Black Friday is less than a week away, and if you're stumped for gift ideas for a boy anywhere in the family, you could do worse than going with Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise.
The show remains one of the highest rated programs for males aged 12-25. That's no surprise since boys have always been the cash cow of George Lucas' $3 billion empire (no pun intended).
Hasbro is the emperor of Star Wars toys (at least those for kids), and the company has a couple of new, higher end items for the 2009 holidays.
The Clone Wars Remote Control R2-D2 is pretty much as advertised. For about $30, you get a replica of a Death Star comm-link that controls the droid's movements, sounds and lights. A kid will have fun driving him around the house. But, the toy is more fun for adults if you imagine that every beep he makes is really a rude, digitized curse word.
If there aren't already enough Star Wars video games for your liking, you can make your own with Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars Game Creator.
With the animated action show continuing to draw big numbers on Friday nights, its home network is serving up a chance for fans to build their own Clone Wars game and share it with other gamers.
According to the network, these game creators aren't a stunt to generate TV show buzz. The Ben 10: Alien Force Game Creator posted more than 630 million game plays since it went live a year ago, with more than 4.6 million games created by online visitors.
Once fans open their game creator, they choose their character (Anakin Skywalker, Captain Rex or Cad Bane) and their vehicle (AT-TE, AT-RT or Speeder), allowing nine different combinations of character abilities and vehicle powers.
Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars just might be the best action/adventure show on television. Come to think of it, it might be the only true action/adventure show on television.
But, as the show ramps up the action content and significantly sweetens its visuals, its increased intensity might be driving away some younger viewers.
As The Clone Wars moves through its second season, the war is growing -- both in scope and violence. Viewers are seeing more dead Clonetroopers, more crashed vehicles and more beloved characters in deadly jeopardy.
Its ratings continue to cruise in hyperspace (especially for males), but I wonder if the darker tones of season two could drive younger kids and their parents away from the show.
The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:
This morning, the Today gang dressed up for Halloween like they do every year, and this year it was a Star Wars theme. Besides the characters mentioned above, we have Meredith as Princess Leia, Kathie Lee as C3P0, Natalie as Amidala, Al as Han Solo and many Storm Troopers.
There's an awkward silence a couple of minutes in as each character is introduced. Lauer gets off a funny line about why he was late.
If you're a fan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and you want to know what happened between Season One and the now-running Season Two, you're going to need a video game system.
The story in the new game, Star Wars: The Clone Wars - "Republic Heroes" bridges the gap between the show's first two runs, as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and their loyal Clone Trooper comrades take on a new Separatist enemy packing a freshly polished doomsday weapon.
Available for PS3, Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360, "Republic Heroes" lets you play as a Jedi Knight or as a Clone Trooper -- depending on where you are in the game and what choices you make as a player.
While I'll admit that the photo at right is not the most detailed, and Ansel Adams is unlikely to claim it as one of his own due to its lighting and composition, it should prove an important image for Star Wars fans.
The sign artfully painted on the glass door in this tasteful, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired hallway within the Skywalker Ranch compound in Marin County, Calif. reads "LucasFilm Television." You'll have to trust me on that. This is as close as I could get with a camera.
You might wonder what the big deal is about that sign -- considering that LucasFilm has a show on the air already with Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But, those 22 episodes originate across the building in LucasFilm Animation -- a separate division.
Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Clone Wars might just be the beat best action and adventure show on television.
Admittedly, there isn't a ton of competition as action shows are few and far between on TV these days. They're expensive to produce in live action, so reality TV, detective shows and "chick-flick" dramas drive network schedules. Since the Star Wars universe exists only in the imaginations of George Lucas and his team encamped north of the Golden Gate bridge, The Clone Wars has more room to play affordably.
The second season of The Clone Wars launches this Friday on Cartoon Network. To build some force behind the premiere, LucasFilm Animation hosted a press event at Skywalker Ranch in Marin County. Munching on Wookie-Cookies (as all of the catering was Star-themed) and rubbing elbows with costumed Clone Troopers and bounty hunters, show creators and cast members mingled with reporters in an enthusiastic, nerd-friendly atmosphere.
Family Guy's Star Wars parody, Blue Harvest, was arguably the most popular and influential event episode in the show's history. So, the bar is set high for Seth MacFarlane's Empire Strikes Back send-up, Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside.
According to Fox's news release on the upcoming DVD, the plot sticks to the same lines as Empire: "Darth Vader (Stewie) is hunting the rebel Luke Skywalker (Chris) and his troops relentlessly across the galaxy."
I haven't watched The Clone Wars. I'm officially done with that franchise and don't want to get into a new cartoon (or that live-action show that's coming up). Star Trek, yes. Star Wars, no. But it has its fans, and this video celebrates that fact ... or something. It will make kids chuckle (maybe) but older fans grit their teeth and say "maybe that Ewoks song wasn't that bad after all." The show returns October 2.
Lucasfilms told us at Comic-Con that the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars promised more sophisticated storylines and higher stakes. It is war, after all. And they promised us bounty hunters. One of the most popular classes of characters in the franchise was conspicuously absent during the first season.
That follows the pattern of the films, if you think about it. While the first film was technically Episode IV: A New Hope, it was only branded as Star Wars. The stakes were raised and things got much better with the next installment, complete with official subtitle. Rise of the Bounty Hunters even sounds like an episode in the film franchise.
The long-rumored Star Wars live action series is reportedly coming together quickly and will begin shooting before 2009 ends.
You can pick any one of many collected reports, but they all say the show is well past the planning stages and is only waiting on completed scripts before George Lucas begins casting the essential roles.
While news of Star Wars on TV might have generated a bored groan from viewers after the prequel movies came and went, the critical and ratings success of Cartoon Network's The Clone Wars shows that a galaxy far, far away can work on TV if the writers, directors and cast remember that this is all supposed to be fun -- not high drama of a deeply spiritual nature.
There's still plenty of Comic-Con International coverage en route from me, including exclusive interviews you'll only find here.
But, as the Monday morning after the madness dawns, we'll take a few minutes and review the major impressions left by the four day weekend.
What happened? What were the biggest themes of the convention and what didn't happen that everyone was hoping would. In other words, what was Comic-Con 2009, and where did it fall short?
Recently, the cast of The Middleman, the comic book-based ABC Family show about a secret agent crime fighter and his female sidekick, reunited at Comic-Con for a panel and a table reading of the unreleased final episode of the series, which is soon to be a comic.
Middleman creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach talked to Laura Hudson from our sister site Comics Alliance before the panel about how comics gave him the freedom to create Stormtroopers riding missile-equipped kangaroos, whether the show could ever come back to TV, and why Batman: Streets of Gotham writer Paul Dini is the godfather of it all.
The Clone Wars is the big title for Lucasfilm's TV slate currently, but will George Lucas use this big event as the perfect launching pad to announce a live-action Star Wars series?
Of course, not everything is from a galaxy far, far away today, as other top shows hold their first panels and press events. I'll be running from interview to press conference to panel as fast as my sore feet will carry me.
You can keep tabs on where TV Squad's Comic-Con presence is in and out of the Convention Center by following our Twitter stream, @tvsquad.
Black Friday is less than a week away, and if you're stumped for gift ideas for a boy anywhere in the family, you could do worse than going with Star Wars: The Clone Wars merchandise.
If there aren't already enough Star Wars video games for your liking, you can make your own with Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars Game Creator.
Cartoon Network's Star Wars: The Clone Wars just might be the best action/adventure show on television. Come to think of it, it might be the only true action/adventure show on television.
The folks at our sister site 
If you're a fan of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and you want to know what happened between Season One and the now-running Season Two, you're going to need a video game system.
While I'll admit that the photo at right is not the most detailed, and Ansel Adams is unlikely to claim it as one of his own due to its lighting and composition, it should prove an important image for Star Wars fans.
Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Clone Wars might just be the 
Family Guy's Star Wars parody, Blue Harvest, was arguably the most popular and influential event episode in the show's history. So, the bar is set high for Seth MacFarlane's Empire Strikes Back send-up, Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside.
Lucasfilms told us at Comic-Con that the new season of 
The long-rumored Star Wars live action series is reportedly coming together quickly and will begin shooting before 2009 ends.
There's still plenty of Comic-Con International coverage en route from me, including exclusive interviews you'll only find here.
Recently, the cast of 
Today is Star Wars Saturday at 
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