Star Wars Show So Awful It Was Hidden Away Is Finally Coming Out

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 36 seconds ago

One surprising blind spot in Star Wars is that we never got anything onscreen that was designed from the ground up as a comedy. Sure, every movie and show (even Andor) squeezes in some moments of humor, but they are designed, first and foremost, as dramas. Have you ever wondered why the galaxy far, far away never went all-in on being funny? As it turns out, Star Wars did develop an animated comedy show many years ago: Star Wars Detours. It was designed as a Robot Chicken-style take on our favorite characters, one that would deliver one non-canonical moment after another.

This series was developed by Star Wars creator George Lucas and Robot Chicken creator Seth Green. They went all out, recruiting writers from fan-favorite series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, and Family Guy. Unfortunately, Star Wars Detours quietly died after Disney acquired the franchise; despite having already produced 39 episodes (!), the show was canceled and has never seen the light of day outside one clip leaking to Reddit. However, Green revealed something startling at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con: that a curated selection of Detours episodes would be made available to the public via the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

Star Wars Gets The Robot Chicken Treatment

The original idea behind Star Wars Detours was simple: the official premise is that this would be “an animated comedy that explores what daily life is like in a galaxy far, far away. There are no Empires striking back or attacking clones here. Instead, Star Wars Detours focuses on the universe’s regular folks and their everyday problems.” While the official premise noted that the show would still feature “famous bounty hunters, crazed Ewoks, and even a Dark Lord of the Sith,” this was a show designed to focus on humorous, slice-of-life adventures rather than tales involving Jedi or superweapons. Just a chill, funny Star Wars show; what could possibly go wrong?

In a word, Disney. Star Wars Detours began development in 2010, and Lucas and Green managed to produce two seasons’ worth of episodes. But then Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise in 2012. Initially, Green was optimistic that his new show would eventually come out after the Sequel Trilogy had been completed. In 2018, Disney filed a new trademark for Lucasfilm, but the show was never released, and we stopped getting official updates. In a 2019 interview with Collider, Green said he felt like Disney wasn’t interested in “this kind of deconstructive comedy coexisting with these sincere interpretations of the characters.” 

Somehow, Detours Returned

In a 2020 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Green echoed these thoughts and admitted he never thought the series would get released. One reason for this was that even though the episodes were finished, he felt they’d all need to be tweaked to be suitable for Disney+ (presumably because of some juvenile, Robot Chicken-like humor). At the time, that seemed to be the end of the story. After all, where else would Star Wars Detours premiere if not Disney+? Now, we have an answer. Green revealed at San Diego Comic-Con this year that a “curation of episodes” would be displayed at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. “I’m just excited for people to get to see it,” he said.

But will the fans be excited to see it? That’s the real question. While Star Wars Detours is a fascinating part of franchise history (39 completed episodes, hidden from us for nearly a decade and a half!), the leaked episode “Dog Day Afternoon” was almost painfully unfunny. Maybe Disney made the right decision by burying this series. At any rate, fans will soon find out when they view the curated episodes at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Here’s hoping they include one of the many, many episodes that voice actor Weird Al Yankovic recorded original songs for!