In Bid to Attract Streaming Subs, Disney to Air ‘Mandalorian’ Episode on TV

In a bit of a throwback, Baby Yoda is coming to TV for one night only.

Ahead of the Disney+ premiere of The Mandalorian season three, the Star Wars series’ first episode will air simultaneously across ABC, Freeform, and FX later this month. Those folks who haven’t signed up for the streaming service, but want to know what all the Grogu fuss is about, can tune in to “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian” at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 24.

By airing “Chapter 1” on TV networks, parent company Disney General Entertaining Content (DGEC) hopes to entice more people onto its paid Disney+ streaming platform. A monthly subscription starts at $7.99 (with ads), or you can pay $79.99 for a year’s worth of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Nat Geo content.

Set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order—far from the authority of the New Republic—The Mandalorian follows a lone bounty hunter, known only as Mandalorian, as he takes on a lucrative yet cryptic assignment.

The series, executive produced by Star Wars fanatics Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, stars Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Amy Sedaris, Emily Swallow, and Giancarlo Esposito. Its eight-episode third season, returning to Disney+ on March 1, is directed by Rick Famuyiwa, Rachel Morrison, Lee Isaac Chung, Carl Weathers, Peter Ramsey, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

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