I freely concede the American Graffiti cast, but would not consider most of them Lucas proteges, especially Ron Howard. He shrewdly tapped some up-and-comers when they were still relatively unknown outside the business.
I'm really not a Lucas-hater, honest. I'm a Star Wars fan and saw ROTH twice. But I have to concede the new trilogy just doesn't have the same quality as the originals.
The Phantom Menace was complete crap, and the other two in the new trilogy could have been great movies with decent acting and better dialogue.
We can only hope that Hayden Christensen's carrer ends as quickly as Mark Hamill's, as he makes Hamill look like Sir Laurence Olivier.