# Lucas talks about a Star Wars TV show. Is Bea Arthur available? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758 "2004-09-29T23:48:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/1 "2004-09-29T23:48:23Z")
[Link](http://www.iesb.net/tv/tvt92804.htm) Says he wouldn’t be directly involved. Hey George, remember the last time there was a Star Wars-based TV show that you weren’t involved in? Could be good or could suck long and hard. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/2 "2004-09-30T01:24:44Z")
There’s a series of comics called Star Wars Tales. Those kind of simple one-act stories are a good way to handle a TV series. Combine that with a Star Trek approach (high production values, story arc, ongoing characters, relatively straightforward digital effects) perhaps set in a Clone Wars or a concurrent Original Trilogy era, it could work well. Then again, it could suck. I think a Young Boba Fett series could work, though. Using a popular anti-hero like him would be a nice approach. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/3 "2004-09-30T03:13:50Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Hey George, remember the last time there was a Star Wars-based TV show that you weren’t involved in? Technically, that would be Genndy Tartakovsky’s _Clone Wars_ microseries, which was so much better than anything George has done since the early eighties it’s almost embarassing. So I’m pretty optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/4 "2004-09-30T03:22:43Z")
**Miller** , I thought you were old enough to remember the one **Mr Blue Sky** is referring to. Man, I had that sucker BLOCKED until some jerk here reminded me of it a few months ago. _shudder_ My greatest regret was that when I saw it I wasn’t as high as Carrie Fisher was when she made it. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/5 "2004-09-30T03:24:50Z")
Hey, no knocks on [Bea Arthur](http://www.brandonbird.com/bea.html). She’s a Killing Machine! I think this will have to wait to see if he can weather any more fan capital eaten up by a suck-ass Episode III. Given how much he has lost with Episodes I and II, I don’t think any network exec in his right mind would leave this thing in Lucas’s hands (especially if III goes the same route). Since Ep I and II were so poorly received, I think a series based on that (for instance on the young Boba Fett) would start off handicapped. I certainly wouldn’t be drawn to watch it, given how much I despised I and II. I think that OTOH I would be drawn to a series based either after ROTJ or between any of the movies, perhaps either a tale of life in the Empire or during the rebellion. Perhaps a story about a young Han Solo (and his associates) smuggling for Jabba. Stick an X-wing in there and I’ll watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/6 "2004-09-30T03:52:31Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > My greatest regret was that when I saw it I wasn’t as high as Carrie Fisher was when she made it. No regrets there-- the second time I saw it, I _was_ as high as Carrie Fisher was when she made it. It didn’t help. At all. When you’re eight, Harvey Korman dressed as a moisture-farmer and nuzzling Bea Arthur’s neck just seems lame. When you’re twenty-nine and peaking on acid, it’s a hellish experience that makes you beg for the relative ease of a thousand years being slowly digested in a Sarlacc pit. ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/7 "2004-09-30T04:56:31Z")
> [@edwino](#): > > Given how much he has lost with Episodes I and II, I don’t think any network exec in his right mind would leave this thing in Lucas’s hands (especially if III goes the same route). > > Since Ep I and II were so poorly received. I don’t think Ep I and II were that poorly received, they made $431 million and $310 million respectively. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/8 "2004-09-30T23:28:59Z")
I actually didn’t like the Clone Wars as much as I should have, largely since it makes to Jedi out to be complete demigods (like the worse novels) carving up whole armies. Why, exactly, did Mace Windu bother bringing the clones along? ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/9 "2004-09-30T23:57:38Z")
…with Elaine Stritch as the Emperor. C’mon, she’d be so 🆒 and scary as hell. I, too, watched The Special as a very confused 12-year-old. I wasn’t high, of course, but I think I learned what it would be like during that hour. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/10 "2004-09-30T23:59:45Z")
I duno. This could be really cool. As the article in the link mentions, good science fantasy relys on story and characters (DS9, B5) rather than trying to make a weekly special effects or freak of the week show (Andromida, Smallville). ``` Done well this could really rock and restore may faith in the Star Wars franchise. Done the way Lucas would like it, all flash bang and special effects, it would suck. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/11 "2004-10-01T00:43:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey George, remember the last time there was a Star Wars-based TV show that you weren’t involved in? There was also the Ewoks and Droids hour, intervening. Which I seem to recall being not completely brain-numbing, at least. Though how “based on Star Wars” those were is, I suppose, debateable. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/12 "2004-10-01T01:03:26Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > **Miller** , I thought you were old enough to remember the one **Mr Blue Sky** is referring to. Man, I had that sucker BLOCKED until some jerk here reminded me of it a few months ago. _shudder_ My greatest regret was that when I saw it I wasn’t as high as Carrie Fisher was when she made it. I am, but luckily, I don’t. I’d never heard of it until I saw it mentioned on these board. Anyway, the OP specifically referred to “the last” Star Wars TV show Lucas wasn’t directly involved in, which was the Clone Wars miniseries. Which, Jedi demigods or not, totally kicked ass. I also remember the two post-RotJ cartoons pretty fondly. But that was back when I was still young, and foolish, and thought Ewoks were cool. Now I know better. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/13 "2004-10-01T01:08:12Z")
I was indeed referring to the infamous holiday special. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the toons. A live action show could be good depending on when it’s set. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/14 "2004-10-01T01:40:46Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > … > > When you’re eight, Harvey Korman dressed as a moisture-farmer and nuzzling Bea Arthur’s neck just seems lame. When you’re twenty-nine and peaking on acid, it’s a hellish experience that makes you beg for the relative ease of a thousand years being slowly digested in a Sarlacc pit. …and another sig line is born! ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/15 "2004-10-01T03:15:36Z")
Am I the only one that found the picture of Bea Arthur and the dinosaurs funny? The people in the computer lab think I’m crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/16 "2004-10-01T12:29:57Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > A live action show could be good depending on when it’s set. While we’re on the subject, let’s not forget the other made-for-TV live action [Star Wars stuff](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002YCUR0/103-5970673-5230220) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/17 "2004-10-01T14:55:27Z")
Handled correctly, I think it would rock. Give it to Joss Whedon or J Michael Straczynsky and…wow… I really, really, hope they go for long, drawn out plot-lines. Season long story arcs make me smile. I think Kevin Smith would also be a fairly good choice. Of course, it is Lucas, so he’ll probably decide that the proper way to go would be to make a jedi-themed Power Rangers show. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/18 "2004-10-01T15:01:31Z")
> [@Mudshark](#): > > Am I the only one that found the picture of Bea Arthur and the dinosaurs funny? The people in the computer lab think I’m crazy. What’s funny about a woman bearing a vague resemblance to Bea Arthur giving a velociraptor “noogies”? It’s obvious that the other 'raptors in the picture are two seconds from turning her into Alpo. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lucas-talks-about-a-star-wars-tv-show-is-bea-arthur-available/266758/19 "2004-10-01T19:18:51Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > two seconds from turning her into Alpo That’s what’s funny.