Why Star Wars Needs a Big Live-Action TV Series

Star Wars is continuing to expand as a multi-media franchise universe - one that now includes movie sequels, standalone films, cartoon series, novels and comic books.

However, the one thing that the Star Wars universe is clearly lacking: a live-action TV series.

Recently fans got word that a planned Star Wars TV series is still a long ways off, with the movies and popular Rebels animated series being the projects that Disney and LucasFilm want to develop at the moment. It's a sound approach: Star Wars is a cultural fixation on the big screen, the small screen, and the page; however, we think that there's a slight error in logic. Star Wars needs a big live-action TV series, and here's why:

Event TV is King

Movies aren't king anymore - neither is network TV, with its bevvy of procedurals and sitcoms. The real king of entertainment these days is "event TV." Shows like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things - or all those DC and Marvel TV series flooding both the airwaves and streaming sites. The talk around the Monday water cooler is now about those must-see shows that become trending hashtags the moment they roll end credits - and that's a conversation that Star Wars is being left out of.

One of the main reasons for this whole Star Wars shared universe expansion, was to continuously put Star Wars in front of audiences. The idea is that there's a movie in theaters every year, with the canonized comic books, novels, and cartoon series filling in the gaps. But again, we live in an era where event TV is a major force in entertainment, so if Star Wars is trying to keep its brand constantly in front of people, then having them get lured into a big-budget Star Wars TV show is perfect way to do that.

TV Has More Depth

Star Wars, as a brand, has been incredibly expansive: not only has the canonized storyline branched out into all forms of media, but the former Expanded Universe (renamed the "Legends" brand) blew it out even wider than George Lucas probably could've imagined. With all that content out there, it's almost ridiculous that the deeper mythos of the Star Wars universe has never been explored through the long form of television.

TV offers opportunity for deeper and more thorough exploration; that's something the Star Wars universe needs more of. The main Episode movies are great for delivering an adventure on a blockbuster scale - with all the visual wonder that goes with it - but they have never been free to offer a whole lot of depth. Hence why expansive ventures like the EU thrived: the fanbase's imagination far outpaced LucasFilm's ability to put out films, but that didn't stop Star Wars from continuing to grow as a franchise.

With so much mythos diverted into novels and comic books over the years, it seems like a Star Wars live-action TV series could've channeled a lot of that fan desire for more story into an officially sanctioned (and profitable) place.

TV Offers Variety

Television doesn't only offer depth - it offers opportunity for variety, as well. The Star Wars universe (especially the expanded universe) has shades of so many other genres mixed into it (Eastern philosophy and culture, staples of the old westerns, etc...). A single live-action TV series would be capable of wearing shades of so many of those other genres.

As Comicbook.com Star Wars expert Lucas Siegel explains:

"For years, the Expanded Universe kept Star Wars alive, diving into different genres, eras, and characters while there were no new films on the big screen. Then Star Wars: The Clone Wars took up that torch, lending the proper weight to the downfall of Anakin Skywalker that the films could only lightly touch on," he said. "But Clone Wars also explored many genres, with heists, horror, high-fantasy, deep mythology and even political intrigue playing out in its six seasons. Seeing that same kind of thing play out in live-action would only help fans better understand Star Wars and the world their favorite films takes place within."

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Star Wars fans - are you ready for a live-action TV series to arrive sooner before later? Or are animated series like Clone Wars and Rebels enough? Let us know in the comments or Tweet me @KofiOutlaw!