Welcome to Star Wars Days, on May the Fourth.
(Isn’t it nice when a holiday is on a Monday, extending the weekend?)
This is when we’re expected to sit in front of a screen, staring at “Star Wars” shows. Possible exemptions are for essential workers and/or people who are busy doing “Star Wars” puzzles, games or art projects.
Fortunately, three networks make it easy for us, with marathons (shown here with “The Last Jedi”) and such. That includes:
– TBS starts with the original trilogy. At 7:30 a.m. (1977), 10:14 a.m. (1980) and 12:58 p.m. (1983). It skips the prequel trilogy and jumps straight to the final trilogy. “The Force Awakens” (2015) is at 3:53 p.m. and “The Last Jedi” (2017) is at 6:45.
– That leaves the final film … which, fortunately, many people can catch at any time. As the quarantine took hold, Disney decided to move films more quickly to its new Disney+ streaming service. Earlier, it did that with “Frozen 2,” “Onward” and two nature films; today, it celebrates Star Wars Day by adding “The Rise of Skywalker.” That means the one spot now has all nine “Star Wars” films, plus three series.
– And if you prefer heroes to be animated? That’s the domain of the Disney XD channel; it has “Lego Star Wars All-Stars” from 8:30-11 a.m. and “Star Wars Rebels” from 9 p.m. to midnight.
It adds up to a fine way to celebrate the fact that May the Fourth (Star Wars Day, because it sounds like “may the force be with you”) is on a Monday, making this a three-day weekend.
Except, of course, it’s not an official holiday. Neither is Super Bowl Sunday; instead, we celebrate the birth of some guy who was looking for India and bumped into us by accident. Some things are just behind the times.