The Star Wars movies are going to be all over TV this May the Fourth
Star Wars Day is back for another year—here's how you can visit a galaxy far, far away all from the comfort of your couch
Sure, this weekend has the 2024 Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo, but Star Wars Day is the holiday that we're all really excited about. May the Fourth is informally known as Star Wars Day (based on the famous Star Wars quote "May the force be with you"), a calendar date set aside to commemorate and celebrate the George Lucas-created sci-fi world.
And though it's not an official holiday from Lucasfilm, Star Wars fans have fully embraced the annual observation and take it as a time to revisit the nine films that comprise The Skywalker Saga. And this year, TV networks are making it easy for movie lovers wanting to watch the three trilogies that make up the Star Wars series, with galactical movie marathons airing all weekend long.
The Star War movies are coming to cable on TBS, which will be airing all three trilogies throughout today, May 4 and tomorrow, May 5. Start with the original trilogy starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford—1977's Episode IV: A New Hope, 1980's Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)—followed by the most recent trio of films, which added Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac and John Boyega to the cast (2015's Episode VII: The Force Awakens, 2017's Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and 2019's Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker).
Then you can take in how the whole story began with the prequels led by Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor (1999's Episode I: The Phantom Menace, 2002's Episode II: Attack of the Clones and 2005's Episode III: Revenge of the Sith). (BTW, here's how to watch all of the Star Wars movies in order, as well as how to keep track of Darth Vader's timelines.)
Check out the TBS schedule for timings for each film airing. TBS is available with most cable TV subscriptions. If you've cut the cord you have several live TV streaming service options so that you can catch the weekly action. Some of your options include Max, Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.
FX will also be airing the various Star Wars films today, May the Fourth, so you can hang out with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and the rest of your favorite characters all day long. Reference the FX schedule to see what movie's playing at what time.
And if you want to watch the Star Wars films beyond May the Fourth, all of the movies and shows in the Star Wars universe are available to stream with Disney Plus. That includes all three trilogies as well as spin-off "anthology" films like Rogue One and Solo, and TV series including Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor and The Mandalorian. Current Disney Plus subscriptions include the "Duo Basic" option (with Disney Plus and Hulu for $9.99 per month) and the "Trio Basic" plan (with Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN+ for $14.99 monthly).
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Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York.
When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.