Does it explicitly state that he is speaking basic?

Because there are plenty of times in the EU when they've just written what aliens say even though they're speaking a different language.

He talks to and with everybody (as do other Trandoshans in both books and comics, by the way, I checked), so either he speaks Basic, or Dosh is surprisingly widespread in the galaxy.

So, Trandoshans are able to speak Basic in WEG's RPG and are shown to speak Basic in older EU material. TCW/Rebels did not change anything in that regard, they are actually faithful to the existing wider canon.

Yeah, but, greedo speaks huttese with Han, and he doesn't bat an eye.

Nobody ever asks what chewie is saying (that I can recall, anyway), everyone just understands him.

The only one I ever see having an actual translator needed is Jabba (and I suspect that's mainly for show) and the Ewoks.

The Kubaz in Ep IV doesn't speak basic when he's talking to the stormtroopers, and they still understand him.

Tons of the Cantina patrons are speaking various languages and there seems to be no trouble understanding them from anyone in the cantina (other than luke).

People seem to understand R2-D2 all the time as well.

It seems that languages are simply "understood" most of the time.

So unless it explicitly states that Bossk is speaking basic in those books, I'd think it's more for the ease of reading than anything else. (especially since he speeks dosh in Ep V)

Han understands Chewie. C3PO understands R2, Luke understands R2 when they are in the starfighter and can read what he says.

Yeah, but, greedo speaks huttese with Han, and he doesn't bat an eye.

So, Han understands Huttese, or whatever language it was that Greedo was speaking.

I would assume that anyone who really wants to do business with a Hutt would either be able to speak the language, would learn it really fast, or would find a good way to get a translator involved.

Nobody ever asks what chewie is saying (that I can recall, anyway), everyone just understands him.

Do you have specific references for that? I don’t recall anyone other than Han, Lando, and presumably C-3PO understanding what Chewie was saying. Leia certainly didn’t, nor did Luke — at least, not at first.

Chewie was pretty good at emoting with the noises he made, and I think many people understood the gist of what he meant through that, but that’s not the same thing as understanding what he’s actually saying.

The Kubaz in Ep IV doesn't speak basic when he's talking to the stormtroopers, and they still understand him.

They could have a simple translator in their comlink systems.

Tons of the Cantina patrons are speaking various languages and there seems to be no trouble understanding them from anyone in the cantina (other than luke).

Lots of people in a cantina might speak multiple languages. Or, at least be able to understand multiple languages, even if they can’t speak that many.

People seem to understand R2-D2 all the time as well.

Again, I think many people are understanding the emotions that R2 is projecting via audio. They actually understand what he’s really saying about as well as the movie audience does.

3PO would fully understand, and if R2 were to project textual translations on a display, then they should be able to understand him. But not so much through the actual noises that he’s making.

It seems that languages are simply "understood" most of the time.

I will concede that there is a lot of that, but I’m not convinced that it is as far spread as you seem to believe.

So unless it explicitly states that Bossk is speaking basic in those books, I'd think it's more for the ease of reading than anything else. (especially since he speeks dosh in Ep V)

For Bossk in particular, I would want specific references one way or the other, with links to actual clips. And it would be important to know which version of which movie we’re talking about.

-snip-

You know, let's make this simple. You claim that Trandoshans were unable to speak Basic in the EU before TCW and in the WEG RPG. Can you provide any evidence for that?

I can direct you to a write-up for Trandoshans in a WEG book that does not include this restriction (Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook Special Edition, WEG 40089, p.62), which even includes a write-up of Bossk himself with no mention of his language-speaking problem. Trandoshans, including Bossk, speak without communication problems in novels and comics pre-dating TCW. So, I would really like you to provide evidence for your theory or else I have to assume that you are just projecting your head-canon.

And that's kinda the thing that irks me (and my friends). They didn't have to make it a kids show.

*snip*

That's basically what SW ep 4 and 5 did.

Ep 4 was pretty harsh, with owen and berus charred corpses, greedo getting murdered by han, the implied torture of leia and so on. And ep 5 sees luke get his hand cut off, han being actually tortured and dealing with some pretty heavy concepts.

*snip*

Star Wars has always been aimed at the youth market. Always. The only thing that's changed is what's considered acceptable fare for children between 1977 and 2015. In the 1990s, parents groups set their sights on Hollywood violence as a cause for concern and were responsible for basically neutering anything rated PG or below. In the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film from the early '90s, the turtles used their weapons. Every subsequent film, the protagonists engaged in slapstick comedy routines.

And it's not just busybody moms who are to blame. Lucas subtly censored the Original Trilogy in the Special Editions (Han Shot first?) and Spielberg removed a lot of the firearms from the DVD re-release of ET. They got, got rich, became parents, lost their edge, and became afraid for their kids. It happens.

However, aiming a film project at the youth market doesn't mean it has to be stupid. When someone complains that a show seems like it's for kids, what they're saying is the storytelling is really, really dumb and chirpy. But I just watched The Clone Wars story arc about the Invasion of Umbara. The Vietnam War parallels were right on the screen and it was Dark. As. Hell. Both in tone and subject matter. Way darker than Empire or New Hope and much more violent. Clones get shot, vaporized and skewered right on the screen and you see it all. They're betrayed by their general and they almost turn on each other. It's incredibly adult and incredibly grim. You don't see blood, but there's barely any blood in any Star Wars film except the cantina scene in New Hope. So to see it's dumb, kiddy fare is doing the show a disservice simply because it isn't grim-dark anime or live action.