New 'Star Wars' Live Action TV Series Gets A Title

Please...no..more...As much as the quality level of the series may have plummeted when the prequels were released, Star Wars is still the definitive sci-fi series of visual entertainment.  Most of us probably left it behind when Revenge of the Sith was released, but the CG show The Clone Wars has done well on Cartoon Network.  There's been rumblings of a live action series bridging episodes III and IV for a while now, and through an IGN interview with producer Rick McCallum, we have a working title: Star Wars: Underworld.

Giving more details, he said, "It's underneath what's going on. It's the criminals and the gangs. The guys who are running Wall Street, basically. The guys who are running the United States."

Well, thank god George Lucas seems to be done with the boring, monotonous Clone Wars period of the Star Wars timeline.  They may actually be moving in the right direction with this.  One of the biggest problems with the prequels is that the characters are flat, one dimensional, and heroic in the most boring possible way.  Unless you count Anakin, who was just a creepy sociopath from Attack of the Clones onward.   Making a series center around the power-hungry and corrupt might bring some much needed depth in to the characters.

Don't be expecting to see the series anytime soon, though.  In the interview, McCallum says that they're still trying to find a way of making the series cost effective, and that might take a while.  Is anyone willing to give the Star Wars saga another chance?

Comments

[J.Bradley]

Interesting news - if it's genuine. It could be along the lines of "Shadows of the Empire" or like what Brian Daley did in his Han Solo novels and the ones made on the adventures of Lando Calrissian. OR it could be the inner workings of the Empire itself, but as similar shows like "Rome' and "Caprica" weren't on that long, I'd worry about the longevity of that idea. I realize they want to maintain a high level of quality - a show based on Star Wars simply CAN'T look like another Star Trek or Stargate knock-off. I wish they'd make them all digital the way the promos for "Knights of the Old Republic" and some of the other video games are. Those look fantastic and there'd be a lot of interest in a show done by such technologically innovative means and yet it looked so realistic. Surely they could maintain the Star Wars quality and style for a decent cost that way - much like what they do with the "Clone Wars" tv series.
One thing that divides the fans of the ENTIRE six-episode Star Wars saga from those who just grew up with it and whine on the internet about the idea that the first three of them aren't like the latter three is the understanding that the saga is told in a broad archetypical style - and while it may not jibe with the conventional storytelling style of cinema it works in the manner of Lucas' homage to adventure, sci fi, comic books, samurai movies and adventure serials of HIS, MID TWENTIETH CENTURY era. In the process of "slicking it up" and modernizing it, as they have over the years, it picks up the appeal of new generations, just because in it are those basic, timeless elements of fantasy and adventure. So the question on another series exploring another facet of that universe is - will it be told in this archetypical style of homage to classic sci fi and adventure or will it be done in a "grittier" more contemporary style, like say the newer "Battlestar Galactica" ? It's a tough balance they have to hit and I see why it's taken them as long as it has to finally get it out, but for as many years as I and other fans have heard talk of this I still look forward to it's eventual release.