To follow up a more serious story shared earlier , this time we've got something fun.
When George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney in October 2012, the future of Star Wars was naturally in question. At the time of the sale, the now completed Sequel Trilogy was announced, in addition to spinoff films that became Rogue One and Solo . Beyond this, little was known about the direction the franchise would be taking and, coming from Disney, how serious it would be.
Following the Lucasfilm buyout, many fans quipped that we would be seeing Luke Skywalker running around with Jedi Mickey Mouse. Any cynicism about the approach to the seriousness of the franchise was dispelled when Disney canceled the Star Wars Detours spoof series, instead directing their attention to the films and Rebels . While Disney and Lucasfilm were focusing on bringing back Star Wars to the big screen, there was one un-released project in development planned to deliver galactic news to viewers in their own homes...
NEWS
During a recent episode of screenwriter Gary Whitta's YouTube talk show Animal Talking , comedian Paul Scheer shared details about an un-released, 8-episode Star Wars comedy series called After Darth that he was developing :
It was a Darth Vader talk show that took place on the Death Star. It was sponsored by Disney - no one will ever see it.
The series was sponsored by Disney, until they realized what exactly it was that they had on their hands:
I played Darth Vader... the Emperor had a band, it was kind of like the Cantina band led by the Emperor. It was co-hosted by my brother, who looked like me but wore a Hawaiian shirt.
It appears the production team took the show somewhat seriously, given the effort put into the set:
We did a full-on recreation of the Death Star, it looked like the Emperor's throne room. We put a wooden desk in there, threw up a fern, and then we had interviews with people across the Star Wars galaxy.
Scheer also mentioned some of the characters and segments they had recorded for the series, specifically Lobot, Wedge Antilles, Padme's handmaidens, cooking shows, a 30 for 30 on Anakin's podrace victory, and the legendary Yaddle, who would appear as a sex therapist.
WHAT THIS MEANS
This show would've been... interesting, to say the least. Based on Scheer's description, it sounds like we were looking at a goofier version of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon set in space - with Darth Vader delivering our important news. As silly as it sounds, if done right the show actually could've been a real knee-slapper.
There's no surprise whatsoever that this series was canceled. It obviously wasn't in line with the direction Disney was looking to take the franchise, and some of the humor may have been a bit too far, considering the younger audiences that would have tuned in. The bit about Yaddle is absolutely hilarious, and a recording of the Disney executives' reactions to the segment would've been equally entertaining.
