TV Talk: Mt. Lebanon native’s ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Ahsoka’ premieres

Created by Mt. Lebanon native Dave Filoni and essentially a live-action sequel to Filoni’s animated “Star Wars” series “Rebels,” the two-episode premiere of “Ahsoka,” streaming tonight at 9 p.m. on Disney+, gets off to a slow start.

Set in the post-“Return of the Jedi” part of the “Star Wars” timeline, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), formerly Anakin Skywalker’s padawan, spends a chunk of the first episode solving a puzzle, which might be fun to do but is yawn-inducing to watch.

Fans who saw the animated “Clone Wars” and “Rebels” series will surely appreciate the relationships in “Ahsoka” more than those who only know the live-action stories but Filoni’s script capably brings fans in the latter group up to speed.

The important things to know are Ahsoka and her former Padawan, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), are on the outs but events bring them back together with New Republic Gen. Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) helping to mend their rift as the trio begin a quest to find missing Force-sensitive friend Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and thwart the return of exiled Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen).

Some baddies with Jedi-like abilities – and the witch they break out of a New Republic cruiser brig — kick the plot into gear leading to a fetch quest for a map, which gets stolen, then a fetch quest for the map’s contents. Only then, at the end of episode two, does the adventure truly begin.

Up to that point there’s a lot of watching things that somebody at “Star Wars” Inc. thinks are cool but a speeder bike chase (that’s barely a chase) on what appears to be a highway with no other vehicles (because why?) is not that interesting.

Disney+ was wise to begin “Ahsoka” with a two-episode premiere since the first episode is pretty leaden.

Episode two, also written by Filoni, offers some post-Imperial politics akin to but not as nuanced as “Andor.” At least the story and action advance in episode two and the addition of the droid Chopper, also from “Rebels,” offers some feel-good humor.

Sabine proves to be an interesting character with a complex backstory – she’s Mandalorian, but the kind that can take off their helmets – but Ahsoka, as Dawson plays her, is enigmatic. Constantly standing around, arms crossed, squint-eyed and evincing a hint of perpetual disdain, she’s colder and more aloof than even Mando.

A “Star Wars” series built around a trio of female heroes offers a welcome change and there’s hope that future episodes will pick up the pace. “Andor” started slowly too and turned into a masterpiece. That may be too much to hope for from “Ahsoka” but I’m willing to stick with it for now.

Disney+ said Filoni was not doing interviews due to the writers’ strike.

‘League’ shopped

TheWrap.com reports Sony is shopping “A League of Their Own” after Amazon decided to cancel the filmed-in-Pittsburgh show’s second season last week.

But don’t hold your breath for “League” to find a new home.

A few years ago as streaming services were ascendant, a niche series with a devoted fan following stood a good chance of being rescued (see: Netflix picking up “Arrested Development” and “Lucifer” after both shows were canceled by Fox). But now that streaming service growth has plateaued (and in some cases, started to decline), such last-ditch efforts to find a streaming savior seem less likely to succeed.

Frasier’ revived

A long-gestating revival of the former NBC series “Frasier” will premiere on Paramount+ on Oct 12. The first two episodes of the 10-episode season will also air back-to-back on CBS at 9:15 p.m. Oct. 17.

The new season follows Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) as he moves from Seattle back to Boston, where the Frasier character originated on the Boston-set “Cheers.” There he’s surrounded by new characters including an old friend who is a professor (Nicholas Lyndhurst), a university psychology department chair (Toks Olagundoye) and Frasier’s nephew (Anders Keith). An adult version of Frasier’s son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) will be a series regular with a guest appearance by Bebe Neuwirth as Frasier’s ex-, Dr. Lillith Sternin.

Channel surfing

ABC released a “Bachelor in Paradise” trailer Monday — but if Pittsburgh’s Tanner Courtad is in it, I didn’t spot him. Courtad is rumored to be a “BIP” cast member but ABC has yet to announce the show’s full cast. … Several Disney+ series will get 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases, including “Loki” season one (Sept. 26), “WandaVision” (Nov. 28) and “The Mandalorian” seasons one and two (Dec. 12). … Free, ad-supported streaming TV app Pluto TV will stream all four seasons of Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” in order with season one streaming Sept. 1, season two on Sept. 2, season three on Sept. 3 and season four on Sept. 4 on Pluto’s More TV Drama channel.