Live Action Star Wars Television Series

[Buzz Bumble]

I have got the Old Republic novels, but haven't read them (or most of the other novels) yet.

A couple of companies released 84" and 85" TV sets at the CES expo in America today which would be great for watching the Star Wars Blu-ray discs and the live-action show ... although at the moment they are apparently priced around US$8000!!

[Buzz Bumble]

I got that wrong - it's not a US$8000 TV. It's an "8K TV", whatever that may mean.

But if 84" and 85" TVs are still too small for you, there has also been a 200" (yes, two hundred inches) glasses-free multi-viewpoint 3D display announced today too.

[MattG]

I got that wrong - it's not a US$8000 TV. It's an "8K TV", whatever that may mean. ...

It's an ultra-high def resolution, with about 8k of horizontal resolution ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8K_Video_Format ).

[Buzz Bumble]

I got that wrong - it's not a US$8000 TV. It's an "8K TV", whatever that may mean. ...

It's an ultra-high def resolution, with about 8k of horizontal resolution ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8K_Video_Format ).

Yep, I worked that out later when reading about other TVs released ... the problem is that it's the typical lazy attitude tech companies have these days since the "about" is highly variable. The supposed "8K TV" only has a resolution of just over 7200 pixels. The same happens when measuring storage space with 1K or 1MB or 1 GB coming to mean 1000 rather than the real 1024 - it's done purposely so they can advertise that there's more than there actually is.

As long as they remember it is still Star Wars and do not go down the ridiculous route of the updated Battlestar Galactica by making it dark, dismal, realistic and "adult-ified".

That's why I've found the Old Republic game and novels a source of optimism...they are still very "Star Wars", without taking the storytelling style too far in another direction.

Unfortunately Rick McCallum is stil describing the show as "complex", "dark" and "adult".
(Episode III was of course described as "dark", but it's the "adult" that is the real worry.)

[Reverend Strone]

Rick McCallum is stil describing the show as "complex", "dark" and "adult".

Music to my ears. This is what I'd like to see SW try in a live action show and I have always been most interested in the underbelly stuff we saw hints of in the movies, like Jabba's palace and the cantina, Coruscant streets etc. I love the grit and texture and potential for more grey storylines. Heck, some of the most recent CW episodes fall squarely in this territory and they've been fantastic. The Just finished in the US slaver arc was excellent, as was the Trandoshan "Ultimate Game" two-parter that season 3 ended on. Bring it on I say. I wish it was closer to being made.

[Buzz Bumble]

There's a VERY fine line though. "Adult" almost always translates as "over-sexed, over-realistic, unwatchable garbage". Plus, "Star Wars" is and always has been for kids, trying to turn it into a "adult" franchise or have two competing sub-franchises under the same name is suicidally silly.

We can only hope that George Lucas is still in charge and keeps things consistent, and that Rick McCallam is not doing a "Berman & Braga" (who destroyed the Star Trek franchise by trying to change it).

[Reverend Strone]

I'd wait to see it before jumping to judge exactly what he meant by "adult". Star Wars has a hefty chunk of sexualisation and some pretty heavy violence in it already (Anakin's burning alive in ROTS), some of which I question as kid's fare. Much of it skips over the heads of younger audiences but some of it is pretty confronting. There's no denying the suggestive undertones of Leia and Oola's bondage to Jabba in ROTJ, or the constant appearance of other Twi'lek slaves throughout the CW and prequels. There are drugs in SW and plenty of torture and cruelty. I've lost count of how many CW episodes feature scenes of torture.

This stuff has always been part of SW. I have no problem with a series that skews a little older and tackles some of these issues more directly rather than hinting at them or skipping over the implications like they have tended to do now.

Do I want SW to dwell on that stuff? No, but having said that, I would welcome them at least acknowledging those issues and hopefully building some challenging drama out of a Universe that is that deep and complex. A tv show is going to get pretty boring pretty fast if they aren't wiling to get into some areas of grey with their characters. The big mythic stories have been told in the films. TV is a different media. It doesn't have to be grim and indeed a solely grim show is pretty wearying to watch, but it does demand more complexity if it's to be compelling drama. I think the SW universe is deep enough to support those kinds of stories as demonstrated by some of the EU material that has been produced. the prequels are a great example of a dark story that deserved to be so much more complex and adult than it was, but instead was pretty superficial and ultimately, for me in any case, pretty unfulfilling.

Let me put it this way. I see complex, dark and adult as excellent terms to describe ESB, but none of those terms could be used to describe TPM. Which was the better movie?

That all said, you and I may simply have different tastes. You said, "'Adult' almost always translates as 'over-sexed, over-realistic, unwatchable garbage.'" I am guessing some of what you call garbage is probably what I consider to be some of the best television I have seen in recent years. From your earlier statements I am guessing you class the modern Battlestar Galactica show that way. That was my initial impression of it as well, upon watching just a snippet, but I quickly grew to love the bravery of the writing of that show and, though I acknowledge it was way dark and sometimes too unremittingly so, nonetheless found it very compelling. I don't want SW to become just like Battlestar as their's was a very different flavour of tv, but if they can match the intelligence of the Battlestar scripts while retaining the all important levity and wonder that all the classic SW movies had, then they'd be on to a winning formula in my opinion. SW need not always be dumbed down the way those prequels were, and indeed can't be if they want to survive on tv nowadays. The market has different expectations.

[oota goota]

yup I'm all in favour of a bit more 'dark' and 'adult' in a live action show. As others have said there are lots of dark elements in the SW films. Off the top of my head:

Lando's deal with Darth
Darth tortures leia
Darth tortures Han
Darth in the mediation chamber thing (ok maybe gross not dark)
Ewoks eat people
Leia kisses her brother (man I bet they had a couple of uncomfortable conversations after they blew up the second death star!)
Lukes dream sequence in ESB
Han shoots first!

I'm sure there are loads more but it does make the point you can have a bit of adultness without losing the SW feel

I imagine it might be a bit like the clone wars animation where some episodes are more dramatic and/ or more violent than others


Why the hell are they making it in Prague. Come to NZ damn it!

[Buzz Bumble]

The Australian webstore EzyDVD is already (sort-of) advertising the Season 1 DVD, but there's almost no information on the page and it's listed in the "Future Release Category: Rumoured" section.


Along with being used in various other places, Underworld is the name of the underwear factory in Coronation Street.

[Reverend Strone]

Boy, is that ever jumping the gun! Bizarre!