McCallum: Star Wars TV series to be 400 episodes (!)

[ChrisIII]

At the Celebration Europe convention, Rick Mcallum revealed that Lucas would create 400 episodes of the TV series!

http://www.theforce.net/celebration/story/CE_Panel_Rick_McCallum_Producing_The_Prequels_1074 57.asp

Does even Star Trek have that many? I know Doctor Who does....

Of course, like with the TV movie announcement, this could be another case of miscommunication, but knowing Lucas's eccentricities, that's unlikely.

There's also some additional news about writing and casting start dates.

There's also of course the upcoming Clone Wars cartoon coming out next year, but the new TV series will be the first attempt to market more mature Star Wars on TV....

[Thorlief]

Star Trek has approximately 700 episodes

looks like they're putting a lot of faith in the show

[shades of eternity]

if kevin smith and brian henson are involved in it's production, I have total faith.

maybe we'll finally see how bad ass boba fett is. :D

[Sean Walsh]

......wait, from 100 to 400?!

By the Maker... :eek:

[Ryan K]

400 episodes? At approximately 22 episodes a year (the standard) that's 18 years!

They're either crazy, or this is miscommunication.

[Jmacq1]

Unless they're combining the Clone Wars Cartoon and the Live-Action show....yeah that seems drastically inflated. Heck, I thought 100 episodes was a tall order.

400 Episodes is a bit much, even for Star Wars. It took "Stargate SG-1" 10 years just to get to 200.

Unless the plan is to make this a year-round show or something that airs every day....I wouldn't put it past Lucas to be planning to push some kind of boundaries on Television in terms of formatting.

That, or Lucas plans on releasing 100 one-hour episodes in 4 15-minute "mini-episodes" each......

[TheLazy]

Unless they're combining the Clone Wars Cartoon and the Live-Action show....yeah that seems drastically inflated. Heck, I thought 100 episodes was a tall order.

400 Episodes is a bit much, even for Star Wars. It took "Stargate SG-1" 10 years just to get to 200.

Unless the plan is to make this a year-round show or something that airs every day....I wouldn't put it past Lucas to be planning to push some kind of boundaries on Television in terms of formatting.

That, or Lucas plans on releasing 100 one-hour episodes in 4 15-minute "mini-episodes" each......

4 main characters, 100 episodes from 4 different perspectives, each 15 minutes long? Could be okay.

[drwho]

Yeah who is to say the ratings will be there enough for it to last 400 episodes.

[The Shelf]

I imagine ratings don't matter for them. They've probably got so much money that they can make as many episodes as they want regardless of ratings. Besides, it's Star Wars. People will watch it whether they like it or not because that's what Star Wars fans do.

[ChrisIII]

Not sure about Smith and Henson. Lucas was a friend of Jim-and is still friends with Jim's main partner Frank Oz (Although Frank's pupeteering days are over due to back problems-possibly one of the reasons Yoda was CG in the last two films) so that probably extends to his son as well. Lucas has said he's watched BSG so he's probably familiar with Farscape as well. If Lucas is going to stretch the budget he might want to re-use puppets again.

Smith could be a good choice. Maybe a story about the guys on the Death Star ;)

[Dreadstar]

Any network that guarantees a 20 year run of a series is insane.

Folks, they don't even contract out pro-sports for 20-year runs.

[hoffmandu]

Naysayers! This is Wars folks, if anyone can do it, SW can!

[Sanagi]

The more the Star Wars universe is fleshed out, the less interesting it is. It's never been as exciting as those scenes in the original trilogy where weird, anonymous aliens are standing around, doing nothing in particular.

[Tazirai]

......wait, from 100 to 400?!

By the Maker... :eek:


What he said.



400 episodes? At approximately 22 episodes a year (the standard) that's 18 years!

They're either crazy, or this is miscommunication.

Miscommunication, I hope. I think Star Wars would then burn itself out at that length.
They need to make a 4-5 story arc like babylon 5, then call it a day.
Series that seem to have no ending typically suck after awhile.

[The Shelf]

Series that seem to have no ending typically suck after awhile.

Only if they're making it up as they go along. Stories that are planned out from the beginning, at least in large part, typically don't get stale as easily as the ones that just make up silly filler stories to make a few extra bucks. I'm not sure which category the new Star Wars show will fall under, though.

[ChrisIII]

According to what we know so far, the series takes place in the 20 years between the PT and the OT. So story-wise, it's probably going to deal with these three points:

-The continuing purge of the Jedi, led by Vader
-Possibly more backstory for Boba Fett
-The birth of the rebellion


The only real confirmed actor returning will be Anthony Daniels, but I'm sure we'll see Ian Mcdiarmid (Palpatine) Daniel Logan (Teen Boba Fett) Temura Morrison (Older Boba Fett/Clonetroopers) Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa) and Geneveine O' Reilly (Mon Mothma). I wouldn't rule out a special appearence by Ewan Mcgregor, in an episode where Obi-Wan is introduced to Luke, perhaps (It's hinted in ANH that they know each other at least casually). Possibly Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda, as well.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

So story-wise, it's probably going to deal with these three points:

-The continuing purge of the Jedi, led by Vader
-Possibly more backstory for Boba Fett
-The birth of the rebellion.more than likely either way i can't wait.

[The Batman]

400 episodes ?!?!

That does seem like alot.

Alot of Star Wars awesomeness that is.

[Jmacq1]

The truth is that Lucas -can- get away with 400 episodes, and could very likely get a network to pick them up.

Why? Because as far as I can tell, Lucas is bankrolling these shows himself. Sure he'll ask for a huge licensing fee to air the shows, but it probably won't be as much as it costs to make the shows.

And even if no network airs all the episodes, he can make his money back selling the unaired ones on DVD. There are few sure bets in life, but "Star Wars the Series" is probably pretty close.

Unless it turns out to be "Jar Jar's Big Adventure." ;)

EDIT: Ahhh, false alarm folks: The direct quote is that they're hoping it runs for 400 episodes. It's not a statement of intent, it's typical producer hype.

Source: http://starwarsblog.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/rick-mccallum-talks-live-action-tv-series-and-star-wars-3-d/

[Sabrina_Fried]

The only way I could see this show, even if it IS Star Wars, surviving to 400 episodes is if they simulcast it on the web or something, totally gratis to the fans (no hyperspace BS, nothing. Just stream it and/or simulcast on YouTube)

Seriously, they don't even have a network signed for the FIRST season yet as far as I know. Until that doesn't happen, the TV series isn't even a for sure thing yet.

Even George Lucas isn't going to blow untold BILLIONS of dollars on a 400-episode TV series if he can't get a return on his investment. And in order to do that he needs those shows to be somewhere where they can sell commercials to interrupt them. TV series box sets are overpriced as it is, and trying to break even on a straight to DVD TV series will only drive those prices higher. Even Star Wars fans have their spending limits. The only reason TV series box sets are as "cheap" as they are now is because the studios already made back most of their production costs selling the series to the networks, and the networks made back most of their costs selling advertisements.

Oh...and yeah, the series has to be good enough to be WORTH watching 400 episodes too. I've yet to see a TV show that is.

Sabrina

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Any network that guarantees a 20 year run of a series is insane.

Folks, they don't even contract out pro-sports for 20-year runs.

Pretty much right on. Hell....NBC regretted giving Joey (spin-off from friends) 2 seasons. Shows like ER/Law & Order back in the good years would get 3 to 4 season commitments. But Lucas has to be silly to think he could get a network to carry a show 20 years.

The Simpsons are commited to FOX til 2009. Closest stretch they can beat.

[Jared]

Apparently what McCallum was saying was more along the lines of an optomistic "of course we hope the show runs 400 episodes", not that they're actually planning for that.

(of course, now I can't find the link, but I know I read something like that yesterday)

[Jmacq1]

Apparently what McCallum was saying was more along the lines of an optomistic "of course we hope the show runs 400 episodes", not that they're actually planning for that.

(of course, now I can't find the link, but I know I read something like that yesterday)

There's one posted three posts above yours. ;) But yes, you're right.

[Jared]

There's one posted three posts above yours. ;) But yes, you're right.

*waves hand* There is nothing three posts above mine.