Sometimes Alternate Reality Sucks

From Roger's TV Review, 2007.

Star Wars: The Series.
With the cinema success of Star Wars and the runaway success of the subsequent made-for-TV 'Holiday Special', NBC executives made the decision in 1978 that instead of a cinema sequel, the Star Wars franchise would be made into a series of 26 1-hour episodes.

In an expected move several of the cast members chose not to continue their roles. Harrison Ford was replaced by the then up-and-coming Tom Selleck, while Alec Guinness was replaced by David Odgen Steirs (fresh from his stint on MASH). Several characters were missing, notable amongst them Chewbacca (the suit was too expensive to maintain) and R2-D2, who was replaced by Luke Skywalker's dog Mau-mau, rescued from Tatooine. The series had several differences to the film. The character of Darth Vader was gone, replaced with Rokur Getpa, Sorceror of Tund (Rutger Hauer) and Grand Admiral Dooku (Elizabeth Montgomery, who continues to win many online surveys ["The sexiest woman in outer space?"; Pharangulya; 2007])

The first season's success confirmed it in the CBS lineup, with a subsequent 3-season deal cut. The second season was most notable for it's guest stars, with many a-list actors appearing such as Dustin Hoffman (The Curse Of Thonboka), Henry Winkler (Rumble-Tumble Gepta?) and Lucille Ball (23 Skidoo!). First Lady Nancy Reagan guest starred in a very special episode in the late second season, in which Han's son Brewster experiments with deathsticks (Black and White).

By the third season however things had started to crumble, despite (or possibly because of) the show's consistently high ratings. George Lucas left, citing 'irreconcilable creative differences' between himself and the network executives. He was replaced by studio hotshot Stephen J Cannell. Immediately, the show became less focussed on the interaction between characters and more on the action (possibly due to a negotiated jump in the special effects budget. However the show's main stars Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill felt that they could not work with Cannell, and left halway through the season. They were replaced by feisty x-wing mechanic Janet Klubar (played by Juice Newton) and Vance Skywalker, Luke's cousin (played by Sonny Shroyer). The changes were too much for most fans, who deserted the show in droves.

The fourth and last season saw a change of station from NBC to CBC. Lucas was back at the helm although Fisher and Hamill would not return. An exceptionally low budget marked this series, with most shots recycled from previous footage. Many fans disagreed with Lucas' decision to end the series with a cliffhanger, with Rokur Getpa's new Death-Star about to destroy the Rebel's stronghold, the newly rediscovered Earth.

Star Wars: The Series continued to be broadcast in syndication until the early 1990s. In 2005, the Sci-Fi Channel began showing it weekly on Wednesdays at 8:30. Rumours of a new film have been persistently denied by George Lucas for several years who claims to be working on a new project involving archaeology.