# The StarWars tv-series: Should we hold our breaths?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 16, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615 "2006-03-16T16:53:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/1 "2006-03-16T16:53:08Z")
[Link.](http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4808746.stm)
Over 100 eps, spanning 20 years?
I kinda liked the adventures of young Indy Jones, s maybe shouldn’t write this off. Then again, Lucas has not improved with age.
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### Author:  [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/2 "2006-03-16T16:56:40Z")
A young Darth Vader sucked
I have no reason to believe a young Luke will be any different
Yippee
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/3 "2006-03-16T17:07:56Z")
> [@BBC News](#):
>
> It would cover the 20 years in the life of Luke Skywalker growing up that remains a mystery to most film-goers.
>
> McCallum said there would be “a whole bunch of new characters” and the series would be “much more dramatic and darker”.
That’s just wrong. The whole appeal of Luke in that first movie is that he’s just a simple farm boy living in the middle of nowhere – at least, as far as _he_ knows. His biggest excitement before the onset of the happenings in the film is “shooting whomp rats”.
I’d love to see a TV series spin-off – there are so many ideas to be mined from the SW universe. The Old Republic would be a rich subject because, well, it was OLD, which gives you a lot of time to play with. Or the post-SW universe, where the New Republic is weak and still trying to survive against the still-strong Empire. But “Young Luke”??? Crap.
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### Author:  [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/4 "2006-03-16T17:13:45Z")
This is like making Harry Potter, the early years.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/5 "2006-03-16T17:15:49Z")
100 episodes of “The Phantom Menace - Redux?” Forget it. If Lucas has anything to do with the project other than the use of his characters and universe, it will suck like a black hole.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/6 "2006-03-16T17:30:03Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#):
>
> The Old Republic would be a rich subject because, well, it was OLD, which gives you a lot of time to play with.
Let me ditto this. KotOR and even its sequel did a lot more for me than all three of the Star Wars prequels combined. It gave me a more interesting background to the whole situation and to the galaxy I was dealing with.
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### Author:  [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/7 "2006-03-16T18:11:47Z")
Holy crap, how exciting could a young Luke tv show be?
“In this action-packed episode, young Luke picks some turnips and learns how to read!”
Hopefully, what they **really** meant was “we’re planning on filling the gap between Episode III and IV”…which might not suck. Maybe.
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/8 "2006-03-16T18:38:16Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#):
>
> That’s just wrong. The whole appeal of Luke in that first movie is that he’s just a simple farm boy living in the middle of nowhere – at least, as far as _he_ knows. His biggest excitement before the onset of the happenings in the film is “shooting whomp rats”.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Luke was the kid that never left his small little town. He was bored being a farm kid and wanted some excitement in his life. He had an overprotective Aunt and Uncle. He had never heard of the Force and felt completely out of place even visiting the closest big city of Mos Eisley. Now they’re going to make him a young adventurer? That’s just completely out of character.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/9 "2006-03-16T18:43:31Z")
> [@Hampshire](#):
>
> That’s just completely out of character.
Like Lucas ever gave a rat’s ass about character or continuity. 😃
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/10 "2006-03-16T18:47:30Z")
A series about the 20 years of Darth Vader’s life I could see, maybe… or the guy they pawned the droids off onto… or, worst-case, Obi-Wan. But it wouldn’t be 20 years in Luke’s life unless they are really set on having the first three or four years be really boring…
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### Author:  [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/11 "2006-03-16T18:56:51Z")
Hm. IIRC, the first time I heard this announced - from George Lucas himself, at Celebration III - I believe he said that NONE of the major characters (ie. Darth Vader, Han, Luke, Leia, Obi-Wan, etc.) would be featured prominently. My impression was that it was supposed to fill in the time between episodes III and IV with the Empire running roughshod over the universe and the Rebel Alliance starting to come together, etc. If we were to see any of the major characters, it would be little cameos from time to time.
Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking. I agree with all the above, that you can’t put much focus onto Luke’s early years unless they find a way to make the binary language of moisture vaporators into riveting drama.
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/12 "2006-03-16T19:02:30Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#):
>
> A series about the 20 years of Darth Vader’s life I could see, maybe… or the guy they pawned the droids off onto… or, worst-case, Obi-Wan. But it wouldn’t be 20 years in Luke’s life unless they are really set on having the first three or four years be really boring…
The guy they pawned the droids off onto was either Bail Organa (went blooie with the Death Star) or Captain Antilles (choked to death by Vader using good old fashioned hands).
-Joe, Nerd
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/13 "2006-03-16T19:04:32Z")
**vaderspal** – Maybe you’re right. After rereading the article, I think the mention of Luke Skywalker was superfluous and possibly added by a clueless BBC editor who must’ve thought people wouldn’t know the period of time in question unless he was mentioned. Everything else in the article seems to back up what you say.
In which case, yay! It might be fun.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/14 "2006-03-16T19:06:12Z")
I look forward to the exciting episode where Luke bullseyes whomp rats back home. They aren’t much bigger than three meters, you know.
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### Author:  [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/15 "2006-03-16T19:11:03Z")
You know, I never gave it much thought, but what does it mean to “bullseye a whomp rat”? This isn’t something like Hal and his sheep is it? :dubious:
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### Author:  [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/16 "2006-03-16T19:16:30Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#):
>
> You know, I never gave it much thought, but what does it mean to “bullseye a whomp rat”? This isn’t something like Hal and his sheep is it? :dubious:
It means he took an aircraft and shot at whomp rats, hitting them dead on.
Unless that was a whoosh. It wasn’t a whoosh, was it?
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/17 "2006-03-16T19:19:20Z")
I suggest that anyone who wants to see this start holding his breath now.
OK, are you doing it? Don’t exhale, don’t inhale, ever.
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### Author:  [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/18 "2006-03-16T20:16:19Z")
> [@Electronic Chaos](#):
>
> It means he took an **aircraft** and shot at whomp rats, hitting them dead on.
You mean, a T-16? 😉
(emphasis mine)
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### Author:  [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/19 "2006-03-16T20:28:57Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#):
>
> That’s just wrong. The whole appeal of Luke in that first movie is that he’s just a simple farm boy living in the middle of nowhere – at least, as far as _he_ knows. His biggest excitement before the onset of the happenings in the film is “shooting whomp rats”.
Exactly.
Next week, on an all-new exciting “Star Wars, the TV series”…!
Luke learns to milk a bantha! And Uncle Owen has to make repairs to the moisture evaporator…
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-starwars-tv-series-should-we-hold-our-breaths/348615/20 "2006-03-16T21:03:13Z")
I heard it was going to be animated, and done by the same people who did the _Clone Wars_ cartoon series. If so, we’re in for a treat-that was awesome.
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