I'm late to the game here, and I know there have been some negative reviews by other board members a few weeks back. I _just_ rewatched S1 and S2. For me, the Mandalorian has been the best thing to happen to Star Wars since Empire. It's familiar, with plenty of fan service but usually done right using background/obscure characters, or even showing characters/weapons/vehicles only released as toys. It's not like cramming R2-D2 and C-3PO into the prequels and C-3PO's dumb connection to Anakin. For example, showing R5-D4 on Tatooine with an oil stain running down from where it blew a motivator back when Luke almost bought it from the Jawas. It's not in your face, but fans will get it and laugh. They've put a lot of work into making it feel like the original trilogy style-wise (for example, not doing CG ship effects that they couldn't also do with miniatures). Everything feels very familiar, but not a re-hash of the original trilogy (no blowing up the killer weapon with one shot). "The Volume" has allowed some pretty incredible visuals for a TV show. It's a cheesy thing to say, but it's the first Star Wars related thing that makes me feel like a kid again. I have a 12 year old son. He's grown up with the Prequels, The Clone Wars series, etc, which I never really got into. We've both really enjoyed the Mandalorian.
It's Star Wars. It's going to be cheesy, but in my opinion this was cheesy Star Wars done right. I'd like to know what the sequel trilogy would have been like if Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni had made it.
Plus we now know the Boston accent exists in the Star Wars universe.