5. The End Was Already Nigh
Even though Fonzie literally jumped the shark in the fifth season of Happy Days, the show continued for another six years. Indiana Jones, Lucasfilms other big franchise, is constantly badgered with talk of a fifth instalment despite Kingdom of the Crystal Skull coining a new phrase for taking things too far, nuking the fridge. And yet these series have been considerably more reserved than Star Wars. But thanks to the vast Universe it is set in, Star Wars has got away with going further than almost any other series. After the original trilogy, there was a glut of inspired fiction in the early nineties continuing the story of Luke and co., followed by a focus on the early days thanks to the prequels; the series developed with time. Recently, however, the ideas have felt less inspired and there has been a lot less creativeness; the long lived threat of money spinning becoming more important than art seems to have arrived. This lack of creativity reached its nadir when The Clone Wars series committed the worst sin a TV show can do; not respecting death. Darth Mauls return last year marks the point where Lucasfilm has, in the eyes of many, gone too far. Star Wars has reached the point where it would have soon collapsed under its vast weight and poor quality. A new head and general new direction is not just a chance for a breath of fresh air, but a necessity if the series is to keep any semblance of freshness.