When Star Wars first hit movie theater screens back in 1977, it was unlike anything people had seen before. The sheer spectacle of an epic hero's journey taking place in a galaxy far, far away immediately embedded itself in the world of pop culture forever. Over 40 years later, there are nine films in the mainline story, along with two spinoff movies that fill in gaps in the overall story's past. There have also been a number of television shows, mostly animated, that have done the same thing. Now, with The Mandalorian proving hugely successful, and even more shows on the way, fans might be wondering if the world of Star Wars is better suited for television. While the franchise made its name on the big screen, it might actually be better off in an episodic format (and not ones that audiences have to wait years between).

The first foray into television for Star Wars came all the way back in the 80s in the form of two short-lived animated series: Droids and Ewoks. The former followed the adventures of C-3PO and R2-D2, while the latter was about, well, Ewoks. Neither of these really took off and are pretty much all but forgotten in the grand pantheon of Star Wars content. Like the ill-conceived Christmas special before them, Droids and Ewoks are probably better off being a footnote. In moving the franchise onto small screens, the first step was more like a stumble. However, that would all change in 2003.

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Enter The Clone Wars, an animated series created by Genndy Tartakovsky, known for his work on shows like Samurai JackDexter's Laboratory, and The Powerpuff Girls. The show ran for three seasons, with the first and second consisting of "episodes" that only lasted about three minutes each. For the third season, the episodes were lengthened to anywhere between 12 and 15 minutes. Though short-lived, the series was a massive hit with fans, due to its unique art style and how it fleshed out some of the backstory involved in the prequel trilogy.

Star Wars The Clone Wars

Five years later, a man named Dave Filoni (who is still working within the Star Wars universe) was pretty much handpicked by George Lucas to carry on the Clone Wars saga in a new, computer-animated show that would carry on where Tartakovsky's series left off. Starting with a theatrically released movie, the updated Clone Wars series continued to follow fan-favorites like Anakin and Obi-Wan, but also managed to introduce a new character who would quickly become an indispensable part of the franchise canon: Ahsoka Tano.

This young Padawan's journey through the series became its central focus, showing how the character grew and matured as the story went on. She was even brought into the realm of live-action and played by Rosario Dawson. Ahsoka's character arc might have been too much to be told in just one movie, and it was unlikely that she would be the focus for an entire trilogy. The breathing room afforded by episodic television allowed fans to become familiar with her and grow alongside her as well. That's not always easy to achieve in the film format, even with multiple movies.

Clone Wars was brought back for a final season on Disney+, along with two other animated shows: Rebels and Resistance. More shows are in the pipeline, but to really observe how much the franchise benefited from an episodic format, fans have to turn to what has become one of the biggest joys for fans in recent years: The Mandalorian.

Getting the Mandalorian Beskar skin

The live-action series did something that couldn't have been done as easily in movie format: it explored the seedier side of the galaxy, allowing fans to finally catch a glimpse of life outside the rebellion and the Empire. The Mandalorian successfully combines tropes from Westerns and samurai films to tell a story that is unlike anything seen in Star Wars thus far. At the same time, the show embraces its roots, and folds in plenty of lore from existing series. The aforementioned live-action Ahsoka, who is also reportedly getting her own series, is a good example. However, there were also appearances from Bo Katan, another Clone Wars regular, as well as the man himself, Boba Fettwhose series will be premiering in December 2021.

What The Mandalorian does well is also what sets it apart from so many other streaming series. It makes each episode feel like its own distinct, standalone story. This, along with its encyclopedic devotion to the franchise as a whole, can likely be traced back to Dave Filoni, who is once again involved in creating a successful Star Wars series. He (along with Jon Favreau and a collection of truly talented and dedicated directors and writers) have ultimately proven that television may just be the best format for exploring the Galaxy and seeing just how much is going on outside of the Skywalker family (even if Luke did get to make a triumphant cameo in the most recent finale).

While it may not exactly please fans to hear this, the success of all of these Star Wars television series may owe a debt to another space-faring franchise: Star Trek. That series also built itself on individual episodes exploring far-off worlds, while also building an internal mythology that has been present in all of the shows since the original. While there have been plenty of Star Trek movies as well (to varying degrees of critical success), it's the television shows that really do the best job in fleshing out the world, building memorable characters, and telling compelling stories with relevant themes.

There's no doubt that there will be more Star Wars movies on the horizon (including Rogue Squadron film from Patty Jenkins), but fans may end up becoming more enamored with the weekly episode format that will be offered by further series like Rangers of the New Republic or the long-awaited Obi-Wan Kenobi series which will bring back Ewan MacGregor and Hayden Christensen. No matter which format fans end up preferring, it all just proves that there are so many ways to tell a great story, even if it happened a long time ago.

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