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The Transmedia
Franchise of Star
Wars TV
Edited by
Dominic J. Nardi · Derek R. Sweet
The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV
Dominic J. Nardi • Derek R. Sweet
Editors
The Transmedia
Franchise of Star
Wars TV
Editors
Dominic J. Nardi Derek R. Sweet
Department of Political Science Department of Communication Studies
George Washington University Luther College
Washington, DC, USA Decorah, IA, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect
to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
At the time of this writing, the Disney+ streaming service represents the
future of Star Wars television—and, quite possibly, the brightest promise
for the future of the Star Wars franchise, full stop. The debut 2019 season
of the first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, seems to have
united passionate and often feuding Star Wars followers while also appeal-
ing to more casual viewers. On December 3, 2019, Travis Clark of Business
Insider reported that figures from Parrot Analytics confirmed The
Mandalorian was “the top TV show in the world.”1
During the 2019 holiday gift-exchanging season, enthusiastic fans of
“The Child,” popularly known as Baby Yoda, gave and received notifica-
tions of pre-orders for merchandise featuring the little green favorite that
wouldn’t be available until spring or summer. Those who are familiar with
the holiday season of 1977 can’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. During
that earliest wave of Star Wars mania, Kenner Products found great success
in selling Early Bird Certificates in empty boxes, placeholders for Star Wars
action figures that would arrive the following year. Forty-two years later,
however, the groundswell of demand for not-yet-produced merchandise
was inspired not by a film, but by a Star Wars series crafted for the
small screen.
The Mandalorian also brings the tale of Star Wars on television full
circle. After all, the initial glimpse Star Wars audiences had of a
Mandalorian—a glimpse that made a lasting and profound impact on the
1
Clark, “‘The Mandalorian’ on Disney Plus is the Top TV Show in the World.”
v
vi FOREWORD
relationship between Star Wars and television demands not only recognition,
but also serious scholarly attention and thoughtful analysis. Fortunately
for readers, the editors and authors of this welcome anthology appreciated
and responded to this need. The following essays offer valuable insights on
the contributions made by Star Wars television works, and no doubt they
will inspire critical and popular discussions for years to come.
Bibliography
Clark, Travis. “‘The Mandalorian’ on Disney Plus is the Top TV Show in the
World.” Business Insider. December 3, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.
com/the-mandalorian-disney-plus-is-top-tv-show-in-world-2019-12.
ix
x Acknowledgements
xi
xii Contents
Index201
Notes on Contributors
xiii
xiv NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
xvii
CHAPTER 1
Star Wars
The very name evokes billion-dollar blockbusters and movie magic. For
most casual audiences, Star Wars is the Star Wars films. Seeing a Star
Destroyer envelop the silver screen as it chased a Rebel Blockade Runner
was a formative cinematic experience for many kids and young adults in
1977. The original Star Wars trilogy inspired a generation of filmmakers—
including James Cameron, Peter Jackson, J.J. Abrams, and Rian Johnson—
to make their own science fiction and fantasy films. The Prequel
Trilogy—although critically less well received—used advances in special
effects technology to create spectacular worlds and epic space battles then
possible only on a movie budget. The hype surrounding The Force Awakens
D. J. Nardi (*)
Department of Political Science, George Washington University,
Washington, DC, USA
e-mail: dnardi@umich.edu
D. R. Sweet
Department of Communication Studies, Luther College,
Decorah, IA, USA
e-mail: sweede01@luther.edu
in 2015 seemed to indicate that audiences believed real Star Wars belonged
in a movie theater.
Yet, the films are simply the tip of the iceberg of the Star Wars mega-
text. During the past 43 years, starting before anyone had even seen the
original Star Wars in theaters, the Star Wars franchise branched out across
every form of media imaginable. The galaxy far, far away expanded into
hundreds of novels, thousands of comics, dozens of video and analog
games, uncountable action figures, and, of course, television shows, spe-
cials, and commercials. The recent animated TV shows have increasingly
become entry points into the franchise for newer fans, especially young-
lings. Lucasfilm reinforced the franchise’s multimedia nature when it reset
the Star Wars continuity in April 2014 and announced that the Original
Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, The Clone Wars TV show, and all tie-material
going forward would be canon.
Aside from the theatrical films, the television shows have been the most
high-profile story products attached to the Star Wars brand. During the
late 1970s and 1980s, Lucasfilm experimented with different formats for
adapting the Star Wars storyworld onto the small screen. The infamous
Holiday Special (1978), which aired on broadcast television just a year
after the original Star Wars film was released in theaters, combined depic-
tions of the domestic life of Wookiees with musical skits and an animated
segment produced by Nelvana. After Return of the Jedi was released in
1983 and George Lucas decided to stop making Star Wars theatrical films,
Lucasfilm produced two live-action Ewok TV films—Caravan of Courage
(1984) and Battle for Endor (1985)—as well as the Droids (1985–1986)
and Ewoks (1985–1986) animated shows. Tellingly, despite the use of
characters, alien species, and planets from the films, these television prod-
ucts differed drastically from the storytelling conventions of the Original
Trilogy and failed to resonate with many fans. These stories were rarely
referenced by other Star Wars texts, even before they were removed from
the official canon.
The Clone Wars micro-series (2003–2005), produced by Genndy
Tartakovsky, served as an intermediary step to the next era of Star Wars
television. Unlike the earlier TV shows, Clone Wars had exciting action
and epic battles. As a direct continuation of the story depicted in Attack of
the Clones (2002), it was more integral to the megatext than previous Star
Wars TV projects. The Clone Wars received critical acclaim and won mul-
tiple awards, although the relatively short duration and limited, cable net-
work distribution reduced its exposure to the Star Wars fanbase. The show
1 INTRODUCTION: STAR WARS FROM BIG SCREEN TO SMALL 3
1
Boba Fett did appear in the animated segment of the Holiday Special two years before The
Empire Strikes Back (1980), but the character was originally designed by Lucasfilm for the
feature film. Likewise, Lucasfilm used Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars micro-series to introduce
General Grievous to viewers before the character appeared in Revenge of the Sith (2005).
4 D. J. NARDI AND D. R. SWEET
showed the Child use a Force healing ability that Rey would use in the
film. The success of the show—and the underperformance of some the
theatrical films—led Lucasfilm to pivot to television as a primary focus for
new Star Wars content.
The Star Wars franchise’s various TV iterations have intersected with
and often reflected significant changes in televisual media. The Holiday
Special reflected an attempt to fit Star Wars into the then-popular variety
show format, akin to The Muppet Show. The Ewoks and Droids cartoons
aired after the Reagan-era Federal Communications Commission loos-
ened regulations on children’s entertainment programming, leading to
closer integration between corporate merchandising and storytelling strat-
egies. Both shows aired on broadcast channels, which required them to
appeal to a relatively broad audience in order to stay on air. Clone Wars,
The Clone Wars and Rebels aired on premium cable channels (Cartoon
Network and Disney XD, respectively), which afforded storytellers greater
creative freedom to depict more mature themes and violence. The rise of
digital video recorders and audience familiarity with serialized storytelling
during the 2000s also allowed these shows to tell stories set across multi-
ple episodes and to provide characters with series-long arcs.
By the early 2010s, digital platforms and the increasing number of cord
cutters disrupted traditional TV business models and led to a significant
decline in TV advertising spending. These changes necessitated new strat-
eges for Star Wars TV content. The availability and popularity of services
like YouTube allowed content creators to create niche content for specific
audiences. Lucasfilm took advantage of this to create the Forces of Destiny
(2017–2018) web series, which could target young girls without having to
worry about mass appeal. By the late 2010, several media conglomerates,
including Disney, created their own streaming services in order to com-
pete with Netflix. This allowed Disney and Lucasfilm to circumvent tradi-
tional TV distribution networks and to create an entire ecosystem of Star
Wars content—including the films and previously aired TV shows, as well
as new shows such as The Mandalorian—exclusive to the service.
Language: French
LES MÉMOIRES
D’UN
VALET DE PIED
Traduits par
WILLIAM L. HUGHES
PARIS
LIBRAIRIE NOUVELLE
BOULEVARD DES ITALIENS, 15.
1859
Paris. — Imp. de la Librairie Nouvelle, A. Bourdilliat, 15, rue Breda.
A
AUGUSTE LACAUSSADE
En souvenir
D’UNE AMITIÉ DÉJÀ ANCIENNE
Le traducteur,
WILLIAM L. HUGHES.
PRÉFACE
VALET DE PIED
PREMIÈRE PARTIE
LE MARI DE Mlle SHUM
I
UNE FAMILLE INTÉRESSANTE