I think since the moment Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars it was inevitable that a network TV series would happen. Fans nearly had one before with George Lucas' Star Wars: Underworld, which reportedly had more than 50 scripts already written and ready to shoot, but when the sale happened that shut things down...at least temporarily. Last year Kathleen Kennedy confirmed she still had 'Underground' and the shelved video game Star Wars 1313 in the archives, ready for future use.
That time may be coming soon. At the Television Critics Association event, ABC's Channing Dungey was asked about bringing a Star Wars series to the network, and she confirmed there are some conversations already underway...
“Oh, as a fan, I would absolutely love to say ‘Yes,’”. The conversations with Lucas, we have had conversations with them and will continue to have conversations with them. I think it would be wonderful if we could find a way to extend that brand into our programming.”
Not that she has any details to reveal at this point, or possibly ever due to Lucasfilm's level of secrecy...
"It’s all a little bit hush-hush. That company exists under a big shroud of secrecy. If you feel Marvel’s secretive, [Lucasfilm] takes it to a whole other level … [Talks] are ongoing. We don’t have an official timeline yet.”
While I've often called a Star Wars TV series the "holy grail" for fans of the galaxy far far away, we shouldn't automatically assume people will watch it. Given Marvel's incredible popularity would anybody have thought Agents of SHIELD would struggle as it is has? Or that Agent Carter could be canceled after two seasons? Ultimately it's going to depend on how well the series meshes with the universe Lucas created, and if it doesn't feel 100% cohesive people will bail.
That said, this needs to happen.
Back on the big screen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is next up and we've just been given a look at one of the new ships that will be featured: the U-Wing. Ugh.
We were able to see it a little bit in last year's teaser, but only from a side view and drenched in rain.
I've never quite understood why the rebels employ such an alphabet soup of an armada. X-Wing? Awesome. B-Wing? Not so much. And the U-Wing looks pretty lame, too. It's described as a "troop transport and gunship", but perhaps the coolest thing about it is that one of the gunners will be this guy, Bistan, the "space monkey" seen in the recent sizzle reel from Star Wars Celebration.
If this were still the Lucas era he'd probably have a really offensive foreign accent or something. I'm curious to see and hear this little guy in action.
