Oh, George.
Variety is reporting that Lucasfilm is looking to buoy its success with Star Wars: The Clone Wars by launching another animated series, only this one is putting a comedic slant on the Star Wars universe. As a concerned Star Wars fan, I’m wondering if it’s long past time that we stage an intervention before George Lucas milks his cash cow until it’s dead.
Yet one aspect of this news shows a single drop of promise. The creators of Robot Chicken, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, are members of the show’s creative team, and they’re describing the show less as The Jar-Jar and Battle Droids Laugh-In and more as an irreverent take on the saga that has no problem poking fun at its source material. The writing staff also boasts a scribe from The Daily Show.
Less inspiring is the fact that a writer from The Backyardigans and a director from Back at the Barnyard are onboard. It sounds like Lucasfilm hopes to strike a balance between cheeky and wholesome. Witty enough for mom and dad, but innocent enough for the kids. Precious few animated series have ever been able to conjure a subtle balance between these two ends of the spectrum, and George Lucas isn’t exactly known for his subtlety.
I do dig The Clone Wars, so I’ll check this one out when it debuts, but it’s going to take a lot to win me over.
At present, the untitled show has announced no voice cast, no premiere date, and no network. (Though if Lucas keeps creating shows — he’s also got a Star Wars-for-toddlers cartoon in the works, as well as the much-ballyhooed live action show that’s coming, you know, sometime this century — he’ll be able to start a network of his own.)
