I watch it religiously, and yes, with a few exceptions I too think it is better than the three first movies - they expand upon the story and universe nicely. The movies felt more like 'yeah, this is a story we kind of have to tell even though it's a bit meh'. Doesn't hurt that I like the little spitfire, too.

Are the episodes online anywhere? I Don't really have time in during the day to watch much of anything.

@nilles - you might be right.  I've liked what I've seen of the clone wars cartoon anyway.  I feel like they are generally well done, but I can't really speak to how close they are to the books, etc.  I'm not a huge fan of episodes 1-3.  Speaking of which:

Watch this online:  http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/

It's a VERY good review of episode 1.  If you like star wars, odds are you will find this very entertaining.  He has reviews for ep 1-3. 

I would have said the same thing a month ago.  Do me a favor and watch about 10 minutes of the redlettermedia link I provided above and decide if you want to watch more.  I'm a HUGE star wars fan and watching that helped me see some of the problems.  I think you'll find it quite entertaining.

A quick, albeit crappy example:  here is your task.  Describe the following character without referring to their profession or what they look like.

Han solo:  A bit of a brigand.  He's out for money, but has a heart of gold.  He's a scumbag, but also a hero.  He's there when it matters. 

qui gon jinn:  He's... stoic.  (Any other thoughts?  He was a pretty important character in episode 1, right?)

Princess Leia - She's not exactly soft spoken.  She's a bit like a shrew.  She's a brat.  She flirts with someone else just to frustrate another.  She becomes a hero and is the hope for the galaxy if her brother dies.  She ends up falling if love with a brigand. 

Padmé Amidala - She's.... she.... she loves someone that goes bad and gives birth to the last hope of the universe...

Anyway, that's just a small sample of some of the things discussed in the review.  Give it a look if you like.  I found it entertaining, at the very least. 

And no - I get that.  I'm a bit of a purist nerd myself.  If they are screwing with the canon WITHOUT adding any interesting or meaningful content, then I'm not a fan.  But as I haven't read all of the books, its not off-putting to me.

Oh they have a system of deciding what's canon and what's not at Skywalker ranch. George's time is too valueable to rule on everything that bares the StarWars logo, though I suppose he could override anything if he wanted to. Unsure of how they consider the TV series though.

Most of the Extended Universe novels are canon, though there are dozens of authors of them.

Whoa really, what happened to it? Its pretty rare that canon material ever directly contradicts the movies. Of course like you I haven't paid much attention since the New Jedi Order, though I go discouraged by events after it, not from the Prequels (honestly a second Galactic Civil War even after the Yuzhan Vong?).

Yeah, everything after the Hand of Thrawn duology should be burned.

Everything written by Pablo Hidalgo, Abel G. Pena, and Curtis Saxton should be scattered after burning.

Those three guys have done more good for Star Wars than all most any other people I know of. Pablo Hidalgo and Abel G. Pena came up with the original story for the Mandalorians until one Karen Traviss stepped in and started ignoring almost everything they did. Curtis Saxton has tried to help fix the numerous technical mistakes like cataloging the Tector-class Star Destroyer and other unidentified Star Destroyers in Return of the Jedi. I have the utmost respect for their work.

Well, no one else is trying to fix errors like that. I am tired of seeing nonsense like the Eclipse and the Sovereign-classes just being Super Star Destroyers instead of Star Dreadnoughts like the Executor-class, the Imperial-class SSD and Allegiance from Dark Empire not being Imperial-class Star Battlecruisers with Allegiance the only named representative, and the Strident-class Star Defender being in the same league as an Imperial-class Star Destroyer when her sister class, the Viscount-class Star Defender, is comparable to the Executor-class Star Dreadnought. They can't even clean up the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers, the Corellian capital ships, and the large Imperial capital ships. Those starship classifications exist for a reason, but the writers don't use them when they create something new, which leaves the ships with what ever name can be extrapolated from the books. Would you rather they just continue screwing things up with the Clone Wars cartoon nonsense and the post-Hand of Thrawn Duology era (New Jedi Order series and beyond). That show and those series of books have change more things than any other stories ever conceived in the history of the EU. You clearly miss the EU before there was such a thing as the EU. Michael A. Stackpole and Timothy Zahn are the only authors I have seen who don't destroy everything they get their hands on.

I am just tired of this screwing up everything that has happened since the NJO came out.

I mean, the NJO was tolerable, but the general direction it took things is just terrible. Things like Natasi Daala being Chief of State and the portrayal of the Mandalorians, two reasons why I won't read anything after the NJO beyond maybe the Dark Nest trilogy any time soon.

Then there is the Clone Wars mania doing far too much ignoring the existing canon like adding new content without using existing content like the largest Kuati capital ships or even the Victory-class Star Destroyer (which had better appear when they get to that time period, if they haven't destroyed the timeline by then), or just changing existing things like the portrayal of Ryloth and stepping on the toes of G-canon when its only T-canon.

Things like the Tantive IV no longer being a CR70 in Revenge of the Sith and later undergoing a Vanguard c20 refit during the Dark Times to become the CR90 seen in A New Hope. I will say it again, I am not accepting the Tantive IV dramatic retcon any time soon without a cleanup of the mess it caused and justification for it that involves more than the technical discrepancies that where better explained by the refit, because it destroyed the perfectly good story of Corla Mertonae and Revenge of the Sith in general.

No need to read that, I am rambling like a madman over the same ideas again.

Zigzag, I come from a school of thought where examples are important, though in truth it probably has more to do with my general distaste with this "new" Star Wars as opposed to the "old" Star Wars before the Del Rey books and a Clone Wars mania kid's cartoon rewriting every single thing it possibly can. I don't know what else to do besides point out the problems I see.