More Rumors about Star Wars:The TV Series. - Page 2

While there are exceptions, I generally find that people who are able to write and speak effectively using the English anguage can translate this skill into a variety of different formats. I have found that Smith (albeit, I have only watched his speeches to college students and his movies, and glanced at a few comic books) has this talent, and thus I would trust him, until proven wrong, to work in multiple genres.

I mean, Leigh Bracket (spelling?) who wrote a good portion of ESB got her start in hard boiled film noir and detective stories. Nobody thought she would have Han Solo put on a trenchcoat and wander around talking like Philip Marlowe.

I think Lucas needs to wait about 5 years after the dvd of Sith comes out and let paeople wait for new Star Wars for a while. Do an Anthlogy show Hosted by Luke, in the jedi archives or something picking out stories from the Jedi throughout their centuries long span. Have it also be a much older Luke so we could have stories from after the end of the Galactic Civil War. If any characters in the stories click, you can always write more stories about them. Better yet, do a few 4 hour mini-series a year(like one every 4 months or so). Make each one an event.

That's the thing. CHASING AMY is a great flick because it's a pretty brutally honest and uncomfortable relationship flick that wears its heart on its sleeve. I get pretty sick of the pop culture stuff, I always hate fart jokes, although the sex stuff is funny, but I'm glad Jay was in it for five minutes tops, because even he can get annoying. You may be right in large, but personally, those are the reasons I'm not a fan of all of Smith's flicks, whilst I love CHASING AMY.

I've always thought Dogma was by far his best work in terms of the writing.

The "turn the writer of Jersey Girl loose" comment was pretty asinine. There isn't a great writer out there who didn't come up with a dog or two every once in a while (although I didn't see Jersey Girl, maybe it's great).

If Smith has nothing else going for him as a filmmaker, he is able to communicate a wide variety of nuances and ideas through dialogue. This, more than anything else, is what I find lacking in the current crop of Star Wars prequels.

What we need is a good producer who isn't going to let networks kiddie-fie the series and some good science fiction/fantasy writers at the keyboard. Will a live action Star Wars series survive? Who the hell knows. As long as it isn't a hokey, watered down SW or goes the route of the last two Star Trek series, I'll look forward to it until I see signs of the thing going south.

My prediction is that it will be set post-ROTJ, because I can't really picture them farming a series out of a post-ROTS/pre-ANH timeline. Why? Because it's nothing but the death and destruction of the Jedi and the Old Republic. We wouldn't have Yoda or Obi-Wan, because each ran off into seclusion, thus leaving us with watching Darth Vader slaughter Jedis and "rebel scum" every week. Now I would love that as much as any Star Wars fan, but I don't really see the regular TV-watching public wanting to sit around watching the bad guy win all the time.

As for a series in that time period with all new characters, I can't see that flying either. In order for it to succeed in today's TV world, it will probably need familiar characters. If there is no familiarity, it won't do to well after a couple of weeks and it'll get cancelled like everything else. Again, look at Star Trek. Stark Trek: TNG's success was largely because of the established film series (and good writing), plus the times were different. Which switching to all-new casts, Deep Space Nine faired decently, but never really came close to hitting the peak of TNG (hence why there is no attempt at making a DS9 film). Voyager did even less, and Enterprise is struggling to not only keep itself affloat, but the whole Star Trek franchise alive as well. Outside of the Sci-Fi Channel, series like this just don't do all that well anymore. All that haven't gone the way of the dodo after a season or two are barely kept alive on the Sci-Fi Channel, but never outside of it.

Best guess? Mark Hamill's continuing adventures as Luke Skywalker, battling old remnants of the Empire and maybe a dark Jedi or two on a weekly basis, maybe even with R2-D2 and C-3P0 at his side.


(Other prediction: Once finished with all ROTS press and TV series dealings, Lucas will take the reigns and direct Indy IV himself with Spielberg producing. Deny it all you want, but deep down you know that I'm right.)

Anyone thinks that the producer may be JMS? He did say in his letter to Trek fans that he was hired for a new, big tv series (not Star Trek). I mean, one would think he wouldn´t be interested in doing anything besides something he cooked up himself. If he was "hired" for one series, it would have to be something huge, i would assume.

The involvement of anyone from the movies in this TV series will raise the odds of it failing miserably in my opinion, it threatens to sully their characters from the movie trilogy, can you imagine if it all turns out like the mediocre Star Trek Enterprise? It could have a knock-on affect onto the movies, you might never look at Luke in the same way again.

What would be cool though, is if they have a guest director for each episode, I've always wanted to see people like Fincher, Mann, Raimi, etc, take on a story in the SW universe. Would be groovy.

Like Quentin Tarantino directing CSI. Michael Mann spending much of his career making TV. Fincher being an ILM alumni as well as directing adverts.

I think most good directors are anxious to do things they feel challenge them. And despite the prequels, STAR WARS still has a prestige to it, one I'm sure many directors would feel a pull to.

USA Today has news about the Star Wars TV-show.

Weekly Darth Vader? Impressive. Most impressive...

On the contrary. I think there's room for a great character study there.

My guess is that Vader will be a special guest star. Expect Tarkin as the recurring villain.

I knew it. It's the most logical choice. I don't know how he's going to show Ben, etc... maybe a few guest apperances by McGregor, McDiarmid, etc here and there with most of the story focused on the Rebels vs. Imperials. It's also the most familiar time period to audiences. Makes sense.

Man this show needs to be on HBO or something without commercial interruption.
You know how adventure shows go to commercial with a small cliffhanger.
Can you imagine:

"What are we gonna do to stop the assassination"

music que: dummm dummmm

now; a McDonalds commercial (2 Qp's with cheese hot and ready to order for $3 batabababa i'm lovin it!)

Next Scene ending with;

"2 teenage jedi/padawans have just fallen into a cave/trap and out of the shadows comes Darth Vader."

Music que: Dunt da da

Now a Dove commercial or worse A neosporin commercial



You get the picture.

It's exactly the period that I thought they might set it in. It makes a lot of sense financially. They did build a lot sets, models (both cg and real) in the Preqs that will simply go to waste. A lot of the FX stuff done (or unused) are now render ready for the show. I think and hope that major characters of both Star Wars OT and Prequel will make only make severely limited and occasional appearances and even then from afar.

This thing will benefit greatly if it's about a bunch of smugglers or a group of similar ilk. It allows the show to have new characters while keeping the characters varied (you can even have a Force sensitive albeit untrained biped in there). They'll get to planet hop. The whole newly birthed Empire can be their backdrop that will lend it a quietly forbidding atmospehere. Being smugglers allows them to sometimes get into conflict with the Empire or even the Rebels. The period can now be seen from a new and fresh perspective through these characters. They don't even have to be major cogs in the wheel of the events that will eventually introduce us Ep. 4 - they can be just peripheral observers or participants of major conflicts/events of that period.

This way, we can a good glimpse of that time slice between the Preq and the OT and the subsequent transition without de-mystifying it. Following the life of Vader or Ben or Luke on Tatooine weekly will be connect the dots and quickly make them ordinary.

This is all speculation (only the timeline seems to have been confirmed by Lucas himself) but it's all entirely plausible and not that hard to have be done:

I doubt we'll see Obi-Wan. MacGregor would probably not do a TV show no matter what.

Yoda's a possiblity. After all, all you need is Frank Oz's voice. But I think that even if MacGregor would agree to do a small bit here and there, as well as Frank Oz lending his voice, I don't think you'll see them at all. I think Lucas and Co. will go with the initial impression that Obi-Wan and Yoda hide out after the events of ROTS and don't resurface into the story until when they appear in the OT.

It's very possible that Vader might be in it. All you need is James Earl Jones' voice and if he's willing to lend it to phone company commercials, I'm sure, for a price, he lend it to a TV show. Palpatine's very possible to. I don't think McDiarmid's in that much demand that he'd consider a TV show to be beneath him, or that's he's in the position to demand outrageous fees. Maybe even get the actor who plays Tarkin in Episode III. I believe he was made up to look like Cushing (via prosthetics) and if he doesn't sound like him, they can get a professional mimic to dub the voice in).

Boba Fett might be in it (anybody can be play him, just get Temura to dub the voice since no matter what the timeline, as long as it's after Episode II, he should sound like Morrison and not Logan) . As well as Jabba. Maybe a young Han and Chewie (Peter Mayhew would probably return so at least Chewie could have a role here and there). 3PO (at least have Daniels do the voice) and R2 (don't have to worry about Baker, even his work in the prequels is extremely limited and my impression is that he's there mostly for old times sake) are a definite possiblity

You might see a young Luke but I think it may be similar to that of Obi-Wan and Yoda. Their stories are finished until they resurface in the OT. But if so, it probably won't be hard to get the actor's playing Beru and Owen back.

Also, there could be Mothma and Madine (who I'm sure doesn't appear in the prequels).

The show could also deal a lot with the Tantive IV. Detailing its adventures as it faces, and narrowly escapes from, the Empire all accross the galaxy. There you could have R2 and 3PO (again, no problem in them returning, since all you really need is Daniel's voice) in supporting roles, appearing almost every week, and get the actor who played Captain Antilles in ROTS.

Also, I think Jimmy Smits might play a big role in the series. Maybe even the lead character (or at least a strong supporting character - maybe an Adama-like figure). He could appear in almost every episode. After all, he's had experience with TV before with NYPD Blue and L.A. Law. In fact, that's pretty much all he's known for since he's never had much of a film career. In fact, maybe that's why Lucas cast him as Organa. He was planning a TV show that would deal with the early days of the Rebels fighting the Empire even while making Episode II and hired Smits because of his past experience and success in TV (again, his only real success as an actor). Maybe the offer was put this way: Play a small part in II, a larger part in III, and that will segue into a weekly series after III's been finished and released. Smits, itching to get back to his former glory (having been a few years since he left NYPD Blue and realizing that his film career wasn't taking off the way he hoped, was eager to come on board).

So basically, the new series could be this: It's the rebels vs. the Empire taking place a few years after Episode III, centering mostly around Bail Organa and his Blockade Runner, the Tantive IV in which R2 and 3PO are serving aboard, as the ship flies through the galaxy getting into all sorts of Imperial entanglements. Often they're escorted by a squadron of X-Wings and Y-Wings and run into Imperials blockades - so major Tie Fighter vs. X wing space battles can ensue. Every now and then, we can cut back to Coruscant, the Imperial Capitol where the evil Palpatine plots the rebellion's destrution. Maybe Vader and Tarkin play a hand ons role or just stand aside while lesser characters (some imperial officer and his squad of stormtroopers goes out into the field).

So it all sounds entirely plausible. Basically they can do this. Have a TV show starring or having guest appearances by:

Vader (James Earl Jones' voice)

Boba Fett (Morrison's voice)

Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa

Stormtroopers (maybe a mixture of Morrison's voice and other actors as Stormtroopers since other clone sources can enter the mix).

Tarkin (the actor from Episode III and a professional impressionist to do Cushing's voice)

Ian McDiarmid as The Emperor.

Jabba (don't need to worry about any actor returning to do him, since with all the sound manipulation in his voice, they could probably get just about any actor to sound like Jabba)

3PO and R2 (at least Anthony Daniels returning to do the voice)

Mon Mothma (get the actress playing her in Episode III)

Chewie (with Peter Mayhew, but if not, they could have him, just get a real tall actor. Chewie's growl is mostly processed anyways so they don't need to worry about a specific voice actor).

Young Han (if they takes place after Episode III, Han will be from anywhere from his mid-teens on so they could get a decent young (late-teen-twentysomething) actor to play him.

Jar Jar (I sure hope not) and Watto (I wouldn't mind) could make appeareances as well (even Dexter Jettster)

So a Star Wars show could easily be done that could deal with major characters from both trilogies and not have to worry about awkward (a different actor playing a character we all know) cast changes (except of course when a new actor plays an OT character when they're much younger) since you could have so much of the actual actors return (mostley because they're not that famous or successful, and even if so, could at least lend there voice or do a cameo here and there) or have some characters from the OT be involved where it's plausible to get a new actor since there's no way they could return since they're much older and would have to play them much younger (this would only work for characters like Vader, the Emperor, R2. 3PO, Chewie, Boba Fett, etc). Also, the show could be somewhat of an anthology show. One week, they're focusing on the Tantive IV, dealing with Organa, Antilles and Threepio, and another week, it could all take place on Tatooine and involve Jabba and his smugglers. It could be similar in many ways to the Clone Wars cartoons - how that focused largely on Anakin, but veered off and told a story about Mace, or the other Jedi's facing Grevious.

So am I on the right track? Is this what they'll likely be doing? Carl?

I wouldn't want a show that took place between the trilogies. Where would the lightsaber battles occur... they wouldn't. Where would be the Force? What the hell is Yoda gonna do if he even made the show. He'd just be talking to himself and making stew while he waited 20 years for Luke. I guess you could have a young Luke on Tatooine, cause I think that would be funny to see him walking about Anchorhead with Obi-Wan spying on him.

Actually, how funny would that be? You could make a comedy where Luke goes through his awkward teen years and is really clumsy. Obi-Wan could be watching from afar while Luke got himself into all sorts of wacky trouble. In one scene he could be working on his T-16 where something goes wrong and right before the whole thing topples onto Luke, Obi-Wan uses the force to save him. Or he could save Luke from falling boulders with the Force. Yeah. Also... Obi-Wan is an alcoholic.

Seriously, I'd like to see a post Jedi show or a Knights of the Old Republic era show. Give me Jedi/Sith and lightsabers or fuck off.

I'm pretty sure they'll be no Ben. I guess they'll go with another jedi who'll die heroically somewhere down the line. I like the smugglers idea, although I guess they'll go with a team of rebels.

I expect to see Mon Mothma, Tarkin and a wookie. And I really want to see Vader saved for a few juicy episodes and not as a recurring villain.

And I'm pretty sure that the last episode will feature the daring attempt to steal the death star plans...

Oh, and a constant stream of lightsabre duels would turn this into Highlander 3000.

You guys are already making the same mistake we all made when heading into the Prequel Trilogy.

Set any expectations aside... for now, anyway.

Use your imagination. There are literally infinite ammounts of compelling storylines you could come up with. You've got all the right ingredients, all you have to do is start cooking. Who says Yoda is the only on Dagobah? He's not. It's crawling with life, we just haven't seen anything other than the occassional snake, lizard, etc...

No lightsaber battles? Who says all the jedi are killed in Ep.3? Maybe some got away and are systematically hunted down by Vader before Ep.4. The force never goes away. There could be other force sensitives running around learning about the force, etc, who are also hunted by Vader.

You've got the Empire. There's an espionage angle you could play, with rebel forces penetrating and spying as Imperial officers. You could explain why there are no women in the Empire by having a woman from the rebels infiltrate with a whole storyline of her maybe falling in love with an officer, him trying to protect her, there's a big conflict and she's killed and then bam you have a reason why they don't hire women. I dunno, bad example but you see my point.

You've got Tatooine, Luke, Jabba, the Cantina, Lando, Cloud City, Han, Chewie, Endor, juust massive ammounts of stuff to use.

I'm not really expecting anything. I was just speculating on what are possibilities based on what already's been revealed (live action, taking place between III and IV).

It's just TV, and if it's good, then good, if not, I just won't watch it anymore and that's that. The only real potential, and the only real risk of significant disappointment strictly lies within the films themselves as far as I'm concerned.

Same here. One thing is certain, as an unashamed Star Wars fan, I'm going to spend good money on the season DVDs

I actually enjoy the prequels, so should your post be viewed as positive or negative regarding the basis of the show?

btw, I always find it amazing how much SW info you have. I appreciate it!

Damn, if i'm not mistaken, that sounds alot like a certain Joss Whedon series from 2002, just with Jedi and Sith....Hmm....curious...

Still not sold. I want an alcoholic Obi-Wan that protects a dumb and awkward Luke (from a distance) between sessions with hookers on deathsticks.

The best way to go is to focus on the birth of the Rebellion. We apparenlty see just a hint of it in ROTS.

A nice character study on Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and everyone's favorite Catfish, Admiral Ackbar. We have plenty of villians and traitors and all kinds of interesting folk to meet.

We could see the worlds of Corellia and the subjucation of the Wookiees. Many ways to go with it. IF it even happens.

Yeah, because you know, when I think Star Wars, what immediately pops to mind is a burning question about the backstory for Mon Mothma! While something like that might interest the hardcore geek audience who can spot Lav Sivak in a crowd, it's not going to fly as a tv show. Television isn't the sole domain of the Star Wars completist--that's what the novels are for. If there's not SOME action, it'll get canned in 6 weeks.

The comparison everyone's making is to the EU.

One of the most popular and the best recieved series is the X-Wing series of books.

The X-Wing books, up until I, Jedi, had almost ZERO jedi in it, and dealt with nothing but b and c-level characters that would have never otherwise gotten any attention.

I don't see why the same thinking behind that wouldn't work on a TV series. I also don't get why the idea of a TV series is such anathema, as if it's beneath Star Wars fans. hell, you could make an argument that Television has lately provided more quality entertainment than the movies has. There's a reason TV on DVD is selling so much, there's a reason people are buying TiVo's like crazy. You've got the cult of Whedon, you've got Deadwood, The Wire, The Shield, 24, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Sopranos, it goes on..

..so why are we acting like TV would kill Star Wars. The books didn't--and a lot of those books are horribly written mindless pap. Hell, those EU books REVIVED Star Wars in the early 90's when Star Wars was dead.

Star Wars on TV should probably get a chance. There's all kinds of possibilities for great story arcs between the trilogies. Instead of worrying about the number of lightsaber fights and space battles, worry about the showrunner they get. Because with a great showrunner--you CAN have a 4 story arc about Mon Mothma and it'll still be great drama. Because they'll make Mon Mothma more than just a cameo appearance and a handful of shitty lines.

Pitch: At the end of Ep 3 The Death Star plans are accidentally eaten by Jar Jar Binks, meaning both the empire and the rebellion are out to get Jar Jar - and they don't care how they get the plans out of him!

the death star plans tie into the first movie, they thematically represent the growth of the empire plus it explains why it took them 18 years for them to build the damn thing.

Carl should hire me to make this thing.

They need to make a docudrama on the life of robotic law enforcement on the streets of a newly formed Imperial rule Coruscant.

2-1B and FX-7: DROIDS WITH BADGES.

How about Bad Droids? Get Bay to direct.

Sidious takes all the Jedi Youngling's body parts and reanimates them around the skeleton of a droid, thus combining the high midichlorian count of the padawans with the cold ruthlessness of the droid - and that could be the big baddy of the series. it would look like frankenstein but made out of mis-matched kiddy bits, making everyone cower in fear at it's very presence. it could be called General Ligeon or something.

It would fit in with the theme of the empire corrupting all that was good, plus it would be kick-ass with sabres and stuff.

Yep, i'm the man for this job. Fett and his police? pffh.



Oh, if you want a well reasoned serious post, go-read fatboy's again.

SW is way too serious anyway. I want a show like the SW Tales comic, where it was a mixture of serious stuff and comedy, which didn't pay any attention to continuity. That was the best EU around. Then it went continuity, and got shite.

I've got it!

A 5 year story arc, with JMS writing & producing it.

I am kidding of course (after slavishly following JMS for X years, I've lately come to the the conclusion that he has vanished up his own ass)

But this is a star Wars TV thread, so the above isn't entirely relevant. (sorry)

I'll contribute, therefore.

I think, like anything in the prequels (sans the final duel?), everything has turned out unexpected. From the titles, to the locations to the major events. I think we will find the same here. We need to expect the unexpected, which implies that whatever our guesses are, they will be waaay off, (unless we predict something unexpected, happen to be right...by utter coincidence).

My best guess (without being too fanboyish), would be a story arc, more fleshed out than the prequels, due to there being more broadcast time than in the films. Old George, however, will not let the makers forget the fact that Star Wars has all it's origins in Flash Gordon, serial shows. Hence, all of the political machinations and character development, will be reduced to small moments. Most episodes will feature highly suspenseful cliff-hangers.

The show, however, will get better over time (as opposed to getting worse), as George loosens the reigns, and the makers get more creative control. The show will make more use of the potential, in a way not entirely unlike how the Clone Wars TV show has evolved. It started off very iffy, and ended masterfully (IMO)

dudalb, is there something wrong with using the QUOTE function? Ever hear of paragraphs? Sorry to be harsh, but your posts are annoying to the eyes.

Maybe they could reuse old shots of Yoda from the prequels, only superimpose Frank's mouth on the top, like they did back in the 50's.

Plenty of spaceships and lasers and it'll make enough money. Stargate is in what season now?

Interesting, I speculated almost the exact same thing when the TV series was first talked about a little over a year ago. Of all the actors cast in these movies, Jimmy Smits is the only actor who is well known and highly regarded for his work in dramatic television. He does have that small screen presence that can carry a tv show. Plus Bail Organa has a couple of things going for him as a character. On the grander scale, he is instrumental in building the Rebel Alliance and there are a lot of stories that can be told which bridge the gap between Episode III and IV. And on a more personal level, he is a man who has taken on the responsibility of raising a daughter. So there is that family aspect to the series. His story would end with the theft of the Death Star plans and maybe even overlap a little with the events of Episode IV. The series would end with Bail Organa and his fellow Alderaanians looking up into the sky and seeing the Death Star.

Well, I don't know about this whole Jimmy Smits to Star Wars TV talk since the West Wing got renewed for a seventh season. One of (if not the) most important character of late has been Matt Santos, a Democractic (?) presidental candiate played by Jimmy Smits.

I don't think the producers of the WW will let him go so easily...

You're most likely right about Jimmy Smits. At this point any speculation is purely conjecture and will ultimately not be what anyone thinks is going to happen. However, even with Jimmy Smits' current commitment to the West Wing, it is still not entirely out of the realm of possibility. For one the TV series isn't even going to start production for another year. The West Wing could be cancelled by then. Jimmy Smits might decide to leave after season 7. Or the TV show is going to be a limited run kind of series spanning maybe 12 episodes a year or so and Jimmy Smits might be able to do both, provided that this is even what Lucas even has in mind. Who really knows with as tightlipped as Lucasfilm is being about the whole thing? Maybe the series won't even happen. Or it will happen but several more years from now.

I'd love to see it done Amazing Stories style, personally, with mostly self contained episodes ala Dark Horse's Star Wars anthology book. You could have blocks of 2 or 3 episodes for a single story if it warranted it, but the series would spend the majority of its time jumping from place to place and story to story, filling in different details from the birth of the rebellion and the empire.

From the "Making Of ROTS" on the OS (Hyperspace Only)...

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/m...s20050328.html

Later, Lucas talks to Oz about future projects. “I was thinking about doing a bit where Yoda just
talks about the Force. It might be going too far, but it might be fun to have Yoda a little jokey,
not just strong and wise.”
“He could be cooking in his house on Dagobah,” Oz agrees.
“We have this other little thing we’re doing,” Lucas continues, “this Clone Wars cartoon on
TV. It’s so successful, we’re going to put it out as half-hour shows, and all the main characters
are in it.” He then adds, “Have you ever thought about directing an animated film?”
“I’ve been asked, but it takes a such a long time and I do like to work with the actors.”
“Well, you don’t have to be there the whole time; you can jump in,” Lucas notes.

The first bit sounds like an addition to ESB or ROTJ...as for the Clone Wars reference, I wonder what timeframe the potential half hour shows would be in?

This is officially my 16,000th post so I'll make it count:

I've been told to expect news "of some kind" regarding the future of STAR WARS on T.V. at Celebration III in Indianapolis next month. Perhaps there will be an official announcement or something.

Now, whether it's animation related or live action (or both), I don't know. But I can say that both cartoons and live action STAR WARS shows are in the works.

Well I love the cartoons, so this is good news to me!