One of the highlights of going to the Red Carpet premiere of Clone Wars was getting to talk to Seth Green and Matt Senreich about the new Star Wars TV show.
No one has been able to pin down what the show is going to be like, exactly, because there have been so many different conflicting reports, and this interview is going to just add to the muddle. But we’ll get to that later.
According to Seth, “We’re hard at work on the show right now, full time.”
Matt explained that they’re doing all of the development and production up front and then they’ll be looking for distribution. They won’t even begin looking for a distributor until the first season is finished, just like Clone Wars, and we shouldn’t expect to see any indication of what the show looks like or what it’s about (aside from what they told me) until after that process is completed.
When I asked them what the show is about, I got a flurry of responses:
Matt: “It’s a surreal experience.”
Seth: “It’s comedic.”
Matt: “It’s short form comedy,”
When I asked about the comments George Lucas made about it being like a Spongebob show, Matt gave a pretty interesting answer. “That’s not entirely a false statement. I mean, what kind of Spongebob are we talking about? Are we talking about the 4 years olds who watch it because it’s goofy? Or the college age kids who watch it because it’s hilarious?”
Seth chimed in saying, “The best analogy I think is that it’s Star Wars without the wars.”
“But that’s not entirely true, either,” Matt corrected him.
“How about this, then. It’s the funniest television since Lucille Ball?”
“Could be.”
“Or maybe like… Jon Stewart on steroids mixed with Dave Chapelle?”
“I can see that.”
Of all of the descriptions, I think the Jon Stewart mixed with Dave Chapelle is the most radically different we’ve heard the show described, but evokes the most stimulating thoughts in my brain. Something that sort of has a tongue in cheek look at the universe, but parceled out in sketch comedy bits with a host. Who knows until we see it, but they were pretty overwhelmed with excitement talking about it, and had a hard time keeping their mouths shut.
I then asked them about the look of the show, 2D or 3D, etc. Seth provided a pretty straight answer to that question. “It’s all CG, but it’s unlike any established Star Wars you’ve ever seen. It has a look that’s completely on it’s own. It’s not like the movies, it’s not like the other cartoons, it’s not like Clone Wars. This is new.”
Scarlett RoBotica, who accompanied me, asked quite bluntly, “Is Yoda going to be on the show?”
To which they both froze. Dumbfounded.
“Uhhh…” Seth said.
Matt closed his lips and made a motion like he was locking his mouth and throwing away the key.
It was then that a voice over my right shoulder said, “Don’t tell these guys anything. And don’t listen to a word these guys say.”
It was George Lucas, who came over to heckle, with his son Jett.
At that point, I was a little dumbfounded and stopped taking notes, so I’m not exactly sure what was said, only that there was much joking around. After that, we had to head into the theatre, but it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had having an interview get crashed.
I’m not sure how much of this information is actually new, but I do have to say that it’s great to get it all condensed and straight from the horses mouth. And I would say it’s safe to say you shouldn’t expect many details to leak until the first season is finished and a distributor has stepped on board to pick it up.
I’ll report more on this as I find it out, though.
Be sure to read the rest of my report from the Season 3 of Clone Wars and it’s red carpet premiere.
