Lucasfilm plans 'Star Wars' sitcom

[Acturus]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

Posted: Tue., Apr. 6, 2010, 5:30am

Lucasfilm plans 'Star Wars' sitcom
Jennifer Hill of 'Backyardigans' fame to produce
By DAVID S. COHEN

Lucasfilm confirmed Monday it is developing a new animated "Star Wars" sitcom.

No network or start date has been set for the laffer. Jennifer Hill, a Daytime Emmy winner for "The Backyardigans," will produce.

Hill told Daily Variety the length of the episodes has not been decided but they will be no longer than half hours.

No start date or network have been set. Lucasfilm made the announcement to quash inaccurate Internet rumors, a spokesman said.

Todd Grimes ("Back at the Barnyard") is set to direct. "Robot

Chicken" executive producers and creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich will be creative consultants on the skein. Hill said "They'll be shaping the type of comedy we're looking for and the look of the show."

Brendan Hay ("The Daily Show") will be head writer. Lucasfilm expects to hire a staff of up to 10 more writers.

A Lucasfilm statement said the skein will "look at the saga's characters with a playful and irreverent tone." Hill said while the show is still in early development, it has "a lot of facets that could include main characters (from the movies) as well as secondary characters."

The animation will be done outside the U.S., at a studio to be determined -- not necessarily at Lucasfilm Animation Singapore.

Senreich and Green's "Robot Chicken" has aired officially sanctioned spoofs of "Star Wars," as has "Family Guy." But Hill said the new series would not be a spoof but something more in the sitcom vein.

No crossovers with the hit "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" series are planned.

Though the first "Star Wars" movie won legions of fans with its mix of humor and adventure, Lucasfilm has had spotty results seeking laughs with the franchise since, most notoriously with the character of Jar-Jar Binks in "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace."

Hill said "With the team we're establishing, Matt Senreich and Seth Green, it's going to be really fun and funny to the public. So I'm not too concerned about that."

Among the most vocal critics of the later "Star Wars" efforts have been the makers of docu "The People vs. George Lucas." But writer-director Alexandre Philippe told Daily Variety "(The new series) is a great example of how 'Star Wars' is still able to connect with fans old and new, and we're looking forward to seeing it."

"Clone Wars" has been a success on Cartoon Network and Lucasfilm has long been in development with a live-action "Star Wars" series, but that too has yet to set a start date or begin casting.

During its 30-plus years, the "Star Wars" franchise, which has spawned merchandise, videogames and spin-off series, has earned more than $22 billion, according to a 2007 story reported by Forbes.

(Liz Stinson contributed to this report.)

*sputter*

[Qalbert]

there was an article on IGN about this, it sounds like its not so much a Star Wars sitcom, as a sitcom set in the star wars universe, and how the events of the saga affect random people.

Seth Green and Matthew Senreich's love of Star Wars is clear to anyone who watches their series Robot Chicken, which has done two half-hour specials devoted completely to Star Wars parodies. Now, Green and Senreich are going to take that love further by teaming with Lucasfilm Animation for an ongoing series set in the Star Wars universe – one that will have a decidedly comic bent.

Said Seth Green, "The Star Wars universe is so dense and rich; it's crazy to think that there aren't normal, mundane everyday problems in a world so well-defined. And it's even crazier to think of what those problems might be, since it's all set in a galaxy far, far away. What do these characters do when they're not overthrowing Empires?"

"We're going to pull back the curtain of some of those behind-the-scenes shenanigans," says Senreich. "It's going to appeal to all ages, the way Star Wars should – but there'll be plenty buried under the surface, as well. As Obi-Wan might say, 'it all depends on your point of view'."

Brendan Hay, a Simpsons writer and former Daily Show producer will be a writer on the project, which is produced by Jennifer Hill (The Backyardigans) and directed by Todd Grimes (Back at the Barnyard).

"There are so many stories taking place in the Star Wars universe, and they don't all have to focus on the fate of the galaxy," said Grimes. "We're looking at Star Wars from a new perspective; this will be a glimpse at how the rest of the galaxy is affected by the events of the Saga. There's a lot of humor to be mined from that."

[Bartylby]

if it will be at least something like the robot chicken star wars humor it doesn't sound THAT bad.

i must admit i had to double take the title of the thread to make sure i read it right lol

[Souj]

yeah... it sounds like Lucas saw that the robot chicken star wars episodes were a huge success and just decided to have robot chicken make a spin off of those 2 Robot Chicken episodes.

[kuronosan]

Well, I'm no longer a Star Wars fan after this.