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ABC Reportedly In Talks For ‘Star Wars’ TV Series

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 02:57 PST, Aug 5, 2016

A galaxy far, far away may be coming to small screens worldwide in the near future. Fans around the world were excited when they learned that ABC was in ongoing talks to produce a new TV series set in the Star Wars universe.

The revelation that a Star Wars show was in the works was thanks to ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey, who answered questions Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Beverly Hills. When asked whether or not ABC would want a prime time Star Wars series, Dungey revealed that not only was she very interested in the concept, but also that talks with Disney (which owns the Star Wars franchise after purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012) we re already underway and ongoing.

“Oh, as a fan, I would absolutely love to say ‘Yes.’ The conversations with Lucas, we have had conversations with them and will continue to have conversations with them. I think it would be wonderful if we could find a way to extend that brand into our programming.”

Dungey offered no details on what such a proposed series would look like, or whether it would be live action or animated, much like Star Wars Rebels and The Clone Wars. As Entertainment Weekly notes, the possibility of a live-action Star Wars series makes more sense as the wildly popular Rebels is currently airing on Disney XD. Now entering its third season, Rebels is already affecting Disney’s new continuity for the Star Wars universe, and the show is the conduit through which the fan favorite expanded universe character, Grand Admiral Thrawn, is being returned to the franchise, as the Inquisitr previously noted.

Following the panel, Dungey elaborated on the possibility of a Star Wars series. Citing the secretive nature of Lucasfilm, she confirmed that discussions are being undertaken, although without any concrete timeline for bringing such a project to fruition.

“It’s all a little bit hush-hush. That company exists under a big shroud of secrecy. If you feel Marvel’s secretive, [Lucasfilm] takes it to a whole other level… [Talks] are ongoing. We don’t have an official timeline yet.”

Should a Star Wars series go into production, live action or otherwise, ABC is something of a natural home for it. The company is owned by Disney, which also controls Lucasfilm, having bought the studio from George Lucas for just over $4 billion.

If and when the show comes to ABC, it will likely look like nothing fans have previously seen from Star Wars, as Vanity Fair points out. Broadcast networks are constrained by budgets in a way that the Star Wars films have never been, although A New Hope was famously made with extremely limited resources.

It is also unlikely that such a show would feature many of the same characters as the Star Wars films for both budgetary and continuity reasons. With the beloved sci-fi universe expanding and changing under Disney’s new canon, there is no lack of stories to tell from a number of different time periods in the saga. The two extremely popular Star Wars animated shows, Rebels and Clone Wars, have also set a long-running precedent of introducing new characters, so any live action series would likely follow suit and introduce a whole new facet of the Star Wars universe.

Whatever the shape or scale of the series turns out to be, fans will no doubt have years to wait before it becomes a reality. In the meantime, they can eagerly await the release of the next Star Wars film, Rogue One, and reflect on the fact that now, four years after Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, it’s a great time to be a fan of the saga.

[Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images]

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