It’s that time of year again, and the moment ABC brass are willing to take questions, you know the prospect of a live-action Star Wars TV series is hanging around. The latest reports suggest we could see a series “far into the future,” so let’s blow that out of proportion!

Back in August, ABC boss Channing Dungey seemed to imply that conversations were ongoing with Lucasfilm to bring a Star Wars live-action series to life, calling the talks “a little bit hush-hush.” Entertainment Weekly got a chance to revisit that claim with Dungey at the 2017 TCA press tour, during which she clarified that nothing concrete would form for some time, if ever:

That was sort of a conversation at TCA that got blown way out of proportion. We have had some conversations in general about wanting to find a way to bring something from the Lucas Star Wars Universe to ABC, but that’s far into the future. The focus at the moment for Lucas is on the current stuff that they’re doing on the film side and then, of course, they do have the stuff that they are doing on [Disney] XD.

Here’s what Dungey said at the summer tour in 2016:

Ohh, as a fan, I would absolutely love to say ‘yes.’ The conversations with Lucas, we have had conversations with them and will continue to have conversations with them. I think it would be wonderful if we could find a way to extend that brand into our programming. […]

It’s all a little bit hush-hush. That company exists under a big shroud of secrecy. If you feel Marvel’s secretive, [Lucasfilm] takes it to a whole other level … [Talks] are ongoing. We don’t have an official timeline yet.

Past reports of a live-action Star Wars TV series (most commonly titled Star Wars: Underworld) were seemingly set on Coruscant between trilogies, while another recent report suggested the project might have humanized Emperor Palpatine in some manner.

The success of Rogue One undoubtedly enforces Disney and Lucasfilm’s intent to keep TV and live-action films separate, but will the day ever come when they change their minds?

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