SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE: Really Lucas? Really?

Wow, today has been one hell of a crazy news day, and it's just getting more laughable. With the idea of a Marmaduke film making me laugh until I cry, this news is the punch to the balls to make me tear up in pain. Thanks to /Film for the heads up...

For the last two years, George Lucas has been developing a live-action Star Wars television series. I think it was originally stated that they would not begin production until they had the first 50 scripts in hand, and I’ve heard about a bunch of screenwriters around Hollywood have been working on the series. 2009 was originally announced as the show’s targeted premiere (see the sign above), but Lucasfilm has since been quoted as saying 2010, and later 2011. With a lack of news leaking, I was beginning to believe that it might never actually happen. But MTV reports that casting is already underway. Rose Byrne, who played Dorme in Attack of the Clones, let it slip at the Knowing junket that a lot of her friends have been auditioning for the series.

Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, the show has been described by Lucas as “Deadwood meets The Sopranos in space”. Told from the perspective of minor characters from the Star Wars galaxy (rumored to be a family in the underworld), the darker, grittier, more character-based story might also feature appearances and cameos from several major Star Wars characters, but not the heavy like Darth Vader.And now that the show has entered the casting stage, I’m sure we’ll start to learn more about the story and the characters

This has me thinking two things...

1) This is a brilliant idea. Set a Star Wars television series with a minor family in the series mythology, and give it a dark and gritty, Soprano's like edge. That would be one hell of a fun show. I would be all for it.
2) This may be the worst idea ever, for one reason. The era in which it is set. It is almost impossible to set a television series, or a film for that matter, in the episode 1-6 timeline and get quality out of it. Lucas has lost his mind, and the prequels and Indy 4 are perfect examples why, and while the Clone Wars cartoon series is solid, the movie has lackluster reviews, and it is set during the timeline in question, and it's failed for it. I would LOVE to see some other mind take up the series, and go beyond episode 6. What happens after Return of the Jedi? THAT is what I want my Star Wars series to be about, because if it's shit, I can forget about it, it's not a true part of the canon. If it's set during the episode 1-6 timeline, I have to take it as canon, and if it's garbage, it's another bruise on the body of the car crash victim that is the Star Wars franchise...

What are your thoughts?

Go see something good!