Short answer, fall of 2007 and beyond.
Long answer- according to Steve Sansweet, head of Lucasfilm fan relations, a Star Wars 3D animated series set between the Episode II and Episode III- during the clone wars- is in pre-production as of February 2006. It is slated for release in the fall of 2006 and George Lucas is remaining involved with the entire process.
A live action series of “100 one hour episodes” (according to Rick McCallum) will not get under way until later and may not hit television screens until the end of the decade- i.e. 2010. This will be set between Episode III and Episode IV.
The series are not based on any of the main characters. Contrary to rumors, Clerks director Kevin Smith is not involved (as of February 2006).
(Some information courtesy MovieWeb)
3 replies on “When are they going to do the new Star Wars television series?”
It’s hard to know whether making more Star Wars television shows (movies or series, animated or not) is a good idea or not. Even though I’d love to see more Star Wars, it is possible that it could ruin it if they do it wrong – which they usually do. It would be hard to make it live up to the originals and capture the feel of Star Wars (Something which I believe the new movies failed to do) and could end up making Star Wars seem cheap and commercial.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
@Felicity, The key is to have the television shows not deal with anything from the films directly. That is, no primary characters (no adventures of Han Solo), and no primary events. Those things are sacred and not to be tampered with. They should come up with new characters and deal with events surrounding the films. In that case, they will be appreciated with the same distance that people appreciate the expanded universe books and comics with.
We shall see. I still think having something TV is rather different from the books and comics of the expanded universe.
Whether it has main characters or events in it or not is irrelivant, the point is that it will still bear the name of Star Wars and, if done poorly, would put a bad name on the whole lot.
I just hope it’s done well, that’s all.