Round and round we go on the Star Wars live action TV series merry-go-round. Where and when it stops, nobody knows. The last time we heard rumblings about this long-talked about series was back in December when Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy revealed that the shelved content already created for the series would not be put out to pasture and that it could have life some day. This latest article posted over on TV Line appears to douse some serious cold water on the series, at least for the immediate future.
Back in 2005, a live-action series — Star Wars: Underworld — was not only announced, it had been developed by George Lucas himself. The hour-long drama was said to be set between the original film trilogy and its prequels, and would focus on two families’ battle for control for the universe’s seamy side. The project got so far along that 50 scripts were reportedly written by scribes such as Battlestar Galactica’s Ron Moore. Apparently, they were great, too. Lucasfilm producer Rick McCallum was so impressed that, according to Slashfilm.com, he likened the proposed show to The Godfather and “Deadwood in space.”
However, once Disney purchased Lucasfilm, jump-starting the film franchise became the priority. So, although Disney-owned rebelsABC — the likeliest home for Underworld — would obviously love to have a live-action Star Wars series on its lineup, “they are focused on their movies,” network president Paul Lee tells TVLine, “so we don’t have any plans at the moment.” Concurs a Lucasfilm rep: “Our current focus for TV is on animation [Star Wars Rebels, etc.].”