Will Star Wars Do For Television As It Did For The Movie Industry?

With the release of Star Wars in 1977, movie-goers for the first time witnessed something that was never projected onto a movie screen before which, changed the way movies are made still till this very day.

Even though Star Wars will no longer be shown on the silver screen again, there is really no reason for us Star Wars and fantasy lovers to fear because, the epic saga will continue on the small screen.

Seeing and knowing how Star Wars changed and literally turned the movie industry up-side-down, will Star Wars do the same for television?

Lets face it, it is about time that television had a drastic make over. The whole reality, law and order, cheesy teen soap opera type programs are getting old and, it's about time there were some shows that fed the imaginations of those that love fantasy. And, I think the answer is in the Star War television series...

Whats the general consensus, does anyone else agree that Star Wars might changed television as it did the movie industry....?

 

The quick answer is yes.

Lucas writing and directing the first 100 episodes is a sure sign of quality. I hear this will be the most cinematic TV series to date and I imagine it will be like watching an hour-long Star Wars movie each week.

Setting it between III and IV, showing the immediate aftermath of the purge, the continuing transformation of the Empire, and following the droids and Captain Antilles involvement with the forming Rebellion (complete with guest appearances by Jimmy Smits who claims to prefer television over movies) would make this series a fanboys wet-dream. The next best thing, if not better, than a movie.

One thing I'll guarantee everyone here (in fact, if more details come out and I turn out to be wrong, the mods can ban me) is that the first act of A New Hope, following the droids and hearing Threepio mentioning battles and Captain Antilles is a sure sign of the TV series. This, as well as Obi-Wan reversing the homing beacon on the Jedi Temple. I guarantee it! Not to sound cocky, but I feel I've been pretty good at predicting Lucas's moves. Everything sounds right about doing this series between III and IV.

 

One thing I forgot to add to my question which, also associated with every other fan on this site...

If you agree that Star Wars will change television as it did the movies, how do you see television changing because of Star Wars?

In my opinion I wouldn't be surprised that it sparks more television series that revolve itself around fantasy just how more fantasy movies were being produced after Star Wars came out...

 

I imagine it would do to TV what Star Wars did to movies. It'll generate more ambitous storytellers and more people would want to create a more cinematic experience through television shows. I imagine networks would start investing more into huge, blockbuster-esque shows and we might see other film franchises convert to television.

 

Well, a Star Wars TV Show, if done right, will be great.
But, I disagree that there aren't a lot of good TV shows out now. Granted, I'm not a huge reality show fan, but, IMHO, some TV shows today are better than any shows that have come before. On Broadcast TV, shows like "24", "Alias", and "Smallville" are very well-done, interesting, and gripping. On the sci-fi channel, shows like the new "Battlestar Galactica" and "Stargate SG-1" are fantastic, and on HBO there are great shows like "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood".
And, I've never seen "Lost", but I've heard that's a great show as well....

 

I just hope the comparisons to Star Trek and Star Wars stop....Star Trek, face it, is damn-bad! They consider someone an "alien" if they slightly disfigure their forehead or add 2inch by 2inch computer panel to the side of someone's face.

The aliens are friggin' retarded in Star Trek. At least Lucas and co. have some creativity when they create new aliens.

Let's just hope that Lucas doesn't do the same. If anything use the aliens and characters that have already been established in the original sixology.

 

I don't think anyone will have to worry about people distinguishing Star Wars from Star Trek and for those that haven't already will definitly see the difference between the two types of SCI-FI shows once Star War is on television...

And I never said television was bad. Television however is getting boring no thanks to the reduant and carbon copy shows that are being produced. I mean what is the difference between all the CSIS shows on television except their location. The same as to be said about the law and order shows, reality t.v shows, those over the top teen soap operas on prime time and even 24hr which, has the same theme as Alias (shows about espionage)....

It just time for a change, and yea there are great SCI-FI shows on television but, lets face it they don't deliver the same kind of hype that Star Wars will which, is why I think teleivison will change a lot once it is aired on television...

 

television has been undergoing a slow facelift for a number of years. speilberg has dabbled in it ("Amazing Stories", "Band of Brothers", "Taken") with varying degrees of success.

blur mentions several other highly rated shows that are out now, tho i admit that i watch very little tv currently. i'm still a fan of benchmark shows from the 70s and 80s. crime story and wiseguy helped pave the way for high quality episodic tv. and let's not forget possibly the greatest tv show of all time, MASH, was merely a spinoff from the original film, although it became much more prominently well known.

the stigma of having your filmmaker stature lessened has eroded somewhat over time. rather than starting a revolution, i hope star wars, depending on gl's level of involvement, will hopefully be just the final nail in the coffin.

 

My hope is that Lucas' writing will be for the overall story, and the day-to-day dialogue will be written by someone else...especially if there is romance.

 

I imagine it will be like watching an hour-long Star Wars movie each week.

This is why I'm so pumped for it. 100 more hours of Live Action Star Wars. Wow.

 

No way, did the Clone Wars shows change anything?

Nope, unless you watched Cartoon Network or looked at SW shows it wasnt promoted

 

This will be bigger than the Clone Wars indy. Besides even a little hour animated show won an emmy. Star Wars is magical. It will be big, but not that big.

 

Oh hell yeah....

We all know it will....

George is a man from other galaxy, he rules, and he has the Mida's touch...

 

I loved The Clone War series in fact, that was a well put together animated series. Yet, that was a cartoon so of course it would deliver as much as in impact as a live Star Wars television series would...

When you think Star Wars, however, you can't help but think of all the special effects that Lucas puts into each of his movies. And, that being the case one will obviously have to believe that Lucas will put a degree of special affects in the television series and, do to this truth I feel rather sorry for the television shows being broadcasted today...

I mean I think the quality of special effects that Lucas can create will change the way shows are made and even make it harder for shows that don't have the resources or know how to create such special affects. I wouldn't be surprised that shows following the Star Wars television series will begin to focus more on the effects of the show just how movies did that followed Star Wars the first time it projected onto a movie screen...

 

I think hte possibility is truely there, Lucas is in the best position to take advantage of HD becoming more and more common, digital sound, digital picture, there is no reason that someone won't soon take full advantage of these aspects, and who better than Lucas?

I imagine one of the big cost issues for TV series is costuming, well....I am sure that Lucasfilms has all kinds of that stuff alreay sitting in warehouses waiting to be used, the other thing is CG related stuff, time sopent building models and whatnot...Already done for the most part.

 

So wait, is this TV series confirmed, or is it still just a possibility that Lucas has been toying with?

 

Oh no its been confirmed it is going to happen. And when it does expect television to change a whole lot the same way the movies did once the first or Episode IV came out 28 years ago...

The television series will not only change television overall but the broadcasting company or network that Lucas (I have no doubt that Lucas will be the one to choose which television company he'll use to broadcast his series on instead of visa versa) joins up with will also change.

Not only will the stock value of the company go up but, I weren't be surprised other producers with shows will want to be on the same network as the Star Wars television series because, it will guarantee producers that their show will be watched as well whether their show is either aired before or after the Star Wars television series...

 

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with comments made by The2ndQuest...


Even though it is true that there are already SCI-FI shows that are using special effects opposed to other shows being broadcasted today, the level of special effects that Lucas uses goes far beyond what the other SCI-FI shows use, in fact compared to Lucas' special effects I considered the special effects of those other SCI-FI shows down right cheesy...

Plus, you forget that those SCI-FI shows don't use such things as High Definition, THX sound and things of that nature which Lucas does use and I would not be surprised to see the Star Wars television series in HD with THX sound and such which, you have to admit will change the way television is seen and heard for that matter and possibly cause other producers and shows to follow along the same path.

Finally, it does not matter whehter Lucas is or is not writing the first 100 espidoes because, no matter what Lucas as to okay the final product and believe me he will not allow an espisode or espisodes of the show to air on television if it is going to hurt his industry and Star Wars all together.

In addition, I would not mind seeing other people who are actually writers, write for Lucas and for the television show. What few people do not know is that even though Star Wars is Lucas' idea, his original writings of the OT saga were just rough drafts and he actually had writers help him with the final drafts. Surpringsly, Lucas did not do for the PT saga in fact he wrote most of the PT saga which, is one reason why there is such a distinct difference between both sagas.

So what I am trying to get at is that Lucas despite his creative genius is not a great writer and would be smart to hirer SCI-FI writers especiall when it comes to television. What Lucas is good at is being the producer and being the one to pretty much protect what he created which, like I said he will do...

 

Do I think that a Star Wars series could be good to great? Yes. Do I think that it will be a "revolutionary" television series, the way that the original movie was? Nope.

Sure, it will be filmed in HD, but many, many shows aready are. In fact, Enterprise was filmed in HD from the get go. 24, Alias, Desperate Houswives, Battlestar Galactica, CSI, just to name a few. I do think that the show will probably have better effects than anything else on TV, but that's goning to be an incremental step up at best. Shows like Deep Space Nine and Stargate had what I consider to be "movie-level" effects years ago.

As far as story goes, they say that they're going to have a hundred episode arc. That has been done as well - remember Babylon 5. Heck, the writers of Lost are talking about an 8 year story arc.

Honestly, Star Wars has already changed television. You can see it's influnce in the recent Treks, Stargate, Farscape, and just about any other genre show. It's effect was immediate: just look at the original Battlestar Galactica! I expect the series to be good, as long as they get good writers and good actors, but I don't expect it to be groundbreaking.

 

Well I have high expectations, I hardly think that the show will be ground breaking! Television is a very different medium from film. Star Wars on the small screen will be great, but it will definitely have a different feel to it. I'm also concerned that by setting it between Episodes III & IV, Lucas is putting himself into a bit of a corner. The show will have alot of background material to conform to, and as none of the major characters from the films are said to be featured, I get the feeling that this show may feel like a sidestory more than anything else.


I do hope that it is on a major network as I want to see this show in HD.

 

quick question, will Fox be airing Star Wars? They did produce the films, it seem natural to me that they would to the TV series aswell.

 

Star Wars will do fine in television. Will it break records and set tv's on fire? No. But for the franchise, an absolutely yes. It will create more books, comic books, and maybe video games. Stuff we buy. It will certainly help merchandising. A lot of people are collectionists and have to have everything. The Clone War cartoon series, got 3 Digest books from dark horse comics with a fourth one coming out in Sept. Those have been very succesful. The first hour which comprimisies seasons one and two won an emmy award and was nominated for an annie award, and we still don't know how the second hour will do.We also have a new clone war animated show that is suppose to be being made later on. Once again, more comic books, maybe books and video games.