always be there and as long as books and comics sell they will be made.

As for your example in a comedy show at school, just because some people have memorized the movie and know off the top of their heads that the Death Star wasn't opperational doesn't mean they aren't fans or don't know about Star Wars.

You're freaking out about a problem that doesn't exist.

 

Sluggo

Am not freaking out about a problem that doesn't exist in fact it can exist and it already has with a popular sci-fi series that came before Star Wars...Star Trek. There were so many spin offs from the original series which, followed the same premise that people lost touch with it, got bored, it wasn't enjoyable anymore. The same can be said about a Star Wars television show if its done poorly or comes off as being to similar to the movies people will get bored, lose touch and find it unenjoyable.

And I never said no one has ever heard of Star Wars, what I am saying is not everyone has seen it. And, my example supports what I said, if everyone was familar with the movie they be labeled fans like us and as a fan like us would know the niddie/griddie of all the films right down to the dialogue to where they pick up a simple joke that a comedian made referring to Star Wars.

And, I don't think you truely understand why this television series is being made. And I'll say it again, its not for Star Wars fans like us. We are already hooked when it comes to seeing the series or at least the first episode of it. Its being made for people that don't know or are familar with Star Wars. And, by getting Star Wars across those that weren't familar with the saga keeps the saga alive because, more people will go out and buy the comics, the books, games and such.

But if the series is a flop the joy that the movie brings to already Star Wars fans like us that go out and buy the books, comics and etc because we want more will die with us...

 

So now you're changing the problem. What happened to Star Trek is it go stale. DS9, Voyager and Enterprise just weren't good shows and there wasn't a demand for them anymore. TNG brought in new Star Trek fans, but that interest was lost over time, as it happens with EVERY franchise. Right now the interest in Star Wars is very high and a t.v show wuld benefit from that. With Star Trek even after there was no demand they kept making shows, there is a demand for Starwars, thats the difference.

You're example doesn't mean anything, it could people didn't think it was funny, or big enough fans to memorize the movies to the point that they knew reference.

I'll say it again, a Star Wars t.v series is not going to bring in new fans. Its not hard to find the movies if someone wants to see them. Today the only people who havn't seen them are those who choose not too and have no interest in it. You seem to think there are people who there who havn't heard of it or want to see it but don't. Even if the show does bomb, how would that effect people in 5 years? Or 10 years when the show is long off the air? The amount of people today who have an interest in watch STar Wars but havn't seen the movies is zero, and if the show does bomb the affect it will have on new fans is zero because it will be long gone by the time the new fans are bring brought in.

Like I said, it just sounds like you're upset they aren't making it the awy you want it to be made so you're saying it will suck and kill Star Wars.

 

Sluggo:

You say the only people who haven't seen Star Wars are those that choose not too and have no interest too
what about those who are too too young to know what Star Wars is but, still are likely candidate to get hooked on the saga?

The problem as I see it, there are fans such as yourself that believe Lucas is going forth with allowing Star Wars to be made a series for television to make or give something back to Star Wars fans because, the movies are over. And, I'll say this time and time again that not why he is doing it. He is doing it to get people hooked to Star Wars that weren't hooked to begin with especially those likely young candidates that I mentioned before. This is Lucas' way of expanding his "Empire." Trust me, if you step out of the mind of a Star Wars fan and into a buisness frame of mind you'll see my point. And, I guarantee down the road Lucas himself will say that when making the Star Wars television series he had in mind of getting more people hooked with the entire Star Wars phenomena that weren't to begin with.

And, you keep mentioning how Star Wars is so embedded into our pop culture that it can't die. Think about it, do you even know what its so embedded to begin with? Because, Lucas is able to get more people especially a younger generation hooked to his films. Now that there aren't anymore films television is now Lucas' only means to hook each passing generation which, is the key to keeping Star Wars embedded in our pop culture. Yet, if the sereis is done poorly it will turn those young candidates away from Star Wars and everything that has to do with Star Wars and when mass amount of people lose interest in something it slowly fades away...

You may not want to believe that cause your a Star Wars fan but it can happen....

 

Star wars is far from what Satr Trek was and is.

Trek had two shows AND movies going at the same time.

Star Wars will not. That could alleviate any potential for burnout.

 

DS9, Voyager and Enterprise just weren't good shows and there wasn't a demand for them anymore.

Huh? DS9 was a great show once it hit its stride. Certainly the most adult and gritty of the Star Trek shows, minus all of the lovey-dovey bosom buddies BS of TNG. The reason why it went off the air after seven years was because Paramount selected that as its series length for ST after TNG made that run, not because people weren't tuning in.

 

MooMoney: The seires is going to start a year or two after RotS, its not like they are going to wait 10-15-20 years. There won't be that many kids who weren't old enough to see the movies that will watch the show. And odds are if they are that yougn their parents have a lot of control over what they watch, and if they are going to watch the series their parents will almost certainly show them the movies. Plus a live action, 1 hour show's are not really made for young kids, a cartoon would be what a kid would watch.

I don't have any ideas abotu Lucas giving back, he wants to make money. But this group of young fans that t.v show is goign to get that havn't seen the movies doesn't exist. If the show came out 10-15 years after RotS you'd have a point, but 1-2 years after, you don't.

I never said Star wars can't die, it did very much so in the mid 80's - the mid 90's. But even during tha ttime people knew what it was, even people who weren't born when the movies first came out knew who Darth Vader was or who Yoda was etc... There aren't many people out there will turn in and say "Star Wars, whats this"? Everyone, even those who aren't fans and havn't seen the movies, know what star wars is.

What you can't seem to grasp is that a t.v show won't grab a new, younger audience because a yougner audience that hasn't seen the movies wont' exist when the show comes out.

 

Sluggo:

This is my final point and afterwards I am just going to drop this entire debate. What I meant by young I was thinking more on the lines of 3 to 5 year olds, hence why I emphasize the point that they are young enough not to know what Star Wars is but, not so young to be hooked like me when I was 5 and saw Star Wars for the first time...

And, it really does frustrate me when you say people regardless know what Star Wars is on some level and I am trying to tell you, you are very very wrong about that. I know a ton of people who don't know what Star Wars is, what the story is about or who the characters are and what they are about. And, the people I knew grew up in the 80s, even though as you put it Star Wars fizzled out around that era which, is totally false considering that The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980 and Return of the Jedi came out three years afterwards. In all actuality, it really fizzled out during the 90s when no one was really interested in movies based on SCI-FI and mythology but, into block-buster action packed movies.

This ongoing debate started because, as you called me out on it I don't like the idea of a television show about Luke Skywalker's later days after ROTJ, I find the concept very very boring and I believe deeply a lot of people will too find it boring. There is an entire trilogy dedicated to the character that a television series is unnecessary. The main reason why Star Wars was a success from the very begining because, Lucas presented society with something new and fresh. And, that same approach should be used in making a television series. Believe me, if the television comes off as being uninteresting, people as a whole will slowly loose interest in Star Wars all together...

 

MooMoney: All these 3-5 year olds you're talking about will be 5-7 (at the most) when a show comes out, to young to really get into an hour long show, attention spans aren't that long, and a good number of the young ones would be asleep before it came on (assuming prime time, 8-9ish). Any kid that young who watchs the show will do it because their parents show it to them, and those parents woudl also expose them to the movies. Also, when was the last time you hear a 5-7 year old say "I don't like that show, the acting is terrible". Kids that age would just be impressed by the actino and adventure. Finally, who do you think half of the Star Wars action figures are bought for now? Kids that age know of star wars and many are either fans or not. And if the show bombs, some fans will be done with Star Wars, but not the ones who read the books, those ones will still be, and as long as they are there and there is money to be made with Star Wars it will be around.

Dude, you're just wrong about this idea that so many people have no idea what star wars is. Take a picture of Darth Vader and show to people at your school, most will know who he is, or at the least say "that guy from star wars". You seem to think "not being a super fan" or "not memorizing" = "not knowing what star wars is".

You also don't seem to understand the concept of a "reaccuring guest star". You see the show would not be ABOUT Luke, nor would he even be in every show. He would show up sometimes in small doses and be a supporting character to the NEW characters in the show. I also find it funny that you say they shouldn't do a show with Luke in it cause wealready had 3 movies with Luke and thast enought, yet you want a series with Han whos been in 3 movies and Chewie who will be in 4.

 

Sluggo:

I promised myself I would drop this entire debate but after what I read it very difficult to do so. From what I read and understand is that a Star Wars television would not be approbriate for an audience ages five through seven because, they have short attention spans and what not. Yet, when looking back when Star Wars orginally came out in 1977 its biggest audience and fan base were young children around that age and I doubt even then children of that age groups had a hard time paying attention to the
movie(s) which, will always be longer then any television series about Star Wars.

And, I never ever thought for one second that a five or seven year old would critic the series based on acting ability and such. Then again, children now a days are very mature and they know exactly what they want regardless of what their parents say they should or shouldn't watch. And, children of that age group are certaintly mature enough to tell the difference between a bad and good television show.

But then again, as you but it, this Star Wars television series wouldn't be meant for children because, it probably be on prime time and such. I mean it sounds perfectly logical that Lucas wouldn't want his biggest fan base to watch the television show. The same fan base as you put would go out and buy most of the merchadise related to the show. The same fan base that because, it so large will be responsible for the television shows high ratings. But then again, Lucas being the smart buisness man he is wouldn't want that; children ages five through seven to see the show.

Finally, the difference between a Luke and Han/Chewbecca series is, we know a lot about Luke and witnessed through the trilogy how he became a Jedi from his humbe begins. We as fans haven't seen how Han becomes a smuggler, we haven't see how Han saves Chewbecca, and the list continues...And, a Han and Chewbecca series wasnt the only idea I came up with. I also mentioned that there could be sereies that focuses on events before the PT or a series about Rogue Squadron that was similar to the "Band of Brothers" television series would work as well...and the last time I checked both series would come off as new and fresh...

 

Moomoney - T.v and movis are different. You can get a young kid to still still for Shiek, but try to get them to do it for a show like Buffy or Andromida. They can't do it.

Kids that age idea of "good" and "bad" would be based on cool effects and action. And like I have said, at that age what they is really controled by parents, and kids watching a Star Wars tv are probably going to have parents who like Star Wars, who are going to show them the movies. You're argument isn't a sound one.

If Lucas wants kids to watch something to do with Star Wars he'll make a cartoon. Prime time, one hour shows are not made for kids. Just as many teen's, 20's and older people like star wars (and they are the ones with incomes) that is who an hour long, live action show would be aimed at. And young kids who do watch the show won't have a critical eye, kids that young either like something (Star Wars) or don't. Ask a 5 year old what they like about Star Wars - action, adventuge, Jedi etc... A show won't drive kids like that away unless its all talk.

 

THe best info is that there will be two series, one live action prime time and one animated.
I won't go into a lecture on the way TV works, but the profits to be made from a live action show are almost always much greater then those of a animated show.
Yes, "The SImpsons" is an exception but generally a hit live action show is a lot better for the bank account then a hit animated show.
And I think that Lucas has unfinished business with TV . "Young Indy", though a good show, was not a huge ratings sucess and I think Lucas wants a sucessful Live action show badly for that reason.
Let's just hope it's not another "Holiday Special".....

 

Lucas' main impetus for the Young Indy series was to educate kids about early-20th century history. The reason it was never a big ratings success was it had a different tone to the Indy movies - less action, no fantasy elements (except for the vampire episode). It's rumoured that the eventual DVDs will include documentaries on the historical figures and events Indy encountered in the series.

The only reason I can see that Lucas would do a Star Wars TV series is simply to keep the franchise going. I think Lucas sees the movies as his alone, which is why he is wrapping up his story with ROTS, and not allowing other filmmakers to do Episodes VII, VIII, IX. He sees a TV show as separate, but I'm not sure the audience would. Any Star Wars TV show would be compared to the movies, and it's obvious that any TV project would be much lacking in spectacle in comparison. Anyone who brings up Babylon 5, Farscape, etc. as successful examples of space shows on TV, should remember that those shows (except for Star Trek: TOS and TNG) played only to small, cult audiences. Star Wars has a much bigger following, and is the most successful franchise in film history. And, yes, everyone does know a little about Star Wars, whether they're a fan, whether they've even seen one of the movies or not. It's like, if you haven't heard of Star Wars, what movies have you heard of in the last 30 years? There are references constantly on TV, on the radio, in newspapers and magazines (and I'm not just talking about the mega-hype movie release phase we're entering now). It's inconceivable that a Star Wars TV project would be produced with the main aim of getting new fans at this stage. The Ewoks and Droids cartoons, and the Ewoks TV movies were made a couple of years after ROTJ and aimed at younger viewers. How successful were they at turning little kids onto the saga?

A mediocre Star Wars TV show would tarnish the franchise, and I hope that Lucas comes up with something really special to justify going to TV. I love the Clone Wars cartoons, and I would like to see more Star Wars in that format. A CG animated series is less appealing to me, as The Incredibles aside, I prefer the look of more traditional animation.

There was a 14-year gap between the release of ROTJ and the Special Editions, and Star Wars fervour died down and then returned during this period, without any screen projects other than the aforementioned kid-oriented shows. The difference about this period and the post-ROTS world is that there will no longer be the promise of further big-screen films. Maybe Lucas feels he has to get something out there in the wake of Episode III to keep the franchise going.

 

I think the first Ewok movie was a ratings success in the states(on ABC) and was actually released theatrically overseas.

 

If I were making the TV series I'd tie it into the scene in ROTS where (spoiler warning)Yoda and Obi-Wan turn the Jedi signal beacon from come home to run and hide. It would feature a recently knighted Jedi searching the galaxy for any surviving Jedi while dodging the newly born Empire and trying to aid those he or she can while trying to maintain the ideals of the Jedi Code and resist the Dark Side.

 

From Ain't It Cool News:

"Lucas said that there were plans in the works to continue with the Clone Wars as half hour episodes on the Cartoon Network (applause erupted at this point, but I think underneath all of the clapping I heard Lucas say it was going to be 3-D animated, but there was a lot of applause so I could have been hearing things). He also commented on the live action future as well. He said that the whole project was probably about 2 years out, but that they wanted to get a full season of scripts written before production would start (like they did on Young Indiana Jones). He also said that the series would take place between Episodes 3 and 4. At a later edition of the 6 minute Sith montage (awesome by the way) Rick commented on the TV show as well, saying that there was a plan for 100 episodes (queue applause)."


So there you have it. Clone Wars continues in animation (probably 3D computer animation) and the live action show is based somewhere between ROTS and ANH.