"While Lucas now claims that they be viewed chronologically in episodic order, they have in fact been made primarily for the audiences of their time of production. Each sequel--1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, and 2005--built upon the film that came before it and is dependent on audience familiarity with the preceding occurrences ... The originals were constructed in such a way as to preserve the dramatic suspense of not knowing the revelations that follow (i.e. Yoda's identity, Leia and Anakin's familial relation to Luke, the true powers of the Emperor, etc.), while the prequels do not respect this structure and hence introduce unintended structural flaws in the last episodes."

"Sequels are designed not only by filmmakers who are cognisant of what has already transpired, but they are targetted to an audience that is as well. When John Conner says "I'll be back," in Terminator: Salvation, it was saluting fans of the original who were familiar with the famous line from the previous films, and made more ironic since the line was originally uttered by Conner's nemesis."

So much great stuff here. tl;dr: they make sense in production order, not episodic order, no matter what Lucas says.

"The single strongest impression [Star Wars] leaves is of another great American tradition which involves lights, bells, obstacles, menace, action, technology, and thrills. It is pinball-on a cosmic scale."

1978 profile of Lucas from The Atlantic.

Behind-the-scenes photos from the original trilogy.

I have the weirdest thing for Original-Trilogy-era George Lucas.

"As the swaggering Han and fearless Leia, they were an intergalactic Tracy and Hepburn whose I-antagonize-you-because-I-have-the-hots-for-you jousting made so many of their onscreen moments together electric."

"George Lucas has acknowledged the key influence of The Hidden Fortress on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. This influence remains particularly evident in the technique of telling the story from the points of view of the film's lowliest characters, C-3PO and R2-D2. Kurosawa's use of frame wipes (sometimes cleverly hidden by motion within the frame) as a transition device also influenced Star Wars."

"They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It’s natural to make decisions that protect the toy business, but that’s not the best thing for making quality films.”

"The Holocron is divided into 5 levels (in order of precedence): G-canon, T-canon, C-canon, S-canon, and N-canon."

"There are still plenty of dim, and in some cases even seemingly purposefully blacked out areas in the development of Star Wars. The story of how Chewbacca came to be is one of those. A fascinating look at what happens in the space between idea, page and screen."