"Weird" Al Yankovic's public "Star Wars" fandom made him a natural fit for the cast of "Star Wars: Detours," the canceled animated series from the creators of "Robot Chicken" that was shelved indefinitely sometime before Disney acquired Lucasfilm. Yankovic voiced the droid 4-LOM on the show and, according to him, its proposed third season would have had a musical episode with songs by the songwriter himself.
It sounds like the fantasy of some over-caffeinated pop culture nerd possibly experiencing a mid-life crisis, but it actually came close — incredibly close — to happening. Yankovic told "The George Lucas Talk Show" that he actually completed around "half a dozen" songs for the "Star Wars" musical, which actually reached the recording stage before the project was axed from on high, a real-life Order 66 that destroyed the hopes and dreams of "Star Wars" novelty tune fans all over the galaxy.
"We were working on a 'Star Wars' musical, that was a third-season show, we were writing songs, and all of a sudden, it was like, 'This is not gonna happen,'" recalls Yankovic. When understandably pressed for additional details, he answered, "There were, gosh, at least a half a dozen or more songs as part of the musical and the various characters in the show. We actually recorded them singing their songs, and that was about a week before we found out that the show was not happening."
Whether or not these no-doubt precious recordings will ever be released to the public is anyone's guess at this point. For now, fans will just have to hope.
