With just one episode left of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, the show has certainly proven itself to be a brilliant addition to Star Wars, but it still highlights a major issue with Disney+. Even with the finale remaining, it feels safe to assume Skeleton Crew will be considered one of Star Wars' best TV shows moving forward. Skeleton Crew's characters and the various planets, concepts, and plot points in the show have all felt genuinely innovative and unique among Star Wars movies and TV shows.
Skeleton Crew has also managed to do this while remaining tied to Star Wars' original message, making it the best Star Wars show since Andor. Nevertheless, Skeleton Crew is suffering from one of the biggest issues with not just Disney+ but also streaming services more broadly. Not even a show as creative and thrilling as Skeleton Crew can escape Star Wars live-action TV shows' issue of simply not having enough episodes or enough time per episode.
Star Wars' Live-Action TV Shows Don't Have Enough Episodes
With Some Exceptions, Star Wars Shows Generally Have 8-Episode Seasons
Star Wars' live-action TV shows began with The Mandalorian in 2019, and many shows have been developed since. In addition to The Mandalorian's three seasons thus far (it's unclear whether The Mandalorian & Grogu is a replacement for The Mandalorian season 4), shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka, and now Skeleton Crew have also been released. Among Star Wars' upcoming TV shows are Andor season 2 and Ahsoka season 2 as well. With nearly all these shows, each season contains on average just 8 episodes, most of which have a runtime of about 30 minutes.
The Mandalorian's story will continue with a Star Wars movie. Here's everything we know about the project, including cast, release, and timeline.
There are some exceptions to this rule, most notably with Andor's 12-episode season and Obi-Wan Kenobi's mere 6 episodes. Obi-Wan Kenobi's significantly lower number of episodes is at first a bit jarring, but it makes sense given Obi-Wan Kenobi's history. Originally, Obi-Wan Kenobi was conceived of as a trilogy of movies—meaning this represents about 2 hours for each movie. The only other exception to this rule so far is The Book of Boba Fett, which had 7 episodes.
Live-Action Star Wars Show
Number Of Episodes Per Season
The Mandalorian season 1
8
The Mandalorian season 2
8
The Mandalorian season 3
8
The Book of Boba Fett
7
Obi-Wan Kenobi
6
Andor season 1
12
Ahsoka season 1
8
The Acolyte
8
Skeleton Crew
8
The issue is, 8 episodes just aren't enough to have fully fleshed out and compelling characters and story arcs, especially with many of these shows introducing brand-new characters. This was a major issue with The Acolyte, as that show was introducing new characters and planets nearly across the board. In just 8 episodes (again, each running about 30 minutes long), The Acolyte had to establish background stories for each character, explain new planets and concepts, and build a narrative arc that concluded in a satisfying way. This is too much for any show to juggle.
8 episodes just aren't enough to have fully fleshed out and compelling characters and story arcs.
This is also why the issue wasn't as glaring for shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka, even with Obi-Wan Kenobi having even fewer episodes than average, because they primarily were building upon characters and storylines that had already been explored in detail at other points in the Star Wars timeline. Unfortunately, Skeleton Crew is closer to The Acolyte than to Ahsoka or Obi-Wan Kenobi, given most of the characters are brand-new, as are Skeleton Crew's planets.
This issue with the number and length of episodes largely hasn't been a problem with Star Wars' animated shows. Shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch had significantly more episodes and many more seasons. The Clone Wars, which ran for 7 seasons, had on average 22 episodes per season, with that number dropping only in seasons 6 and 7. Rebels had 5 seasons, two of which had 15 episodes, and two had 22. Even The Bad Batch, with just 3 seasons, had about 16 episodes per season.
Skeleton Crew's Characters Deserved More Time
With Just 8 Episodes, The Skeleton Crew Characters' Stories Feel Cut Short
In part, the problem with Star Wars' live-action TV shows having so few episodes per season and rather short episodes as well is that the characters often deserve significantly more time and attention. This feels especially true of Skeleton Crew in light of the cast that primarily comprises four kids. These kids are easily one of the best parts of the show, if not the single best part, and it would have been wonderful to see their characters fleshed out even more and get to witness a longer and more complicated journey.
Skeleton Crew episode 6 made that especially clear by finally getting around to KB, who deserves more characterization than just one episode. The larger problem in the case of Skeleton Crew also comes down to the kids' ages. Skeleton Crew began filming in 2022 and had wrapped filming by the end of January 2023. This means that nearly two years have passed since filming finished on the show, and it's only just being released now. Even if Skeleton Crew was renewed for a second season—which hasn't yet been announced—the kids' ages would require a time jump.
Even if Skeleton Crew was renewed for a second season—which hasn't yet been announced—the kids' ages would require a time jump.
While a jump forward by a few years wouldn't be the end of the world, and Skeleton Crew season 2 would no doubt deliver, it is a shame that the stories of these characters weren't explored in greater detail while they were younger. This is also something that isn't an issue with animation, as the characters can be aged on whatever timeline the show chooses. In the case of Skeleton Crew, the reverse would be true; the story would be dictated in part by the real-life ages of the actors.
There's Actually A Financial Value To Longer Episodes On A Streamer
Ad Revenue Should Encourage Disney To Invest In Longer Episodes
It's clear based on how consistent the 8-episode seasons are that this is an intentional choice by Disney, but it's a confusing one. As a streaming platform, Disney+ profits off its shows in large part through subscribers, which is why so many of the shows on Disney+ are exclusive to the streaming service. Many of them can't be accessed anywhere else, requiring audiences to pay for a subscription to Disney+ if they want to watch certain shows, including Skeleton Crew.
These subscriptions are also tiered, primarily breaking down to be a lower cost subscription with ads or a more expensive ad-free option (there are a few other options, such as bundles with other subscriptions). With the lower-cost subscriptions, Disney has yet another opportunity to profit from streaming shows, via advertisements. Disney should therefore be incentivized to make their episodes longer, as that would significantly increase the amount of time for advertisements.
Disney should therefore be incentivized to make their episodes longer, as that would significantly increase the amount of time for advertisements.
This makes it all the more confounding that Disney+ has opted for shorter episodes and 8-episode seasons. Presumably, part of the issue is that Disney's live-action streaming shows are still quite new, only beginning in 2019. It makes sense that it would take some time for Disney to sort out how exactly to make this new model work. Hopefully, though, Disney will soon recognize that both the company and the viewer would benefit from longer episodes and longer seasons, for financial and narrative reasons.
Star Wars Isn't Alone In This Issue
The Streaming Standard Is Becoming 8 Episodes—And Viewers Aren't Happy
It's worth noting, Star Wars is far from the only franchise suffering from this 8-episode season, 30-minute (approximately) episode model. In fact, Disney+ as a streaming platform isn't alone in its approach to live-action streaming shows. Other major streaming services, such as Netflix, have plenty of shows that comprise just 8 episodes, and it's led to plenty of complaints from audiences.
Other major streaming services, such as Netflix, have plenty of shows that comprise just 8 episodes, and it's led to plenty of complaints from audiences.
This was especially true of Netflix's popular show Bridgerton following its most recent season, season 3, and the announcement that there would be a 2-year gap between seasons 3 and 4 dropping. Viewers took to social media to complain about the fact that Bridgerton is taking years between seasons, yet each season has just 8 episodes. This is a major shift with streaming services, as network TV shows like Lost used to have hour-long episodes (when factoring in commercials) and put out on average 20 episodes per season.
It's unlikely that Star Wars will halt its live-action streaming shows any time soon, even with just two upcoming shows confirmed, as these shows have become a key component of the franchise's model. This hopefully means Disney is constantly reassessing and open to adapting its approach, though, which would ideally include a major update to the length of streaming shows' episodes and seasons. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is unquestionably an excellent Star Wars show, but that just makes it all the more disappointing that it has fallen victim to this streaming issue.
The first seven episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew are now streaming on Disney+.
Skeleton Crew Release Date Schedule
Episode
Director
Release Date
Episode 1
Jon Watts
December 2
Episode 2
David Lowery
December 2
Episode 3
David Lowery
December 10
Episode 4
The Daniels
December 17
Episode 5
Jake Schreier
December 24
Episode 6
Bryce Dallas Howard
December 31
Episode 7
Lee Isaac Chung
January 7
Episode 8
Jon Watts
January 14
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Skeleton Crew follows four ordinary children who become lost in the expansive Star Wars galaxy. As they navigate unfamiliar worlds and the challenges they present, the group endeavors to find their way back to their home planet, undertaking a journey across the iconic Star Wars universe.
Release Date
December 2, 2024
Network
Disney+
CastJude Law
, Ravi Cabot-Conyers
, Ryan Kiera Armstrong
, Kyriana Kratter
, Robert Timothy Smith
, Nick Frost
, Fred Tatasciore
, Jaleel White
, Dale Soules
, Geoffrey Lower
, Marti Matulis
, Sisa Grey
, Dominic Burgess
, Vivienne Sachs
, Esai Daniel Cross
, Shane Almagor
, Paloma Garcia-Lee
, Alan Resnick
, Anthony Atamanuik
, John Gemberling
, Tunde Adebimpe
, Kerry Condon
, Alia Shawkat
, Cass Buggé
, Geneva Carr
Producers
Colin Wilson
, Jon Favreau
, Kathleen Kennedy
, Christopher Ford
, Dave Filoni
, Jon Watts
, Karen Gilchrist
, Chris Buongiorno
, John Bartnicki
Seasons
1
Writers
Jon Watts
, Christopher Ford
Directors
David Lowery
, Bryce Dallas Howard
, Jake Schreier
, Lee Isaac Chung
, Daniel Scheinert
Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore
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English (US) ·