Most of us have a collection of some sort of entertainment medium. TV series on DVD, audiobooks, regular books, video games, movies, CDs, etc. Some of those artists or fictional worlds touch us more than others. I guess the OT touches most of us more than other series of movies or any other medium. I could be wrong, but to be sure we all feel pretty strongly about the OT - or at least we did at one time.
There was a sixteen-year gap between SW-branded movies. During that time, we had a substantial EU output which, while it sometimes left us wanting more, seemed on the whole to be of much greater quality (in lesser quantity) than the second, post-1999 EU output. And that first EU movement, I believe, strongly entertained the bulk of the old fans.
I would argue that by the time The Phantom Menace rolled around, Lucas was in no position to make a good film. By then, us OT fans had enjoyed the SW experience to the point where it was personal. And the only way to satisfy already sated fans was to make sure that the new films never strayed from our collective perception of what a SW film was at its essence. Lucas was at a great disadvantage going into the PT - he hadn't been as ensconced in the SW universe as we were, IMO. Furthermore, it's hard to figure out what large groups of people are thinking.
I'm bolding and underlining the next sentence of this paragraph to be as clear as I can: I am not trying to excuse George Lucas' woefully embarrassing return to the world of SW. Lucas probably couldn't have reached us OT fans with the PT, but his haphazard attempt missed the mark so badly, it's as though he wanted to piss us off. (With the release of the GOUT, he was open about it) Lucas seemed to think that an easy-to-follow story plus action and explosions plus superficial ties to SW (lightsabers, Jedi, various alien species, returning characters) equals a full return to the glory days of SW. Sadly, the endless stream of cash the movies made probably convinced him he nailed it.
But this isn't about Lucas. I'm exploring the possibility that maybe, with our strong and personal love for the OT having been in place for sixteen years, maybe no one could have made the PT great. Now, if Lucas had chosen to go forward in time, rather than backward, perhaps it might have worked. Maybe. Your thoughts?