Sick of all that galactic politicking from the prequels? Then Star Wars: Clone Wars, the microseries that returned that Galaxy Far, Far Away to its nuts-and-blaster-bolts basics, is for you! Each lightsaber-lean episode brought the epic back to Star Wars — Mace Windu’s bare-fisted dispatch of an entire droid army is a thrilling highlight. But it also proved that action speaks louder than monologues, with terse new characters like Asajj Ventress and General Grievous slashing their way through Jedis to become badass new fan favorites. Taxation of trade routes be damned! —Christian Blauvelt