Star Wars TV Series Will Be 'Deadwood in Space' And Not For Kids

Maybe they’re going to hang Jar Jar Binks at the beginning of episode 1?

By A.W. Wilson / June 6, 2012

Lucasfilm have been trying to crack a new live-action "Star Wars" TV series for years only for fans to continuously wait for any real momentum on the proposed idea, but a recent interview with a senior Lucasfilm producer has made fans cautiously optimistic. Rick McCallum, producer of the 3 "Star Wars prequels" indicated in an interview with Den of Geek that around 50 hours of very complex material has been drafted and that the show is aimed at a more mature audience:

"Our biggest problem is that these stories are adult. I meanthese are like Deadwood in space. These aren't for kids. I mean, we hope theyll watch, but it's not being targeted at 8-to-9 year old boys. The situation we have is that each episode or if you put two hour long episodes together is bigger than any film we've ever done. It's on the Avatar level and we'll only have about $5-6 million we can spend on each episode."

In todays world of cyber-rumour and conjecture, being a fan of a major franchise can often involve sifting through fragments of online clues in the hope of unearthing some evidence pointing towards something new. An avid fan on the hunt for that fix of new material has to be a blend of Hercule Poirot, McNulty from the Wire and one of the junior forensic investigators from CSI, and this interview is one step closer to finding the murder weapon. Yes, Im stretching the metaphor, but fans will be desperately analysing McCallums words for evidence that: A: the TV show is in fact going to see the light of day, and B: if it does, it will be worth watching, rather than a crushing disappointment. The idea of a Star Wars aimed at an adult audience will be warmly received by fans who have grown up with the franchise and have bridled against what they see as Lucasfilm pandering to the kids market and prostituting series (as notoriously depicted in the Lucas and Spielberg focused South Park episode). Others will argue that Star Wars was always aimed at a younger audience and that the fans of the original movies have simply grown older and are wrong to expect the franchise to adapt to their tastes. One thing is for sure, this little nugget of information will have set fansites buzzing with chat about everything from the content, budget, era and possible storylines right through to which actors might be cast. I personally would like to believe that the reference Deadwood in space refers not just to the adult themes and language, but to the quality of the writing and acting in what I still feel is HBOs finest show. Or maybe theyre going to hang Jar Jar Binks at the beginning of episode 1. Theres bound to be more clues dripped into the public domain soon, get your magnifying glasses out everyone, theres work to be done.