This is what Uncle George needs to do...

...based on his comments to the AP:

"Ultimately, I'm going to probably move it into television and let other people take it. I'm sort of preserving the feature film part for what has happened and never go there again, but I can go off into various offshoots and things... So it's very easy to say, "Well, OK, that's that genre, and I'll find a really talented person to take it and create it." ...If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting."

George Lucas should do a worldwide search for the Star Wars fan who is most "in tune" with the saga (maybe turn it into a contest on Hyperspace) and from among them appoint the official Star Wars Czar FOR LIFE!!! You know, like William Bennett used to be the "drug czar" under President Bush I? Whoever gets tapped to be SWC, he/she would have absolute authority - answering only to the plaid flanneled sleeve of Lucas himself - to determine what is canon, where the saga goes and what medium is Star Wars to be taken to for the next hundred years. It would be the most awesome responsibility in the history of anything.

Are there any nominations?

(I would volunteer, but my wife won't let me )

 

ya, give it to the fanboys. That worked well for ST:Nemisis didn't it?

 

You had me right up to "George Lucas should do a...". There is no way he'd entrust a multi billion dollar franchise to some geek who fancies him or herself the "ultimate" SW fan because he or she posted some so so fanfic on the internet. Watching The Beginning documentary on the second TPM DVD made me appreciate the process of bringing a SW film from the storyboard to the silver screen. It's more than just pointing a camera at some people in funny outfits and saying "action!". There are budgets to maintain (Though it was his own money, he wasn't spending it like there was no tomorrow), deadlines to meet, a ton of decisions to make regarding production design, costuming, casting, and scouting locations. All this doesn't happen magically. I'm amazed GL maintains a level head, especially during the unforeseen incidents (the sandstorm that destroyed a lot of the props and costumes for TMP, for example). I certainly wouldn't be up to the task. And I'm sure your average SW fan would be overwhelmed by it as well, even if it is just a television show. In fact, being a televison show (and one would assume a weekly one), opens up a whole new set of deadlines one wouldn't have had to deal with a movie. I think GL should hire someone who can not only tell a good story, but can maintain a production on a regular basis. The only person I think suitable for the job (and I don't know if he would take it), once was done with Babylon 5: The Memories Of Shadows, is J. Michael Straczynski. I know I'd tune in weekly if that happened. . But that's my opinon, of course.

 

JMS said something once about how he wouldn't want to do Star Wars because he'd rather see what George Lucas had in mind with it, rather than what he himself thought it should be.

Then again he is doing an awesome job writing Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics, so I guess anything's possible

 

ya, give it to the fanboys. That worked well for ST:Nemisis didn't it?



I particularly like:
"Just like the comic books and the novels are somebody else's way of doing it. I don't mind that. Some of it might turn out to be pretty good. If I get the right people involved, it could be interesting."

Isn't that just George saying that most EU sucks? Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of EU... but it would appear that Uncle George is less than enthusiastic.

Still, he keeps cashing the cheques

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Like Lucas is going to put the fate of a multi million dollar TV series in the hands of some fanboy who has never worked a day in the Entertainment Industry in his life.
I still find it amazing that the fanboys still don't understand the meaning of the word "Professional".
I also have found out that the problem with most stuff done as fans is that it ends up appealing to nobody but the hardcore fans. And a TV series is going to have to appeal to a much,much,wider audience
to have a chance of suceeding.

 

BTW JWS has been mentioned but IMHO he is already committed contractually to so many projects that I am afraid he could not give the Star Wars series the attention it deserved. It would be a full time job, and JWS might already have too full a schdule to which he is legally commited to be able to do that.

 

I also have found out that the problem with most stuff done as fans is that it ends up appealing to nobody but the hardcore fans. And a TV series is going to have to appeal to a much,much,wider audience
to have a chance of suceeding.



Somebody else(Somebody PROFESSIONAL) should take the main helm from future Star Wars projects, but George should remain executive producer.

 

No he shouldn't.

 

I think he should start excepting real fan films insted of just spoofs and then create a super squad of fans and film makers alike to create some feature length episodes.

 

A fan who is most in tune to the SW saga is a decent idea, however, there are many fans who consider themselves "in tune" and IMO, their ideas suck (like the people who suggest Palpatine and Sidious being Clones is a good idea ).

 

Oooh, I've just had this great idea! Maybe George can put 5 golden tickets in random action figure boxes - the people who get them get a free visit to Skywalker Ranch, where the slightly insane and eccentric George sees which one would be the best to follow in his footsteps!!

 

"This is what Uncle George needs to do..."

Do what he has been doing for decades?
Make movies and do well off them?

I dont think he needs any help there.

 

What George Lucas needs to do is not hand it over to the fanboys but to professional young tv writers and producers and directors.

Don't pick a tv director out of the crop of hack clones but look at experimental filmmakers and guys fresh out of film school who have made names for themselves. Young turks so to speak.

For writers hire not your average hack but guys who have genuine talent. Darabont for example was not known for being a television writer but for being a very capable and talented screenwriter. There are so many talented guys writing for the big screen who could open up the scope for the small screen. Look at Joss Whedon one of Hollywoods hottest screenwriters who really made movies for the small screen. There are guys like Whedon and Darabont just waiting to blow up our tv boxes.

As for Producers well Lucas had better be sitting on top. As the founder of the Force I've had the pleasure of being led through some of the best movies of my life by this man. If he isn't involved then it ain't Star Wars IMO.

The last thing I want is amatuerish fanboy stuff being put up on the big screen and being called Star Wars. Do we really need a lightsaber battle in every episode or Boba Fett killing Jedi every week? No. Star Wars ain't a democracy and Lucas shouldn't have to ask us to vote before he makes a decision.

 

They might find someone who fully understands Star Wars and would be capable of managing TV shows and stuff, but I think it would be very hard to find someone like that who actually would WANT to do that. It's a lifetime job, you know.

 

He should hire the film company my friends and I are going to form after college...

No, seriously! We have: a voice major, three theatre majors (one is a director), a computer science animation/visual arts major, and a playwright. I think we've got a good crew going thus far.... and I'm sure once we finish our education, we'll be decent! Hey, Julie Taymor graduated from our college.

If he does hand it off, it needs to be handed off to a good team. And if he does, it probably won't be to a bunch of crazy college kids. At least, I'd be royally surprised if he did. And royally jealous, because it probably won't be us.

 

My own betting is that Lucas will hire people with proven track records of doing quality TV as the head writer and day to day producer, and go with younger people as assitant writers and the directors.
Of all the people mentioned, I really Like the idea of Joss Whedon. All the Star Wars refrences in His shows prove he knows the topic, and unlike a lot of the fanboys,he has lot of practical experience and a track record in quality Television, as opposed to a hack.
But I got a feeling there will be a lot of rumors before we know anything final.
And, though I like a lot ofhis films, Kevin Smith is NOT a good idea. He has done nothing to show he can do a good action series with serious moments. In fact, it's when he gets serious in his films "Jersey Girl", that he messes things up. I like Smith, but he is just not right for "Star Wars" unless it is exclusively for the funny stuff and maybe theoccasional humorous episode a al "The Trouble With Tribbles" in Star Trek.

 

"A fan who is most in tune to the SW saga is a decent idea,"
No it's Not, unless he has the experience to produce a hugely expensive TV series.
When you have as much at stake as Lucas will with a Star Wars Tv Series, you want to hire a professional.

 

Kevin Smith is NOT a good idea. He has done nothing to show he can do a good action series with serious moments.

Erm, he hasn't done an action series at all has he? And as for serious, Chasing Amy was serious wasn't it? Or did you miss two thirds of that movie? A serious topic in an accessable kind of way. Unless you were expecting Shakespearean drama that is...

As I recall, Kevin was less than enthusiastic about TPM, but more receiving of AotC. While I don't agree with his views entirely, I see the kind of future he'd like for SW (and NO, whiners, it's not a Chasing Amy/Jersey Girl future). I'd rather have someone who knows the job and can do the job, than some exec who don't know **** trying to fill the ratings schedules.

[brody]And I think the audience will agree with me there...[/brody]

K.S. is the man for the job.

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The three that stick out most in my mind that could be entrusted with Star Wars are J. Michael Straczynski (proven track record, can write VERY well, knows how to coordinate a massive saga across multiple mediums), Joss Whedon (his talent for saga and action) and now... well, for some reason Kevin Smith DOES seem like a darned good choice.

And I say that while admitting that to date I've seen only ONE Kevin Smith movie so far: "Dogma"

 

I've long thought that if any Star Wars television was out there it should be bold, wide-reaching, and epic in ways that the movies cannot.

What is that?

An Anthology series. Different timelines, different stories, and numerous different characters.

One episode could be about the ancient times with Yoda or the Sith. Another episode could feature events post-Jedi with a cameo by Mark Hamill as Luke.

Some episodes could be two-part cliffhangers while others wouldn't have to be.

Hire directors and writers like he did on Young Indy and just concentrate on the overall guiding of the project.

On episode could show what life was like for a civilian or family living under the Emperor. One episode could cover the formation of the Republic and the first Jedi.

Maybe even tell the stories from the OT from different people's perspectives. You could have a civilian on Naboo during the Federation occupation or have a slave owned by Watto watching as Anakin participates in the podrace.

You could show character in ways you never could in a two-hour SW film.

The possibilities are endless.

IMHO, the worse thing Lucas could do with a SW television series would be to follow the standard-one era type format focusing on, say, the events just after Episode 3.

Why limit it to that? You could cover that, but I'd love to see all the other times covered rather than just one static era and story arc.

Too limiting.

Maybe for some continuity amongst episodes have an elder Luke at the opening of each episode re-telling the stories? Or maybe the droids?

 

"An Anthology series. "
I love the idea, but ,considering the failure rate of anthology series..very high... I doubt it will happen. Too much will be at stake.
I also have a feeling that an anthology series like Shane describes will be a budget buster...and Lucas will have to keep a tighter eye on the piggy bank for TV then he does for the movies. Lucas is a business man and will want to make a profit off the show, which means the budgets will not be what the .

And I remain uncovinced Kevin Smith is the right guy.
Smith pulled out of a "Green Lantern" project because he felt he could not handle action material. And I strongly suspect the reason Smith is popular as a choice is the "He is one of us ...a fan who made good" feeling.
And Jersey Girl was terrible....
I would not be surprised if Rick Mc Callum does not end up with the producer job.

 

Yes but if Lucas wants to turn SW into some formulaic, conventional TV show, then why bother?

Seriously, why lock yourself into one story arc and timeline when working with Star Wars?

That would be destined to fail. One could only take so much of Teen Fett taking a wookie or Jedi scalp every week.

 

"Seriously, why lock yourself into one story arc and timeline when working with Star Wars?"
I love your idea, but it would be a lot of work to keep from confusing the avearge viewer who is not a hard core fan.It would take very good writing to do it without the show drowning in exposition.
And the one timeline seems to be what suceeds on Television.Mulitple Time Lines will be hard to get across except to the hardcore fans.

Understand that the show is going to have to appeal with a mass audience to suceed and not get cancelled after the first season. And, sorry to say this...and I know I will get flamed for it....but the Star Wars Fans are NOT enough to make a show as expensive as the show will be if done right suceed in the ratings. You are going have to appeal to the average viewer. Those are just th fact of life.
This, BTW, is one reason why Lucas will not put a "Fan" in charge. Too much tunnel vision.

 

"Seriously, why lock yourself into one story arc and timeline when working with Star Wars? "

Because you can spin off different series using different charecters and timelines if the first one is a hit?

Lucas is a businessman, and he has got to note how much money the "Law and Order" and "CSI " franchises are making. If "Star Wars :The Series " is a huge hit don't think that "Spinoff" will not cross everybody's including GL's mind.

I also have a theory that Lucas has something to prove with a sucessful TV show. "Young Indy" though a good show, did not last very long. I think Lucas wants a big hit to make himself a player in TV as well as movies. He has got to have noticied how well his buddy Spielberg has done with series like "ER".